Getting pecked to death by a whole bunch of black swans while swallowing a frog*
There has been, and continues to be, a booming trade in business literature. Those books that are cunningly positioned next to the magazine concession and designed to catch your eye on a busy commute when you’ve got a long train journey and no appetite to open the laptop again. You know the kind of thing: ‘10 lessons about strategy you already knew but always forget when it matters’, ‘The leadership code of the 100 greatest, living CEOs - or why they’re so great in their own words’ and, ‘A healthy culture - what one is and where to buy one.’
Like all groups, you can plot these business books across a normal distribution bell curve. On the left-hand side of the curve are those that have almost no worth beyond filling that empty space in the book-shelf (next to your one remaining Dan Brown novel** and the 1986 good restaurant guide you never throw away). In the middle there is a smattering of excellent, common-sense advice. Stuff that probably wouldn’t sell if it wasn’t so nicely branded and packaged. On the right-hand edge is the good stuff. The trick? Working out which to choose in the enticing 3-for-2 offer that never ends in this shop that’s chockful of business book eye candy.
In stonefort marine talent, we use three simple rules when it comes to the talent development & people advice our clients ask for. The rules work most of the time (nothing works all the time, don’t believe them if they say otherwise!) and provide a decent litmus test:
If the basic premise of what we’re advising takes longer than a minute to explain, it won’t work. Very complicated diagrams are not allowed.
The actions involved must be simple, repeatable & scalable (where necessary) by those who are accountable
Our advice must address the ‘problem to be solved’
That is not to say that all the business literature is wrong and stonefort marine talent is right. Far from it. But the best of those books, the ones on the right-hand edge of the bell curve, can always be summarised simply into practical ideas. Taleb: be ready for the world-changing thing you won’t predict. Tracy: do the difficult thing before the not difficult thing.
So - if you want practical, experienced talent & people advice that works - give us a call. Or email:mark.hanson@stonefortmarine-talent.com. Or choose 3-for-2 and take your chances.
stonefort marine talent offers practical, workable talent & people consulting services.
* With apologies to Nassim Nicholas Taleb & Brian Tracy
** With no apologies to Dan Brown