Malcolm Gladwell on Elite Institution Cognitive Disorder [EICD]

I had drinks with a top lawyer friend who just started her own law firm recently. She used to be a director/partner at a top big elite law firm in Pretoria. The reason she left it is because even though the firm was top and elite, she didn't get enough exposure with the right cases…

Seven Reasons You Might Fail to Become the Best in the World.

You run out of time (and quit). You run out of money (and quit). You get scared (and quit). You’re not serious about it (and quit). You lose interest or enthusiasm or settle for being mediocre (and quit). You focus on the short term instead of the long (and quit when the short term gets…

Are You a Hedgehog or a Fox?

There is a saying attributed to the Greek poet Archilochus that goes, “The Fox knows many things, but the Hedgehog knows one great thing.” In his famous essay. "The hedgehog and the Fox," Isaiah Berlin divided the world into hedgehogs and foxes, based upon an ancient Greek parable: "The fox knows many things, but the…

Good is the enemy of great.

.....And that is one of the key reasons why we have so little that becomes great. We don't have great schools, principally because we have good schools. We don't have great government, principally because we have good government. Few people attain great lives, in large part because it is just so easy to settle for…

Don’t give up (you’re on the right track)

Struggling with getting your startup to grow, wrestling with getting sales, wrestling with a project or a problem, the likeliest reason to give up is the belief that it can't be done. What's the point of persevering if it's actually impossible to succeed? "It can't be done," we say, throwing up our hands in the…

Fitting in vs. standing out

You won't have any trouble at all finding someone who can tell you how to fit in. They can tell you what to wear to that restaurant or this conference or that funeral. It's not that difficult to figure out how to fit in. We were all raised to fit in. If fitting in is…

The Stockdale Paradox

The Stockdale Paradox Retain faith that you will prevail in the end, regardless of the difficulties AND at the same time Confront the most brutal facts of your current reality, whatever they might be. The Stockdale Paradox really defines the optimism that is most important in becoming a resilient person and that is, when you're…

If you have an enemy, give him information

At a conference recently I met this young entrepreneur, or should I say wanna-entrepreneur. She has always wanted to be an entrepreneur. She studied and researched her area of interest. She has been wanting to be an entrepreneur for a while now. She has information and more information. She has reached information overload, actually she…

Over Promise and Over Deliver

Under promise and over deliver is an old cliché in business that smart entrepreneurs do. This was relevant during the time when there was less competition. But in today’s crowded market, that’s a one way ticket to oblivion. If you want to achieve extreme success for your business, you must reach for the extraordinary. Under…

You Can’t Be Everything To Everyone (So Stop Trying)

You can't change everything or everyone, but you can change the people who matter. Marketing is about change: changing people's actions, perceptions or the conversation. Successful change is almost always specific, not general. You don't have a chance to make mass change, but you can make focused change. The challenge of mass media was how…

Don’t wait for perfect.

Test your ideas. Learn and respond. Don’t wait for perfect to land in your lap, and don’t let it get in the way of sharing a good idea. Be in a hurry to make mistakes and get feedback and get that next idea out there. Waiting for perfect is never as smart as making progress.…