There is only one strategy test: what will you tell the children?

There is only one strategy test: what will you tell the children?

There is only one strategy test: what will you tell the children? Try this: Son, I got up every day and went to the office to maximise shareholder value. I also participated in lots of Lean Teams. Ah, and I was an agile employee. In my time, our employee engagement scores went up from 4.5 to 7. Just try. Rehearse this by saying it to yourself in the mirror. Yes, what will we tell the children. That’s probably the only question that matters.

 My children, your children, their children, the children. Apply wisely and broadly. Once you look them in the eyes, you’ll know straight away if the grandiose strategy you are proclaiming has any legs. What we will tell the children is ‘the red face test’ of leadership.

If the company is overheating and has no thermostat, every day without an explosion is pure luck.

If the company is overheating and has no thermostat, every day without an explosion is pure luck. Leaders are the thermostats. Amongst other things.

Inspired by the very readable anthropologist Thomas Hylland Eriksen ^[1]. I love his book ‘Small Places, Large Issues’ which has had several editions. His ‘Overheating: an anthropology of Accelerated Change’ was published in 2016. If you read one single book on Anthropology, read his ‘Small Places’.

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Find out more about the range of books written by Leandro Herrero: Books ^[2]