DISQUS

seth godin · 1 year ago

Having lived this at Yahoo, all I can do is say, "amen."

toddsampson · 12 months ago

Hey Seth... Thanks so much for the comment. As I mention in the post, I have been a big fan for years. Though, until reading Tribes, I didn't know about your Yahoo! acquisition. Great stuff.

rahmin · 1 year ago

great post.

your quote from Umair (via twitter) last night seems apt:

"The economic truth is this: managers profit from surviving the rat race - not from creating value"

That statement is a bit hyperbolic, but mostly right on. As a manger, your job is to deliver against a set plan. While there is some room for innovation, I've found that management is *mostly* surviving the rat race vs. innovating towards creating long term value. Very much the antithesis of agile and lean development.

I wonder if there are inherent limits on size that hinder the bent towards risk taking and innovation?

toddsampson · 12 months ago

Very smart comment Rahmin. And thanks for posting Umair's quote I sent via twitter here. You are spot-on about the connection between these pieces.

If the press coverage Google receives is to be at all believed, they should shed some light on the scalability of taking risks and innovation. They have supposedly baked in taking risks to the core of their business. It will be interesting to watch if the fear of loss (or pure scale) kills off taking risk in the end.

If anyone else has other good examples of companies to watch in this space, I would love to see them posted in the comments.

toddsampson · 11 months ago

Well, I guess you can cross Google off that list:

http://www.alleyinsider.com/2008/12/google-outs...

misstillytilly · 1 year ago

on the flip side, with all the lay offs happening in the industry, I'm sure we are going to start seeing a lot more start ups popping up, with founders coming from a corporate background. I would be curious to see how these new founders adjust from being managed, to becoming leaders themselves. Are managers hurting the ability for people to become leaders?

toddsampson · 12 months ago

It is a very different calling. But I bet quite a few managers in these companies are actually repressed leaders. In any case, it will be fun to watch. And I will continue to encourage anyone with the slightest desire to try to go for it.

Vladimir Oane · 1 year ago

The acquiring companies want managers is because they are run by managers. There are a few leaders in these companies. Most of the time the leaders are the founders themselvs. Once they step down (forced by their stakeholders or not) or die, the company starts relying on managers. But there are no big companies... there are just great entrepreneurs. Tom Peters said that "Leaders don't create followers, they create more leaders. " But the stakeholders don't care about that. They want managers.

Again from Tom Peters: "What Are Mergers Good For? Not much, unless you're one of the bankers or executives whose compensation goes up with every deal you do." No "news" here, but always worth repeating. Every CEO thinks he's the exception to the rule. Message: He's not!"

toddsampson · 12 months ago

I have nothing to add to that but, "Amen!"

Speaking of Tom Peters, here is a great post about Brand You ten years later:

http://www.tompeters.com/entries.php?rss=1¬e...

Leadership · 1 year ago

Yes and no to your idea that founders should get out. There is a lot of research that looks at the role founders play in the long-term longevity of an organization. Particularly with the role path dependence plays in subsequent decision making. As an example, what about Gates, Jobs, the HP fellows, etc? Like most stuff, not a yes/no answer.

toddsampson · 12 months ago

Founders play a huge role in companies they are leading. All the examples you threw out are people that are running the businesses they founded. I was speaking specifically to the founders of acquired companies moving from a leadership roll to managing a group inside another organization.