Steve Jobs words for the Think Different ad are just pure perfection

“Here’s to the crazy ones. The misfits. The rebels. The troublemakers. The round pegs in the square holes. The ones who see things differently. They’re not fond of rules. And they have no respect for the status quo. You can quote them, disagree with them, glorify or vilify them. About the only thing you can’t do is ignore them. Because they change things. They push the human race forward. And while some may see them as the crazy ones, we see genius. Because the people who are crazy enough to think they can change the world, are the ones who do.”

And the Ad itself (which in the end was never aired) is probably the best ever.. i would rate it higher than the 1984 which has been dubbed the best Ad of all time

Anyone wondering whether its worth reading Steve Job’s 600 page biography that came out all i have to say is that when i started reading it i literally couldn’t put it down. Simply amazing. Funnily enough i think the text above is just a perfect summary of his life. Which was why he chose to not air it in the end as it was in his words ‘too much about me’

Ask ten managers what their company culture is and they’ll probably send you to the HR department. Frankly, I used to be one of them. Recently, I went through a turning point following which I now consider culture building my No1 priority as a leader. Here’s why.

To set the setting: my company has grown almost three-fold in headcount in the last six months. We went from just over 15 people to now about 50. Naturally what happens at this pace of growth is the controls and processes you had in place are no longer able to give you the same level of grasp on the business as before. There’s just too much going on.

The natural inclination of most managers in this situation is to inject more process, more rules and manuals, more middle layers of management to delegate to so as to ensure that things run as efficiently as they used to. Whilst some of this is necessary, if this is the only thing you do you will – at best – have an efficient machine that simply ticks on. If you’re lucky you’ll stay in business. You wont game-change.continue reading »

After almost a year and a half of absence (and fans screaming and shouting for my return of course !! J) I decided to revive my blog, the URL now changed to my name and the full one no less (seeing as I have such an easy and memorable name!)

I don’t know where to start in my effort to summarise the last 18 months or so. So much has happened. My last post was December 2008 which was one the toughest of tough times my company – PeoplePerHour.com – has gone through, and therefore one of mine. Which may be why my blogging fell in the back burner – or no burner at all as it may be.continue reading »

One question I have always been fascinated by is what drives people to greatness? What compels certain people to take risk while others take comfort in security and complacency? The easy answer is: money. But is it?

Maurey Klein wrote a great book called “The Change Makers” which digs into the lives of some of the entrepreneurs who have shapes the 20^th century. From Thomas Edison, to Carniege, Bill Gates and Sam Walton.. Klein unravels the deep-rooted drivers that are behind the relentless drive and unfathomed ambition of those people that led them to greatness.continue reading »