5. Fads come and go
Speaking of perfection, remember “excellence”? That was the big thing businesses were supposed to achieve back in the 90’s. After all, the pursuit of excellence made Japan the rising sun in the global economy. Then Japan’s economy sank and that sun, set – and the “excellence” fad went with it. Today, there are gurus who’ll tell you that blogging, Twitter, Facebook, mobile, video or the social media app du jour is the must-have thing for any with-it marketer. Now, I’m not saying any of these things are bad, just watch the bullshit. In business, the real question isn’t whether a given thing is worth doing, but toward what ends and at what cost? If you’re not weighing costs against benefits, you’re just following a fad, not leading a business.
In this podcast interview, I talk about the dangers of chasing airplane shadows, among other things.