The Dow Jones Industrial Average is a market index of some of the largest publicly traded firms in the world. It was first published on February 16, 1885 and was comprised of 12 firms. Of those original firms, only one – General Electric—exists today.
Every business needs resources in order to grow and succeed. Resources can take many shapes and forms; these include: talent, advice, capital, strategic alliances and a myriad of others.
Somewhat paradoxically, businesses that need resources the most—small businesses, for example—have the most difficulty in acquiring the resources they need to grow.
Take a look at these (in)famous quotes from a few business leaders:
I think there is a world market for maybe five computers – Thomas J. Watson, Chairman and CEO of IBM
640K is more memory than anyone will ever need on a computer – Bill Gates, Founder & CEO, Microsoft
People will never trust the Internet enough to take out their credit cards and buy things they can’t touch. – Critics of Jeff Bezos, Founder & CEO of Amazon.com
There is some debate as to whether Messers Watson and Gates actually made these statements, but the fact is that there are countless examples of when successful leaders and businesses ignored opportunities because of their belief in sacred cows. Here are a few more sacred cows that later turned out to be wrong:
Early in my career, I was fortunate to have a boss who was trained in the legendary GE management program. I’ll never forget a joke that he once shared with me about how to succeed in business.
There’s a three-step process to succeeding in business:
There’s an old joke that a consultant is someone who steals your watch to tell you what time it is. As an entrepreneur and business leader, I’ve chuckled at this joke more than once. As a consultant, the fact that there is some truth to jokes like these sends shivers up my spine.
I first began my career as a consultant following a stint as a serial entrepreneur. One of the first lessons I was taught was to always put the client first. My response to this first lesson was quite simple: