Big companies have trouble with innovation. Innovation is about bad ideas, or ideas that look like bad ideas. That's the fundamental thing.
Ben HorowitzRead
As long as people are clear on what they need to do and what's going on, you're very likely to succeed. When nobody is clear, then you're guaranteed to fail.
Interpretation
Clear communication and understanding are essential for success; without them, failure is inevitable.
This quote emphasizes the importance of clarity in communication and understanding within any endeavor. It suggests that when everyone involved knows their roles, responsibilities, and the objectives at hand, the likelihood of success increases significantly. Conversely, a lack of clarity leads to confusion and chaos, ultimately resulting in failure.
In practice
In a team meeting about project goals, this quote can be used to stress the importance of everyone understanding their roles.
Big companies have trouble with innovation. Innovation is about bad ideas, or ideas that look like bad ideas. That's the fundamental thing.
As a company gets big, the information that informs decision-making gets massive. Depending upon the prism through which you view the business, your perspective will vary. If two people are in charge, this variance will cause conflict and delay.
You read these management books that say, 'These are the hard things about running a company.' But those aren't really the hard things. The hard things are when you have to layoff half your company, or you have to fire your best friend. Or you have to figure out a way not to go bankrupt.
Look - this is the terror of being a founder & CEO. It is all your fault. Every decision, every person you hire, every dumb thing you buy or do - ultimately, you're at the end.
Nobody knows how to be a CEO. It's something you have to learn. It's a very lonely job.
I emphasize to C.E.O.s, you have to have a story in the minds of the employees. It's hard to memorize objectives, but it's easy to remember a story.
It's very hard to find someone who's successful and dislikes what they do.
Stealing bases was put to me almost as a prerequisite for staying in the game. They didn't give me a handbook on how to do it; they said do it. Under those conditions you go out and develop your own handbook.
Losers fix the blame; winners fix what caused the problem.
Today everyone is a star - they're all billed as 'starring' or 'also starring'. In my day, we earned that recognition.
Success in investing doesnβt correlate with I.Q. Once you are above the level of 25; once you have ordinary intelligence, what you need is the temperament to control the urges that get other people into trouble in investing.
Enthusiasm is the engine of success.
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