It's Rishi

With all this talk about the Amazon Kindle, I Googled Jeff Bezos (Amazon’s founder and CEO) and found an article by Fast Company about his, and Amazon’s, story.

On page 4, Jeff’s rules of leadership – and management – are listed:

• Hire very carefully — you’re creating an enduring culture.
• Be stubborn and flexible.
• Obsess about customers, not colleagues.
• Know when to throw away the org chart.
• Get good advice — and ignore it.
• Don’t chase the quick buck.

…and his rules for Amazon:

• Communication is terrible.
• Take leaps of faith.
• Be simpleminded.
• Add up lots of little advantages.

I’d encourage you to click the link above and read the details behind some of these bullets. His general rules on leadership you’ve probably heard before in one shape or form, but his rules for Amazon – particularly the “Communication is terrible” rule – I found to be thought-provoking.

Recently, I watched James Lipton’s interview of Dave Chappelle on Inside the Actors Studio. It was great to learn more about Chappelle’s story and his attitudes towards life and Hollywood. While he didn’t go into a lot of detail about why he disappeared from the Chappelle Show and spent time in Africa, he did make a comment in reaction to those in the media that had said he had gone “crazy”:

The worst thing to call somebody is crazy. It’s dismissive. I don’t understand this person so they’re crazy. That’s bullshit.

The fact is that most people, including myself, are usually quick to judge others when they think or act in a way that’s not inline with our own expectations or rationales. Instead of taking the time to understand the other person, we often just label them as crazy and continue on our ignorant way.

This reminds me of a quote from Dale Carnegie in How to Win Friends and Influence People (read my review):

Instead of condemning people, let’s try to understand them. Let’s try to figure out why they do what they do. That’s a lot more profitable and intriguing than criticism; and it breeds sympathy, tolerance and kindness.

Carnegie is emphasizing that it’s easy to condemn people who you don’t agree with. However, by doing so, you miss out on an opportunity to improve your own self.

Even in the business world, I often say things in my mind like “Wow, that investor is crazy to invest in that startup.” or “CEO X is crazy for making that decision.” The reality is that in both cases, the CEO and the investor likely had arrived at their respective decisions only after it was justified by the result of an exhaustive analysis.

It is absolutely true that on the occasions when I’ve sat and thought further about someone’s decision that I initially thought to be crazy, the process of performing this analysis often broadens my own perspective. In fact, often times I realize that my initial reaction was influenced more by my emotion rather than logic. Sort of like this: “They did what?! Are they insane?! …. Hmmmm, I think I might understand why they did that.” Sometimes I change my mind and agree with the other person, other times not. No matter what though, I have a more complete comprehension of the situation having taken the time to understand the other person’s view.

As Carnegie also states, “Any fool can criticize, condemn and complain – most fools do.” So next time you are about to call someone crazy, don’t be a fool. Stop and try to assess the situation from the other person’s view. I bet you’ll walk away a better person for doing so.

No matter how technologically sophisticated the mediums for human communication become, ultimately success in business will rely on your ability to interact with people. Whether you’re trying to raise money from investors, sell your product to a prospective customer, build an effective online marketing program, or lead a team of employees to success, a fundamental understanding of human nature is essential.

So I decided that there was no better way to start my own personal MBA reading curriculum than by reading this book. Not only has it sold something like 20 million copies since it was first published in 1937 (yes almost 70 years ago), but it has been recommended by several people that I respect highly. After just the first few pages of reading, I knew that I had indeed made a fantastic pick.

Carnegie, and his team, put an unprecedented amount of research into this book. They searched all the respected published works on the topic, interviewed accomplished businessman (i.e. Charles Schwab, Andrew Carnegie, and others), studied the behavior of men famous for their handling of people (i.e. Abe Lincoln, Ben Franklin, and others), and even studied philosophy. The lessons found in the book represent the recurring themes that Carnegie, and his team, found across all their research.

Some quotes:

The deepest urge in human nature is the desire to be important

Talk to people about themselves and they will listen for hours

The unvarnished truth is that almost all the people you meet feel themselves superior to you in some way and a sure way to their hearts is to let them realize in some subtle way that you recognize their importance, and recognize it sincerely.

A person usually has two reasons for doing a thing: one that sounds good and a real one. The person himself will think of the real reason. You don’t need to emphasize that. But all of us, being idealists at heart, like to think of motives that sound good. So, in order to change people, appeal to the nobler motives.

You can’t win an argument. You can’t because if you lose it, you lose it; and if you win it, you lose it

You will never get into trouble by admitting that you may be wrong. That will stop all argument and inspire your opponent to be just as fair and open and broadminded as you are. It will make him want to admit that he, too, may be wrong.

Many of the ideas set forth in the book you might read and think “oh yeah, everybody knows that!”. And you may be right. However, I can all but guarantee that while you may have this knowledge, you are not utilizing it in your everyday life to be more skilled in people relations. That’s where this book really shines. Carnegie not only tells you what you need to know, but included numerous examples of how the technique has been used in real life situations. These examples not only help you to relate to the material, but also make the book very enjoyable to read.

The key thing to remember about this book is it defines a new approach to dealing with people in nearly every situation one encounters. This is a very difficult thing to embrace because even though it makes a lot of sense on paper, after decades of human interaction, each of our approach towards people has become all but set in stone. Don’t expect to just read this book cover-to-cover and be a changed man. It will take work. Carnegie suggests some studying approaches in the book’s preface.

I really would encourage everyone to go out and pick up a copy of this book. If you even are able to employ just one or two of the components outlined in the book, you will be more likely to succeed. As promised in my earlier post, I have put together my own “cliff notes” for the book. I’m still deciding whether or not I will post it up on the blog, but if you want a copy of it, shoot me an e-mail (click “Contact” at the top of this page) and I’ll hook you up. However, even if you do read my notes, I still absolutely recommend you do yourself a favor by finding a copy of this book and studying it.

I don’t know why it took me so long to finally watch The Aviator, but I finally did and what a treat. I never realized how truly remarkable a man Howard Hughes was. He was “at times an aviator, an engineer, an industrialist, a movie producer, a playboy, an eccentric and one of the wealthiest people in the world”. Hughes was not only a dreamer but he, on many occasions, resolutely risked his entire fortune (and on a few occasions, his life) to realize his dream. I think the best adjective I would use to describe him is fearless. His sheer will power and determination to conquer everything he touched is absolutely inspiring. The Aviator is really a phenomenal tribute to a phenomenal man.

If you haven’t seen the movie, I recommend you do so. In the meantime, read more about Hughes in his Wikipedia article. It’s a shame he never wrote an autobiography as I’m sure that would have been one fascinating read.