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I had too many items for my top 10 list, didn't I? OK, here are some other ones to watch out for, quickly.
Match the scope of the solution to the scope of the problem. Let's say you have flex time at your company. Staff work when they want to. But you have this one woman who insists on working from 12am to 8am every day. She's never around for meetings, of course, and you have no way to "watch" her in the benevolent way that managers are supposed to.
The wrong way to handle this is to cancel flex time. No, no, no. You need to match the solution (fix that one employee's attitude) with the problem (one employee). Don't slap a tax on your well-behaved employees. This is how beauracracy starts.
I don't run Turbine any more, and when I stop by there is a big note on the front door "NO SOLICITORS". I get it. Probably one day they'd just had too many solicitors come by, and somebody decided to post a big ugly note to scare them away. But think for a moment. Is it attractive? No. Guests and business relations who see this imposing sign get a feeling of being unwelcome, as though they'd better be on their best behavior OR ELSE. Take down the sign, guys.
Get a reality check from the outside. Sometimes you employees are so busy agreeing with one another they don't even realize they're out of sync with the industry's quality standards or customer appeal.
Don't let your mother choose your next Techie. Well, unless she's a Techie too. The idea here is that if your background is in business, frankly you are not qualified to interview techies and you will probably choose a charismatic person who may be unskilled.
The same logic of course works backwards for techies who try to interview businesspeople. Do yourself a favor and find a few advisors you trust who are specialists, and let them do the interviewing.
You always have time for what you really want to do. Ever see those bumper stickers, "I'd rather be skiing?" Well, why aren't they out skiing? Probably because they have bills to pay and they don't want to move out to the slums just to get free time for skiing. So, in reality, they don't really want to be skiing. They want to be working so they don't have to live in the slums.
Next time you are working so hard you miss someone's birthday party, and you think to yourself "I'd rather be there", maybe it is time to re-evaluate your career or your delegations skills. Get out there and go to that party!
Negotiate from needs, not solutions. It's a very American thing to start a negotiation by listing your favorite solution. Hold it a moment. If you were over in Europe, you would start by trying to understand the other person and his or her needs. Then try to craft a solution that solves these needs. Both the "Seven Habits of Highly Successful People" I begged you to read, and the "You Can Get What You Want" book by Roger Dawson have great sections on win-win negotiation.
Following your dream: when not to. Let's say you have a management gimmick you love, maybe telecommuting. You let all your employees telecommute. There's a problem here. First off, you may or may not be a visionary. Maybe telecommuting is a dream strategy. I'll admit that from the outset.
But put yourself in the shoes of an investor. Telecommuting is an unproven technique and it adds risk to your company. This makes it harder to raise money, and harder to get a good valuation.
How do you respond? Think about why you are starting the company. If your primary goal if you have a life-long dream to show everyone that telecommuting will work, then by all means, keep telecommuting.
However, if your real goal is to make the best widgets you can, and never have to wear a necktie, then give up telecommuting. It may be a good idea, but you know what, non-telecommuting also works so hey.
Here's the same advice phrased in a slightly different way. You only have so much creative energy. Focus it on the important stuff where you have to compete. If you think out of the box too much you may add risk where there is really no reward to be gained by taking the risk. My advice to you is:
Back! Get back in that box! Start thinking "in the box"! The whole reason there is a box there in the first place is because it is filled with solutions that work. In other words, try normal before going to strange.
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