Business books are entertainment, not strategic tools

(theorthagonist.substack.com)

593 points ZeroTalent | 1 comments | 09 May 25 20:51 UTC | HN request time: 0.268s | source

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peterlk ◴[09 May 25 23:44 UTC] No.43941972[source]▶

I think there are maybe 5 business books out there. I’m not sure how exactly I’d define the 5 different business books, but I think of you read 10-15 business books you’ve pretty much read them all. After a while, they all start boiling down to the same few points with differences in narrative content. If I were to take an unconsidered stab at a few of them: hard work + luck is about the closest formula anyone has found for success if applied over long time periods; you have to be disagreeable and believe in yourself, but not so disagreeable that you can’t get along with anyone; people are important, and treating them well leads to better businesses (over long time periods); sometimes you get dealt a bad hand.

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mgw ◴[10 May 25 05:09 UTC] No.43943368[source]▶

>>43941972 #

Where does the point of being disagreeable come from and what purpose does it serve in the business world, in your opinion or according to these books?

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1. anself ◴[10 May 25 05:22 UTC] No.43943417[source]▶

>>43943368 #

You need at least one or two somewhat disagreeable folks in a team. Because without this, groupthink emerges, teams have too much inertia, they follow the assumed norm instead of challenging it for something better, they don’t debate the options enough. That disagreeable energy, in the right dose, leads to better decisions. If you don’t have it naturally, you can encourage someone to “play devil’s advocate” in decision discussions (or do it yourself) and you’ll find sometimes the devil’s advocate is actually right.

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