The WSJ today contained book reviews of recently published books purporting to be studies tracking the causes of spectacular failures both of executives and companies. Hmm.
Nothing new or surprising to fans and stalkers of this humble observer.
The chief reason cited for smart executives to fail is blindness. We are not talking about ocular malfunction here, friends. We are talking about the inability to see things as they really are. People, events, data that do not conform to the ego expectation of the Emperor.
It is the fatal flaw of ego driven leaders that causes failure for themselves, and for their companies when unchallenged by the board. Look at WorldComm and Enron, look at Martha Stuart, Arther Anderson, Saddam Hussein and many others.
Companies and regimes that have developed empire egoes are likely to blindly enter into destructive mergers (AOL/Time Warner) or lose focus (Polaroid) or just lose good people, like my last employer. Doomed, I tell you, they are all doomed!
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