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The annoying habits of highly effective people

economist.com

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Re: The annoying habits of highly effective people

#2

Post by siruncledrew »

I think another thing that influences annoying habits of "effective" people is that no executive/manager is going to hold a CEO accountable for being late/strolling into work, whereas if a CEO didn't like it that person would be be immediately told to stop and change their behavior.

Re: The annoying habits of highly effective people

#3

Post by phakding »

Never understood people's infatuation with reading CEO biographies. I've read a few and never found anything in it that could relate to. May be I am not meant to be one of those people. Even if I worked hard, got in at work at 5 am every day, I don't think I could go from being a lowely team lead to cto or CEO of a multi billion dollar corporation. I don't think it just works that way. I could be very wrong, but that's my experience.

Re: The annoying habits of highly effective people

#4

Post by jjoonathan »

phakding wrote: post #3

Never understood people's infatuation with reading CEO biographies. I've read a few and never found anything in it that could relate to. May be I am not meant to be one of those people. Even if I worked hard, got in at work at 5 am every day, I don't think I could go from being a lowely team lead to cto or CEO of a multi billion dollar corporation. I don't think it just works that way. I could be very wrong, but that…

Same appeal as any other type of cargo-culting: it's a lot easier to get up at 5am, shake hands firmly, and dress for success than it is to spot an extreme growth opportunity, bet everything on it, and be correct.

Re: The annoying habits of highly effective people

#6

Post by throwaway82729 »

phakding wrote: post #3

Never understood people's infatuation with reading CEO biographies. I've read a few and never found anything in it that could relate to. May be I am not meant to be one of those people. Even if I worked hard, got in at work at 5 am every day, I don't think I could go from being a lowely team lead to cto or CEO of a multi billion dollar corporation. I don't think it just works that way. I could be very wrong, but that…

I don't think it's helpful to copy what they do as CEO. I look for what they did in their lowest paying job and how they changed as they progressed in their careers. Of course, very few autobiographies cover this.

Re: The annoying habits of highly effective people

#7

Post by jiveturkey »

phakding wrote: post #3

Never understood people's infatuation with reading CEO biographies. I've read a few and never found anything in it that could relate to. May be I am not meant to be one of those people. Even if I worked hard, got in at work at 5 am every day, I don't think I could go from being a lowely team lead to cto or CEO of a multi billion dollar corporation. I don't think it just works that way. I could be very wrong, but that…

Interesting perspective. Is it your belief that people read these as how-to or self-help books?

I enjoy reading them the same way I enjoy learning from my co-worker's habits. I take what matters to me and throw away the rest. I'm always trying to improve how I do my current job. It's not enough to have an open mind about work habits / techniques, one has to actively seek out new information.

Also it's usually an interesting look into someone else's life, at times even fascinating.

Re: The annoying habits of highly effective people

#8

Post by JumpCrisscross »

siruncledrew wrote: post #2

I think another thing that influences annoying habits of "effective" people is that no executive/manager is going to hold a CEO accountable for being late/strolling into work, whereas if a CEO didn't like it that person would be be immediately told to stop and change their behavior.

> no executive/manager is going to hold a CEO accountable for being late/strolling into work

I did this. I had just been promoted to the lowest manager position at a global bank. Our global head had a habit of starting meetings late.

After one, I asked to speak privately. I said I had been working hard with my team on improving their timeliness. They responded, and our mornings became more productive as a result. But once a quarter they came to these meetings and saw the top guys in our division stroll in late. It undid work I fought hard for, and which I continued to believe in.

He thanked me for my perspective and was never late again. (Another example: CEO assigned our intern class a book assignment. I proceeded to reject the author’s thesis.)

Organisations that don’t permit upwards feedback are, in my opinion, unhealthy.

(In the interest of balance, I have also given upward feedback that was rejected. The reasons for their rejection changed how I worked going forward, every time productively.)

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