Answer: Most of those didn’t blow up a $47 billion IPO valuation, get tagged with “nonsensical” about real estate economics, or get kicked to the ”CEO No-longer” curb. Yeah, it sounds a bit snarky, but the razz-berries started early on WeWorks IPO.
The old expression – just ask Biden -“Three on a match” was a tribute to South African Boer (Dutch) farmers accuracy as snipers at the beginning of the last century. It might be elementally bad luck for the last one when English soldiers tried lighting three cigarettes to conserve scarce matches. Neumann walked into that analogy last week, covered in Silly String.
Investors have been memorably slapped silly with Theranos (diabetic testing, aloof and combative executive) and Lyft (yet to make a profit, plenty of corporate drama) as essentially empty bags, and Neumann’s WeWork’s IPO represented, well, “creative content” way beyond my pay grade. With regular mentions in the press about tequila-fueled days, pot smoking on the corporate jet, self-dealing over a corporate trademark, and then submitting shoddy SEC paperwork – that never offered a timeline for the company to turn a profit – failing economic sniff tests made him a stupendous third, bigly.
Personally, from a series of sweaty 4-on-4s at regular Monday night hoops, through about 35 minutes of shooting in 91 degree Charlotte humidity on Saturday, last week involved a lot of real physical heat. It’s just a fact here, 78 days of 90-plus this year (34 is the average), with expectations for more of the same coming. Sunday it was 96 – so while semi-lazy by only doing a pair of videos for proposals – and ballin’-out with a couple cold ones, watching local Panthers play excellent at all levels again, Slye blasted one 55-yards! – here’s betting it was a qualitatively better day than those other guys had.
Neumann and Trump – the Prez, obviously, with an official House impeachment investigation – is experiencing HEAT at a whooooole ‘nother level.
Neumann, who has burned through many SoftBank BILLIONS with WeWork’s concept of premium office rental space – obviously never read or considered leadership thoughts from Jim Collins iconic management book, ‘GOOD TO GREAT.’ Top three reasons that seems true, in no particular order: (not) Facing the brutal facts (of economics), “(not) Getting the right people (lots of relatives though!) on the bus, in the right places,” and ultimately, not deciding on a HedgeHog Concept to work from.
Before finally taking the HedgeHog Concept – doing one thing particularly well, being the best at it – to be the heart of a leadership thought, the bus analogy held a lot of early consideration in my weekend blog writing. There’s no doubt such references will be used soon though, since who’s on, still in, driving, or under any buses in the next week or so in that other “nonsensical” (political) world is going to be worth watching. “Right this way Mr. Guliani; Yessir Mr. Secretary, that seat is definitely meant for you.”
IT WAS EASY TO SEE, RIGHT NOW, IN BLACK AND WHITE
‘Good to Great’ is only 210 pages long (plus appendixes) and Collins labeling of traits and consistencies that statistically created Greatness are often esoteric – which as a management theory staple, such books rarely flow – always makes it incredibly readable. My CDTalent Enterprises business features content creation and community-level projects, and the Hedgehog definition hits a legitimate chord:
To simplify a complex world into a single organizing idea, a basic principle or concept that unifies and guides everything.
Content creation is way not the same as “sound bite” or Tweets, and right now my tone is set for “Leadership Thought.” Those two video projects last weekend – one involves marketing of the legal community – and Leadership Thought (LT) is an arena where ongoing experience in creating a ‘voice’ counts. Although I’ve done that ghosting route before, it could still be a next challenge for wordsmithing.
A Unifying Concept
HedgeHog-wise, CDTalent Enterprises’ unifying concept includes a half-dozen topics I have specific expertise about (including CBD), and proposals for articles is an easily achieved expansion – it already earned a three hour schedule block on Tuesday. That concept allows for nailing down an 8,000 words (with synopsis) book proposal before Thanksgiving, which I have a running start on.
The difference between not actually wishing someone dead, but being glad about the opportunity to read their obituary, is a Mark Twain-ism worth stealing.
Trump’s week was warmly spotlighted politically by Speaker Pelosi on Tuesday, even if his blowing off a major environmental session at the UN gained a hairy eyeball look from 16-year old super-activist Greta Thurnberg of Sweden. He wasn’t the guy *I* would want to take handshake pictures with, and his address at the United Nations wasn’t actually newsworthy.
Really, after announcing an impeachment inquiry at what approximated a national level by Pelosi, and setting real, fast-moving Congressional goals, I still wonder how much of the country ie.- FOXers -would know whether Trump spent time at the UN or played golf.
The Twain theory of obit reading seems in line with postmortem sympathy for a crispy ‘baked’ (nyuk nyuk) Adam Neumann, and Trump’s people are really not looking forward to “some grilling time” after vacation. Having three proposals generate additional interest would still make this coming week ‘hot’ on content as business front, but bet on fact us sweltering Charlotteans are waiting to smell what Congress might be cooking over the next couple weeks.
Hey, that’s a good hook for my Oyster Roast on October 19th!
CDTalent Enterprises 
As always well said
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