— To follow is a bullet of wisdom on leadership. It comes from Tom’s rifle, named Shot, who has seen it all. You’ll get the drift by clicking Blog in the menu at www.tomnewhouse.com. —
I WAS A FARMER’S RIFLE. So, I have seen farmers prune branches to get more fruit. I have seen a good field of alfalfa plowed under and another crop planted in its stead. You see, in these cases production was good, but something else could do better.
It’s hard—very hard—to kill what’s been working. But leaders keep their eyes on ultimate objectives. Consequently, they invest for greater gains. They continually improve. You want more production, consider ultimate objectives and think through alternative uses of your resources. You may have to kill what’s working and attend to something better.