I think @elonmusk had no choice but to remove the CEO and CFO of Twitter.
Here's why:
Investors who have never run a company think of businesses as spreadsheets.
But businesses arenβt spreadsheets.
They are groups of people.
And people are complicated...
Here's why:
Investors who have never run a company think of businesses as spreadsheets.
But businesses arenβt spreadsheets.
They are groups of people.
And people are complicated...
You can't just say "execute this strategy".
You need a lot of ingredients in order to change a company:
You need a lot of ingredients in order to change a company:
1. A team that has the right skills (and more importantly, the desire) to execute on the goal.
2. The right incentives, to create that desire.
3. Most importantly, as an investor, you need a leader who is 100% aligned with your ideas.
2. The right incentives, to create that desire.
3. Most importantly, as an investor, you need a leader who is 100% aligned with your ideas.
The CEO of Twitter was 100% aligned with HIS OWN strategy (or those of the old Twitter board).
You can have an incredible CEO, with all the right skills, but if they aren't aligned with the changes you want to make, even if they SAY they are (they want to keep their job).
You can have an incredible CEO, with all the right skills, but if they aren't aligned with the changes you want to make, even if they SAY they are (they want to keep their job).
The CEO will feel coerced and subconsciously torpedo your strategy.
They'll try half-heartedly then, when it fails, say "see??? I told you it wouldn't work" because they secretly wanted it to fail (whether they're aware of that or not).
They'll try half-heartedly then, when it fails, say "see??? I told you it wouldn't work" because they secretly wanted it to fail (whether they're aware of that or not).
Seem odd? It is.
People will do anything to preserve their own egos.
Imagine being the CEO of Twitter and having someone come in and say "your whole strategy for the past few years is wrong, you have a bloated organization, and the wrong monetization strategy".
People will do anything to preserve their own egos.
Imagine being the CEO of Twitter and having someone come in and say "your whole strategy for the past few years is wrong, you have a bloated organization, and the wrong monetization strategy".
It's a nuclear missile fired directly at your ego.
YOU created that strategy.
And let's say you execute on Elon's strategy and IT WORKS.
That means that YOUR STRATEGY was WRONG.
YOU created that strategy.
And let's say you execute on Elon's strategy and IT WORKS.
That means that YOUR STRATEGY was WRONG.
And that would be psychologically painful, so you'd do anything to avoid it. You don't want to hurt yourself.
I didn't believe this until I experienced it myself, but it's real.
I didn't believe this until I experienced it myself, but it's real.
There's a great book on it that I highly recommend called Mistakes Were Made (But Not By Me)
amazon.com
amazon.com
People think you can just explain why something is logical and people change their minds, but that's just not the case.
Unfortunately, humans are complicated and will act against their own self-interest/logic in order to preserve their egos.
In this case, I think Elon made the right call.
In this case, I think Elon made the right call.
Loading suggestions...