Month: December 2008

Always make change slowly..

Remember the frog in boiling water strategy..

‘Frog in Boiling Water’ strategy: Remember the story about the frog that jumped into boiling water? Of course, the frog jumped right out of the boiling water immediately. However, the frog jumped next into cold water, and was very happy, but the water temperature was being raised very slowly over time. After some hours this water was boiling – and the frog never jumped out!

 

Maybe there are 2 learnings here:

1. How not to be the frog getting cooked very slowly – I don’t know how to do this, I think it can be potentially by being be very sensitive to trends for e.g. the US economy over the past years!

2. How to a catch a frog for a hot soup – e.g. implementing change very slowly – like increase your prices by 1% each month!

Cristiano Ronaldo won the Ballon d’or

I still remember his first game against Bolton which Man Utd won 4-0. He was a raw 18 year old, lots of promise with step overs and the like but he was definitely the unfinished article. I had big expectations because he was taking over the number 7 jersey from David Beckham and hence, must have been really special! The number 7 at United has a great history.. with George ‘El Beatle’ Best, Bryan ‘Captain Marvel’ Robson, Eric ‘The King’ Cantona and David Beckham and now..Cristiano Ronaldo.

Yet, I am tempted to say that as a Man Utd fan that he will never be held with the same regard as the legends mentioned above and definitely not in the league of a Ryan Giggs or a Paul Scholes or even Wayne Rooney for me.. Yes, he is a fantastic football player with pace and skills others can only dream of and a deadly header of the ball but without a twinge of loyalty and a greed for the ‘cool’ life and money.. After 5 years at United where he has become the player he is today, he was ready to jump ship to Real Madrid in an instant because of the money and because he ‘loved wearing white’.. 
Today he has been crowned effectively the best footballer on the planet and yet, I feel he will never be the same league as Ronaldo(the Brazilian one..), Pele, Maradona and the like..
The big learning here is that no matter how talented you are, even someone who produces results(in this case, scores goals) like Cristiano Ronaldo, it takes a different something to be a legend. This is beyond talent, skill – some call it charisma, the ability to make others feel great without that arrogance.. Funnily, Cantona, Best and the like always had that arrogance in their football style but as people, they were revered. 
People say Best had time for everyone in Man Utd, from the Directors to the groundstaff – all were the same to him! 
That is stuff legends are made of.. 

First, get the big things right..

and then focus on all the small details that are probably barely noticeable.. but when you get the big things right, they become apparent..

its in the human mind to naturally spot defects.. 
its good to be critical of ourselves rather than just fish for the praise. People say that the greatest asset Bill Gates possesses is the ability to see things as they are and not as he wants them to be..