This Week in Predictable Success: 22 April 2012 

This was an interesting week of contrasts…

Too much ‘V’, not enough ‘P’:
The once high-flying law practice of Dewey & LeBouef imploded almost overnight, showing what happens when you have uncontrolled Visionary leadership. (Their dizzying web site perhaps gave a clue to the likely future effects of the  vertigo-inducing approach they took to growth.)
Too much ‘P’, not enough ‘V’:
On the other hand, the sad spectacle of Yahoo’s agonizingly slow decline continued, with yet another example of overly-Processor-ized leadership demonstrating an almost complete lack of strategic perspective. Perhaps if Yahoo had merged with Dewey & LeBouef the two would have balanced each other out…
Dumpster-Diving in Death Rattle:
Great to see that it’s possible to make money (a considerable amount of it, apparently), even in theDeath Rattle stage. This Wall Street Journal article shows that you don’t need to be a multinational to emulate what happened in the past with Old Spice, Puma and Radio Shack: take a storied brand name and turn it around.
Escaping Early Struggle into Fun:
At the other end of the lifecycle, have you ever wondered what it would be like to watch a business break through Early Struggle and into Fun in real time? Well, this wonderful short video will show you just that – and it may be the best 11 minutes you will invest this weekend. (OK, maybe I’m stretching the lifecycle just a little bit here, but if you haven’t yet seen the story of Caine’s Arcade, you must.)

During the reign of the Tudors, English Kings would take a prolonged summer trip (the ‘Royal Progress’) out of steamy London and into their heartland, the goal being to meet their people, forge new alliances, nip insurrection in the bud, and generally hunt, fish and have a good time.
None of this has anything to do with me – I’m just a little infatuated with the Tudors at the moment (I recommend Hilary Mantel’s ‘Wolf Hall’ and Thomas Penn’s ‘Winter King’ if you would like to make your own enquiries) – but I will be wandering the nearby shires and ridings this summer, and would love to meet up with you at any or all of these excellent venues:

June: Boston Well, Cambridge to be exact The next Predictable Success 1-day Intensive is at the Harvard Faculty Club in Cambridge on June 7. There are a couple of seats still open – click here for details and here to register.

June: New York I’m delighted to be a panelist at the upcoming New York Times Small Business Summit which will be held at the Grand Hyatt, New York on June 25. If you’re attending, please come by and say ‘hello’.

July: Washington DC No, not the White House (yet), but I will be in Washington DC the week of July 23-27. I’m there for a private client event, but it is mornings only, so if you’re based in DC and would like to meet up, shoot me a line and we’ll see if we can make it work.

August: Atlanta Mark this in your diary: (Registration doesn’t open until May 1). On August 9 I’m speaking with a select group of 220 passionate influencers, entrepreneurs and non-profit execs on the subject of Social Innovation. If that’s your bag, bookmark here for details.

September: San Francisco Hey – you on the left side It’s not too early to make plans for the Predictable Success 1-day Intensive in San Francisco on September  6. I used to live in Marin County, and love returning to the Bay Area. Details here, and registration is here.