Regular readers will know that I have a lot of respect for Bob Sutton. I have been a regular reader of his blog “work matters” for some time now. So I was pleased to find that he contributes to another blog on Harvard Business Online. In his opening entry he includes a list, “Ten Things I Believe”, which he gives to his students on their last day of class. They are all short, but worth a careful read and ponder:
“1. Sometimes the best management is no management at all – first do no harm!
2. Indifference is as important as passion.
3. In organizational life, you can have influence over others or you can have freedom from others, but you can’t have both at the same time.
4. Learning how to say smart things and give smart answers is important. Learning to listen to others and to ask smart questions is more important.
5. You get what you expect from people. This is especially true when it comes to selfish behavior; self-interest is a learned social norm, not an inherent feature of human behavior.
6. Getting a little power can turn you into an insensitive self-centered jerk.
7. Avoid pompous jerks whenever possible. They not only can make you feel bad about yourself, chances are that you will eventually start acting like them.
8. The best test of a person’s character is how he or she treats those with less power.
9. Err on the side of optimism and positive energy in all things.
10. Work is an over-rated activity.
And now I’ll add two more beliefs that are especially important to managers:
11. Have strong opinions, weakly held (thanks to Paul Saffo).
12. Argue as if you are right, listen as if you are wrong (thanks to Karl Weick).”