Joël Cox

Culture as a Replacement for Systems

When you want consistency you enact systems. Systems are made up by triggers that transform input into the desired output through a defined recipe (check out my friend's book!). The downside is that systems can be rigid, while the operating environment is ever changing. Systems can get clumsy or inefficient when you’re not careful about right-sizing your processes to the problems you’re trying to solve. There is no silver bullet, yet many knowledge intensive organizations have a knee-jerk reactie to schedule more meetings when systems break down.

The Capability Development vs. Execution Paradox

Developing a skill takes time and practice. Complimentary or associated skills form a capability when combined: an effective way to execute on a non-trivial task. Skills and capabilities seldom develop in parallel fully. Innate talents might allow for the faster development of certain skills. Some environments might expose you to more learning opportunities, allowing you to improve faster.

No Pattern Matching Without Experience

Once you've mastered a skill or domain everything becomes a pattern. When a new challenge arises you often find yourself thinking: "haven't I seen this before?". Zooming out even further allows you to discern the cycles and the "repackaging" of things we figured out before. This becomes even more interesting when your knowledge starts to broaden across multiple areas of expertise. At the right level of abstraction you will find universal, yet practical mental models that are applicable to just about every part of a business.