If not properly considered, absolutely. “Best practices” of one company can be the downfall of another. You should observe someone’s “best practice” and either adapt it to your own business or scrap it and look for something else.
If I were to accept someone else’s successful actions, I would look for successful actions on organizational basics for survival, such as advertising, marketing, and only in terms of which suggestions to look into. I may be considered skeptical in this case but I feel it is an important to take responsibility to accept someone’s advice but to also research the val
If not properly considered, absolutely. “Best practices” of one company can be the downfall of another. You should observe someone’s “best practice” and either adapt it to your own business or scrap it and look for something else.
If I were to accept someone else’s successful actions, I would look for successful actions on organizational basics for survival, such as advertising, marketing, and only in terms of which suggestions to look into. I may be considered skeptical in this case but I feel it is an important to take responsibility to accept someone’s advice but to also research the validity of the their statements.
Personally, I have had the good fortune of having good business advice, but I always applied it to the scale of my own business. For instance, if you have employees, try to make it a good practice to stay in good communication with them. There are some schools of thought that would say that the boss just gets to relax and not do anything himself and let others do the work. That may sound fun but would be short-lived. A boss who just stands by and lets things happen in his business is likely to be out of business soon or have the business taken over by someone who actually cares about it and the employees.
One thing I would suggest doing is make a list of your own “best practices” and every time you get a new one, write it down and file it someplace. This will help remind you any time you are wondering what to do.
Would someone else’s successful actions really tear another’s business apart? There is only one way to know for certain and that is to try it out. But before trying it out, do the needed homework to make sure that your company is secure when trying out something new and don’t drop out old successful actions that have worked until now.
Per Wickstrom
Founder of Best Drug Rehabilitation
http://www.bestdrugrehabilitation.com/
In management literature there is this very popular thing, called the business case. The concept is simple. Solution ‘X’ is a current hype, so you look how successful company ‘Y’ is using it, a so-called “best practice”. Or you examine a number of successful companies and you look for what they have in common, a so-called “driver for success”.
The problem with approaches like these is that they look at the relationship between business success and a single dimension of the business activity. In addition, such approach also suggests that there is a causal link between that single dimension and t
In management literature there is this very popular thing, called the business case. The concept is simple. Solution ‘X’ is a current hype, so you look how successful company ‘Y’ is using it, a so-called “best practice”. Or you examine a number of successful companies and you look for what they have in common, a so-called “driver for success”.
The problem with approaches like these is that they look at the relationship between business success and a single dimension of the business activity. In addition, such approach also suggests that there is a causal link between that single dimension and the business success.
That can be so in the context of that specific company, but it is not guaranteed to be so in your own company’s context.
Reality is that successful companies never are successful just because they are excellent in just this single aspect of their business (the so-called best practice). They are successful because they are excellent in nearly every aspects of their business activity.
Therefore, on average, adopting a best practice can indeed be ‘good practice’ for your company. However, you have to understand the dependencies that make that such best practice is indeed workable and delivers results in these other companies that were the basis for the definition of it. If some of these dependencies are in conflict with the reality of your own organisation, then you might be on the road to failure.
I RIPPED MY PANTS and made a business out of it!
“RING!” The bell rang.
I couldn't be late to my next class.
I went down the stairs as quickly as possible. Arriving on the ground floor, I jumped to omit the final three steps and landed on a wet area… BAM!
My legs went wide open like a ballet dancer — ripping my pants!
“Haha!” everyone laughed at me.
Humiliating!
I quickly grabbed my things and ran to my car. I moved with my legs tight and close together so I wouldn’t reveal my underwear!
Hoping for a quick solution, I drove to the nearest tailor shop. I couldn’t find parking anywhere. I drove around t
I RIPPED MY PANTS and made a business out of it!
“RING!” The bell rang.
I couldn't be late to my next class.
I went down the stairs as quickly as possible. Arriving on the ground floor, I jumped to omit the final three steps and landed on a wet area… BAM!
My legs went wide open like a ballet dancer — ripping my pants!
“Haha!” everyone laughed at me.
Humiliating!
I quickly grabbed my things and ran to my car. I moved with my legs tight and close together so I wouldn’t reveal my underwear!
Hoping for a quick solution, I drove to the nearest tailor shop. I couldn’t find parking anywhere. I drove around the block and finally found a spot.
So here I go again, running like one of Snow White’s dwarves down the street.
Feeling relieved when I finally got there, I walked into the shop.
“Hello?” Nobody was at the front desk.
“Hello?” I called a little louder.
Nobody answered. “Anyone here?”
An old man finally came out holding a taco in one hand and a shirt in the other. “Hoooow can I heeelp you, son?” the old man finally said.
He didn’t care about my presence. He was in no rush whatsoever.
“I was having lunch. What do you want?” he said.
“Sir! This is an emergency! I need your help! NOW!”
“I don’t do emergencies,” he answered with a lazy attitude.
“What do you mean you don’t do emergencies?”
“No, son, I have too many back orders. I can’t help you.”
“Sir! Listen to me, I can’t go back to my classes with my Star Wars underwear peeking out from under my pants!”
“No can do. I can’t help you,” he said while eating his taco.
So, here I go again, running like a Disney dwarf to my car. Drove to another tailor shop — similar disappointment. No parking, no hunger for the job, no customer service, just the same “take it or leave it attitude.”
I finally went home and changed my pants.
Next day I took them to a nearby tailor shop.
“We will have them ready tomorrow,” the lady promised.
Next day …
“Sorry, I couldn't get to them. They're not ready. Please come back tomorrow.”
Next day …
“Sorry, we just have too much work; your order is still not ready.”
“What? How is this possible!”
“Sorry, that’s the way it is,” the lady said.
“Ahhha!” Ding! Ding! Ding! Bingo!
“This could be the business opportunity I’ve been searching for! These businesses are treating people like trash! I can do this better! There may be a business opportunity here!” My mind started envisioning how I could solve this.
To answer your question, how do I identify business opportunities?
- THE WORLD’S BIGGEST PROBLEMS ARE THE WORLD’S GREATEST BUSINESS OPPORTUNITIES.
- I identified a need!
- I pictured a better kind of service.
- I further analyzed my feeling and proved my theories.
- A few months later I started my first business transforming this tiny market.
- We quickly became the market leaders.
- We grew our service around town.
- We focused on customer service.
- We offered our clients parking area.
- We offered quick service.
- We offered quality.
- We offered emergency “while-you-wait” service.
Today, my business is still running +24 years later.
Remember this:
If you’re distracted, you will NEVER find opportunities. You can only see and find what your brain is looking for!
Quite possibly, yes. Today I found out that my business listing has been absolutely ERASED from Google Maps, gone without a trace, along with years of hard-earned 5-star reviews. I've spent the entire day going out of my mind with stress, desperately trying to figure out how/why/how to fix it. I was already “hanging on by a thread", with the business being the only thing in my life that was going fairly well. If I can't get my listing back, and the business I've put *everything* into ends up collapsing, It won't only be my business that gets ruined. Having barely survived the misery of numerou
Quite possibly, yes. Today I found out that my business listing has been absolutely ERASED from Google Maps, gone without a trace, along with years of hard-earned 5-star reviews. I've spent the entire day going out of my mind with stress, desperately trying to figure out how/why/how to fix it. I was already “hanging on by a thread", with the business being the only thing in my life that was going fairly well. If I can't get my listing back, and the business I've put *everything* into ends up collapsing, It won't only be my business that gets ruined. Having barely survived the misery of numerous corporate lay-offs, I figured working for myself would save me from the horror of unemployment and the severe depression which goes hand-in-hand with that, but right now I'm feeling like my world is closing in on me again. Reaching out to Google feels like a futile exercise. I've tried, of course, but I don't feel very hopeful of getting this resolved. Basically I'm at the end of my rope…again…and this time I don't think I'll survive the misery of financial ruin. Can't do it again…I'm done…and whoever it was who deleted my business…they might as well have put a gun to my head and pulled the trigger. It's unforgivable that someone can just destroy a business like this, and equally unforgivable that there's no way to reach an actual human-being at Google who can get this problem fixed. To many people this would just be a hiccup…a solvable hassle…but when you're already barely hanging-on to the will to keep going…it's the straw that will likely break the camel's back.
Definitely! I used to have a small operation going on to find clients for my Design business. Anything from websites to actual physical products, I have the talent to create and modify logos as well as designs.
Well out of many advertisements and weeks of trying to find a single customer, I finally got one call.
I picked it up during my main job and we began discussing the assignment and terms for the job.
Well I was basically declined without even knowing it. At the time I was hoping for the guy to make a definite appointment to meet up and discuss terms, when I should have been the one to discu
Definitely! I used to have a small operation going on to find clients for my Design business. Anything from websites to actual physical products, I have the talent to create and modify logos as well as designs.
Well out of many advertisements and weeks of trying to find a single customer, I finally got one call.
I picked it up during my main job and we began discussing the assignment and terms for the job.
Well I was basically declined without even knowing it. At the time I was hoping for the guy to make a definite appointment to meet up and discuss terms, when I should have been the one to discuss pricing, appointment, and everything business related.
I was just out of High School around then, so my life experience bar wasn’t full. I look back now, with the knowledge about proper business skills, and I wish I knew then what I know now. Everything happens for a reason though, I feel that failure was the perfect opportunity for me to grow as a human being and capitalize next time.
I am a CEO of a rather small company (15 employees). As a business owner, regardless of size, you need to innovate constantly. Every day you need to be slightly better than yesterday because your competition sure will be.
The phrase “We’ve always done it this way” is one of the worst reasons to select a method of doing something. At least by itself. The phrase needs to be expanded to something along the lines of these:
- “We’ve always done it this way. At the time it was the best method, but now we have tools/processes/knowledge of X, Y and Z which means doing it this other way makes sense.”
- “We’ve
I am a CEO of a rather small company (15 employees). As a business owner, regardless of size, you need to innovate constantly. Every day you need to be slightly better than yesterday because your competition sure will be.
The phrase “We’ve always done it this way” is one of the worst reasons to select a method of doing something. At least by itself. The phrase needs to be expanded to something along the lines of these:
- “We’ve always done it this way. At the time it was the best method, but now we have tools/processes/knowledge of X, Y and Z which means doing it this other way makes sense.”
- “We’ve always done it this way. At the time it was the best method, but now there are better methods. The advantage of using these new methods is really not worth the investments needed though. At least not for now.”
- “We’ve always done it this way. At the time it was the best method and there really isn’t any methods that are substantially better.”
Most of the time, when we are considering something new, we end up in the second clause. And the trickiest part is to figure out what the investment actually is. Most of the time the pure monetary cost of doing something in a different way is rather low. The really big things are usually the investment in time and frustration. You usually need time to implement the new method, your employees need time to learn the new method, production usually slows down.
Absolutely. I have been removed from Google Maps searches. After 15 months of spending around 15 hours per week writing emails, reading forums, and dealing with moronic support, no one has been able to fix the issue to make my business VISIBLE. Business is verified, and profile strength is very high, with tons of reviews and over a decade of establishment on the profile account. Nothing. Everything looks normal, and “it’s the algorithm. Nothing we can do.” Bullshit. Google forums have help that goes oddly silent when you mention anything that challenges the almighty Google—they know the hand t
Absolutely. I have been removed from Google Maps searches. After 15 months of spending around 15 hours per week writing emails, reading forums, and dealing with moronic support, no one has been able to fix the issue to make my business VISIBLE. Business is verified, and profile strength is very high, with tons of reviews and over a decade of establishment on the profile account. Nothing. Everything looks normal, and “it’s the algorithm. Nothing we can do.” Bullshit. Google forums have help that goes oddly silent when you mention anything that challenges the almighty Google—they know the hand that feeds—Google has become its own form of authoritarianism.
In desperation, I opened a Google Ads account. What a mistake that was. It is an utterly incomprehensible platform with incompetent ad reps who will max out your account with AI-generated keywords that make no sense. When you try to remove these keywords, they appear again days after you see massive charges for them. Now my business is fucking gone; I’m going into debt and selling my possessions to make rent while other competitors left and right in direct violation of their rules continue onward.
How can one company monopolize the entire internet (and therefore access to society) while commanding power over all regulators? This is tech authoritarianism.
I’ve never actually had a business, but I once directed films.
One of the very first things I ever directed was an adaptation of Shirley Jackson’s short film “The Lottery”.
This was back in 2006. We shot on film (super 16mm), and we had, by all accounts, a very successful two-day shoot with a good deal of equipment, 150 extras, a full crew, and a jam-packed shooting schedule.
Once we had the film “in
I’ve never actually had a business, but I once directed films.
One of the very first things I ever directed was an adaptation of Shirley Jackson’s short film “The Lottery”.
This was back in 2006. We shot on film (super 16mm), and we had, by all accounts, a very successful two-day shoot with a good deal of equipment, 150 extras, a full crew, and a jam-packed shooting schedule.
Once we had the film “in the can”, it was time to send the negatives to the film lab for processing.
Magno Film Lab came highly recommended by several crew members. We shipped the negative out to them and waited for the processing to finish. Much to our dismay… the lab burned an entire reel of our film. 8 minutes out of 48 minutes of footage was rendered completely unusable.
What did we get from them? “...
First I would advise to reconsider: ping pong, video games, free schedule and other perks are applicable to any company, not only a startup... and they are not "startup good practices". Here are some examples of good startup practices:
- Measuring your growth with precision
- Constantly reviewing your customer behaviour
- Continuously improving your business model
- Setting bold but achievable goals
- Hiring and firing very efficiently
- Constantly reinforcing your culture
The last two may be the key to your problem.
I once had an IT services / software outsourcing company where most of those p
First I would advise to reconsider: ping pong, video games, free schedule and other perks are applicable to any company, not only a startup... and they are not "startup good practices". Here are some examples of good startup practices:
- Measuring your growth with precision
- Constantly reviewing your customer behaviour
- Continuously improving your business model
- Setting bold but achievable goals
- Hiring and firing very efficiently
- Constantly reinforcing your culture
The last two may be the key to your problem.
I once had an IT services / software outsourcing company where most of those perks were available. Only 1-2% of the entire crew (if ever) raised my eyebrow of perk abuse... We had clients all over the world, mission-critical projects, but very rarely needed to consider removing those perks. We did have concerns on social network abuse, but minor conversations solved the problem.
Perks are managed by agreements: maybe the staff you hired does not have the background or commitment you need to build a startup - maybe you didn't send the right message. Think about when you hired each one of them, and try to remember if you explicitly established rules for the perks they would enjoy.
In fact, the root of good people management lies in well established agreements, and when you hire good people, they don't even need to be written on paper. Some examples on how I managed these agreements occasionally:
- "If we ever screw up as your management, I'll ask you to warn us about it and give us two chances to fix it. Then, if we keep screwing up, you can quit on the third time. And I'll give you equal rights: if you ever screw up, we'll let you know twice and give you time to fix it. On the third conversation, you'll know you're out. How does that sound?" (the answer was: "Fair")
- When someone abused a perk, I'd invite his/her for lunch and talk about what happened. Usually the answer was "but I didn't have anything to do, and my schedule is ok - aren't the perks there to be used on those situations?" and that was management's fault. When they couldn't justify their behaviour, I explained why they could hurt the culture and cause harm to everyone if perks were removed: "You gotta learn how to use them."
I could go on and on, but to wrap it up I'd suggest three books for you:
- "The Art of War" ;) where you'll learn good behaviour must be rewarded, but bad behaviour meets the sword as an example to everyone.
- "Managing Technical People" is a killer book by Watts Humphrey
- and "Leading Up" by Michael Useem may help you establishing agreements.
And DAMN, make it work!! :)
I have been doing casual business for over five years now in the tourist capital of Zambia, Livingstone, and I have face quite some challenges to get to where I have come today. Because of being used to one commodity common to customers I decided to bring in something new at some point, a brand new lable of the commodity I deal in and two times it flopped because people were used to the former. Bringing in something totally different is what costed me my customer base, so I tried to bring in something close to the former which worked just fine. Trial and error kind of arrangement; now my small
I have been doing casual business for over five years now in the tourist capital of Zambia, Livingstone, and I have face quite some challenges to get to where I have come today. Because of being used to one commodity common to customers I decided to bring in something new at some point, a brand new lable of the commodity I deal in and two times it flopped because people were used to the former. Bringing in something totally different is what costed me my customer base, so I tried to bring in something close to the former which worked just fine. Trial and error kind of arrangement; now my small business is thriving on three major brands of the commodity I sell and I'm still adding more yet slowly.
What then am I saying?
Small mistakes are those that may seem to be inevitable and are difficult to be perceived. However in business it is important to be cautious, there is no mistake too great or too small. Because any mistake whether small or big can be detrimental to any business.
Always do things by the book and by all means try to avoid to avoidable mistakes and put standby measures to contain the consequences of unexpected mistakes.
Regards!!
Where do I start?
I’m a huge financial nerd, and have spent an embarrassing amount of time talking to people about their money habits.
Here are the biggest mistakes people are making and how to fix them:
Not having a separate high interest savings account
Having a separate account allows you to see the results of all your hard work and keep your money separate so you're less tempted to spend it.
Plus with rates above 5.00%, the interest you can earn compared to most banks really adds up.
Here is a list of the top savings accounts available today. Deposit $5 before moving on because this is one of th
Where do I start?
I’m a huge financial nerd, and have spent an embarrassing amount of time talking to people about their money habits.
Here are the biggest mistakes people are making and how to fix them:
Not having a separate high interest savings account
Having a separate account allows you to see the results of all your hard work and keep your money separate so you're less tempted to spend it.
Plus with rates above 5.00%, the interest you can earn compared to most banks really adds up.
Here is a list of the top savings accounts available today. Deposit $5 before moving on because this is one of the biggest mistakes and easiest ones to fix.
Overpaying on car insurance
You’ve heard it a million times before, but the average American family still overspends by $417/year on car insurance.
If you’ve been with the same insurer for years, chances are you are one of them.
Pull up Coverage.com, a free site that will compare prices for you, answer the questions on the page, and it will show you how much you could be saving.
That’s it. You’ll likely be saving a bunch of money. Here’s a link to give it a try.
Consistently being in debt
If you’ve got $10K+ in debt (credit cards…medical bills…anything really) you could use a debt relief program and potentially reduce by over 20%.
Here’s how to see if you qualify:
Head over to this Debt Relief comparison website here, then simply answer the questions to see if you qualify.
It’s as simple as that. You’ll likely end up paying less than you owed before and you could be debt free in as little as 2 years.
Missing out on free money to invest
It’s no secret that millionaires love investing, but for the rest of us, it can seem out of reach.
Times have changed. There are a number of investing platforms that will give you a bonus to open an account and get started. All you have to do is open the account and invest at least $25, and you could get up to $1000 in bonus.
Pretty sweet deal right? Here is a link to some of the best options.
Having bad credit
A low credit score can come back to bite you in so many ways in the future.
From that next rental application to getting approved for any type of loan or credit card, if you have a bad history with credit, the good news is you can fix it.
Head over to BankRate.com and answer a few questions to see if you qualify. It only takes a few minutes and could save you from a major upset down the line.
How to get started
Hope this helps! Here are the links to get started:
Have a separate savings account
Stop overpaying for car insurance
Finally get out of debt
Start investing with a free bonus
Fix your credit
I can think of a few…
- Following the idiotic philosophy of “the customer is always right”.
- Following the death sentence of “if it isn’t broke, don’t fix it”.
- Taking employees for granted - having the attitude that they should be glad they have a job. Super destructive.
- Doing it all yourself. As a consultant I see this one almost every day. Doomsday for most businesses in 2020. You need outside expertise and a perception of your company you cannot possible get / have.
These 4 practices are very prevalent in both Fortune 500 companies and small businesses.
Dennis
Oh hell yes, I worked for Sears for close to 20 years, actually wanted to retire, the store I was in, refused to move to the Lloyd Center mall, no foot traffic, and folks rather shop at the mall, store closed up and out to the streets we were thrown. Another business was Burger King, franchise store, the owner got greedy, took the profits of all of the stores he owned and tried to open yet another chain restaurant called Houlihans, it was nothing other than dead weight to the franchised Burger King restaurants they owned, Houlihan couldn't earn their keep, and all of us who worked for Burger K
Oh hell yes, I worked for Sears for close to 20 years, actually wanted to retire, the store I was in, refused to move to the Lloyd Center mall, no foot traffic, and folks rather shop at the mall, store closed up and out to the streets we were thrown. Another business was Burger King, franchise store, the owner got greedy, took the profits of all of the stores he owned and tried to open yet another chain restaurant called Houlihans, it was nothing other than dead weight to the franchised Burger King restaurants they owned, Houlihan couldn't earn their keep, and all of us who worked for Burger King supported Houlihans, we didn't get our rewards as you'd expect, no raises, paid vacation time as well as our sick days were taken away from us, that caused alot of discord with in the entire organization having strangers living off of YOUR sweat equity and getting benefits that were rightfully yours that you slaved for. That shit smacked ass decision resulted in one Burger King restaurant after another to shut its doors, sad as it was, the franchise went from 20 stores down to 2 before the owner sold those 2 franchise stores, hundred of people out of work all because of the greed of one man.
Let’s look at this logically. It is my business. I have been in business long enough for the (I imagine) true “we’ve always done it this way”. Hense the word “always”. If it has worked for me in the past perhaps there is no need to change. If I notice a change detrimental to me then a change might be in order. Customer input is always valuable.
I forgot to ask, how did you come by me? Oh, word of mouth and convenience? Enough said.
Cost accounting.
If I may, you are asking a very theoretical question which will attract answers that are technically correct, but may be more or less useless to you, depending on the meaning and context of your question.
One of the patterns that I see, distinguishing between people with scar-tissue (like me :) and folks posing questions, is questions are generally asked in a way that is non-specific and vague.
You need to consider/include time and space in thinking about these issues. Because everything takes place in time and space.
Your next question: What widely accepted business practices are
Cost accounting.
If I may, you are asking a very theoretical question which will attract answers that are technically correct, but may be more or less useless to you, depending on the meaning and context of your question.
One of the patterns that I see, distinguishing between people with scar-tissue (like me :) and folks posing questions, is questions are generally asked in a way that is non-specific and vague.
You need to consider/include time and space in thinking about these issues. Because everything takes place in time and space.
Your next question: What widely accepted business practices are actually counterproductive over a 3-5 year period or after the first 20,000 sales?
Answer: Cost Accounting
Illustration: In the 90’s GM made a horrible mistake of selecting someone with an Accounting background as CEO (a widely accepted business practice). For the next 6 years, he hammered GM management to reduce production costs, in order to reduce purchasing price and get more sales.
There’s no question that “cost analysis” is a critical issue in car production. But if if “cost reduction” is taken out of context and somehow, over time, twisted into a mission statement, then the business is heading toward closing it’s doors.
After (deservedly) losing his job, in an interview, Rick said somewhat sadly “at the end of the day … customers have to want your cars.”
Bingo!
Good hunting.
It sounds to me like you are not doing your job.
Congratulations, you've made the transition from a few people in a basement to a decent sized team. But that comes with a different set of responsibilities than those that got you this far.
With 17 employees, less and less of your job will be to work on the business and more and more to lead.
Here's how you can be a better leader:
- make sure your expectations are clear during the hiring process (as Yuri mentions here as well)
- if people aren't performing don't wait, don't delay. Deal with it immediately. That may involve a quick fire, but it can
It sounds to me like you are not doing your job.
Congratulations, you've made the transition from a few people in a basement to a decent sized team. But that comes with a different set of responsibilities than those that got you this far.
With 17 employees, less and less of your job will be to work on the business and more and more to lead.
Here's how you can be a better leader:
- make sure your expectations are clear during the hiring process (as Yuri mentions here as well)
- if people aren't performing don't wait, don't delay. Deal with it immediately. That may involve a quick fire, but it can often be fixed with a few conversations - one on one
- have monthly one on one updates / conversations with each staff (you can reduce the frequency as things get better) The format of these can go something like the following
Leader - How do you think things are going at our company? - listen and take notes
Leader - How do you think you are doing here? - listen and take notes
Leader - What can I do for you? To make your job better/easier/more efficient? - listen and take notes
At this point you can express your concerns, but don't state them in terms of you (the employee) do these things wrong. Instead try something like this..
"What am I doing wrong as a leader? My expectations, [optional - as we talked about when you were hired], were that you would do X and Y and work X hard. It seems to me that you are not inspired. What can I do to get you there?"
At this point they may ask for some things from you. These things may surprise you. Often they are very easy to fix.
Your next step is to work out the deal or agreement.
Leader "Okay, so If I can do those things for you then you'll be able to deliver as expected on X and Y?" Get confirmation and acceptance of this.
And finally, you now have to deliver. Show people you'll deliver for them, and they'll deliver for you. This will hopefully save you a big firing spree and get people back on board with the hardworking culture you're looking for.
If you don't deliver on what you promised, however, then why should they. You don't need to agree to everything they ask for but you should deliver on what you agree to.
And if you can't come to a place where you cannot get them inspired and they just want to work 5 hours and watch house of cards... then fire them. But give them the opportunity to make this happen first.
Also, I'd highly recommend you read "Good to Great" by Jim Collins, in particular Chapter 3 "First Who.. then what"
Leadership skills can be learned, but you have to work at it.
I hope this helps!
For many years, companies have been trying to find ways to make their businesses more efficient and profitable. However, it is important for companies to avoid practices that are frowned upon by society. One practice that is frowned upon is the practice of layoff. Layoffs are where a company chooses to terminate a large number of its employees in order to save money. This can happen as an involuntary or voluntary action.Companies will often do this when their profits need a significant boost due to low sales, increased competition, and other factors which can include overheads , increased sala
For many years, companies have been trying to find ways to make their businesses more efficient and profitable. However, it is important for companies to avoid practices that are frowned upon by society. One practice that is frowned upon is the practice of layoff. Layoffs are where a company chooses to terminate a large number of its employees in order to save money. This can happen as an involuntary or voluntary action.Companies will often do this when their profits need a significant boost due to low sales, increased competition, and other factors which can include overheads , increased salaries, and so on. A layoff can be in the form of a mass firing or more subtle. This is done to save money in such a way that the company does not appear risky by reducing their expenses and not firing people outright.
Moreover, business practices that are frowned upon by the public are those which don't adhere to the norms of ethical business conduct. These include fraudulent practices, such as cheating customers or providing misleading information. These include discriminatory practices, such as hiring only people of a particular race or nationality, not treating all employees with equal respect, and not providing full disclosure about financial dealings. Such ethical business conduct is too frowned upon in practice.
“You’re a mushroom manager,” Peter, one of my peers said to me years ago.
“What’s a mushroom manager?”
“You feed people shit and you expect something to grow,” Peter said. Then he stormed out of my office.
I had to hold in my laughter. But Peter was right. Back in my younger days I was exactly as Peter described me. I was a mushroom manager.
Fast forward to when I started my company. I was meeting with Doug, an early member of the team who had worked with me years ago.
Doug said to me, “You used to be so different.”
“How so?” I asked.
“You used to be so paranoid. What happened to you?” It was clear f
“You’re a mushroom manager,” Peter, one of my peers said to me years ago.
“What’s a mushroom manager?”
“You feed people shit and you expect something to grow,” Peter said. Then he stormed out of my office.
I had to hold in my laughter. But Peter was right. Back in my younger days I was exactly as Peter described me. I was a mushroom manager.
Fast forward to when I started my company. I was meeting with Doug, an early member of the team who had worked with me years ago.
Doug said to me, “You used to be so different.”
“How so?” I asked.
“You used to be so paranoid. What happened to you?” It was clear from Doug’s tone, he didn’t like how I’d changed.
“I’ve gotten older,” I said to Doug.
You should be transparent with your team despite your paranoia.
What I didn’t say to Doug was that I am still paranoid. But your need to be transparent trumps your desire to keep things secret.
I told Doug that I made a conscious decision to be as open as possible with our team about everything going on in the company.
Doug said to me, “Aren’t you worried about our secrets getting to our competitors?”
“Absolutely,” I said. “But I’m willing to take that risk because the reward is much greater.”
You build tremendous trust from your team when you’re transparent.
“What’s the reward?”
“Loyalty,” I said. “I know we are going to have unknown problems as we grow. I also know that the team will inevitably find out. So, if we share the good and bad of what’s going on, the team will hang in with us when things get tough.”
Starting the first month of the company, when there were only eight of us, I started sharing with the team the slides from our board meetings. The only slides I kept private were the slides from the closed session.
Every department head gave a status, good and bad, the highlights and the lowlights of what was going on in their department. The team asked tough questions and we answered every question they had.
The team seemed to like the openness, and it didn’t seem like any of the information we were providing was leaking. But we weren’t really able to test whether the open approach we were taking was going to help us or not.
You don’t know when you’ll need to ask for your team’s loyalty.
It wasn’t until year four of our existence that the team’s loyalty was really tested. One of our investors (“Donald Ventures”) had decided, for reasons I still don’t fully understand, not to back our next round of funding. And now, “Raul”, the partner representing Donald Ventures was saying in our board meeting that we should shut down the company.
We had a term sheet from one investor with four other potential investors close to giving us funding, so Raul’s request took me by surprise. I asked the board if they would support us if I convinced the team to go to minimum wage for six weeks.
Much to my surprise the board agreed to my request. We had six weeks to close a deal.
The next day, I scheduled an all hands meeting with the whole company. I didn’t mince words.
I told everyone that we had six weeks to get another term sheet or the company would shut its doors. However, the only way we could keep the company going was if all of us went to minimum wage.
I answered every question the team had for the next hour. I assumed the team would quietly go back to their work after we were done.
Instead, everyone applauded.
It wasn’t the response I expected. In fact, I was so surprised by their response that I had to stop myself from crying.
We ended up receiving three term sheets and no one quit. That’s why being transparent is so critical to your success.
For more, read: Why You Should Tell Investors About All Your Competitors - Brett J. Fox
Absolutely.
Obviously, no one expects a grocery store cashier to know the inner workings of the business, but even low level and entry level employees should be a little knowledgeable for their area. (Even a cashier should know roughly where impulse buys are located, if you guys sell ice/stamps/propane, how to make change, etc.)
Imagine a more upscale setting. Like b2b firm.
If you hire someone who has disdain for the customers, is rude, isn’t knowledgeable, who has bad hygiene, who doesn’t fit the feel or look of the establishment, who doesn’t care, who gossips with co-workers rather than assist
Absolutely.
Obviously, no one expects a grocery store cashier to know the inner workings of the business, but even low level and entry level employees should be a little knowledgeable for their area. (Even a cashier should know roughly where impulse buys are located, if you guys sell ice/stamps/propane, how to make change, etc.)
Imagine a more upscale setting. Like b2b firm.
If you hire someone who has disdain for the customers, is rude, isn’t knowledgeable, who has bad hygiene, who doesn’t fit the feel or look of the establishment, who doesn’t care, who gossips with co-workers rather than assists customers, so on and so on, not only will you lose customers, your business will start to get a very bad reputation. (Not to mention possible lawsuits.)
Puncture scam:
Last week, I went to a local puncture shop to check air pressure of my car.
Little did I know, I was going to be scammed in spite of being very careful.
While checking the pressure of a third tyre, he mentioned that pressure was low. He filled more air and checked again but the pressure wasn’t rising.
Since, I was concerned for my long travel, I asked him to make a puncture.
Little did I know, he located eleven punctures and also asked me to replace faulty valve.
The entire fiasco cost me Rs. 1300/-.
Since I was new driver and have little knowledge, I paid him but I realised that somet
Puncture scam:
Last week, I went to a local puncture shop to check air pressure of my car.
Little did I know, I was going to be scammed in spite of being very careful.
While checking the pressure of a third tyre, he mentioned that pressure was low. He filled more air and checked again but the pressure wasn’t rising.
Since, I was concerned for my long travel, I asked him to make a puncture.
Little did I know, he located eleven punctures and also asked me to replace faulty valve.
The entire fiasco cost me Rs. 1300/-.
Since I was new driver and have little knowledge, I paid him but I realised that something is not right.
Eleven punctures were too much.
Later, I researched online and found that this scam has impacted several innocent people.
These scammers have devised several techniques of cheating innocence people.
- After taking out tyre, they will divert your attention by asking you to put your car on gear or pull a handbrake. Meantime, they will puncture your tyre.
- Sometimes, they apply Eno at different places that form bubbles on tyre on application of water
- While filling air, they raised pressure from recommended pressure of 32 psi to 50 psi, making older punctures to crack out.
Be aware of such scam and protect yourself.
Learning:
- Always refill/check air at a petrol pump/a branded tyre shop.
- Always keep a filled spare tyre
- Get your puncture done from a reputed tyre shop only.
Fraud. Dishonesty. Taking advantage of people unfairly.
Each industry has it’s own challenges but I think those three probably apply in most industries.
Business is very, very simple.
I remember listening to a podcast where Sir Richard Branson was interviewed. He told this story about how he was in a meeting with his executives when he was in his 40s or so. One of the execs pulled him aside and said, “Richard, I don’t think you understand the difference between ‘gross’ and ‘net’.” He then proceeded to draw a picture illustrating the difference between the two.
The point is: SRB built an empire having never understood how to read an income statement. It must not be that hard.
Here are the only 4 things you really need to know.
1) Buy something for
Business is very, very simple.
I remember listening to a podcast where Sir Richard Branson was interviewed. He told this story about how he was in a meeting with his executives when he was in his 40s or so. One of the execs pulled him aside and said, “Richard, I don’t think you understand the difference between ‘gross’ and ‘net’.” He then proceeded to draw a picture illustrating the difference between the two.
The point is: SRB built an empire having never understood how to read an income statement. It must not be that hard.
Here are the only 4 things you really need to know.
1) Buy something for $x, sell it for more than $x.
Do this enough and at scale, and you are in business!
You can buy and sell anything, really. Service businesses deals in time, retailers deals in things, media companies deal in knowledge, and so on. You want to be in service? Buy someone’s time for $x, sell it for more than $x. You get the idea.
2) Look around.
I used to think that I had to invent the next Apple or Google to build a business. Not so. The best business ideas are things already being done.
Look around. What is everyone doing? Mow lawns (that deals in time, btw). Everyone is doing it, so you know there is money in it! Buy and sell textbooks.
Or, you can approach the problem a different way. Look around. What problems to people want solved in their day-to-day life? How can you relieve frustration? How can you make someone’s life just a little bit better? Then, figure out how to do that. Most likely, they will pay you for it!
3) Move money in as few steps as possible.
This step comes courtesy of Charles Tips who illustrated it nicely with a cool story. I don’t remember the story.
I do remember the point, however. The fewer steps it takes to move money from the pockets of your customers to yours, the better. Whatever business idea you have, this point should be crystal clear!
Take Amazon as an example. You pick out what you want, you click “buy.” They get their money in two steps. Heck, they even have 1-click ordering now!
Make this easy, make it simple, make it certain.
4) Ideas don't matter, WORK is all that matters.
Weird to say, but it is true! Forget trying to find the perfect idea. Just find an idea that does 1–3, and execute!
And that is pretty much it!
I genuinely believe that entrepreneurship is the most powerful force on the planet. It is responsible for the miracle of modern life. In that vein, I firmly believe that anyone can be an entrepreneur. You just have to get good at solving problems.
It is very simple. Doesn’t mean it is easy. But it is simple.
Okay , so what works best depends on . .. so many things! It's not like there's one magic bullet , you know? For me, I think word of mouth is huge, its always been that way, but that takes time and building trust and honestly , good work . I had this one client , they were a nightmare , but they referred like five other people , so you just never know . And then there's social media, Instagram's been okay for me, but its so much work keeping up with it, you gotta post constantly , and the algorithm is a total mystery sometimes. I tried Facebook ads once , total waste of money. Felt like I was
Okay , so what works best depends on . .. so many things! It's not like there's one magic bullet , you know? For me, I think word of mouth is huge, its always been that way, but that takes time and building trust and honestly , good work . I had this one client , they were a nightmare , but they referred like five other people , so you just never know . And then there's social media, Instagram's been okay for me, but its so much work keeping up with it, you gotta post constantly , and the algorithm is a total mystery sometimes. I tried Facebook ads once , total waste of money. Felt like I was throwing money down a rat hole. I'm thinking about TikTok next, everyone says its where its at, but I dont even understand TikTok . Then theres networking , I hate networking events , they're so awkward and forced but I guess they work for some people , you gotta put yourself out there. Its a struggle , I'm terrible at small talk . I'd rather just focus on doing good work and hoping that speaks for itself, but that's not always enough , is it? You gotta hustle , gotta market yourself, even if it feels kinda sleazy sometimes . I've had a few clients that came from referrals and others who stumbled upon my website through a random Google search . It’s weird how that stuff happens sometimes ! Honestly, its probably a mix of everything . There’s no easy answer and what works for one business might not work for another . You gotta experiment and see what sticks , you know ? Its all a big experiment . It's exhausting sometimes. But yeah , you gotta keep trying different things . Anyway , go check out my bio for more of my rambling thoughts on this , I’ve got some more insights there, its worth a read if you're still confused . I go into more detail – or at least I try to.
“Destroy” is an extreme word. Hiring the wrong people can seriously jeopardize your business, especially if when you discover them, you keep them OR attempt to “fix” them. IF you hire a person who doesn’t fit, get rid of them quickly (following local laws and company procedures). A local computer repair company (with multiple locations) has a “techie/expert” on the front counter (instead of in the
“Destroy” is an extreme word. Hiring the wrong people can seriously jeopardize your business, especially if when you discover them, you keep them OR attempt to “fix” them. IF you hire a person who doesn’t fit, get rid of them quickly (following local laws and company procedures). A local computer repair company (with multiple locations) has a “techie/expert” on the front counter (instead of in the back room). He drives customers away with his long explanations and jargon when all they want is to get ...
No. You should keep pushing for best practices and high quality of work at your company. This sets the bar high for everyone including yourself and makes sure that the work done is not sloppy and well thought of. Imagine it being an open source project, you wouldn't just let anyone have their code merged in without proper review right?
As for refactoring the existing code, you should always think business value comes first! The way you should approach it is that, if you have an existing feature that needs to get done and it touches some legacy code, that is a good time to include the refactorin
No. You should keep pushing for best practices and high quality of work at your company. This sets the bar high for everyone including yourself and makes sure that the work done is not sloppy and well thought of. Imagine it being an open source project, you wouldn't just let anyone have their code merged in without proper review right?
As for refactoring the existing code, you should always think business value comes first! The way you should approach it is that, if you have an existing feature that needs to get done and it touches some legacy code, that is a good time to include the refactoring along with the feature. This makes sure you don't go around looking for pieces to refactor but to only refactor when you're going to actually make code changes that affect feature.
Okay, so what works best depends a lot on… well , everything really. Its not like there's one magic bullet, you know ? I mean, for *my* little Etsy shop, its all about the pictures, man . Gotta have killer photos, people dont even read the descriptions half the time, they just scroll . And the hashtags , dont forget the hashtags! Its insane how much that matters. I spent like , a whole weekend just researching the best ones. But my buddy , he's got a software company ? Totally different ballgame . He's all about networking and connections , conferences , fancy schmancy dinners… Its all about w
Okay, so what works best depends a lot on… well , everything really. Its not like there's one magic bullet, you know ? I mean, for *my* little Etsy shop, its all about the pictures, man . Gotta have killer photos, people dont even read the descriptions half the time, they just scroll . And the hashtags , dont forget the hashtags! Its insane how much that matters. I spent like , a whole weekend just researching the best ones. But my buddy , he's got a software company ? Totally different ballgame . He's all about networking and connections , conferences , fancy schmancy dinners… Its all about who you know, not what you know , in his world . At least thats what he keeps saying. I think its partly true . I dont know , maybe I should network more . And then there's marketing , right? Some people swear by Facebook ads , others its Instagram , TikTok is huge now , too. I tried TikTok ads once , it was a disaster , complete waste of money . I think I did something wrong though , I’m not sure. I'm still figuring it all out , and frankly , some days I feel like I'm just throwing spaghetti at the wall and seeing what sticks . Honestly, I think its a constant learning curve . You gotta experiment, try different things, see what your audience responds to . And sometimes , you just gotta go with your gut, even if it seems crazy . I almost gave up last year , things were really tough. But I stuck with it , and slowly things started to turn around. It's exhausting! So yeah, there's no easy answer . Its a mix of everything , really. And a whole lot of luck , probably . I think so anyway. Maybe I should start meditating . . . to improve my luck or something . Anyway, you should check out the explanation in my bio, its got some more thoughts I've put together , it might help you out. There's a lot more I could say , but this is getting long , so you should definitely check out that bio stuff.
There are many, but here’s a common one:
Networking marketing (previously known as Multi-level Marketing, and Pyramid Selling before that) has a bad name.
Full of greedy, hard-sell people who try to pressure and wear you down so that you can join them as downstream affiliates.
My wife joined one for a couple of days then got out because she was losing friends and she felt very uncomfortable with it.
In breaking the SEO rules, when do you not follow the best practices?
While it is advised to follow the SEO rules always, there are some cases when you can break the rules as well. For instance, Google advises websites to have unique content on every page they have. However, while some websites provide the same service in different cities or states, they just copy-paste the same content on every page, changing just the keywords and a few other words. This is actually acceptable by Google in many cases.
In breaking the SEO rules, when do you not follow the best practices?
While it is advised to follow the SEO rules always, there are some cases when you can break the rules as well. For instance, Google advises websites to have unique content on every page they have. However, while some websites provide the same service in different cities or states, they just copy-paste the same content on every page, changing just the keywords and a few other words. This is actually acceptable by Google in many cases.
I think you should gauge how receptive your team is to the idea. You are already doing that, but make sure you don't piss anyone off. Many may disagree, but I would be diplomatic if I was in your situation. Bring it up at every opportunity but don't be a nag.
The company may have objectives which don't align to your plan of refactoring or rewriting parts of the code.
That said, don't compromise on your code. Every time you encounter a situation which can cause future grief, try to fix it. At least drop a TODO comment that explains how things can be better. Make sure that comment is traceable t
I think you should gauge how receptive your team is to the idea. You are already doing that, but make sure you don't piss anyone off. Many may disagree, but I would be diplomatic if I was in your situation. Bring it up at every opportunity but don't be a nag.
The company may have objectives which don't align to your plan of refactoring or rewriting parts of the code.
That said, don't compromise on your code. Every time you encounter a situation which can cause future grief, try to fix it. At least drop a TODO comment that explains how things can be better. Make sure that comment is traceable to you. Don't point fingers, offer solutions. One of my mentors always said "Every time you check in, the code should be better than when you started". Make the complaints about how the code could be better but not about how the code is crappy.
No one should be able to make you lower your standards.
If the situation bothers you a lot, then you should move on. Don't burn any bridges, make it about personal improvement. You never know if your coworker will be your ticket to that angel investor for your future startup.
Working through this situation is about to teach you some excellent life skills. All the best!
I’m guessing 20 of the most popular would be:
- Tax avoidance / evasion
- Rent Seeking - Rent-Seeking
- Price gouging - Price gouging - Wikipedia
- Exploiting a vulnerable market (such as aggressive product promotions directly to children, sick / aged people)
- Failing to respect privacy of customers, employees, others
- Collusion and Cartel behaviour - Cartel - Wikipedia
- Exploiting workers (underpayment, poor conditions, termination without reason, . . . )
- Sexual harassment
- Bullying
- Discrimination in employment or remuneration (race, gender, age, sexual orientation, religion, . . .)
- Over-exploitation of the environ
I’m guessing 20 of the most popular would be:
- Tax avoidance / evasion
- Rent Seeking - Rent-Seeking
- Price gouging - Price gouging - Wikipedia
- Exploiting a vulnerable market (such as aggressive product promotions directly to children, sick / aged people)
- Failing to respect privacy of customers, employees, others
- Collusion and Cartel behaviour - Cartel - Wikipedia
- Exploiting workers (underpayment, poor conditions, termination without reason, . . . )
- Sexual harassment
- Bullying
- Discrimination in employment or remuneration (race, gender, age, sexual orientation, religion, . . .)
- Over-exploitation of the environment
- Pollution (ignoring or bypassing regulations)
- False advertising / misrepresentation / lying about product features and safety
- Overcharging (especially for services)
- Lobbying by offering advantages to politicians or parties, bribery
- Corruption - private enrichment by misuse of a position of trust
- Ignoring trade sanctions, dealing with rogue states (weapons, . . .)
- Dealing irresponsibly in harmful products (gambling, tobacco, alcohol, prostitution, trafficking, illegal weapons, . . .)
- Spying / stealing intellectual property
- Illegal activities, from unlawful entry up to murder
Is that enough to be getting on with for the time being?
Patent trolling is probably about as shrewd as it gets. Look at what Innovation Ventures is doing to get an idea of how deep the rabbit hole goes.
There needs to be a true safety net for those let's stand up to collusion, unethical business practices, racketeering etc.
Unfortunately, there are often very few resources available and the tentacles of corruption along with their financial influence…Florida has mauled me. Financial elder abuse is the number one crime in town and if you even try to fight it like I did you will get beyond destroyed…bunch of scumbags in on it and the tentacles run deep. If you're down here trying to save your parents/up against a hate group/corruption please don't hesitate to reach out.
20 years In Silicon Valley
There needs to be a true safety net for those let's stand up to collusion, unethical business practices, racketeering etc.
Unfortunately, there are often very few resources available and the tentacles of corruption along with their financial influence…Florida has mauled me. Financial elder abuse is the number one crime in town and if you even try to fight it like I did you will get beyond destroyed…bunch of scumbags in on it and the tentacles run deep. If you're down here trying to save your parents/up against a hate group/corruption please don't hesitate to reach out.
20 years In Silicon Valley - SF was a bit wild West but overall safe+lucrative to win over business based on merit and performance. Scaled my my book of business to almost 20 million dollars a year in revenue for the company - AOL and several spinouts where I was lucky enough to work with the same great group of DC Madmen of MarTech. How? With what I believe was the first AI application in business ‘AdLearn’ as our optimization engine… we crafted/sold digital advertising campaigns to the Fortune 500 and a sizable stable of well funded “disruptive” startups like; Amazon, pay pal, eBay, EA, T-mobile etc. All the while looking out for our clients best interest and calling out bad actors where we could since we had more visibility than most.. we even had legacy pixels hardcoded on major brands from AOL.
In this case, it was relatively easy to encourage ethical, evergreen and mutually beneficial business practices. Over time we were able to clean up the market quite a bit.
Personally - no.
But I’ve seen the damage that can be done.
There’s more than a single way of viewing this;
Direct - deserved.
Direct - undeserved.
Indirect - undeserved.
Direct & Deserved.
The one the majority of people will think of … has Google caught you out.
Be it a minor tweak that nudged a threshold, or a major update that hunts for specific features/trends - your site broke the guidelines, and you got caught and hammered for it.
Direct & Undeserved!
What many don’t seem to realise, or consider - there’s always collateral damage!
For every X number of spammy sites that G hits, there’s Y goo
Personally - no.
But I’ve seen the damage that can be done.
There’s more than a single way of viewing this;
Direct - deserved.
Direct - undeserved.
Indirect - undeserved.
Direct & Deserved.
The one the majority of people will think of … has Google caught you out.
Be it a minor tweak that nudged a threshold, or a major update that hunts for specific features/trends - your site broke the guidelines, and you got caught and hammered for it.
Direct & Undeserved!
What many don’t seem to realise, or consider - there’s always collateral damage!
For every X number of spammy sites that G hits, there’s Y good sites that get caught in the fire.
Now - from what I’ve seen - we are talking microscopic numbers here.
But they are there!
Indirect & Undeserved!
Something that many don’t consider - for every failure to capture/derank a spammy page, it is causing 1+ “good” pages to be displayed lower than it should be. This means the “bad” page gets more traffic (and in many cases conversions and money!) than it should, whilst the “good” pages do not (less traffic, less money!).
When viewed from a distance - you can see whole sites getting away with it, impacting multiple legitimate sites that have adhered to the guidelines negatively. Over time, this has resulted in owners simply quitting/folding.
As if those weren’t enough, there are two compounding issues;
No fixing things
No direct action
No Fixing Things for the collateral!
You’d have thought that someone at G was smart enough to include some sort of emergency button.
Some method of “undoing” a tag, or manually adjusting a value to remove a negative etc.
But there is no such thing (apparently).
If your pages/site are undeservedly hit - you are pretty much stuffed.
You can post on Twitter. You can go to the G forum. You can email JM himself. No one can do anything to save your site from an algo.
All you can do is pray that they see your issue, investigate it, and get an update pushed through and rolled out before you are put out of business (month after month after month of lost traffic and conversions!)
If you are lucky, you can survive long enough - whether you can survive after the hemorrhaging is a different matter.
No direct action taken, despite reports!
You can understand that catching spam and blackhats must be complicated,
and arduous.
You don’t expect Google to get it right the first time, nor the tenth. You appreciate that thigns change and they have to roll with the changes.
So when you see a spam site pushing past you in the SERPs - you don’t blame G,
you swear, you might even sweat a little … and then you file a spam report.
And check the SERPs.
And check several times for a week.
Then you ask in the forums, on Twitter, on Stack etc.
After a few months - nothing.
No change.
In fact, they’ve doubled their pages, tripled their links, and are now outranking 2 other sites as well as yours.
The problem here is - most spam reports do Not get action taken.
We don’t even know what % are used for the algo’s.
We do know that the chance of direct action is incredibly low - and often only occurs for Public outcry cases, or those that impact a huge number of searches.
If you’re in a low-search volume industry, with low-value target terms … your spam report is going to achieve pretty much nothing!
THey can spam and spam and spam - eating up positions and what would likely be your customers, your income.
And G does nothing!
So there you go - question answered,
and likely in ways you never expected.