Root Out "Corporate Thinking"

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High-performing teams and leaders are “default aggressive.” It’s what I love about bullish founders, CEOs, and executives in companies that are going places. The ride is fast, there’s push, and it can be a bit of a rush. And, if you look under the hood of any high-performing team, you’d be surprised at how often default aggression lives across the board: from publicly traded companies to nimble, fast-rising startups.

But sometimes even the strongest engines propelling these companies get tampered with—though not intentionally. I have watched some phenomenal companies become infected by teams or leaders who hold elements of “corporate thinking;” essentially throwing sludge in the gears of an otherwise fast-moving car and grinding it to a slow, puttering pace.

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Corporate thinking chooses process, permission, complexity, and meetings over ownership, speed, and getting things done.

As one CEO said to me, “They say they are working hard, but they’re not *doing* anything.” But this isn’t just about action, it’s about a philosophy of operation and how people think. We’re going to root that out today, right now.

There are twelve sins of corporate thinking I see over and over again, and it’s probably infected your organization or team more than you realize. Everyone wants a high-performing culture, but you’ll never have it if these exist. Here’s what they are, and how to tackle them…use it as a checklist as you dig through your team or organization.