13 counterintuitive business truths

(MoneyWatch) COMMENTARY They say opposites attract, but I'm pretty sure the opposite is also true, as in birds of a feather flock together. It's a paradox that I think applies in business and in life.

For example, while it may make sense for management teams to have a diverse range of complementary skills and experiences, successful companies also benefit from having a common corporate culture and belief system.

My wife of 22 years and I are completely different. Obviously we were attracted to each other, but about the only thing we've agreed on since is that we don't get along, not even a little. There's that paradox again.

I've long observed that some of the most important business and life lessons are counterintuitive or paradoxical. Indeed, Lao Tzu's Tao Te Ching suggests that "all behaviors contain their opposites" and you should "learn to see things backwards, inside out, and upside down."

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Here are 13 counterintuitive business truths I've come to know, even if I can't exactly explain why they make sense. The first truth actually relates to that very subject: the how and why of things.

To understand how things work, just observe; don't ask why. This is more or less the Tao Te Ching in a nutshell. It's pretty much all based on experience or observation. Obviously, there are times when understanding why is important, but most of the time it just complicates things and keeps you from seeing the simple truth of what's really happening.

Perception is reality. You may build and market a product, but what you think of it doesn't really count. The only thing that really matters is what customers think of it. Likewise, the real you is how others perceive you, not how you perceive yourself.

You have to take risks to increase stability and security.

If everyone's going one way, go the opposite way. AKA the "fools rush in" effect. It's usually better to do the opposite of what everyone else is doing or telling you to do. I actually understand the "why" of this one: Markets are more or less zero-sum games. Even if there's some market growth, there's still a finite number of winners. Bubbles are an exception, but they're not sustainable, and everyone loses when they collapse.

The more you seek to control things, the less you control. Try too hard and you lose everything; let go and you gain everything.

When you have problems with others, the answers are within you, not them.

If you seek consistent success, then you have to change with the times. If you maintain the status quo, as Machiavelli understood, over time you will lose.

The best salespeople and negotiators say the least. You can't learn anything by listening to yourself speak.

If you want to grow big, think small. Capturing niches is the best way to grow a business. Anyone who seeks to build an empire or get rich will inevitably fail.

Obstacles and opportunities are one and the same. Also a Machiavellian observation.

Inspiration and big ideas can come from doing as little as possible or from mindless, repetitive tasks.

In a competitive market your goal must be to maximize sales, not profits. All things being equal, if your goal is to maximize profits, then you'll lose business and your sales will eventually spiral down. But if your goal is to increase sales, then you'll gain business and economies of scale and your profits will ultimately increase.

People who act like they know it all know the least.

Now I want to hear from you. What's your favorite counterintuitive or paradoxical business truth?

Image courtesy of Flickr user Brett Jordan

[JenniferAG]

Interesting list - I agree with most. While I've heard others say "perception is reality," I can't make sense of that. Reality is based on facts. Perception is based on how we think about our experiences. When we start defining what is "real" based on our own perception, the result can be self-inflicted emotional damage, relationship difficulties, and misguided decisions.

"The real you is how others perceive you, not how you perceive yourself." Really?! Which others? Whose beliefs about me should I use to define myself? Should I change myself to try to please the others? What happens if various others perceive me differently - how am I supposed to know who the "real" me is?

(Steve, thanks for the thought-provoking articles! I loved "10 Things You Should Learn to Say" -- it's in my favorites.)

[feralferal]

Check out the catalogue of corporate counterintuition that is Richard Farson's "Management of the Absurd: Paradoxes of Leadership," still relevant 15 years after publication.

I especially liked the chapter about "once you have a technique that works, stop using it." This refers to "techniquing" people, which at least subconciously they'll resent...

[lpt31]

I am depressed by the "Perception is Reality" point and its corollary that we are who people think we are. Though I regrettably know this to be true and have seen it play out in work settings, this particular behavior lends itself to faulty conclusions that can negatively impact professionals who belong to a minority ethnic or racial group and sometimes women (still). As a black woman executive, I am scrutinized and sometimes motivations, probable behaviors are attributed to me that have nothing to do with me. And I am not alone. To the extent, that every city I've lived has informal, professional support groups to help us navigate through these murky career waters. Work in leadership positions is hard enough without having to mitigate others perceptions about me. HOWEVER, this complaint falls into the "life isn't fair" category and that's something I and my cohorts are all too aware. So, we drink Cosmos and suck it up. I just lament that it's like that because if there is one thing I've learned in my 25 year career, is that there is nothing a minority professional can do about this. Sometimes, if it's dire, we leave for greener pastures. But, if we're locked in, we adapt and cope. And drink Cosmos...

[stobak2]

That's quite an enlightening twist on the whole "perception is reality" thing. I guess it makes sense that when you throw "prejudgement" based on race, gender, hair color, tattoos, whatever, into the mix, that does change things quite a bit. Thanks for sharing.

Just to elaborate, I was thinking mostly about how people get locked into their own subjective self image -- which is why 360 degree reviews are far more surprising and enlightening than most expect. But I suspect you already knew that.

P.S. Go crazy and have a Mojito once in a while. : )

[feralferal]

It always sounded a bit too simplistic, and I noticed that it's used by simple-minded people. So I have my own version:

"Perception is almost never reality, but it's usually all that counts."

[1tim115]

Steve, I think my favorite counterintuitive business truth is "If you want people to know how great / smart / effective you are, stop telling them and let them see for themselves." Similar to your point about the best salespeople saying the least, it applies most when we talk about ourselves, especially when we're patting ourselves on the back. (Which we all do sometimes, even when we don't mean to.) Greatness is only really great when it's accompanied by genuine humility (e.g. when someone tells you how terrific you are, you respond with "I work with a great team of people who are all terrific" rather than "You know,I am terrific; thanks for noticing".) It runs counter to what we read about many of today's technology leaders (think Jobs, Gates, Zuckerberg et al) but it makes sense if you think about it. I don't want a boss who thinks they're smart - I want a boss who knows their team is smart and will support them accordingly.

[stobak2]

Couldn't agree more!

[Marc Jellinek]

Personal success depends on the success of your team

[medicalquack]

"People who act like they know it all know the least"..love it. We don't really have a world of experts anymore with the uncertainty that exists, but that doesn't mean there's not a lot of very smart people out there:)

The "smart" folks are writing code and creating algorithms that control and manipulate money though and I call it a full on Attack of the Killer Algorithms. Like anything else in life there's the good side and the bad side and folks make choices. Having written enough structured queries myself I tend to categorize them into a couple categories, those written for "accurate" results and those for "desired" results and they should be the same..but read the news today...NOT.

This is where the control is and yesterday I wrote about a TED video that talks about the "smart" criminals who use technology and it addressed items I have not even thought of, like using a 3D printer to print guns possibly? Its a shame for all the good that is out there we have the ugly side too. Time for a paradigm change and realize where the power is on servers that run 24/7 making life impacting decision about all of us. Talk is talk but nothing happens until the programmers make changes in the parameters of the queries that run and qualify or disqualify consumers and investors in every area of life today.

http://ducknetweb.blogspot.com/2012/07/vision-of-crime-in-futureted-video-by.html

As the speaker states, if you control the code, you control the world and we certainly don't want that on the "dark" side, but it exists out there. Even on a positive note a while back social networker Robert Scoble did a TED video in which he stated "the world belongs to the geeks as nobody else wants it"..."Coders rule" and just look at Wall Street for a good example of how they move the money, and how they have CEOs with very little if any tech knowledge that testify like Dimon..."I don't know"...there's the experts:)

http://ducknetweb.blogspot.com/2011/05/robert-scoble-at-tedxcoders-rule-video.html