6 Quotes by John Rossman

A well-written narrative and the process of writing it will force teams to get beyond being polite and get to insights.

At the heart of how Amazon innovates is its six-page memo, which kicks off everything the company does. Executives must write a press release, complete with hypothetical customer reactions to the product launch. That is followed by a series of FAQs, anticipating questions customers, as well as internal stakeholders, might have.

Why do programs and projects take too long, go over budget, become bloated, and fail to deliver according to expectations? Execution and project management technique can be reasons, but the biggest root cause is failing to accurately define the end state at the beginning.

Sometimes execution is poor, and that is a performance issue. Sometimes the idea is just not quite the right idea, and so you learn, adjust, and move forward.

It would certainly be much easier and socially cohesive to just compromise and not debate, but that may lead to the wrong decision.

Achieving clarity can be uncomfortable. It can disrupt. People tend to want to avoid conflict, be collaborative, and basically accept all the ideas and all the wording. This tactic does not demand the best thinking and avoids the sensitive topics in the spirit of “getting along.