Top 10 business maxims that need to go - Part - 7.

Top 10 business maxims that need to go - Part - 7.

 

It ain't what you don't know that gets you into trouble.
It's what you know for sure that just ain't so.
- Josh Billings (or Mark Twain or Artemus Ward or...)

 

Much well-known business advice is sadly obsolete but can still be found in articles, business books and, not least, in daily use in the workplace. It seems that some companies are still guided by thinking that is sadly out of date - if it was ever true to begin with.

 

The worst of these old maxims are not only wrong, they're bad for people and bad for business. Businesses who use them are making their employees unhappy and are harming the bottom line.

 

Here's my pick of the top 10 business maxims in serious need of an update - with a suggested replacement for each.

 

Old maxim #7: The only way to get ahead is to put in the hours

Meaning: Success requires more than 40 hours/week. If you will not put in the hours, somebody else who will is going to come along and take your place.

 

Some results can be achieved through working more. If you can dig one hole in an hour, you can dig two holes in two hours.

 

However, some results do not scale that way: If a programmer can write 100 lines of code in an 8-hour work day, it does not follow that she can code 200 in a 16-hour day. In fact, the output of 16 hours of work may be significantly lower than what you get in 8.

 

You might even get more work done in 6 hours a day than you do in 8. That is what one company discovered, to their great surprise, when financial problems forced them to reduce working hours.

 

Instead of mindlessly putting in the hours, ask yourself how the work you do scale? How long is your optimal work day or work week?

 

New maxim: Maximize your results, not your hours