CEOs and the Magic Circle

Pic of the great Ali Bongo

Interesting piece here about CEO performance which is worth having a think about.

Essentially, CEO's are seen to do well if the company does well and somehow – often retrospectively – we link their actions with the company doing well

Thing is for companies, brands and people – success in a complex system often has very little to do with what the company, brand or person does: it's mostly other factors (like the economy, what competitors do or don't do etc etc). And bugger all to do with the CEO.

This is why CEO remuneration is vastly inflated: we imagine they are magicians who can make the system work differently than it does…

"Izzy, whizzy, let's get busy/go back to core business/look for new markets etc etc"

PS if you work in marketing or any aspect of business, ask yourself: is your programme or campaign really the thing that makes the difference or is it the stuff beyond your control? Are you just lucky? And what are your incantations?