Purple Cow
Purple Cow! Transform Your Business by Being ... - QuBranx.com
Purple Cow! Transform Your Business by Being ... - QuBranx.com
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Follow the Leader<br />
<strong>Purple</strong> <strong>Cow</strong><br />
Why do birds fly in formation? Because the birds that follow<br />
the leader have an easier flight. The leader breaks the<br />
wind resistance, and the following birds can fly far more<br />
efficiently. Without the triangle formation, Canadian<br />
geese would never have enough energy to make it to the<br />
end of their long migration.<br />
A lot of risk-averse businesspeople believe that they can follow<br />
a similar strategy. They think they can wait until a leader<br />
demonstrates a breakthrough idea, and then rush to copy it,<br />
enjoying the break in wind resistance from the leader.<br />
If you watch the flock closely, though, you’ll notice that<br />
the flock doesn’t really fly in formation. Every few minutes,<br />
one of the birds from the back of the flock will break away,<br />
fly to the front, and take over, giving the previous leader a<br />
chance to move to the back and take a break.<br />
The problem with people who would avoid a remarkable<br />
career is that they never end up as the leader. They decide<br />
to work for a big company, intentionally functioning as an<br />
anonymous drone, staying way back to avoid risk and criticism.<br />
If they make a mistake and choose the wrong bird to<br />
follow, they lose. When a big company lays off ten thousand<br />
people, most of those people probably don’t deserve<br />
to get fired. They were doing what they were told, staying<br />
within the boundaries, and following instructions. Alas,<br />
they picked the wrong lead bird.<br />
Even if you find a flock that’s pretty safe, in our turbulent<br />
world, it’s harder and harder to stay in formation,<br />
and we often find ourselves scurrying to find a new flock.<br />
The ability to lead is thus even more important because<br />
when your flock fades away, there may be no other flock<br />
handy.<br />
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