Words I like: If a problem can’t be solved by two people, you have the wrong people around.
I’ve seen this firsthand and it’s brutal.
It’s 5 past 4 at the office. Employees have barely worked 3 hours, and the 2nd crash-out is looming; heavy eyelids everywhere. What do you expect after a 1-hour lunch break?
This isn’t just a sleepy afternoon. It’s a culture that rewards obedience over intelligence. How can a company selling fitness coaching have so many lazy people?
Only God can answer…
Or I will.
Incompetence is just inflated weakness bouncing onto unalarming ignorance. The alarm will never go off because everyone’s too busy being a teacher’s pet.
Let’s simplify: If you oblige, obey, and don’t obstruct, you’ll always be the favorite employee.
But this could change if the founder is laser-focused. The problem is there’s inflation on both sides; the ego and the entitlement of the boss, and the ignorance and incompetence of the team.
Startups are about ideas first, not ideologies. A founder can start a mission based on an one, but if that ideology is never challenged, the startup spirals downward. Real growth comes when people speak up, challenge assumptions, and don’t just chase approval.
Successful companies reach their peak for one simple reason: they hire smart people.
But bosses who are good at nothing but bossing around? They hire people to control them. They don’t care if you’re smart or hardworking; all they care about is hearing a “yes sir!”
So, how can the company change if the founder is always right? And when mediocrity protects incompetence, even the smartest ideas get crushed.
Here’s the key takeaway from my experience: always judge the people around you. That tells you far more about a company than its tagline ever will. If the smartest person in the room isn’t challenging the founder or if everyone’s too busy being a “teacher’s pet”; run the other way.
And whenever you’re in an interview next and they ask you, “Where do you see yourself in five years?” just say:
“Depends on who you make me work with!”