Leadership is about getting results so it’s nice to be able to see an industry mature and the growing leadership skills begin to bring better results and in particular, better productivity.
Foosball and free food still exist but long gone are the days of mindless spending and large losses in the software industry. The post-bubble era is seeing dramatic increases in productivity for software companies. It looks like the industry is really maturing. Our little baby is growing up.
Average revenue per employee has increased to $287,000 from $195,000 in 2003.
Average net income per employee is now $3,700 (which sounds anemic but represents huge improvement over the average net loss of $61,600 per employee back in 2003.)
62% of the companies are now profitable versus only 46% back in 2003.
The average market cap per employee increased from $600,000 to $1,129,000.
This may sound like a fairy tale but Axel Zein does a good job of talking about the Perfect Boss in his recent TED Talk which I thought you might enjoy.
I thought of using the term Brain Plasticity in the title to this blog but since I didn’t understand the term I figured ‘Use it or Lose it’ would be a better way to go. But then that’s the point isn’t it? If you want to retain something you’ve learned, you have to use it on a regular basis. It’s the way your brain works.
Some 20 years ago, researchers found that with the right stimulus, brain deterioration and ageing was in fact reversible. The brain actually changes as you improve an ability. The local wiring changes how its connected and those changes result in the acquisition of an ability. The brain evolves as you acquire an ability.
It’s the reason that the Seven Times Principle works. So if you want to learn something:
Did you ever wonder why your teachers told you to study early and often for a test? Well it turns out that there may be something to it. You’re actually better off distributing your practise on anything rather than trying to learn something by cramming.
The problem is that it is easier to teach things in a group and not in a distributed pattern.It’s also more convenient although not better to learn that way. That’s why leadership and other improvement courses are all put in a day or a closely packed series of days, rather than over a longer period.
But studies by such researchers as Ebbinghaus and Dempster have been showing over the last century that distributed practise leads to more durable learning. I guess it comes back to the Seven Times Principle. You need to hear or try something seven times before it sticks.
If you’re trying to train someone on anything it will also work. You’ll have to get them to try it seven times before it will stick.
Leadership is about getting results so it’s nice to be able to see an industry mature and the growing leadership skills begin to bring better results and in particular, better productivity.
