Leadership book of the week. Gumpisms: The Wit and Wisdom of Forrest Gump

OK, let me explain: This isn't my choice of leadership book. It's the choice of Allan Leighton, the UK businessman who became European CEO of Wal-Mart and Chairman of the Royal Mail, among other things. He says we need to simplify, that most leadership over-complicates. And reading the Haiku-like short quotes from Forrest Gump in Winston Groom's book Gumpisms: The Wit And Wisdom Of Forrest Gump, helps us get in the zone of thinking simply.

It's also a lot of fun if you take one of Forrest's epigrams and try and apply it to a business or organization contect: it helps you think differently. Here's a couple of examples, and first an extract from P J O'Rourke's introduction:

EXTRACT FROM P J O'ROURKE'S INTRODUCTION

"Here's a quote from a well-known genius:

'The mass of the sun curves space-time in such a way that although the earth follows a straight path in four-dimensional space-time, it apears to move along a circular orbit in three-dimensional space.' - Stephen W. Hawking, A Brief History of Time

Can you understand that? Me neither. Here is a quote from Forrest Gump:

'Do not try to cut your own hair.'

People outsmart themselves all the time, but you can't practice self-deception if...you always see right through everything you're doing." - P J O'Rourke, from the introduction

COUPLE OF EXAMPLES OF APPLYING GUMPISMS TO LEADERSHIP

Forrest: "Don't own nothin' if you can help it. If you can, even rent your shoes."

Lesson: Outsource all but your core competencies. Don't feel an organization has to own everything. The asset-lite organization is the way forward

Forrest: "Keep your bullshit detector in good workin' order."

Lesson: Pretty obvious, that one...Leaders in particular, though, have to be aware that people will tend to present you with what they think you want to hear rather than the unvarnished truth. And, it's easier to accept that than to dig and encourage a climate of absolute truth.

Forrest: "If you go to the zoo, always take somethin' to feed the animals - even if the signs say 'Do Not Feed Animals'. It wasn't the animals that put them signs up."

Lesson: Ummm...There's one in there somewhere. I'll leave you to think of one. And these -

Forrest:

"Always be ready to take a chance: look what it did for Rocky"

"When you feel there is an unfair burden on your shoulders, that's just the way it is sometimes."

"Do not sweat the small stuff; for that matter, do not sweat at all, as it will save you on deodorant."

"Whenever somebody says 'I am here to help you', hold onto your wallet."

"If you don't know where you are going, you will probably not wind up there."

"Nobody ever went broke saying 'Good Morning' to folks."

"Mediocrity killed the cat."

"At least I didn't lead no humdrum life."

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