Founders: #56 The Biography of Herb Kelleher
What I learned from reading Nuts!: Southwest Airlines' Crazy Recipe for Business and Personal Success ---- Reality is chaotic; planning is ordered [0:01] Vince Lombardi is the Steve Jobs of coaches [3:48] how Southwest Airlines is different [11:31] the beginning of Southwest [16:00] fighting anticompetitive practice [24:30] finding a new market by doing the opposite of your competition [29:00] missionaries make the best products [31:00] being forced to innovate leads to questioning assumptions which leads to finding new markets [34:00] how Southwest became the largest liquor distributor in Texas [38:00] remember your fundamental reason for being and don't deviate from that [40:45] optimize for profits, not market share [42:30] know what you are competing with - not who [44:15] how having only one type of airplane gives Southwest an advantage [46:30] how keeping it simple saved Southwest $2 million [51:30] know what you do best - have the discipline to stick to it [53:00] if you are going to be small you have to be fast [1:01:19] the benefits of curiosity are unpredictable [1:03:45] ---- Founders Notes gives you the ability to tap into the collective knowledge of history's greatest
[00:00:00] One plan, no matter how well laid, couldn't possibly respond to all of these situations. This is why Keller does not put much stock in traditional strategic planning. His concern is that writing something down in a plan makes it gospel. When the plan becomes gospel, it's easy for people to become rigid in their thinking and less open to new, perhaps off-the-wall ideas. Keller explains it this way, reality is chaotic, planning is ordered and logical. The two don't square well with one another. When USAir pulls out of six cities in California, they don't [00:00:36] call me and tell…
related reading
- Founders: #322 Herb Kelleher (Southwest Airlines)podscripts.co
- A Smart Bearlongform.asmartbear.com
- In Defense of Strategy - Not Boring by Packy McCormicknotboring.co
- Founders: #349 How Steve Jobs Kept Things Simplepodscripts.co
- Book Summary: Zero to One — LessWronglesswrong.com
- Founders: #330 Les Schwab (Charlie Munger recommended this book)pod.wave.co
- Founders: #424 Peter Thiel on How to Build a Creative Monopolypod.wave.co
- An Interview with The Air Current’s Jon Ostrower about Southwest’s Meltdown and Independent Publishing – Stratechery by Ben Thompsonstratechery.com
- Founders: #29 The HP Way: How Bill Hewlett and I Built Our Companypodscripts.co
- Book Summary: Zero to One — LessWronglesswrong.com
- Becoming a Strategist (Part 1)rumelt.substack.com
- Henry Singleton on Strategic Planningfs.blog