Ken vs. Joe

First, let’s look at Ken.

Ken's qualities
  • Ken knows how to run his corner of the business. That is to say, he knows how it’s been run, and he’s good at keeping that engine going.
  • In fact, he’s gotten quite comfortable in his position. His goal is to keep on doing what has worked.
  • Ken’s other goal is to keep his costs down. This has brought him success in the past. Software is expensive, so of course it should be avoided.
  • Ken worries about the quarter’s financials, giving him a maximum time-horizon of three months.
  • Ken also spends a lot of time worrying about what his competitors are doing. It keeps him up at night.
  • Ken waits for things to happen, then reacts to them according to his usual playbook.
  • When there are problems that are outside his playbook, Ken looks for the quick fix that will show the best results for the quarter.
  • Ken knows what he knows. He knows what he’s good at. But he doesn’t know what he doesn’t know, and that ignorance frightens him.
  • Ken goes about his day feeling overwhelmed at the complexity of everything.

Now, let’s compare Joe.

Joe's qualities

  • Joe knows his business, and he knows it could be better. He’s always looking for ways to improve—to make the boat go faster.
  • He recognizes that growth leads to discomfort. He’s willing to do the hard things required to achieve success for the business.
  • Joe wants to keep costs down, but he’s much more interested in value through ROI.
  • To that end, Joe looks for opportunities to invest in long-term assets that will bring long-term returns, even if it doesn’t goose the current quarter’s numbers.
  • Instead of worrying about competitors, Joe’s looking for a competitive edge. As the boat gets faster, the effects compound over time.
  • Joe accepts that the world is changing and is prepared to adapt to those changes, playbook or no.
  • In order to adapt to change and make the boat go faster, he’s looking for things that he, personally, can do. He takes responsibility for making the boat go faster.
  • Joe has a plan. He does what he's good at, and he relies on his people in the arenas they're good at.

Did you notice something else, though?

Who’s more tech-savvy? Joe, or Ken?

Who’s leading his company in innovation?

Who’s sitting on the sidelines, worrying?


The truth is, Ken and Joe aren’t real people. Spacely Sprockets and Cogswell Cogs aren’t real companies.

The warehouse is based on a real warehouse team that dramatically improved their inventory process by looking for ways to make small improvements over time.

The point of this little fable is to demonstrate the importance of mindset for a leader who wants to improve the business, especially when complex software systems are involved.

You probably recognized bits of Ken and bits of Joe in yourself.

You probably recognized bits of Spacely Sprockets and Cogswell Cogs in your own company.

You might think this is the part of the essay where I start beating up on Ken.

But no, that’s not the point at all.

Ken’s fears are common, and they’re warranted. (Joe has the same concerns.)

According to decades of research by the Standish Group, 77% of software projects fail: late, over budget, canceled, or complete disaster.

Entire companies have gone under because of software projects gone bad.

(If you want a good horror story to tell around the campfire, search for "Knight Capital bug". Warning: it may give you nightmares!)

According to a 2024 study by Gartner, the majority of all companies (68% of midsize, 57% of small businesses) regret a software purchase in the past 12 to 18 months.

And yet the opportunity is still there. The same study showed that more than 6 in 10 of midsize and small enterprises planned to spend more on software in 2024 than in 2023.

Venture capitalist and entrepreneur Marc Andreessen has said that “software is eating the world”. There’s no escaping it, and it’s irreversibly changing the business landscape.

The question is, what are you going to do about it when you inevitably find yourself in need of a software solution to a business problem?

Will you accept responsibility for making your own boat go faster?