You're the new CEO of a sinking ship: Here's how to survive the first 100 days

Tech in Asia brings you the survival guide

One fine sunny morning, you are given the corner office. You are now the CEO. The chairman of the board takes you aside and says he is relying on you to rescue the company by driving the “innovation agenda.”

So, where do you go from here?

1) Don’t talk

I know, I know, it’s very tempting to go to the press and talk about how “innovation” is going to be the centre of your strategy and how you’re going to shake up the whole company. Don’t. Innovation is hard, changing culture is harder.

2) Pick your core team

If you have already worked in the company, you know who these people are. It should be a mix of folks who understand your core product very well, and gems who have been hidden under a few corporate layers. 

If you are not from the system and have been imported into the firm, take your time to know the people. If necessary, bring in a few outsiders who have worked at adjacent categories and have the “founder blood” in them.

3) Don’t kill the cash cow

You need to survive another day to innovate! Don’t kill your cash cow. Amazon will not kill their e-book business in pursuit of AI and Alexa. 

4) Get rid of a few layers

This needs to happen. The biggest obstacle to innovation is the bureaucracy accumulated over time. 

5) Don’t flip-flop

Now that you have started getting rid of layers, don’t flip-flop. You will hear a lot of arguments from “very respected” guys or gals within the system. But remember point three: keep revenues coming in and go out with a large axe. 

This is an excerpt from Tech in Asia. You can read the full article here