No Wonder It's Either Google or Facebook: The 8 Immutable Laws of Management

‘THE 22 IMMUTABLE LAWS OF MARKETING’ book written by Al Ries and Jack Trout is a wonderful book. I realise that we too can apply the laws to management. In fact the world's 2 most preferred employers Google and Facebook use many of these 8 laws:

1. Law of Leadership – Be a Good Leader first then be a Good Manager. (Be a better manager in 4 weeks at here)

2. Law of Mind – it’s better to be the first in the mind than to be the first in the marketplace. Once a mind is made up, it rarely changes. So make a strong name in your people's minds that you are an Effective Manager (details at here).

3. Law of Perception – management is not a battle of ideas but a battle of perceptions. All ideas is relative. Management is a manipulation of perceptions. Make sure your people perceive you to be capable, that's why you cannot show your weakness in front of your team members.

4. Law of Ladder – move your team up the Ladder of Performance, from Basic to Expected, to Desired and ultimately to Unbelievable.

5. Law of Division – divide to multiply: divide your tasks and integrate them with strong teamwork.

6. Law of Candor – when you admit a negative, your team will give you a positive. First admit a negative and then twist it into a positive. Admitting a weakness makes you a real manager and people are connected to you immediately.

7. Law of Success – success often leads to arrogance, and arrogance leads to failure. Success often leads to less objectivity. So start by being a great boss and you'll be on the path of success.

8. Law of Acceleration – Accelerate your management success by equipping yourself with the right management strategies and tactics. Learn to be a better manager in just 4 weeks, details at here. Related articles on management:

The Secret Under the Mattress: Why would a 79-year Man Bet So Big on 4D?

It was 2007 when we discovered his secret. While moving my father’s mattress, we found them: heaps and heaps of Singapore Pools 4D tickets. They were stacked in layers, a paper trail of lost hopes. What shocked us most wasn’t just the volume, but the stakes. He wasn’t betting a few dollars for fun. He was punting hundreds of dollars per draw—nearly ten times a month. At the time, my siblings and I were furious. Our father was a 79-year-old retiree. We wondered, with a mix of anger and confusion, why a man at his stage of life would need to win such "big money." What was he going to do with the money? We saw it as a reckless habit, a sign of poor judgment in his final years. Some of us would say, "If I were to give him money to buy 4D, why don't I use the money and buy 4D myself? At least I have better discipline". It has taken me two decades, and the experience of raising my own three grown-up children, to finally see the truth that was hidden under that matt...

Head Bleeding when the Chair Falls

The Weight of Silence: What Were We Really Arguing About? My earliest memories are punctuated by the sound of shouting. In 1970, when I was barely 6 years old, I stood as a small witness to the fierce quarrels between my father and my late eldest brother Kah Yang (he passed away in 1971 at the age of 17). As I grew up, these contradictions became the soundtrack of our lives, usually centered around our family's shoe shop and clothing stalls in Chinatown. In the court of family opinion, the verdict was almost always the same: my father was "wrong." He was judged as a man who didn't fulfill his role, who wasn't "burdening" enough for the family’s success. But as I look back from the vantage point of 2026, I have to ask: Was that actually true? Let me finally put to rest what my father did right: the truths that were buried under decades of criticism: Unseen Labor: He worked grueling, long hours. I remember him hauling boxes of goods and equipment to set u...

Business and Money Tips

Search This Blog