The Khorus Blog

The American business magnates of the nineteenth century—the so-called robber barons—were fond of grand pronouncements. Some of their famous quotes sound like the words of exploitative tycoons, like the time railroad developer Jay Gould (b. 1836) supposedly claimed he could … Read More

In his classic text On War, first published in 1832, the Prussian general Carl von Clausewitz explores the complexities of large-scale military engagements. The book spends a whole chapter on the concept of “friction”—the accumulated difficulties of the battlefield that, as Clausewitz … Read More

Chefs have long recognized that for a dish to be truly delicious, it must have the right balance of the five elements of taste: salty, sweet, sour, savory (sometimes called umami), and bitter. If you taste a dish and think, … Read More

The best leaders understand that “transparency” isn’t just a buzzword. As corporate structures evolve and the world speeds up, internal information-sharing and visibility isn’t nice to have. It’s required. However, the common understanding of organizational transparency—that the CEO and top leadership team will hand down relevant information … Read More

If the company is the bus and its leader is the driver, as Jim Collins’s famous analogy states, then it stands to reason that when the bus is moving, the driver should mostly be looking out the windshield (toward the future) rather … Read More

In the mid-2000s, I was running NetQoS, the network management software firm I cofounded with my wife in 1999. I was years into my CEO journey, and I’d gotten a pretty good feel for the unique challenges of the role. … Read More

Google, Zynga, Sears—thanks in part to names like these, OKRs, or “objectives and key results,” have taken off in recent years. More and more companies are integrating this system into their culture and operations, and more solutions, including Khorus, are … Read More

If you had to explain to someone who was learning English what an entrepreneur is, what would you say? Maybe it seems like a simple question, but the meaning of the word can get slippery. Howard Stevenson, a longtime professor … Read More

Check out any blog, book or article about why employees quit their jobs, and you’ll find lack of feedback among the top reasons.  (Often even before salary.) This may make you think that employee reviews are an important retention tool. You’d … Read More