Escape Pistachio Leadership
Great companies balance innovation and financials
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You cannot improve what your leader can’t.
Often, it’s about capability — not will. We feel like they don’t listen, but actually, they don’t understand. They can’t envision the impact or consequences. Then, by chance, you find your proposal archived in an old Excel file.
Leaders often seem more open to talking about salary than ideas.
For a decade, average annual U.S. pay raises have hovered around 4%. Inflation has averaged around 2%. But just as water doesn’t flow uphill, extra money doesn’t flow into wallets on its own. Someone needs to flex the muscles and pour it in.
Leading salary negotiations is the next skill waiting for endorsement on LinkedIn.
Pistachios don’t innovate
Do you know how long a pistachio tree survives without any water? —Multiple years! That’s why many call it the nut tree of the future — an obvious choice in times of climate change. But even the nut of the future eventually needs irrigation, or it dies.
Pistachios make billions today. But tomorrow?
They’re farmers' million-dollar baby. But groundwater levels are falling. Pests spread through massive plantations like mold in a moist house. Looming tariffs haunt even the most industrious growers. Still, the number of pistachio trees grows faster than ever.
If that sparks your inner agronomist — great! You may have found your destiny.
Others might wonder whether this isn’t contradictory. Leaders often ignore the issues of tomorrow’s business. Instead, they focus on the problems of today.
This is Pistachio leadership.
And it’s not surprising. Just look at your bank account — I bet it gets more views than Google Patents.
I don’t know any better metric for innovation power than the number of granted patents. At average 300.000 U.S. utility patents are granted each year. A huge number. However, it’s been moving nowhere for a decade.
The number of U.S. patent grants has stagnated.
New products fuel our economy—and need tons of patents.
For example, bringing a new drug to market involves an average of 71 granted patents. While this varies by industry, one thing’s clear: the next big thing needs many ideas.
Is it healthy if salaries grow by 4% a year, but innovation remains flat? Will the average company face growth issues soon?
Avoid the obvious career
No one is permanently stuck. Not even the greatest leaders can prevent industry decline or force consumers to shout “Wow!” about the latest product. Following good advice from
it’s everything up to you! Better leave a great manager than stay put, sink into mediocrity, and move nowhere.
Before I left my first serious employer I had my worst sleepless nights. It was my career’s beginning. Back then, the purpose of my life was blurrier than a ski trail in heavy snowfall. I said Good Bye, as I witnessed:
1 Week innovation
We made 0.05 patents per associate per year. I now know the next big customer was light-years away. One product consumes dozens of patents. Further, before attending conferences I felt like applying for an expedition to Antarctica.
I patented on my own increasing the count to 0.1 patents per employee—not really making the cut.
2 Customer overweight
They made 80% of their business with one customer. For sure, the added value was real. The customer injected more and more money. But relying on one partner is like orbiting a red giant.
You’re the sweet, blue, lovely planet.
Until the red giant swells — and swallows everything.
3 Low personal growth
Even after three years in my role, I had no idea how to develop — other than becoming the CEO (ha!). My manager had been in his position for 20 years. In one-to-ones I regularly found myself digressing into Once Upon a Time in the West.
He was a great and balanced man. I just couldn’t read his mind.
4 Disengagement
Every idea needs challenge. Take Google. The ‘captain of moonshots’ (Astro Teller) supports innovators. He leads an entire department to rigorously test wild ideas. In my former company one barely empathetic mastermind decided whether an idea is lived or died.
Crushing ideas kills engagement.
5 Disconnection
Once, I opened up. I said we needed our own flat. My wife was expecting our first baby. Real estate prices were skyrocketing. I knew my boss couldn’t give me a raise, so I asked for loan support. Response: ‘I have never heard of that. Sorry. Impossible.’
Crushing personal needs disconnects.
Primary takes
Skipping almonds and planting pistachios on drought-stricken land seems like an innovation. But it’s not. Nor is planting more and more of them. It’s an obvious move— and less future-proof than it seems.
Pistachio leadership neglects tomorrow.
Too many companies mix up stretching wallets and being innovative. Real value comes from new products. New products come from real ideas. Innovation is without alternative.
The obvious is average.
To outsiders, big success looks like a surprise. To the average, it’s incomprehensible. But to you, it was planned. You didn’t follow the obvious path. You abandoned it.
You aren’t average.
I am Chris. I am a seasoned tech lead, lit up by connecting creatives and discovering how they stay connected to meaning in their work. This piece is part of The Why Worker. If you liked it, share it please. Heart ♥ and restack ↑↑ if possible 😊.
THANK YOU!
"Pistachios don’t innovate' - what a line, Chris!
Growth isn’t always vertical.
Sometimes it's lateral, diagonal, or outside the orchard altogether.
Thank you for the mention here.
I appreciate you!