Because the middle is safe. The middle is comfortable. The middle is where nothing extraordinary happens

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Last month, I sat through a three-hour budget meeting.

Three hours of back and forth. “We need this much.” “We can only give you this much.” “Can we meet in the middle?”

By the end, everyone nodded. Everyone smiled. Everyone left feeling like they’d compromised.

But I left feeling like we’d settled .

Later that week, I was reading Jack Welch’s Winning during my commute. The chapter on budgets made me put the book down and stare out the window.

He had just described exactly what I’d watched happen in that meeting room. And he explained why it was making us all mediocre.

The Two Games Everyone Plays

Welch ran GE for 20 years. He turned it into a global giant. According to him, most companies make budgets in the same two broken ways.

Game 1: The Negotiation Dance

One team sets high targets.…