HiPPO Hunting Guide

A series on dealing with know-it-all decision makers

If you opened this article hoping to get input for your upcoming African safari — you should close the tab and move one. This 3 parts guide is for those who are planning a hunting party in the Corporate jungle not in Africa.

In the corporate jungle HiPPO stands for: highest payed person’s opinion. HiPPOs are people (usually managers) who are so self-assured that they need neither other’s ideas nor data to take decisions. They are guided by their instinctual beliefs.

The guide is structured as follows:

Part 1: Indicators of HiPPO presence — the habitat

Reading this part will help you narrow down your search for the HiPPOs. This part is centered around indicators of HiPPO activity in a company, department or team.

This part is centered around the answer for the question: How can you tell if a company/department is run by HiPPOs?

Part 2: Identifying the HiPPO

This second part of the guide will help you identify the actual HiPPO. Also, in this part you will learn the connection between HiPPOs and Zebras.

This part is centered around the answer for the question: How can you tell someone’s a HiPPO from what they say and do?

Part 3: Dealing with a HiPPO

The last part of the guide will offer you various ways in which you can deal with HiPPOs.

This part is centered around the answer for the question: How do you manage a HiPPO?

Happy hunting.