“The trick is not minding that it hurts.”

Most people attribute it to all sorts of things. It’s from Lawrence of Arabia, when T.E. Lawrence casually pinches out a lit match, burns his fingers, and shrugs like it’s admin. 

That line is basically the job description in business, especially in private equity.

The work that actually moves EBITDA is repetitive, awkward, and faintly humiliating.
Raising prices and holding the line when Procurement starts performing theatre.
Killing the “strategic initiatives” that exist purely to keep senior people employed.
Fixing the CRM so you can trust a number without needing three VPs to bless it.
Integrating acquisitions properly instead of stapling logos together and calling it synergy.

Most leadership teams don’t avoid pain because they’re stupid. They avoid it because it’s socially expensive. Real change makes people uncomfortable. It creates conflict. It breaks a few friendships. It forces decisions.

And that’s why the stats are so grim. Most acquisitions miss expectations. Most transformations fail. Data governance initiatives die quietly because nobody has the stomach for the unsexy work. 

You can spot the companies that “mind that it hurts” immediately. They love workshops. They love committees. They love the dashboard that explains why the dashboard is wrong.

The winners do the boring, painful bits early. They don’t romanticise it. They just do it.
Then, six months later, everyone else calls it “best practice”.