Category: Organizational Transformation
Organizational Transformation
The good news according to Peter Zeihan in The End of the World is just the Beginning, is that we have been fortunate to live through a unique period in history that saw unparalleled flourishing for most of the population. The bad news is that period is over. From the end of World War II until about 2015, Zeihan argues globalization made it possible for nations to leverage their resources and participate in a global market. That broad-based participation was made possible because the United States invested heavily to ensure safe transportation and adherence to international rules and norms.
The…
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Organizational Transformation
In the 4 Disciplines of Execution, Chris McChesney, Jim Huling, and Sean Covey address one of the biggest challenges in organizational life: spending too much of our time keeping the plates spinning and not having time to produce significant improvements and outcomes. They call keeping all the daily operations afloat the “whirlwind.” The term doesn’t sound like a very desirable way to spend our time. They argue the whirlwind is both necessary and keeps us from making the breakthroughs every organization desires. If the authors are correct, they raise an important question of how jobs get structured, how leaders…
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Organizational Transformation
Most organizations would like to be an innovation factory constantly producing new products and a steady stream of process improvements. Most experts agree companies must produce the right culture as well as the right structure to make that a reality. Established companies often struggle when the desire for new and improved meets the need for stability and scaling their current operational approaches. While innovation is often presented as motivating and exciting, the high risk of failure and the resulting criticisms often prove to be a larger influence on behavior, especially in larger organizations.
Michael…
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Organizational Transformation
Treating adults like adults doesn’t sound particularly revolutionary. Yet, the companies most often cited for innovative management approaches are basically doing exactly that. Netflix takes their turn in the spotlight in No Rules Rules written by founder and CEO Reed Hastings and business professor Erin Meyers. The company’s desire to limit or eliminate policies and processes that restrict individual decisions, rather than promote innovation, motivated their leadership to do away with strict guidelines on items like vacation time and business travel expenses. Hastings learned from his previous startup experience that scaling produces greater controls, resulting in less innovation. He…
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Organizational Transformation
Great, almost super human, decision making is the universal desire these days with the world in crisis. Leaders are being asked to make decisions that are outside their experience and beyond their skill level. Although the bar for decision making doesn’t get lowered much when we are just trying to compete and survive in our complex and fast moving lives. So, when you spot a book title, Think Like a Rocket Scientist, it is hard not think “this might help.” Rocket scientists are on that short list of most admired occupations for being really really smart. They combine analytical…
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