Many say competition brings out the best in us. Is this fact or fiction?
Let’s assume it is fact. Accordingly, since we want the best to emerge from whatever involves people we must make it a competition. We want a winner to incite the rest (of us losers) to become winners. No one wants to be a loser! Continue Reading »
Posted in Leadership, Systems Thinking, partnership | Tagged human spirit, Leadership, management, partnership, relationships, Systems Thinking | 1 Comment »
Adam Bryant’s New York Times interview with Tachi Yamada, M.D., president of the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation’s Global Health Program, reveals essential abilities for anyone interested in making a difference to the organization. Yamada points to the importance of communicating to those with whom you are conversing that you care about them by not allowing other distractions interrupt the time you are investing with them—no cell phones, no email, no texting etc. What Yamada is speaking to, are the very human needs to be acknowledged and respected as a human being. Meeting these needs makes for an environment of trust; and with trust collaboration is likely and with collaboration progress becomes possible. Continue Reading »
Posted in Leadership | Tagged Leadership, relationships | Leave a Comment »
While we know that Wall Street is in New York City, it’s not so obvious that it is in every publically traded company as well. Wall Street’s influence on the focus of those leading the organization cannot be overlooked. Wall Street’s impact on executive-level (corporate) decision-making is similar to the impact that thought has on an individual’s decisions—thought is inextricably tied to perception and perception affects understanding. Continue Reading »
Posted in Leadership, Quality | Tagged Business of business, Decision-making, Leadership, Learning, Progress, Quality | Leave a Comment »
The March 5, 2010 New York Times headline read, “jobless rate holds steady, raising hopes of recovery”. Apparently it doesn’t take much to raise hope, at least among those doing the reporting. Why is two consecutive points with the same value (i.e. 9.7% in both January and February) a reason for hope? Would two consecutively made baskets in basketball constitute a scoring run? How about two winning hands at the blackjack table? Clearly not! Two points does not constitute a trend. Thus, the call for hope of a recovery is misleading; the result of a lack of understanding of how to read variation. Continue Reading »
Posted in Statistical Thinking | Tagged Decision-making, Learning, Statistical Thinking, Systems Thinking | 2 Comments »
Since examples can illustrate successful practice, many aspiring leaders often search for them to direct (their) action. And just as often those copying these examples fail. Why? Because they really don’t know what to copy! Rarely do people critically think about the examples in an effort to develop understanding of why the practice is effective.
A February 6, 2009 New York Times interview with Susan Docherty of General Motors revealed a key lesson for effective leadership. In response to Adam Bryant’s question, how do you hire, Susan stated “…I’m looking at people for my team, it’s not just what’s on their resume—their strengths or weaknesses or what they’ve accomplished—but it’s the way they think. I can learn twice as much, twice as quickly, if I’ve got people who think differently than I do around the table.” Continue Reading »
Posted in Leadership, partnership | Tagged Development of Self, human spirit, Leadership, relationships | 1 Comment »
Usually a business begins with an idea: An idea to deliver a product and/or service that meet the needs of people is the seed of a business enterprise. As needs are satisfactorily met a share of market is realized along with it revenue with profit. Share of market, revenue and profit are the material means that afford the organization the ability to continue meeting the needs of those it serves. In turn, the enterprise will continue in its existence as long as the initial intent to provide to the needs of those it serves is the focus of its attention. Continue Reading »
Posted in Leadership, Progress, Quality | Tagged Decision-making, Leadership, management, Progress, Quality | 3 Comments »
How leaders—management in authority—respond to the question, what is the business of business, will likely pre-figure how they design and manage their organization.
If those in authority believe the business of business is profit then they will very likely organize and manage as if the world is their oyster. According to this system of thought, reality is a collection of objects (i.e. resources) and business is a tool—an instrument, a machine—for the purpose of exacting material gain from the assets or resources at hand. Resources include the people employed by the enterprise—objectified as labor. I am sure you have heard or perhaps even spoken these words: our employees are our greatest assets! Stop and think about this: Who really wants to be the useful tool of another? Continue Reading »
Posted in Leadership, Progress, Systems Thinking | Tagged human spirit, Leadership, management, organizational design, partnership, relationships, Systems Thinking | 1 Comment »
Since examples can illustrate successful action, many aspiring leaders often search for them to direct (their) action. And just as often those copying these examples fail. Why? Because they really don’t know what to copy! There is rarely ever any critical thinking about the examples, so there is nothing learned from them. In other words, applying examples absent of an understanding of the underlying theory teaches nothing! Let’s illustrate as we critically think about a recent example.
In a New York Times Corner Office interview with Mark Pincus, founder and CEO of Zynga, interviewer Adam Bryant asked about leadership lessons learned. Mark brought to light the importance of reliability, working as a team and getting everyone going in a productive direction especially when you are not physically present. Continue Reading »
Posted in Leadership, Systems Thinking, partnership | Tagged Critical Thinking, human spirit, Leadership, management, relationships, Systems Thinking | 1 Comment »
Often those in authority within an organization—frequently referred to as ‘the leadership’—use the thing they believe is valued by most as a way of resolving a complex problem. That is, they throw money at it! While it does cost money to solve problems—energy is often expended—this does not mean that everything can be solved with the offering of money. A recently announced U.S. government initiative clearly illustrates this common practice.
The U.S. government initiated The Race to the Top that essentially offers a bag of cash—$4.35 billion to be exact—to get the attention of those in authority of public education within each state. However, as noted in the Wall Street Journal, “the U.S. has been trying without much success to spend its way to education excellence for decades.” [It should be noted that although this amount is substantial, it is less than 1% of what is allotted for education nationally in a year.] Continue Reading »
Posted in Problem Solving, Quality, Statistical Thinking, Systems Thinking | Tagged Complexity, Critical Thinking, Decision-making, Leadership, management, Problem Solving, Progress, Quality, Statistical Thinking, Systems Thinking | 1 Comment »
The recent recall by Toyota is apparently causing gloating among some and anxiety among others —there’s back-biting and nail-biting going on. Though the incidence of failure and fatality are rare, for those experiencing the accelerator malfunction it is significant.
Apart from the priceless human cost, why is it a big deal for Toyota (and seemingly bigger than if it had been any other automobile manufacturer)? Toyota has been known as the highest quality manufacturer—the gold standard in the auto industry. Not only had consumers touted Toyota as the best in quality, the competition had sought to measure up to Toyota’s level of quality. Continue Reading »
Posted in Progress, Quality | Tagged Critical Thinking, Decision-making, Leadership, Progress, Quality | 2 Comments »
