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 [...]
Archive for the ‘Progress’ Category
A Means to Ends Sleight of Hand
Posted in Leadership, Progress, Quality, tagged Decision-making, Leadership, management, Progress, Quality on February 24, 2010 | 3 Comments »
Superficiality Won’t Suffice
Posted in Leadership, Progress, Systems Thinking, tagged human spirit, Leadership, management, organizational design, partnership, relationships, Systems Thinking on February 17, 2010 | 1 Comment »
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 [...]
Eye on Quality
Posted in Progress, Quality, tagged Critical Thinking, Decision-making, Leadership, Progress, Quality on January 28, 2010 | 2 Comments »
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 [...]
Profit isn’t Enough for Progress
Posted in Leadership, Progress, Systems Thinking, tagged Critical Thinking, Decision-making, Leadership, management, partnership, Progress, Systems Thinking on January 22, 2010 | 3 Comments »
Just what is the business of business? What should be the primary focus of decision-making in business? If you are like most then you likely agree with Milton Friedman’s thinking—which many graduates of business school tacitly learn—that the clear-cut answer is profit. After all, we have a free enterprise private property self-interest maximizing economic system, [...]
What Americans fear most
Posted in Economy, Progress, tagged Critical Thinking, Decision-making, Problem Solving on January 12, 2010 | 1 Comment »
In surveys administered by Gallup since 1965, “big government always wins—by a lot” (Thank you Wall Street, may we have another? ). Initially I was surprised by the fact that the American people believe the biggest future threat to the country is not big business, or big labor but rather it is big government. Even [...]
Afraid to Innovate
Posted in Leadership, Progress, Quality, tagged Critical Thinking, Decision-making, Leadership, management, Progress, Quality, Systems Thinking on January 8, 2010 | 4 Comments »
The fear associated with creative development can often be devastating to an enterprise. As a case in point “G.M.’s biggest failing, reflected in a clear pattern over recent decades, has been its inability to strike a balance between those inside the company who pushed for innovation ahead of the curve, and the finance executives who [...]
By The Numbers
Posted in Leadership, Progress, Statistical Thinking, Systems Thinking, tagged Decision-making, Leadership, management, Problem Solving, Progress, Systems Thinking on January 1, 2010 | 4 Comments »
The economic system has a considerable influence on the way business is conducted since it encourages enterprises operating within it to align with its material growth maximization maxim. Consequently, economic enterprises are expected not only to seek but to maximize (their) material gain. Accordingly, those with administrative authority over the enterprise pursue material growth, monetizing [...]
A Wish
Posted in Leadership, Progress, partnership, tagged Development of Self, human spirit, Leadership, partnership, Progress, Quality on December 25, 2009 | 2 Comments »
Looking into the clear star-lit Christmas Eve sky feelings of both amazement and wonderment of our very existence and way of being emerged. So here we are between the infiniteness of the universe above and the finiteness of the earth below. I can’t help but think that we humans reflect both.
During the holiday season most [...]
Our Demon Measures
Posted in Problem Solving, Progress, Systems Thinking, tagged Critical Thinking, Problem Solving, Quality, Systems Thinking on December 11, 2009 | 6 Comments »
Many will acknowledge that while we may not measure what’s important, the important thing becomes what we measure. Why? It keeps us exclusively focused on what (in-practice) we really value.
So what’s most important to those in authority? Organizations have ceased to exist because of a single-minded pursuit of it. Well we’ve fought wars because of [...]
Is a Leader What We Need?
Posted in Leadership, Progress, partnership, tagged Critical Thinking, Leadership, partnership, relationships on December 4, 2009 | 4 Comments »
Whenever I converse with others about leadership, I am never quite sure that there is a common understanding of (exactly) what the term means—I would not be surprised if others have the same experience. Granted it is far more entertaining to talk about something that we can’t seem to agree upon—like who is #1 at [...]
