In a New York Times Corner Office interview Kathleen Flanagan, President/CEO of Abt Associates, recalled her first meeting with management as the new 29-year old leader of a business unit of Abt.
Posts Tagged ‘Decision-making’
Hidden Leadership Lesson #30
Posted in Leadership, Management, Relationships, tagged Decision-making, Leadership, management, relationships on November 25, 2011 | 1 Comment »
Rethink or Reload
Posted in Change, Economy, Life, Problem Solving, tagged Change, Critical Thinking, Decision-making, Problem Solving, Progress, Systems Thinking on October 22, 2011 | Leave a Comment »
In his OP-ED column in the New York Times, Thomas Friedman briefly summarizes two books, “The Great Disruption” by Paul Gilding and “The Power of Pull” by John Hagel III, John Seely Brown & Lang Davison that each speak to the many social protests (a.k.a. The Great Disruption) we are seeing throughout the world—Occupy Wall [...]
Act on Causes not Outcomes
Posted in Economy, Problem Solving, Statistical Thinking, Systems Thinking, tagged Critical Thinking, Decision-making, Economy, Problem Solving, Statistical Thinking, Systems Thinking, Variation on September 5, 2011 | Leave a Comment »
Properly reporting and interpreting the movement in the monthly unemployment rate requires one to have an understanding of variation. Yes, while it may be a surprise to many, monthly outcomes do vary from month to month irrespective of whether there is an identifiable cause—you can call this random noise. There are also variation patterns that [...]
Mistaken Solution
Posted in Leadership, Management, organizational design, Problem Solving, Systems Thinking, tagged Decision-making, Leadership, Learning, management, organizational design, Quality, relationships, Systems Thinking on August 26, 2011 | Leave a Comment »
A story told by Jay Goltz to illustrate his strategy for learning from mistakes highlights common errors that many business managers and owners commit. Though Jay’s story takes place in one of his small businesses these errors are indeed common and committed regularly by managers in both small and large companies.
Reductionism Can Reduce Everything
Posted in Problem Solving, Systems Thinking, tagged Complexity, Decision-making, management, organizational design, Problem Solving, relationships, Systems Thinking on August 7, 2011 | 4 Comments »
What is reductionism? It is the theory and practice of solving problems by placing attention on its simpler constituent parts or components. In other words, solving problems of the whole—which can be quite complex—can be realized by attention to the most important constituent—the one cause or the one outcome—of the whole. Moreover this approach to [...]
Cheating Is No Surprise
Posted in Education, Management, Quality, Systems Thinking, tagged Critical Thinking, Decision-making, Leadership, management, Problem Solving, Quality, Systems Thinking on July 19, 2011 | Leave a Comment »
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 (often tacitly come to) value.
Fearing The Bogyman
Posted in Life, Problem Solving, Progress, tagged Critical Thinking, Decision-making, Progress on June 8, 2011 | 1 Comment »
If you hear a falsehood enough over a period of time you come to believe it to be true; after all if it wasn’t true then why would so many be saying it is so if it wasn’t!
Recapturing the Credo
Posted in Leadership, Management, Quality, tagged Business of business, Decision-making, Leadership, Moral Values, Quality on April 29, 2011 | Leave a Comment »
Johnson & Johnson has been known for its commitment to its credo that requires its executives and employees to conduct business responsibly and with the utmost concern for those they serve (which according to their credo includes patients, doctors and nurses). However recently that image of J&J being the pinnacle of responsible business has been [...]
When the First Step is a Misstep
Posted in Problem Solving, Systems Thinking, tagged Complexity, Critical Thinking, Decision-making, Problem Solving, Systems Thinking on April 14, 2011 | Leave a Comment »
Problem solving involves many steps, with each requiring decision-making before proceeding to the next toward ultimately resolving the issue. While each step is important, when problems are complex the most critical is the first because it is among the most difficult. In simple or structured problem situations the issue is quite self-evident, but in complex [...]
Statistically Speaking
Posted in Statistical Thinking, Systems Thinking, tagged Change, Critical Thinking, Decision-making, Education, Leadership, Learning, management, Problem Solving, Statistical Thinking, Systems Thinking, Variation on March 26, 2011 | 3 Comments »
Quantum physicists tell us that at the subatomic level there is indeterminacy to the interactions and interconnections of particles—that they do not take place at a definite place and time—and thus (they) exhibit a likelihood of occurring; reality is associated with a statistical probability distribution. In other words, variation is an inherent phenomenon characteristic of [...]
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