Paul Krugman’s NY Times article, Easy Useless Economics, brings to light a very important principle for problem solving—make sure you have identified the problem so you’re not wasting energy solving symptoms. Perhaps a simple example will help explain. Consider that the computer screen remains black when you press the on-button. What do you do? [...]
Posts Tagged ‘Systems Thinking’
Lost in the Leaves
Posted in Economy, Problem Solving, Systems Thinking, tagged Leadership, Economy, Problem Solving, Systems Thinking, Decision-making, Critical Thinking, Business of business on May 25, 2012 | Leave a Comment »
Cost as Cause or Outcome
Posted in Leadership, Progress, Systems Thinking, Management, tagged Business of business, Critical Thinking, Decision-making, Leadership, management, Progress, Quality, Systems Thinking on May 16, 2012 | 1 Comment »
To hear the talk of these days it would seem that to the business minded, costs are to be cut to the bone if not avoided altogether. So let’s consider what different minded leaders might do in regards to costs.
Parasite Or Partner
Posted in Economy, Leadership, Morality/Ethics, partnership, Quality, tagged Business of business, Critical Thinking, Economy, human spirit, Leadership, Moral Values, partnership, Progress, Quality, relationships, Systems Thinking on May 8, 2012 | 1 Comment »
Doing More For Less (of us) Getting the most out of people is not a bad thing but in the extreme it translates into squeezing the life out of them. As Deming exclaimed, “beat horses and they will run faster—for a while.” Doing more with less implies squeezing more and more out of people until [...]
Not All Data Are Valid
Posted in Leadership, Management, Problem Solving, Quality, Systems Thinking, tagged Critical Thinking, Decision-making, Leadership, management, Problem Solving, Quality, Systems Thinking on April 30, 2012 | 2 Comments »
Many people—probably with the exclusion of politicians—have come to believe data based decision-making is the way to effective action. In the words of Lord Kelvin, “to measure is to know” and so if our decisions and actions are to be directed by knowledge—not just by what we believe—then we must base them on data. While [...]
Transcend Self-Interest
Posted in Leadership, Life, Progress, Relationships, tagged Critical Thinking, Culture, Development of Self, Economy, human spirit, Leadership, partnership, Progress, relationships, Systems Thinking on April 10, 2012 | 1 Comment »
There seems to be a growing acceptance of the notion that we each are free independent individuals and as a consequence we not only can, but also should, order life in society accordingly. Being free independent individuals necessarily means people can freely do as they please or more specifically that they should do as [...]
Facilitate Performance, Don’t Appraise It
Posted in Leadership, Management, partnership, Progress, Quality, tagged Development of Self, human spirit, Leadership, Learning, management, organizational design, partnership, Progress, Quality, relationships, Systems Thinking on March 11, 2012 | 2 Comments »
Ah the annual performance appraisal! Let’s deconstruct this. Annual means every year. Performance means accomplishment. Appraisal means offering a judgment on the value of something or someone. So the annual performance appraisal is a yearly judgment of another person’s value to the organization.
Mindset Not Market Failure
Posted in Change, Economy, Life, Problem Solving, Systems Thinking, tagged Business of business, Change, Critical Thinking, Decision-making, Economy, Education, human spirit, Leadership, Moral Values, partnership, relationships, Systems Thinking on February 25, 2012 | 1 Comment »
In an article on Harvard Business Review Blog, titled U.S. Companies Versus the U.S. Economy, Thomas Kochan (of MIT Sloan School of Management) argues the disconnect between U.S. companies and the U.S. economy is the result of market failure. While the management of each business corporation makes decisions believing the unit of survival is the [...]
Divest or Invest
Posted in Leadership, Management, Progress, tagged Business of business, Critical Thinking, Leadership, Learning, management, Progress, Systems Thinking on February 19, 2012 | 3 Comments »
Profit can be realized in the short-term by divesting and over the long term by investing. In the former management cuts costs, most likely by firing people and/or squeezing more out of those who remain. Because you can only squeeze people so much before the lifeblood of the people and the business runs out, this [...]
Where Concern Is Limited
Posted in Change, Life, Progress, tagged Change, Development of Self, Economy, human spirit, Leadership, management, Progress, Quality, Systems Thinking on February 12, 2012 | 4 Comments »
Where is concern limited? In the short-term; in the short-term what’s between the past and now and between now and the horizon consumes all concern. Those who live in the short-term see only two points of reference, now and the past. When the short-term defines the horizon, then anything that lies beyond is imperceptible and [...]
Performance Appraisal: Pathway to Mistrust
Posted in Leadership, Management, partnership, Quality, Relationships, tagged Culture, Decision-making, human spirit, Leadership, Learning, management, organizational design, partnership, Progress, Quality, relationships, Systems Thinking on February 4, 2012 | 3 Comments »
Robert Galford’s HBR Blog Network article, “How to keep your cool during a performance review” suggest there is a widespread abhorrence and likely fear of the annual performance review. To make what is often a not-so-good experience better Robert offers four tactics: relax; prepare yourself to hear one or more unexpected ‘somethings’; if you don’t [...]
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