When most people talk of leadership what they are really speaking to is the highest levels in the management hierarchy. They are talking about the legitimate authority positions in an organization. They speak of leadership as if it was a noun, a name we attribute to a person or position. Continue reading
Creativity
In The Larger Scheme of Things
What happens when the larger-scheme-of-things is ignored and denied out of existence? Continue reading
When Smart is Beyond Stupid
When do managers talk about improvement and development with those they manage? In most cases it is when managers are required to do so, during the organization’s annual performance appraisal time period. In three previous posts (Replace performance reviews with leadership for quality; Facilitate performance, don’t appraise it; Performance appraisal: A pathway to mistrust) performance appraisal was discussed but since the practice is still very popular another appraisal of it is in order. Continue reading
Imagine
Many of America’s business-minded, especially corporate CEOs, are unabashedly advocates for the market being the solution to everything. Privatize it, is the answer to it all! Yet at the very same time they also spend vast sums of money on lobbyist to rig things in their favor, which often minimizes (and even eliminates) the dynamics of the market. Seemingly for maximizing their profit relying on the market alone is not their preference, yet it is thought best for everyone else. Some even sing the praises of a free market and yet oppose full disclosure in labeling of products. It appears they think free means free to maximize profit in any way one can. Go figure! Continue reading
A Caveman Can Do It
Revenue, cost and profit are seen as foundational components in business and those viewing cost as a cause likely focus on a simple linear equation—(Profit = Revenue – Cost)—as the basis of their view. After all it is quite straightforward since for a given amount of revenue cost determines greater or lesser profit. Accordingly if one can get cost to zero (or to approach zero) then profit will be at its maximum—the very business of business is assured. But is not so simple. There is a missing piece to this. Continue reading
Removing The Public from Public Education
“The price good men pay for indifference to public affairs is to be ruled by evil men” (Plato). We (as a society) should be outraged over what people in high places are trying to do to (our) public education. Continue reading
Act On Cue Or Take The Lead
A recent essay about eliminating targets by John Wenger caused me to think again about the all too common misguided practice of setting and managing numerical goals. What I am coming to understand more deeply is that most if not all in management aren’t doing the wrong things—such as managing by the numbers and by results—on purpose they are doing them on cue. What do I mean by this? Continue reading
Toward Higher-Level Performance
Just imagine if those you managed were more self-acting and self-directed, had greater levels of creativity and had (really) good interpersonal skills. Wouldn’t this make for a higher performing team enhancing organizational performance, not to mention having a positive influence on your effectiveness? Obviously, for many, the next questions are do such people exist and how do I get them to be my team? Continue reading
Business Management Education—Think Again
In an HBR Blog Network article Gianpiero Petriglieri, Associate Professor of Organizational Behavior and Director of the Management Acceleration Programme at INSEAD, spoke to the question are business schools clueless or evil? Professor Petriglieri’s answer is “business schools are neither clueless nor evil. They are—like most students that flock to their classrooms—in transition. Overtly working to improve their competence and image and covertly wrestling with questions about identity and purpose.” Continue reading
Redesign for Capability Not Flatness
In an HBR Blog Network essay by Ron Ashkenas titled “More direct reports make life easier”, the case is made for increasing the span of control so that it becomes “possible to compress the number of hierarchical layers or levels.” Why do this? Continue reading
Gregory Gull 