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Monthly Archives: April 2012

Breaking the Cake of Custom: A Cavalry Charge with Fresh Horses

Posted on April 24, 2012 by David

Organizations have to do two things to survive in a sustainable fashion: Conserve their core business Innovate to change their business The current term for this ability of organizations to both “exploit” and “explore” is “ambidexterity”, but it has long … Continue reading →

Posted in Change | Tagged Alfred North Whitehead, cake of custom, conservation, Dan Señor, habit, innovation, Israel, Mormon, noveltyPlato, Peter Drucker, progress.order, Saul Singer, think and act, Walter Bagehot | Comments Off

Disrupting the Past: (Channeling David Brooks #2)

Posted on April 17, 2012 by David

As readers of my blog know from a previous posting, New York Times columnist David Brooks is an alumnus of the University of Chicago. Famously he got his big break when he wrote a satirical parody of William F. Buckley’s memoir Overdrive, just … Continue reading →

Posted in General | Tagged Adolph Hitler, anomalies, causes, competency, context, continuities, David Brooks, disrupting the past, ecocycle, Elliot Gorn, Henry Ford, history, John Lewis Gaddis, Marc Bloch, Peter Drucker, Saddam Hussein, science of change, singularities, strategy, University of Chicago, Vietnam. Philippines, virtuous habits | Comments Off

Management Without Principles

Posted on April 10, 2012 by David

Management “principles” have been a prominent feature of the field ever since the 1950s, when a concerted attempt was made to put management on the path to becoming a social science. With economics as their guide and physics as the … Continue reading →

Posted in Change, General | Tagged Cartesian mind, complex systems, context, contextual intelligence, ecological rationality, economics, history matters, innovation skills, management principles, Master's golf, meaning, POSDCORB, The Innovator's DNA | 1 Comment

Measuring Buzz: Hunting Dynamics in the 21st Century

Posted on April 6, 2012 by David

Every manager knows that the “buzz” on a team is an important indicator of their likely success. You can poke your head into a meeting room and, without hearing a word of what is being said, get an instant impression … Continue reading →

Posted in Change, General | Tagged body language, buzz, communication media, engagement, exploration, fission-fusion, hunter-gatherer, hunters and herders, hunting dynamics, narrative | Comments Off

Channeling David Brooks #1: Asking the Right Question about America

Posted on April 3, 2012 by David

New York Times columnist David Brooks is an alumnus of the University of Chicago. Famously he got his big break when he wrote a satirical parody of William F. Buckley’s memoir, Overdrive, just as the conservative pundit was coming to campus to … Continue reading →