Blog

Category Archives: General

The Drucker Forum: A Bridge from the Past to the Future

Posted on November 13, 2012 by David

Today I am headed to Vienna to take part in the 4th Global Drucker Forum, where an essay I wrote earlier this year has won second prize in the manager/entrepreneur category. The Drucker Global Essay Challenge has two categories – … Continue reading →

Posted in Change, General, Leadership, Strategy | Tagged Bob Lutz, budgets, change, complex systems, Drucker Essay Challenge, Drucker Forum, ecological perspective, ecological rationality, ecologics, Honda, logical positivism, MBO, performance management, Peter Drucker, power, self-control, shareholder value model, social ecology, The New Ecology of Leadership, trust | 2 Comments

The Presidential Election: America In a Trap

Posted on November 6, 2012 by David

The best laid schemes o’ mice an’ men gang aft agley and it is difficult to imagine how disruptive Superstorm Sandy must have been to Mitt Romney’s presidential campaign. He was effectively prevented from campaigning and forced to watch his … Continue reading →

Posted in Change, General, Leadership, Strategy | Tagged 1984, Barack Obama, Big Brother, change, china, Chris Christy, Chrysler, community, dependency corruption, ecocycle, ecological perspective, George Orwell, Great Recession, Jeep, Jeremiah Wright, John McCain, Lawrence Lessig, leadership, management, Mitt Romney, Mormon, narrative, Ohio, power, regulation, social trap, special interests, Superstorm Sandy, sweet zone, tax code, winner-take-all | 1 Comment

The Ecology of Health Care: in Sickness and in Health

Posted on October 30, 2012 by David

Health care in America is in a horrible mess, the lair of what complexity theorists call “wicked problems”. A recent article in Wired magazine described it as “a morass, a quagmire, a slough of policy despond”. As every one knows, … Continue reading →

Posted in Change, General, Leadership, Strategy | Tagged change, community, complex systems, complexity theory, ecocycle, ecological perspective, ecosystem, healthcare, industry rollup, means and ends, private-equity, systems theory, The New Ecology of Leadership, upcode, vertical integration, wicked problems | 2 Comments

“Horses for Courses”: Changing the Guard at Citibank

Posted on October 23, 2012 by David

This week Vikram S. Pandit resigned suddenly as CEO of Citibank, together with his longtime lieutenant and business partner, John Havens, who was President and COO. Although Pandit claimed that he left voluntarily, it is clear that he and Havens … Continue reading →

Posted in Change, General, Leadership | Tagged CEO succession, change, Citigroup, context, culture, ecocycle, John Havens, Michael Corbat, Michael O'Neill, Robert Rubin, social traps, sweet zone, Vikram Pandit | Comments Off

Drucker Forum: Capitalism 2.0 – New Horizons for Managers: Asking the Right Questions

Posted on October 16, 2012 by David

The Drucker Forum, which is taking place in Vienna from November 15 to 16, is now only a month away. It promises to be an excellent conference, with exciting speakers and the promise of great discussions. There will be some … Continue reading →

Posted in Change, General | Tagged Adrian Wooldridge, Anglo-Saxon capitalism, Bent Flyvbjerg, CEO pay, change, Chicago Booth, complex systems, Fixing the Game, Global Drucker Forum, Gretchen Morgenson, hedge-fund, Masters of Management, Peter Drucker, power, private-equity, Roger Martin, Steven Kaplan, Walter Bagehot | 1 Comment

Communities of Faith and The Spirit of Capitalism

Posted on October 2, 2012 by David

Last week I asked in the context of the US presidential elections, “Do Mormons Make Better Managers Than Leaders?” The question was intended to be provocative but I do not think it either impolite or improper, especially as well-known HBS … Continue reading →

Posted in Change, General, Leadership | Tagged achievement motivation, Adam Smith, Anglo-Saxon capitalism, Catholicism, change, chocolate industry, Christian, Clayton Christensen, communities of faith, community, Crisis & Renewal, ecological perspective, education, Harvard Business School, head, innovation, management ethics, Max Weber, moral sentiment, Mormons, Nonconformists, Old Testament, Protestant Ethic, Quakers, religion, Robert Barclay, Rosabeth Moss Kanter, social entrepreneurs, spirit of capitalism, start-up, steel industry, The New Ecology of Leadership | Comments Off

Romney and Obama: Do Mormons Make Better Managers than Leaders?

Posted on September 25, 2012 by David

We are into the last six weeks of the presidential election and the contrasts between Mitt Romney and Barack Obama throw light on the sometimes-controversial distinction between managers and leaders. In his 1977 article in the Harvard Business Review “Managers … Continue reading →

Posted in Change, General, Leadership, Strategy, Uncategorized | Tagged Barack Obama, Clayton Christensen, context, David Brooks, Democratic National Convention, George W. Bush, leaders, manager, means and ends, Mitt Romney, Mormon, narrative, pull, push, strategy, Varieties of Religious Experience, William James, Zaleznik | 1 Comment

Essay Based on The New Ecology of Leadership Wins a Top Prize in the Drucker Global Challenge Essay Contest 2012

Posted on September 18, 2012 by David

It’s official! My essay, “Practical Wisdom: Reinventing Work and Reinventing Organizations by Rediscovering Ourselves”, which is based on the ideas in The New Ecology of Leadership, has won a top prize in the Drucker Global Challenge Essay Contest. The organizers … Continue reading →

Posted in Change, General | Tagged Aristotle, behavioral economics, body and mind, business schools, Cartesian, Descartes, Drucker Challenge, ecological rationality, emotion and reason, employee society, English Enlightenment, entrepreneurial society., evolutionary biology, facts and values, functional silo, Global Drucker Forum, ideas and matter, ideology of reason, innovation, management thought, markets, moral sentiment, neuroscience, Peter Drucker, phronesis, Plato, positive empirical, Reinventing Organization, Reinventing Work, Scottish Enlightenment, social ecology, social entrepreneurs, Spanish treasure, stability and change, Stephen Toulmin, Thirty Years' War, Vienna, World War II | 1 Comment

The “Comeback Kid” Comes Through and the Perils of Improv

Posted on September 11, 2012 by David

Last week I wrote about Clint Eastwood’s unintended highlight speech at the Republican National Convention (RNC) and this week my topic is the Democratic National Convention (DNC). Clint Eastwood has since revealed what he was thinking when he gave his … Continue reading →

Posted in General, Leadership | Tagged anthropology, Barack Obama, Bill Clinton speech, Charles Krauthammer, Clint Eastwood speech, Comeback Kid, community, Democratice National Convention, hunter-gatherer, improv, improvisation, Lorna Marshall, Michelle Obama speech, Mitch McConnell, Mitt Romney, more perfect union, narrative, religious revival, Republican National Convention, William James, Wittgenstein | 4 Comments

“Go Ahead: Make Our Day” – What Clint Eastwood Might Have Said

Posted on September 4, 2012 by David

The unintended highlight of the Republican National Convention (RNC) last week was Clint Eastwood’s rambling address on Thursday that consumed 13 minutes of precious prime time, delaying Mitt Romney’s acceptance speech. Scheduled for only five minutes in the rigidly scripted … Continue reading →