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Blog

Category Archives: Change

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False Wizards Part II: A Plague of Paradigms

The English economist John Kay contends that the word “paradigm” is “the most overworked and abused term in the study of management.” I agree with him completely and must confess that I cringe every time I see the latest management … Continue reading →

Posted in Change, General | Tagged Anglo-Saxon capitalism, Cadbury, change, community, complex systems, Costco, crisis, customer, employee, Forbes, Fry, goals, John Mackey, life cycle, Mary Parker Follett, Nonconformists, paradigm, power, principles, Quakers, reason, Robert E. Wood, Rowntree, scale, Sears, shareholder, Steve Denning, trust, values, W.L. Gore, Whole Foods | 2 Comments

False Wizards: Why I Don’t Believe in Management Gurus

The late historian, Daniel Boorstin, once said, “Trying to plan for the future without a sense of the past is like trying to plant cut flowers.” That is, planners and managers (politicians too) should not try to replicate desirable organizational … Continue reading →

Posted in Change, General, Leadership | Tagged abstraction, Amazon, Apple, both...and, cause-and-effect, change, Cisco, complex systems, context, Costco, cut flowers, Daniel Boorstin, democracy, ecocycle, ecological perspective, either/or, Fast Company, Fritz Roethlisberger, Juniper, management gurus, management principles, MBA, Microsoft, Middle East, paradigm, Polly La Barre, power, Salesforce, sweet zone, The New Ecology of Leadership, trust, verbal wands, Whole Foods, Zara | 3 Comments

New Year Resolutions: “What Do I Do Differently on Monday Morning?”

New Year is a good time to discuss changing behavior. At this time of year there is lots of talk about new resolutions, “starting with clean slates” and “turning over new leaves”. Very little of this will turn into action. … Continue reading →

Posted in Change, General | Tagged change, complex systems, Congress, ecological perspective, fiscal cliff, New Year resolutions, Sandy Hook | 2 Comments

Management and the Limits of Logic Part II

When I wrote last week’s blog, I was unaware that Monitor Group, the consulting company founded in 1983 by strategy guru Michael Porter and some Harvard Business School colleagues, had filed for bankruptcy in mid-November and that its assets were … Continue reading →

Posted in Change, General | Tagged balance, both...and, change, competition, creativity, ecological perspective, either/or, elephant, entrepreneur, Five-Forces, gardening, innovation, Jonathan Haidt, logic, markets, Max Weber, Michael Porter, Monitor Group, Protestant Ethic, rationalism, rider, shareholder value, Steve Denning, strategy, The Righteous Mind | 1 Comment

Management and the Limits of Logic

I grew up in a middle-class English household that was not very intellectual. As a child I was cautioned against ever discussing religion, politics or money round the dinner table. As I grew older, I discovered that these were the … Continue reading →

Posted in Change, General, Leadership, Strategy | Tagged America, Berlin Wall, capitalism, communism, contradiction, David Hume, ecological rationality, emotion, Jonathan Haidt, Kahneman, limits of logic, metaphor, paradox, Plato, rationalism, rationalist delusion, reason, rider an elephant, Soviet Union, Stalin, The New Ecology of Leadership, The Righteous Mind, Thomas Jefferson, Tversky | Comments Off on Management and the Limits of Logic

CEO Succession at Intel: A Critical Decision

The surprise announcement of the retirement of Intel’s CEO, Paul Otellini, in May next year, three years ahead of the mandatory date, sets the stage for perhaps the most challenging and important CEO selection in the firm’s history.  For students … Continue reading →

Posted in Change, Leadership, Strategy | Tagged Andy Grove, ARM, Bob Noyce, CEO succession, Craig Barrett, DRAM, ecological perspective, Fairchild, Gordon Moore, Intel, means and ends, microprocessor, Microsoft, mobile, Paul Otellini, PC, Schockley, The New Ecology of Leadership, value chain | Comments Off on CEO Succession at Intel: A Critical Decision

Hunting Dynamics: To Think Out of The Box, You Must First Act Out of The Box

Last week I travelled to Ottawa to take part in “Public Sector Transformation 2012: Navigating the Perfect Storm” a two-day session put on by the Conference Board of Canada. The meeting kicked off with a presentation by Jordan Peterson, Professor … Continue reading →

Posted in Change, General, Leadership, Strategy | Tagged acting, change, community, Conference Board, fission-fusion, hunter-gatherer, hunting dynamics, Jordan Peterson, Kalahari Desert, leadership, logical thought, meaning-making, MIT, National Film Board of Canada, Public Sector, Sandy Pentland, self-authoring, social media, The New Ecology of Leadership, thinking, Tooby and Cosmides, transformation | Comments Off on Hunting Dynamics: To Think Out of The Box, You Must First Act Out of The Box

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

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

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

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 ← Older posts Newer posts →