New HBR article:  Living with Complexity and Link for Free Download

Gokce Sargut and I are working together on the fascinating subject of how organizations can sensibly and strategically cope with the demands of complex situations.  One of the papers from our ongoing research project is out in this months' Harvard Business Review.   We offer a perspective on why complexity is so hard to deal with (because it has interactive qualities that make outcomes unpredictable) and offer some suggestions on how you might want to manage differently if you are facing a complex situation.

I will be doing a webinar on this topic on September 28 - more on that later.

For the first 100 readers, HBR has offered the opportunity to download the article for free.  You can access the free download here:

Link:
https://archive.harvardbusiness.org/cla/web/pl/product.seam?c=13661&i=13663&cs=a03f1edb1a3280fb601ad40dde903190

If you're too late for the free link, drop me an email and we'll figure out how to get you a copy.

 

 

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• Posted Rita McGrath on August 26, 2011

Out of touch Telco Managers and my colleague Tom Stewart’s response!

"Shocked, Shocked" says my dear friend Tom Stewart of a recent report in the New York Times that Telecommunications operators felt "out of touch" with their customers. 

What do you mean?  That call to a robot in which you are asked to enter your customer number, only to reach a real person and be told to enter your customer number?

The completely incomprehensible pricing models for wireless data plans?

Being charged for services you never bought?

Being completely unapologetic about lackluster coverage, dropped calls and generally unreliable service?

Wanting to sell  you a new phone and then (true recent experience) when I finally got to the web site retreating in complete confusion.

 

Any interesting stories to tell?

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• Posted Rita McGrath on July 12, 2011

Talent flows - Silicon Valley Style

This neat article offers a snapshot of who is winning and losing the talent wars in Silicon Valley among the big players (Microsoft, Yahoo, LinkedIn, Facebook, etc.).  It offers a great graphic to spark interest and debate.  One of the interesting points it makes is that Facebook is a net winner among people moving around various jobs in the Valley.  Check it out. 

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• Posted Rita McGrath on July 10, 2011

Forget college and change the world?

PayPal founder Peter Thiel thinks he has found a new way to change the world.  A recent article describes how his foundation has created $100,000 grants for young superstars to put their college plans on hold, and under the direction of a mentor, work on really difficult problems that require scientific and technical innovation.  It's another interesting example of how entrepreneurs give back, and how private money can be used to try to solve major social problems. 

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• Posted Rita McGrath on May 30, 2011

More women in top management = more success as a company

Experts and observers have long argued that there is a benefit to firms of having more women in senior decision-making roles.  The reasons are many, including the importance of diversity, the fact that senior women more readily represent female customers (the majority of buyers in many industries), and a general openness to talent.  Some new research done at Columbia finds that companies with women in the top team do enjoy a performance benefit.  Interestingly, this doesn't apply to firms that have a female CEO (rare though they are).  Worth a look. 

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• Posted Rita McGrath on May 26, 2011

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