Uncertainty has a way of messing with people, and we sure saw much of that in May. With layoffs, trimmed budgets, and lumbering threats like the US approaching the debt ceiling, our innovation colleagues are… Read more »
Business Strategy
Are you boring your Investors? Here’s how to tell.
This article was co-authored with Alex Van Putten of Cameron & Associates It isn’t hunger for short-term results. It’s not about meeting every number. It’s not about never being surprised. What investors really want is to… Read more »
Blast from the past – how companies behaved in 2008 is how a lot of them are behaving now
In October of 2008, I wrote about a company that had a reputation as a paragon of good management that was its own worst enemy when it came to sustainable efforts to innovate and transform…. Read more »
Assumptions are treacherous – just ask Lululemon about Mirror
In high uncertainty situations, one can obviously make decisions that turn out not to be so great. But seriously, do you want to be the CEO featured in a headline “How A Ballerina Outmaneuvered you”?… Read more »
Thought Sparks Wrap Up – April 2023
Reflecting this month on a spate of bad news, and how CEOs and other humans tend to react. The good news is that bad news mobilizes us. The bad news is that we can get… Read more »
Thought Sparks Wrap Up – March 2023
Yes, we are well into 2023 and if we’re going to make an impact, now is the time to get started. Considering that it takes 3-6 months to get anything accomplished, you should be starting… Read more »
Thought Sparks Wrap Up – February 2023
Yes, we are already staring down at the end of the first quarter. We’re back in person, back in airports, back at conferences, but … back to the office? The jury is still out. In case… Read more »
Nasty choice architecture – the prevalence of dark patterns
We may think we exercise free choice when we are making decisions. But as my colleague Eric Johnson points out, the structure of our choice architecture actually has a huge influence on the eventual outcome…. Read more »
Thought Sparks Wrap Up – January 2023
An antidote to bureaucracy? Perhaps 2023 becomes the year that more organizations take advantage of technology to create what my co-author Ram Charan and I call the Permissionless Organization. By using technology to get the outcomes… Read more »
A heartwarming customer service story
The state of customer service across most of the economy is dreadful. A recent delightful experience at Patagonia proves that it doesn’t have to be that way. The sad world of customer service As I… Read more »
2022 in the Rear-View Mirror!-Yearly Round Up
Ideas – Thought Sparks Rebuilding Ukraine – huge risks, but potentially huge opportunities. Remembering the extraordinary Frances Hesselbein. How can you tell when a competitive advantage is going into erosion? One of my most requested articles (and a… Read more »
If your organization operates as a multi-layer bureaucracy, it’s headed for extinction
Image credit: https://elearningindustry.com/reasons-why-talent-development-is-important Happy New Year! Ram Charan and I co-authored an article just out in this month’s Harvard Business Review about how technology is creating the conditions for what we call the “permissionless” corporation…. Read more »