The Awful Law of Unintended ConsequencesThe law of unintended consequences states that any change will be accompanied by a set of consequences that cannot be completely predicted. The reason this law is awful is that the consequences have a strong tendency to destroy all the value of your planned change. […]
There is an old Chinese saying that is considered both a blessing and a curse:“May you live in interesting times.” And that is where we find ourselves – in a world that is messy, unpredictable, often incomprehensible, and incredibly interesting; a world where old ideas of leadership and management no […]
We see growing evidence from all quarters that many companies are not loyal to their employees and that employees are less and less likely to express loyalty to their companies. People in leadership positions are challenged to find some basis other than company loyalty to hold an organization together and […]
Many companies have kept their self-managed teams a commercial secret. Hundreds of them have tried to make them work, with mixed results. Consultants extract large foes for either recommending them or unravelling the mess from the ones that failed. Self-managed-teams (SMT) often called self-directed work teams (SDWT), have acquired a […]
Decades ago the leaders of organizations seldom talked about the business issue that now reportedly keeps them awake at night: the challenge of retaining talent. Research reveals that while pay and benefits matter, you can’t count on money to retain talented people who have employment options. Key motivators include challenging […]
Decades ago the leaders of organizations seldom talked about the business issue that now reportedly keeps them awake at night: the challenge of retaining talent. Research reveals that while pay and benefits matter, you can’t count on money to retain talented people who have employment options. Key motivators include challenging […]
Assessing the Impact of Organizational Systems One of the single largest, most consistent oversights is not understanding that corporate and organisational systems – those written and unwritten policies, procedures and instructions to which everyone operates – are crucial parts of the strategic and operational plan of the enterprise. Very simply, […]
The time spent preparing for a meeting is rarely wasted. Ensure that the right people attend, and that they reach the right decisions. INVITING PARTICIPANTS Choosing the right people to attend a meeting may determine whether its aims are achieved. Each participant should be attending because they can make a […]
Meetings cost time and money, both of which are valuable. Hold meetings only when necessary, and ensure that they are concise and constructive. MEETING FORMALLY Each of the various different types of formal meeting has different rules of procedure. Some meetings, such as annual general meetings, must be convened by […]
Meetings cost time and money, both of which are valuable. Hold meetings only when necessary, and ensure that they are concise and constructive. MEETING INFORMALLY Informal meetings take several different forms and can be a useful forum for discussion. Whether they happen by chance or are organized in a casual […]