I had a conversation recently with someone in a senior position within his department. He was lamenting, yet accepting, that his job kept him very busy (60-80 hours a week). I casually asked what work they were doing, and quickly noticed some circularity of reasoning that, if further explored, might have been able to reveal [...]
Caesar was right, but where do we find competent leaders?
July 14, 2010 By 4 Comments
The soldier has a right to competent command. — Julius Caesar When applied to the workplace, this quote speaks directly to the need for leaders who are actually capable of leadership, of course. Yet, many organizations employ methods of promoting individuals into leadership roles do little to take into account the person’s leadership skills. Instead, [...]
Best of MFP: Rube Goldberg Leadership: Waste and Value
June 30, 2010 By 10 Comments
Each and every day, we encounter phrases that express the difficulty with which work gets done. We talk about jumping through hoops, herding cats, or (egads!) pulling teeth. All of these phrases express a frustration with the woeful inefficiency we must deal with in order to unravel contradictory policies, unclear direction, internal political competitions and [...]
Leadership and Management Effectiveness: Training the Bear (Literally)
June 28, 2010 By 1 Comment
So, I’m getting caught up after a family vacation to New Hampshire’s Mount Washington Valley. Among the amusement parks, water slides, train rides, over-excited children, over-tired parents, souvenirs, and ice cream sundaes, I came across one of the most amazing examples of effectively managing another’s performance I’ve ever seen. About 200 or more people gathered [...]
The Problem is Knowing What the Problem is.
June 21, 2010 By 2 Comments
Often, when talking to managers about some challenge they are facing, I’ll get a brief history of what they are dealing with, including what was done by the last manger(s) and what inititaive(s) were tried in the past, with little or no success. Sometimes, they’ll even go on at length about exactly what was done, [...]
Conformity, Innovation, and Muda
June 16, 2010 By 1 Comment
How to stand out from the crowd when everyone else is moving about as quickly and rapidly as possible? While everyone is flapping, shouting, kicking, rolling, and running about attempting to get noticed, who will actually be the one to draw attention to their ideas? The answer is simple: The one who isn’t doing any [...]
Embracing the New Fear
June 14, 2010 By 1 Comment
Sightseeing Tourists: A Continuous Improvement Idea
June 7, 2010 By 1 Comment
We need more tourists at work. While the hospitality industry would certainly agree, that’s not what I have in mind. What we need are people to walk around, keep journals of what they see, and share their experiences with others. When trying to generate improvements, people often get stuck when trying to look at their [...]
Inefficient Problem Solving: Doing Something Doesn’t Mean Doing Anything.
June 4, 2010 By 4 Comments
When the answer to a problem doesn’t present itself immediately, taking the spray-and-pray approach can be disastrous. In such instances, people are usually more concerned with looking like they are doing something, so they simply get busy doing anything. Studying the problem is, in many cases, not allowed due to the need to appear busy. When people are busy doing anything, they are focusing their energies away from identifying the root cause and creating long-term, sustainable solutions. [Read more]
Creativity: Standing Out and Blending In
June 2, 2010 By Leave a Comment
When people are asked to be creative, there are those who shrivel at the concept. They will exclaim that they aren’t very creative, that they don’t know how to draw, or that they simply don’t have any good ideas. Unfortunately, that is a self-fulfilling prophecy, and it also reflects a complete lack of understanding as [...]
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