Vroom, Vroom!
And we’re off.Did you know there are specific approaches you can take to: turbocharge your company’s productivity? drive performance breakthroughs? harness the power (of “pull”) to negotiate today’s...
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Can You Name That Impulse?
Just a quick, note-to-self-like post:For years, Les McKeown saw what would later become his methodology for bringing sustained, lasting and predictable success to an organization – in his mind’s eye –...
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Balancing Act
Where and when does a company get its best results? Les McKeown: in the Predictable Success stage. David Allen: in Captain & Commander mode. Either way, it's all about balancing freedom and order:
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A Mind Map Of Sorts
It seems to me there are a lot of smart management thinkers saying the same thing: the old way of operating and governing businesses is no longer working (most convincingly communicated, in my opinion,...
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That's The Way We Do Things Around Here
In Making It All Work, David Allen makes what I think’s an interesting distinction:“Because what I teach is actually not a system but a systematic approach, it can be adapted…”When I first read that...
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Imagined Conversation*
Guy in Charge [G]: Every single thing about our company is broken and I don’t know how to fix it.Me [M]: Care for some advice?[G]: I s’pose it couldn’t hurt.[M]: I’m happy to give you my best guess as...
View ArticleWasted 15 Minutes
30 MINUTES. That’s how much time I alotted the other day (“so long as nothin’ else goes sideways”) to learn as much as I could by perusing the ABOUT pages found at managementexchange.com and...
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Everything Else Comes After
Can you match the S.M.I.B.S.F. (Single Most Important Business Success Factor*) on the left with its description & source on the right?Answers:PASSION = John Hagel, et. al, The Power of...
View ArticleTake Two Before Bedtime: The New Wonder Drug From Bain & Company
[My Amazon.com review of DECIDE & DELIVER by Marcia W. Blenko, Michael C. Mankins and Paul Rogers]Your organization…can be the standout, the one that people point to, the one where everyone wants...
View ArticleLooking Through My Charlie Brown Lens
[My Amazon.com review of SHOCKPROOF by Debra Jacobs, Garrett Sheridan and Juan Pablo Gonzalez]Linus: I told her (the little red-haired girl) about how you're madly in love with herCharlie Brown:...
View ArticleSpeaking Of Pop-Up Books
Have you noticed the steady stream of national TV ads that makes use of simulated pop-up books? For companies like Bridgestone and JP Morgan Chase, and brands like Coors Light, Lexus and Chevy...
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Simply Illuminating, 1.01
Smithsonian Magazine called the production of The Saint John’s Bible, begun in 1998 under the artistic direction of Donald Jackson, “one of the extraordinary undertakings of our time.” Here's a set of...
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Inside The Zen Bubble
Regarding the naming of the book In Search of Excellence by Bob Waterman and Tom Peters, Walter Kiechel III writes: Then, “hastily,” they say, they [Bob and Tom] put together what they called a...
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Simply Illuminating, 1.02
[Part 2 of a short series]A smattering of diagrams. A few abstract representations. That’s the normal extent of the artwork in the business bibles I read -- much of which, in my opinion, is mediocre:...
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Simply Illuminating, 1.03
[Part 3 of a short series]I can think of two (2) representations of “comprehensive management approaches” – two exceptional representations – that remind me of my favorite illuminated manuscripts. In...
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Simply Illuminating, 1.04
[Part 4 of a short series]Is this it? The illuminated business bible I’ve been looking for? The answer to all my (maybe I shouldn’t use this word) prayers? Well, let’s dig into the hardback edition of...
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WB's Way: Intro
I’ve never really bought into the idea that graduates of MBA programs know better ‘an the rest of us what makes companies tick. Peter Drucker was a sociologist. Kenneth Andrews, who (among other...
View ArticleWB's Way: The 78th Most Common Word
From ‘70s and ‘80s pop music:Ooh, baby I love your way [Peter Frampton]That’s just the way it is [Bruce Hornsby]You can go your own way [Fleetwood Mac]That’s the way of the world [Earth, Wind &...
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What's Life Got To Do With It?
Great Aunt Gracie kicks the bucket. Her garden supply store is now YOURS. Collect $200! What if you were suddenly faced with the challenge of taking over a small business in midstream? Let’s say you’ve...
View ArticleWB's Way: A Certain Kind Of Modesty
The way of ignorance, therefore, is to be careful, to know the limits and the efficacy of our knowledge. It is to be humble and to work on an appropriate scale.How are we ever going to make our...
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All Along It's Been About Acumen
Wrong!Wrong!Wrong!The accent belongs on the second syllable. It's:uh-KYOO-menAm I a fumin' human? No, not really. But I wouldn't be opposed if people'd return to acumen's older, more traditional...
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Re-imagine! The Musical
Tom Peters's Re-imagine! (2003) was boundary busting in terms of its design and style. It was a Technicolor Book from a Technicolor Guy.*These days...Mr. Peters is Tweeting. About everything management...
View ArticleMuch Ado About Cognitive Biases
I'm seeing "cognitive biases" everywhere I look! Three times today I've come across the phrase, outside of the strictly business press. From: The Atlantic, December 2011: "The Myth of Objectivity." An...
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