Strategy and communication problems
Many leaders are simply not good at communicating their business strategy to the people who will execute it. That can be fixed with good coaching. But when your senior managers…
When pay for performance goes wrong
Pay for performance took on new meaning with revelations about the New Orlean Saints and their bounty program for intentionally injuring opposing players. Greg Smith resigned from Goldman Sachs last…
Fuzzy vision problem
Early in my consulting career, I worked extensively with Wilson Sporting Goods. One day I interviewed an elderly gentleman who was the wood head designer. He worked closely with Wilson’s…
Bees in a bottle
The experiment was simple. The scientists put a few bees and a few flies in a glass jar, and placed the jar against a window with the jar’s opening facing…
A Simple Communication Problem
The management team was unable to have a productive discussion. They kept going in circles because they were using words such as “strategy” and “tactic,” “goal,” and “objective” interchangeably. Identifying…
What Do You Mean?
“We want to go from good to great,” a prospective client recently told me. “That’s wonderful.” I remarked, “Can you tell me what in particular will be better when you’re…
Actions and Emotions
The reaction of Afgans to the treatment of religious materials is alarming but it clearly illustrates two points affecting organizational behavior: Emotion is at least as important as logic in…
A Fresh Take
CEO turnover is high. Every week the Wall Street Journal reports on more turnover and that’s just at large companies. In most cases, the new CEO isn’t smarter or a…