Don’t monkey around with organizational change
When I wasn’t quaking in my waterproof shoes walking across a swaying footbridge high above a lush rainforest in Costa Rica, I was listening intently as our guide described the complex eco-system of...
View ArticlePracticing what we teach: lessons of 2012
Fast Company recently featured CEOs from major corporations like 3M, Pepsico, Starbucks, and others sharing lessons from 2012 and describing how these lessons will apply in the coming year. While we...
View ArticleWhen is a merger like a marriage?
Linda, the CEO of a technology oriented firm, told me her company’s pending merger with a logistics company was a ‘match made in heaven.’ The two companies were complementary, not identical, so it...
View Article‘Transformation:’ a word is worth a thousand pictures
A great candidate for the dustbin of discarded business jargon is the term ‘transformation.’ Correctly used by caterpillars transforming into butterflies or by dictatorships into democracies, the word...
View ArticleIn praise of silos
By now the benefits of collaborating across organizational departments are pretty obvious. Cross-functional teamwork is viewed as the elixir that enhances innovation, productivity and employee...
View ArticleThe Ikea Effect
You buy a kitchen table from Ikea and haul it home. You spread the contents of the box on the floor. You glance at the instructions and start screwing pieces together. You stop reading the instructions...
View ArticleThe secret life of teams
I’ve always studied teams. The youngest of three boys, as a kid I was mostly a bystander to my family’s tumultuous interactions. While my teenaged brothers and parents sparred in cycles of argument,...
View ArticleLead change differently (part 1)
Have you ever gotten in your car, driven to work, found a parking spot, sat at your desk, and wondered: How did I get here? If you ever experienced this, you were probably on automatic pilot,...
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