Complex Ideas For A Competent You
Forget about the CEO and his planners sitting out there in the ivory tower (unless, of course, you are a CEO, in which case please leave your ivory tower, it's not the 1960s anymore!). This article explores the subject of power. Power of individuals, groups, and outside forces. How much power do you have? How much power does anyone have? Let's try to find out.
We hear a lot about "learning organizations". We accept without hesitation that continuous learning is a culprit of success and, perhaps, the only guaranteed stability in the ever-changing world around us. But when it comes to strategy - what does learning mean exactly? Is it learning from past mistakes? Or deliberately committing new ones to… Continue reading “Strategy Safari” Deep Dive: Do You Cultivate Your Strategies Like Tomatoes?
In the previous deep-dive article, we explored the prescriptive schools of strategy making (aka this-is-how-you-should-do-it schools). With this article, we are diving into an exciting world of the descriptive schools (aka this-is-how-you-are-actually-doing-it schools). The Entrepreneurial School: "Enter The Elephant's Rider!" If you recall my very first article on Strategy Safari, the authors compared strategy to… Continue reading “Strategy Safari” Deep Dive: How Accurate Is Your “Big Picture”?
I am traveling this week and didn't manage to finish my next deep-dive on Strategy Safari in time for the blog publication. But don't you worry, dear Reader, I have something for you this week that will sweeten the wait and my poor blog management skills (it's a learning curve). 2 Articles 2 Read Henry… Continue reading Quick Break: 2 articles & 2 videos on leadership, management, and authenticity
This article explores the ideologies of the three "prescriptive" strategy-making schools: Design, Planning, and Positioning. The Design School emphasizes matching internal capabilities with external possibilities, led by the CEO. The Planning School formalizes strategy-making through detailed plans, while the Positioning School promotes a limited set of generic market strategies. Each school has critiques and limitations.
"Strategy Safari" is a "War and Peace" of the Management literature. Everyone says you should read it to acquire good taste for competent thought and get wiser but when you have time to read it, you are too young to understand it, and when you are finally old enough to understand it, you don't have… Continue reading Introducing “Strategy Safari”: Are You Sure Strategy Is What You Think It Is?
This isn't a book on management and leadership. But as we see a rise in demand for authenticity in leaders and managers, this is a wonderful book to start with. Authenticity is a journey, not a destination - and this book is definitely worth being on your bookshelf and revisited occasionally.
“With a controlling personality [Edwina] was unsuited to a recent promotion, which put her in a leadership position. While new to the role and learning the ropes she made many mistakes. Those around her experienced her as manipulative and bullying and began to react defensively. In turn, Edwina herself experienced their reactions as offensive and… Continue reading Concluding “Authentic”: Heal The Space Around You
Taking a sharp turn from the philosophical conclusion of "Management of the Absurd" , here is a short and sweet review / summary of the book’s key ideas.
Have you ever experienced an act of leadership that you would compare to a sunset or beautiful symphony? Towards the end of his "Management of the Absurd", Richard Farson approaches the topic of leadership in an unexpectedly poetic way: “Management and leadership are high arts. When they are working well, they compare favorably to the other great aesthetic moments of our lives, to symphonies and sunsets”. I long thought of a good example and I think I got one (captured in this article). Do you?
Knowledge In Action 