Lying About Honesty
We like to believe we’re honest. However, who we are is often quite different from who we think we are; thus, we... Read More
Setting The Mood For Change As A Change Management Tactic
An owner of a top-flight commercial painting company once said to me, “Mike, prepping the surface is 90% of the paint job.”... Read More
Toxic Soil Analogy: Good Ideas Planted on Bad Relationships
Posted on23 Apr 2012
Tagsanalogy, cognitive bias, conflict, conflict management, organizational culture, diversity, emotions, employees, facts, heartfelt, ideas, leadership, management, minds, perception, rationale, relationships, strategy, Toxic Soil Analogy, vision
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Imagine soil so toxic that nothing will grow. No matter how good our seeds, our farming techniques and the weather are; nothing... Read More
How Altruism in Groups Plays Out Against Self-interest
In genetics altruism creates a dilemma. Darwin even considered it a challenge to his theory of natural selection where self-interest seems to... Read More
Business Profitability Paradox Revisited
Posted on02 Apr 2012
TagsMIT Sloan School of Management, Zeynop Ton, training, Trader Joe's, The New Yorker, returns, retailing, Quik Trip, profitability, Mercadona, employees, customers, customer service, organizational culture, Costco, business
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In the March 26, 2012 edition of The New Yorker, I ran across the article, “The More the Merrier”, which sited the... Read More
Culture, Relationships Trump Vision, Strategy, Process
Businesses spend much money on developing their visions, strategies and processes; however, they spend relatively little on culture, which trumps all of... Read More
Great Strategy? Don’t Neglect Culture
Posted on12 Dec 2011
Tagscompensation, organizational culture, decisions, employees, goal setting, HBR Blog Network, intuition, management, message, names, Nilofer Merchant, placebo, relationships, remembering names, strategy, using names
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Many companies are finalizing their 2012 strategies by planning their roll out to their employees. To this effort, Nilofer Merchant’s March 22,... Read More
Blank Slates No More
Part of what makes intuition so powerful is the assumption that we are born with personalities, talents and knowledge. Life then becomes... Read More
Cooperation vs. Self-interest (Pt 4): Intrinsic Rewards
Intrinsic rewards are important aspects of creating a cooperative work culture. However, such rewards are difficult to understand and teach. Moreover, many,... Read More
Star Wars, Women & The Good Guys
Posted on31 Oct 2011
Tagsbusiness, organizational culture, diversity, emotions, good vs evil, Personality, Star Wars, women
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If you examine the two opposing sides in the Star Wars Epic, The Empire (Bad Guys) and The Rebels (Good Guys), there... Read More
