Misalignment

I heard the most remarkable thing the other day from none other than the brilliant Alan Greenspan. When questioned about his feelings about the current financial crisis, he said (I’m paraphrasing a little here) that he believed that self-interest in protecting shareholders would keep corporate executives from taking unnecessary risk.

First, with the increased deregulation, [...]

Execution Matters

I was speaking recently with my CEO, and the conversation took a rather predictable turn. For the last several years, I have held firm to the belief that ideas, in and of themselves hold no value. The real value of an idea lies within your ability and willingness to execute.

And how you execute [...]

Management by Karma

A situation came up at work the other day that was eerily similar to others I have experienced or witnessed several times in my career. The basic premise is that two or more organizations that work together come to so sort of a crucial decision point. The final outcome will result in either [...]

Find a Middle Ground

Many companies approach managing their brand in one of two ways. Some will take a conservative approach, wanting to stay true to the brand and not take too many, if any, risks. Others focus on shiny new objects, looking to use the latest and greatest or the next hot thing.

For a company’s long-term [...]

Use Relevant Metrics

Measurement is the bane of our existence. The only way for us to know if what we are doing is effective is to measure the outcomes. But measuring stuff isn’t easy. In fact, we might be measuring the wrong stuff.

First, there are things that we know. It may be sales to [...]

Knowing Your History versus Holding on to the Past

I had the opportunity to spend some time with one of my best friends from high school. We hadn’t seen each other in over ten years and spoken in about five. He still had family in the New Orleans area when Hurricane Katrina hit, and he told me about his grandfather having to [...]

Should GE Sell or Partner Appliance Unit?

GE announced last week that it is considering selling, spinning off or partnering its appliance unit. My first thought went to why they would want to dump it at all. GE has a long history of dumping underperformers (units and people). In December they put their finance unit (or at least some [...]

Review of “Just Enough Anxiety”

I had the opportunity to read Just Enough Anxiety by Robert H. Rosen while traveling last week. It’s a thought-provoking book and a must-read for anyone in or aspiring to enter the management ranks.

What I liked about it:

It forces you to look in the mirror and consider your own anxiety issues (especially those that [...]

Another Kind of Relativity

I’m talking here in terms of “everything’s relative” and individual circumstances, not something as absolute as Einstein’s theory. In fact, I am advocating against most absolutes:

Recipes for success

Quick fixes

X number of things to do when…

Benchmarking against rigid percentage increases (sales, profits, volume) or decreases (costs, waste, weight)

Stepwise programs

Best practices

This does not mean that I [...]

Outside the Lines

We have a thing for lines. Yesterday, I was searching for a journal that had no lines in it. I finally found one that would suit my needs, but the vast majority of the ones I saw were ruled. Some had grids. Others were pre-printed to keep your life straight.

Then, I [...]