The internet abounds with techniques and tips, giving the illusion that in a short amount of time it’s possible to master the answers to our problems. That may be true for, say, getting the most from a laptop. However, if we rely on ‘management techniques’ and ‘management by tips’ for running a business or launching a startup, […]
What Would Mr. Selfridge Think of Sears? Back to the Future of Retail
The Wall Street Journal hailed the ‘Mr. Selfridge’ TV series as “addicting”. It elaborately tells the tale of Harry Selfridge, the American retail king of London who brought the department store to unprecedented success at the beginning of the 20th century. The Selfridges store remains today a hallmark of upscale London retail. But what would […]
Ten Steps for Company Transformation from Silos to Whole System
Organizations today are plagued by silos. They create artificial barriers that not only slow down but undermine the efforts of companies to achieve their goal. What is needed, instead, is a whole system organization capable of maximizing the flow of its processes, the quality of its output and the involvement of everyone working there. How can […]
Purpose and Brand: What’s the Difference?
We’re just back from 5 weeks in Europe and plenty of new input from clients and conversations with universities. We’ll be reporting back on all that. One of the themes that comes up regularly in our work is that of purpose. This is because we generally start a relationship with a new client by […]
Management Education: Updating Learning for the Age of Complexity
The major problem managers face today is complexity, and the current business degrees and MBAs on offer are not equipping their graduates with the right knowledge and tools. Managers today must be able to understand how things interdepend and evolve in order to navigate complexity. In our previous post we proposed a solution for organizational […]
Hierarchy: Transforming into Something that Works Better
Traditional style hierarchies are no longer appropriate for today’s markets. Our world is changing too fast and the prevailing style of management that creates silos cannot react quickly enough. What is a realistic alternative? We receive a wealth of comments and questions about our work on developing a systemic way of working. A recent long […]
Schools as Centers of Innovation?
What if we could transform our schools from “assembly-line factories ” into centers of innovation? What if we could teach young people the skills they need to be able to adapt to an unpredictable future? We can and we must. When even science has to rethink itself… Anyone who hasn’t seen Sir Kenneth Robinson’s brilliant animated talk […]
New Thinking Skills: Learn to Connect the Dots
What would happen if we all embraced a systemic vision of the world, if we all started thinking and acting with a systemic awareness, if we learned how to connect the dots? What if we taught children and students to see opportunities that otherwise would not be visible, to anticipate and defuse negative implications? What if we trained […]
Why and How to Build a Purpose-Driven Organization
An increasing number of organizations are talking about purpose. Purpose is the reason for which something exists. But when people talk about purpose they don’t just mean a goal. They mean purposefulness, a deeper meaning, a higher purpose. This is what some call the purpose economy, one that is geared towards good and the social and […]
Charity – A Boon and Boost for Business?
There is charity and there is business. Two very separate things with very different purposes. Or are they? But what if donating is not about being good? What if it’s actually an intelligent way of making sure our system/community yields its maximum? What if it’s a way for everyone to become richer? The science of giving […]
