New technological platforms are emerging almost daily to allow people to come together and collaborate. This should be good news because every human activity aimed at producing a result requires collaboration. Even more good news is that this is very healthy in evolutionary terms: collaboration is more effective than competition. The very success of our species […]
Creative Thinking for Business – A Process that Can Be Learned
How can we produce more creative business thinkers? What sort of things should business schools be teaching to make that happen? When asked those questions, Neil Turok, Physicist and the director of the Perimeter Institute for Theoretical Physics in Waterloo, Ontario answered: “I’d want to show students how to see vast opportunities where everyone else […]
Truly Transformational – The Theory of Constraints (TOC) and Unity of Purpose
Once you have understood and experienced the transformational power of the Theory of Constraints there is no going back. It changes your life in ways that you might not have imagined. This is true for individuals as much as it is for companies and organizations. Where does that shift come from? This week marks the […]
Science against Silos – Why Organizations Need to Be Systems
The world of management is changing fast, and yet we still live in an environment where the prevailing organizational design is “functional/hierarchical” and organizations are thought of as a collection of silos. At the same time, we know that we are experiencing increasing levels of complexity. Why is it so hard to manage these increased […]
The PMO and the Brilliant Future of Project Managers
This post is by Dr. Domenico Lepore, Founder of Intelligent Management. A few days ago I had the opportunity to present the ideas that we at Intelligent Management promote on both sides of the “pond” to an extremely qualified and attentive audience: The Northern Italian Chapter of the PMI Institute. The venue, a very well-known […]
Back to the beginnings of Deming and Goldratt
A recent celebration in Venice with our great friend and mentor, Oded Cohen, brought to mind when the Theory of Constraints (TOC) first came into our lives over 20 years ago. Oded was the person who transferred to us the knowledge, dedication and passion that comes with deep learning of TOC. Thinking back to those […]
Beyond the Comfort Zone for Organizations
The problem with comfort zones is that we stick with them even when they are no longer fit for purpose. We prefer to squeeze ourselves into an awkward space as long as it’s familiar, rather than expanding into the unknown. Comfort zones prevent us from doing anything that goes beyond what we already know. In […]
Project Resilience – a Systems View
Conversations at Intelligent Management this week have been abuzz with Project Management. This is hardly surprising as we have been preparing to speak at the sold-out event tomorrow evening for PMI Northern Italy dedicated to the New Leadership for Complexity. But also because Project Management really is at the heart of every kind of business. […]
Network Connections? Affinity Is What Counts
Is all that effort to make network connections a waste of time? Network theory has something to teach us about all that. A lot of energy is consumed every day by people, groups, and organizations who frantically try to make as many connections as possible. They do so for a reason: to increase their contacts […]
How to Increase Your Energy Level at Work – a Systems View
When Intelligent Management first started working with American firms over 15 years ago we couldn’t help noticing differences in working habits. We were impressed by the dedication and work ethic, but it quickly became apparent that those 6am meetings meant that by 4pm people were fried. However, when the CEO goes to the gym at […]
