What if there were a way to break free of the silo prison? What if we could build an organization where the best qualified could fully contribute and unleash their potential, where there was engagement, transparency, efficient communication and sharing of information? Well, there is. And CIOs are perfectly poised to change the music and spearhead the transformation. […]
Pride Comes Before a Fall – A (Systemic) Lesson For Leaders and VW
Being conceited can come from occupying a position of power. It’s easy to convince yourself that if you are in the driving seat it’s because you deserve it, because you are intrinsically better than others. This is a vicious circle of wrong assumptions. If you are rich, you are better than the poor (even though you […]
The Peril of Silos (and what we can do about it)
“For those languishing at the bottom of a silo, there may be no way out.” This is the chilling conclusion of The Economist’s review of a new book ‘The Silo Effect: The Peril of Expertise and the Promise of Breaking Down Barriers’ by Gillian Tett. There is little doubt in our minds that silos and silo mentality […]
The Leaders We Need Today
A leader is someone who connects with something deep inside you and brings out the leader in all of us. Ghandi, Martin Luther King, Nelson Mandela, these are some of the great leaders of our times. They inspired people to go beyond what they thought they were capable of to achieve something momentous for the […]
Holacracy vs. Hierarchy? The Answer Lies in Managing Complexity.
A recent article about the company Zappo’s relates how they have chosen a new organizational structure of holacracy that removes traditional managers and job titles. They believe this new structure will allow them to grow in a way that is less rigid and bureaucratic. While this may be a move in the right direction from […]
How To Embed Creative Business Thinking In Your Organization
We may think we know how to think, but can we do it better? This post looks at some tools for systematic, creative thinking for business (and beyond). A recent article in the Globe and Mail newspaper asks the question, how can we produce more creative business thinkers? What sort of things should business schools […]
Mining the Past to Create the Future
The ancient industry of glass blowing in Venice is threatened by a grim economy, changing taste, and cheaper alternatives. A recent article from The Economist concentrates on the famous island of Murano and the challenges facing the centuries-old tradition. One glass-blowing studio in Murano has found success by working with fine artists to produce rare […]
Connecting in a Network? Its usefulness is all about affinity.
Is all that effort to make connections in a network 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 […]
Everything Is Connected: A New Economics
After a hiatus over the New Year and preparations for a big move West to British Columbia, the Intelligent Management Blog is back! What do a Theatre Director, an entrepreneur and an organizational scientist have in common? When it comes to creating a New Economics, a great deal. Last weekend in Los Angeles, I had […]
A Mining Company With A Heart of Gold
In a recent article by Dawn Cranfield in The Guardian Express entitled A Mining Company with a Heart of Gold – Comstock Mining, Inc., the author draws attention to what makes Comstock a very different kind of mining company: “Comstock Mining, Inc. had their first pour of gold and silver doré, unrefined gold bullion, on […]
