Leadership Development

The Olympian Effort and Our Work

Feb 28, 2014adminBusiness Improvement, Leadership Development, Operations, Planning

Some people have no interest in the Olympics – but I’m not one of them. Instead, every four years I am again drawn into the spectacle, captured by the storylines, caught up in the competition for a fortnight. I’m not exactly sure why this is, or why I invest my attention watching sports I know (and care) nothing about. (I can’t imagine planning a normal Saturday afternoon of watching the biathlon, speed-skating, or (yikes!) ice dancing. But with the Olympics, I did all of them. This week I’ve wondered whether this experience says anything about work – our organizations, our […]

Time to Change the Game?

Feb 15, 2014adminBusiness Improvement, Leadership Development, Operations, Planning

Imagine that you’re running in a race (a marathon) and doing well. You’re at least four miles ahead of your nearest competitor, and with only a half a dozen miles to go. Things look pretty good. But then (all at once) you’re passed, by someone bounding along at nearly twice your speed – on some sort of high-tech, futuristic springy shoe-thingys. And then she is gone. Or imagine the opposite: you’re running the same race, but now it’s you that is more than ten miles behind, and with only a couple left. It’s clear that, as long as things stay […]

Firm Success from the Inside Out

Aug 1, 2013adminBusiness Improvement, Leadership Development, Planning

Last week the Gallup organization released a new report on the State of the American Workplace: http://www.gallup.com/strategicconsulting/163007/state-american-workplace.aspx . According to this new survey, 70% of American workers don’t like their jobs. About 50% of workers are ‘disengaged’ – they punch the clock and put in their time, but aren’t inspired by the work they do. More disturbing, 20% of workers are ‘actively disengaged’ – meaning they are gossiping at the water cooler, stirring up trouble, and even sabotaging the firm’s success. This is astounding. And the fact that this new report isn’t stirring up more serious outrage is itself an […]

The One Thing You Really Must Have

Jan 2, 2013adminBusiness Improvement, Leadership Development, Operations, Planning

Success in business (and in life) is a function of many things, but short of luck, there is one ingredient we all must have. Growth, profit and success – for individuals and for organizations – requires a plan. This isn’t news. We all know and understand that a script is necessary for clarifying objectives (mission, vision, strategy) and for detailing the action agenda. We’ve learned and used this before, and pundits and advisors (like me) are constantly reminding us of the importance of the business plan, marketing plan, weight loss plan, and such. So, if planning is so critical, and […]

Strategic Business Planning Won’t Help You, If …

Nov 15, 2012adminBusiness Improvement, Leadership Development, Planning

Over the years I’ve worked with scores of companies on strategic business planning. Some firms were really in to it. Others it seemed were just moving through the motions – as though strategic planning were something they simply had to do, to check off a list. Today I’m frankly more choosy about whom I work with. There’s no point in investing the time, money, and other resources necessary for long view planning – unless senior leaders are truly invested, and all in. Successful strategic planning requires two parts: first, crafting a compelling and energizing future vision for the organization; and […]

Performance Perfection and the Magic of Baseball

Oct 16, 2012adminBusiness Improvement, Leadership Development, Operations, Planning, Risk Management

Many professionals are perfectionists, always striving for an elusive measure of quality and beauty in their work. For them, there’s a right way and wrong way for achieving all results. A little more time, a little more effort, and the final product will be better – closer to perfect. At times, this desire for perfection makes sense. In designing and building structures for instance, there is often a right and wrong way to proceed. There are visible examples of projects gone wrong. Engineers know well that done poorly, foundations will crack, roads buckle, and bridges fall down. Scientists who subvert […]

What’s Our Deal? – In the Fast Future Ahead

Sep 20, 2012adminBusiness Improvement, Leadership Development, Operations, Planning

Years ago a friend named Pete offered me some unsolicited advice about dating. He said “John, sooner or later every woman is going to ask you the question: ‘What’s our deal?’ At that moment, unless you’re ready to tie the knot, that relationship will be over.” Now Pete was a smooth operator (perhaps not as smooth as he thought), and a real gift to the ladies (he certainly thought so) – but really, he was right. All of us – both women and men – want to know the deal – what the game is, where we’re headed, how we’ll […]

Changeophile or Changeophobe – What’s Your Sign?

Aug 30, 2012adminBusiness Improvement, Leadership Development, Operations, Planning

How do you see change? Is change basically good, not so good, or depend on context? Are you a changeophile or changeophobe? Be honest. What’s your sign? In the big picture and over time, it’s seems clear that much of change has been good – resulting in significant improvements for societies, cultures, and peoples around the world. Innovation, change, and development is itself I think subject to ‘survival of the fittest’ pressure, so that useful change is embraced, while new ideas and actions that provide little utility are not sustained. Of course the value of some change is debatable. For […]

Thoughts on Organization Structure in the AEC Firm

Jun 14, 2012adminBusiness Improvement, Leadership Development, Leadership Transition, Operations, Planning

This spring, a couple of my clients have been working to implement new strategic plans, both involving big changes (improvements) to their organization structure. Working with these leaders has reminded me (yet again) of both the challenge and simplicity of organization design. Some highlights: 1) Strategy before Structure – Though it always makes conceptual sense that strategy should come first, in practice it’s tempting to reach for reorganization as the prescription for change per se. Resist this urge always! Instead, use strategy – the “Big S,” overarching, enterprise-scale strategy which defines the firm’s primary focus – to decide how best […]

Push-Pull, and the Physics of Organization Alignment

Apr 17, 2012adminBusiness Improvement, Leadership Development, Leadership Transition, Planning

In his 1989 work Mintzberg on Management, Henry Minztberg describes professional organizations as “seemingly upside-down organizations, where the workers sometimes appear to manage the bosses.” Mintzberg notes that he himself works in a professional organization (at McGill University in Toronto) at least partially “because it is the one place in the world where you can act as if you [are] self-employed [and] yet regularly receive a paycheck.” My work with organizations yields a similar understanding. One of the striking attributes of professional services firms is the incredible autonomy enjoyed by practicing professionals, often alongside an apparent ’line item veto’ on […]