Task, Process, and the Quest for Business Improvement

A client recently sent over an essay from the January 30th issue of the New Yorker entitled “Groupthink – The Brainstorming Myth,” by Jonah Lehrer.  Here’s the link: http://www.newyorker.com/reporting/2012/01/30/120130fa_fact_lehrer Having worked before together, and knowing my approach, he wondered what I thought. The nut of Lehrer’s argument is that brainstorming doesn’t work – for unleashing the creative power of teams. Brainstorming was first popularized in the 1940’s by Alex Osborn, then a partner in the highly regarded advertising agency BBDO, and today it’s still used widely across the business spectrum.  Lehrer sites a 1958 Yale University study which compared the […]

Performance, Alignment, and AEC Enterprise Success

Last summer, while working on a strategic planning engagement, one of the client’s key employees up and quit – and headed for greener pastures.  His departure was a surprise and shock, and particularly painful given his technical and leadership abilities.  Frankly, the client firm had high expectations – and an important future – planned for this individual. Unfortunately, this sort of thing happens all too commonly in professional AEC firms. Good people, with lots of potential, get away and pursue their dreams elsewhere. Meanwhile, staff with (let’s say) ‘less potential’ hang on, comfortable with the status quo, and uncertain of […]

AEC Leaders: Are You Moving Forward – Strategically?

Now is the time for leaders to move – with bold vision, aggressive plans, and inspired action – towards a successful, sustainable, and exciting future. That’s what I think. How about you? When the economy turned down in 2008 many leaders froze. Indeed, the magnitude and suddenness of the collapse was halting – and caught most of us by surprise. Stopping or slowing longer-term investments and initiatives made sense, was understandable and predictable, and was – for a time – even defensible. Staying afloat – to live and fight another day – became for many the modus operandi – and […]

AEC Leadership Development – On a $1 a Day?

OK, maybe not a dollar a day – but I’ll bet it’s less than you think. Few will argue against the importance and value of true leadership.  In most all cases, effective leadership is the core of organization success.  Still, many firms – particularly smaller ones – struggle with the cost of leadership – in time, effort, and dollars. But what if you could have it – strong, effective, and sustainable leadership – with a lot less investment?  Interested? For the first sixteen years of my career I worked at Exxon Corporation (today Exxon Mobil).  Exxon is of course a […]