Some time ago, I visited an underperforming company. Their Chairman of the Board asked me to spend time on a tour of the facility and to provide feedback. Once that was finished, I was asked what I thought. “You failed the mop test”, was my response. The plant...
Few items raise more concerns (complaints?) than the subject of meetings. Small or large, routine, or ad hoc, brief, or multi-day, meetings in organizations are known to be an unavoidable evil. We can do better. While there are helpful books on the subject (including...
For a primer on developing an effective mission statement, download the digital version of “Understanding & Implementing Strategy & Planning” here. It can be argued that many industries are challenged by a rapidly changing and uncertain operating environment....
As a long-time sports fan, I am taken by the number of head football coaches who are shown the door at the end of the season. There are many reasons for this; the most obvious being too many losses as is the case with my team this year (and the year before that,...
In their seminal report on “the future of work”, the Gallup organization published the results of their global study in a book titled “It’s the Manager”. In the subtitle, they make this observation: “The quality of managers and team leaders is the single biggest...
A recent Wall Street Journal article captures an emerging trend concerning a key management challenge: people. Executives are reviewing their strategies regarding team size, deployment, and overall employee contributions to the organization. Companies like Walmart,...