Holly Green
Seems like everyone is talking about innovation these days. Most of the discussion centers on the need to add value to customers through innovative products and services. But according to Gary Hamel, a leading expert on business strategy, there’s more to innovation than just bringing new products to market. In a recent Harvard Business Review…
The interview stage of the job application process is, understandably, crucial. Whilst a good CV will get you noticed, and a good covering letter will let you get your foot in the door, it all amounts to nothing if you’re unprepared for the interview process. There are certain things you can do to prepare for…
Have you ever had a meeting that didn’t work out quite as planned? Where everyone agreed to a specific course of action and two weeks later you discover that what they’ve been working on doesn’t come close to your vision of what should happen? When these situations arise, we usually blame poor communication. We didn’t…
Expose yourself? No, I’m not talking about trench coats or the number two activity on the web (porn is BEHIND social media these days!). I’m referring to common communication challenges that can be easily overcome by pausing to bring others along in your thinking process. When we present ideas to other people, especially new ideas,…
I ran across a quote the other day that resonated with me: The organization of today will require leadership that can operate on the edge of chaos by relinquishing command and control and creating an environment of mutual trust and respect. Two things struck me about this quote. One, just how much today’s leadership model…
When it comes to organizational sacred cows, strategic planning sits very close to the top of the list for most organizations. We all know the drill. Take the senior management team off-site for a weekend. Evaluate last year’s performance. Conduct the basic SWOT (strengths, weaknesses, opportunities and threats) analysis. Set some goals for the upcoming…
Remember the good old days when products, markets, and industries had fairly predictable lifecycles? Back then, carefully managing a few key metrics was usually enough to ensure the continued health of the business. As long as sales and revenues held steady or continued to grow, we could remain reasonably confident regarding the future of the…
As business leaders, we like to think of ourselves as thoughtful, rational creatures that carefully weigh all the evidence and then make logical, informed decisions. If only it were that simple. Far too often, our “rational” decision-making processes fall victim to our own preconceived notions about how the world should work, as well as a…
Recently I was doing a keynote presentation on innovation when a member of the audience, a senior manager at a large company, posed this question: “What’s the difference between individual and organizational innovation? We have plenty of people who come up with good ideas, but nothing new ever seems to get done in our company.”…
We are pleased to have another guest blog, this time by Amy Rasdal, founder of Rasdal Associates, Inc. and Billable at the BeachTM. Have you ever attended a meeting where people promised important deliverables but never followed through? Conversely, have you ever committed to a deadline knowing full well that you couldn’t meet it but…
