Holly Green
There’s a lot of people talking about innovation these days, myself included. The good news is that business leaders seem to be sitting up and taking notice of this important subject. The bad news is that once a topic becomes popular in the media, people have a tendency to see it as the next “management…
Seeing as how summer is supposed to include some rest and relaxation, I took advantage of a rare day off last week and went to Sea World (one of the many perks of living in San Diego). I especially enjoyed the Shamu “House of Douse” show, in which several large killer whales do their best…
Andy Grove, the founder of microchip giant Intel, once said, “Business success contains the seeds of its own destruction.” Just look around and it’s hard to argue with him. General Motors. Enron. Washington Mutual. Lehman Brothers. PanAm. The landscape is littered with once-dominant companies that have lost their position of market leadership or gone completely…
Have you been watching the World Cup? I am a huge soccer fan and really enjoy the World Cup because it’s such a fascinating international spectacle. Plus, it never fails to serve up some interesting lessons that have real application in the business world. For example: Life isn’t always fair. The U.S. team was victimized…
The world is only going to get more complicated and move faster – will you be one of the few keeping up? Have you responded to the wakeup call that has been sounding for business leaders? For the past few years I’ve been talking about and sharing with anyone who will listen – clients, seminar…
In most organizations, it’s common practice to conduct “postmortem” or lessons learned review sessions upon completion of major projects. If the project achieved its goal, management questions typically focus on what went right. “What did we do well? How can we sustain this success? What could we improve to make the outcome even better?” If…
Does your organization struggle to innovate on a consistent basis? If so, you may want to get your customers involved. Innovative companies have always intuitively understood the importance of customer feedback. But now there’s evidence that strongly suggests that direct customer involvement in the new product development process can make a real difference in your…
People ask me all the time what I consider to be the biggest challenge facing today’s business leaders. I don’t even hesitate on this one. It’s the automatic assumption by most business leaders that we still live in a fairly predictable world. Think about it. Six months ago, who would have thought that Toyota would…
When I speak to CEO groups, trade associations, and industry conventions, this is one of my favorite questions to ask. Why? Because I love the reaction from the audience. They look at me like I’m nuts! Questioning the sanctity of best practices in a roomful of corporate leaders and managers is like walking into a…
Wow, what a year! 2009 has come and gone, and many of us are taking a huge sigh of relief. Going through one of the worst recessions in U.S. history will certainly take the wind out of your sails. But we appear to have weathered the worst of the storm. And while the economy might…
Which is more important for a business to engage in – strategic planning or strategic thinking? If you answered “both,” you win the prize. What’s the difference between the two? Typically, strategic planning involves a formal process whereby company leaders and senior managers gather for a day or two and peer into the future to…
Wait your turn. No pushing in line. Yield to pedestrians. Treat others the way you would like to be treated. Certain timeless rules are better obeyed than broken. But in today’s topsy-turvy business world, many of the rules that informed and guided previous generations of business leaders no longer apply. If you’re not breaking rules…
