When 30 of the biggest names in management convened in California in June 2008 to spend two days âinventing the future of managementâ, one professor observed that we knew plenty already: what was really needed, he said, was an implementation as much as an innovation engine. [âŠ]
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Discussions of the effects of Covid-19 on work, organization and leadership often come down to âhome officeâ and âdigitizationâ. But do these buzzwords capture the multifaceted reality of organizations and how they function?[âŠ]
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The quest for innovation is great. Business leaders have the vision, drive and ambition to embrace technology. So why do innovation projects so often end in failure? [âŠ]
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Frances Hesselbein, whose leadership of the Girl Scouts of the United States of America from 1976 to 1990 turned a failing not-for-profit into one of the greatest socially serving institutions of the 20th and 21st centuries, died on December 11th, 2022 at her home in Easton, PA. Surrounded by loved ones, she was 107. Throughout her storied career, Frances Hesselbein often changed the life of a Girl Scout, an aspiring student, a military officer, or a business executive with a single conversation.[âŠ]
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âThe two most important days of your life are the day youâre born and the day you understand whyâ – Mark Twain
Purpose matters to all of us: itâs a key factor in our physical and mental wellbeing. As humans, finding our âwhyâ is important. When we understand our purpose and live it, we make a positive difference to ourselves and to those around us, and we change the world for the better. Itâs exactly the same for organizations.[âŠ]
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Peter Drucker once said, âif you want something new, you have to stop doing something old.â The simplicity of Druckerâs dialogue seems always to cast a shadow over the depths of the words he said.Â
In the wake of past and ongoing hardshipsâthe pandemic, labor shortages, supply-chain instability and inflationâbusinesses continue to adjust while looking for something new to keep up with quickly evolving market and consumer demands.
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Monday, 9 a.m. The board urgently needs your report. It will take you 45 minutes to do it.
9:02 a.m. “Do you have a minute?” You donât. âWhatâs the matter?” [âŠ]
This goes on all day.
Tuesday. Same.
Wednesday, 2 p.m. “When can we expect your report?” Do you say “Sorry, I was interrupted”?
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âWater! Build your organizations so that they move like water.â
This advice from Haierâs Chairman Emeritus, Zhang Ruimin, began a search for useful guidance for treating ecosystem engagement as a strategic asset for the future. Ecosystems are an ageless phenomenon, newly rediscovered for commercial purposes, by James F. Moore, in 1993. Once multi-geographic trade began, the ancient world was held together by interwoven threads of economic activity. As these linkages became more reliable, ecosystems bloomed.[âŠ]
The forces of change are gaining momentum. In the past Industrial Age, companies had to contend with dramatic changes but these were relatively infrequent and gradual. Todayâs environment presents a different sort of playing field for every institution. They are all faced with a constantly swirling cloud of change. As a result, every institution is surrounded by unpredictable innovations, shifts in the marketplace and other events that can quickly render a long-reliable strategy obsolete. Furthermore, new competitors can emerge from seemingly nowhere.[âŠ]
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Starting a panel discussion at Global Peter Drucker Forum 2021, Helga Novotny elaborated on the vast horizon of challenges faced by the global science in the 21st century. The academic community has been observing a rise in complexity: from tech finance speeding the banking systems to the climate changes speeding the economic systems. Complex systems reveal three inherent properties:[âŠ]
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