What does success have to do with smarts? I know middling intelligent people who’ve made it big. Some wrote best-selling mystery books, designed killer products, or sold real estate. Some of these folks seemed like they belonged in Densa not Mensa, the genius organization. Each Brand U has one or multiple core competencies or practices. …
“Most people focus on what measurement, not on how value gets created,” said Peter Ramstead, the CFO of Personnel Decisions International. Pay for extraordinary contribution and performance is now a hot issue. The result is that fixed pay becomes a relic. Should people in the same job get the same pay when one worker may …
“For knowledge workers, ‘How do I perform?’ may be an even more important question than ‘What are my strengths?’ Like one’s strengths, how one performs is unique. It is a matter of personality. Where personality is a matter of nature or nurture, it surely is formed long before each person goes to work. And how …
It is better to solve a problem than face a crisis. John Gunther, Writer
Entitlement is dead – accountability is alive and well. As Brand U’s, we’re responsible for the performance of our process, function, activity, team, plant, or company. Performance management is a direct outcome of self-management and self managed teams. Senior management looked to functional management to operationalize the corporate strategic vision, mission, plans, objectives, etc. Each …
Computer and information technology makes data more available but it doesn’t necessarily make us smarter or help us make smarter decisions. We have access to data, but don’t know what it means or how it should be used. Technology can also overwhelm us. New hardware, software, virtual ware and who knows what ‘ware’ can be …
“For virtually every business in the United States, the implications of economic change are enormous. The rapidly changing and more uncertain environment not only has made corporate decision-making and planning more difficult, but also has significantly increased business risks. Operating successfully in this new environment will require a very different approach to business management. It …
All business proceeds on beliefs or judgments of probabilities, and not on certainties. Charles Eliot, President Harvard University
We’ve all gone to Starbucks for our daily coffee fix. Twenty customers are waiting in line. A customer can order a ‘double-shot, decaf, grande, iced, half-skim, vanilla, dry, cappuccino.’ Surprisingly the baristos get it right most of the time. Wow! How do they do it? Starbucks has proceduralized the sequence of words and activities that …
Time management is also a business issue. The marketplace changes quickly. New competitors arise. Customers are fickle. Customers want products delivered over night. Business accelerates at electronic speed. Windows of opportunity shrink as stakeholders are electronically linked. Parts are delivered just in time for assembly or test. Inventories are reduced to close to zero. Time …