Competition, as a creative destroyer, results in nimble, dynamic organizations. They must adapt and prosper or they soon die. All companies have a lifecycle. Companies are conceived, prosper and die. The numbers are stunning. The life expectancy of a typical multinational is between 40 to 50 years. This means that one-third of the companies in …
Inconsistent product quality Slow response to the marketplace Lack of innovative, competitive products Uncompetitive cost structure Inadequate employee involvement Unresponsive customer service Inefficient resource allocation[i] [i] Pearson, Andrall E., “Corporate Redemption and the Seven Deadly Sins,” Harvard Business Review, May/Jun, 1992, p: 65‑75.
A paradigm shift is a sudden and dramatic change in game rules. Paradigm shifts can be monumental or small. Usually, small shifts serve as a precursor to larger changes. What was right before may now be wrong. What was the pathway to success may no longer be the case. Law may now expressly forbid what …
Don’t play by the dominant competitive rules of your industry Get innovative or get dead Reexamine a company’s hidden strategic assets, then leverage the hell out of them Create a bias for speed and action Be proactive and experimental Break down barriers Use all people’s skills all the time Globalize the company’s perspective and …
In a dusty ancient road in the desert west of the Nile, soldiers, couriers, and traders congregated to swap stories and to write them down in limestone rock. These are now thought to be the earliest known examples of alphabetic writing. These early writings support the idea of the alphabet as an invention by workaday …
But, what about people? Who’ll look out for us in the ‘just in time’ work model? Tom Peters, always ahead of the curve, has the answer in his ‘reinventing work’ products. The following from the jacket of his Brand You 50 explains much: “The fundamental unit in today’s economy is the individual, a.k.a. YOU! Jobs …
There are lots of new questions about work and few answers. What is work? Is it a job, career, vocation, or avocation? What’s the best organization in which to work? How is work done in what type of organization? How are virtual teams managed or led? How are telecommuters integrated into an organization? How are …
Ladders, Web, Streams – Name Your Career Metaphor Read More »
Metaphors offer insights and lessons. Metaphors provide us a vision of what to expect from work. The career ladder is a great visual metaphor. A person started at the bottom and with the right effort climbed each rung. The career ladder told us what the organization, its work, and expectations were for each of us. …
Fast Company Magazine, today’s Brand U business magazine, identified six core personal business concerns: 1) leading, 2) changing, 3) learning, 4) pursuing personal success, 5) creating, and 6) finding new ways of working.[i] Working It offers a structure for understanding and a framework for adapting to these core business and work concerns. Working It is …
Michael Jordan is the quintessential Brand U. He was probably the best player in basketball. He propelled the Chicago Bulls to six NBA championships. The 7Ps – Paradigms, People, Principles, Practices, Products, Processes, Projects – can be used to understand Jordan Brand U. His paradigm is the rules of basketball. People are the players, …