There’s a misconception the only way to create a virtual organization is to provide workers a laptop, e-mail, and instructions while corporate offices are sublet or disappear. Wrong! Organizations run on a set of rules, principles, and practices. Businesses and organizations are based on a culture, face-to-face contacts, synergies, and shared goals that can’t be …
“For young people, it is very important not to be able to see one’s fate, it’s very important to have the sense that one’s life is not preordained. Po Bronson, author Bronson, Po, The Nudist on the Late Shift, NY: Random House, p. xxvi.
Teaming can be a religion or a cult. The Wall Street Journal said that one “plant’s emphasis on fitting into a group can seem almost cultist: Worker mishaps that might hamper production or tarnish the plant’s reputation are considered an affront to everyone and can prompt a sort of communal confession.”[i] One group at this …
Leadership is practiced not so much in words as in attitude and in actions. Harold Geneen, CEO ITT
Core activities are designed around end-to-end processes while special activities are project managed. But, new problems can arise. To illustrate a recent challenge in a flattened organization, a Brand U manager had three direct reports to manage 90 people. Three front-line supervisors don’t exist anymore and this person now manages 90 people. What’s the most …
Can this economy last? Po Bronson, the chronicler of Silicon Valley and today’s techies, offered the following warning: “Can the (Silicon) Valley’s high-tech pickup game keep growing forever? Isn’t there some natural limit where the degree of chaos caused by the churning of start-ups and failures exceeds the degree of order established by standardized protocols …
The most talented and hard working people are unlikely to go to firms that Jeffrey Pfeffer, a professor at Stanford dubs, ‘toxic workplaces.’[i] Up to ten years ago, the male was the breadwinner and the spouse was the child rearer. Now, almost half of US households have dual incomes. More child rearing is split between …
Core process competencies are what differentiate one company from another. Organizational core competence is the same as Brand U core competence or proficiency. We all have assorted abilities and skills – core competencies. Many are current and value adding while others are obsolescent and need to be updated. Our core competencies or proficiencies are what …
“When you get right down to it, the real work of Silicon Valley occurs in the mind – the minds of workers sitting in their cubicles, staring at screens, pondering their challenges. That’s where innovation occurs.” Po Bronson, The Nudist on the Late Shift, NY: Random House, p. xxxiv.
Progress flows only from struggle. Louis Brandeis, US Justice