Preparing for a sustainable return, part one: Containment
With the onset of COVID-19, work life has been stressful for all of us. When it became evident that the COVID-19 pandemic was not something that could be confined to Asia, businesses began adjusting how they operated starting with restricting travel and asking...
Building and sustaining a healthy corporate culture
Corporate culture gets a lot of attention in the business press, scholarly articles and popular media. The term was first used by Dr. Elliott Jaques, whose pioneering work includes Stratified Systems Theory—the foundation of the tool set we use with our clients. How...
Managers & Leaders | Empowerment is not enough
I read a lot – it’s a condition of my profession. Fortunately I like to read and there’s no shortage of materials to choose from. Lately, there’s been a lot of attention being paid to the notion of “Empowerment”. Some of what I’m reading makes me a little...
A Fine Balance: Balance ST and LT Goals
We often meet executive teams which are overly focused on delivering short term results at the expense of longer term growth. Considering the pressures senior executives receive from their boards and shareholders, this short-term focus is not surprising. However,...
Three Keys to Operational Excellence
So you want your organization to get strong today and build for the future using “operational excellence?” Here are three critical things for Boards, CEO’s and COO’s (Chief Operating Officers) to keep top of mind. A good starting point is to consider the principle...
Redesign: Collaboration and Control?
When it comes to organizational design, CEO’s want the outcome of collaborative, innovative places to work and yet struggle with a desire to control information, prevent unnecessary spin, and protect sacred relationships, especially if it means cutting people. This...