There is clearly something very wrong with the way most companies above a certain size are managed. They are fragmented, wasteful, slow, over-bureaucratic, unable to leverage internal talent, detached from their customers’ needs and, in most cases, a frustrating place to work. When a global crisis hits, these inadequacies become acute and a real threat […]
Deloitte’s ‘Adaptable Organization’ Transformation – Nice Images, Shame About the Content
We are not in the business of comparing or contrasting what other consultants do. Consequently, we would not normally engage in a takedown of anybody’s work. However, the inadequacies of what Deloitte is proposing with its ‘Adaptable Organization’ could not elude us. We’re grateful to all those thousands who viewed our post on LinkedIn […]
Roadmap to Economic Recovery: An Open Letter to Leaders on Adopting a Growth Mindset
Six leaders of the largest business associations in Canada recently wrote an open letter to the Prime Minister Trudeau, praising him for his swift response with relief measures that succeeded “thanks to the government’s conscious decision to act quickly, pursue bold policies and take risks.” The signees stress that for success to be achieved going […]
Cash Generation in Project Based Businesses – Measuring What Matters Most
In any kind of business, the speed of cash generation through sales is crucial. This is something that cannot be measured by traditional accounting methods and balance sheets. These approaches do not take speed into consideration and that is odd because everyone knows that $1 earned in one day is very different to $1 earned […]
Constraints and Bottlenecks – You Need to Know the Difference
Bottlenecks are a new buzzword. This is a sad reflection of what is happening with the Coronavirus and the tragic chaos caused by the shortage of intensive care beds as well as protective equipment. Never before has it been so clear on a global level how important effective supply chains are to our wellbeing. Bottlenecks […]
Making Businesses Fast, Reliable, Digital – Practical Steps for Beyond the Crisis to Accelerate Flow
The pandemic crisis is revealing unsustainable economic and business models and practices in a brutal and accelerated way. Nobody can predict today what the “new normal” is going to look like, in spite of the myriad of articles offering advice on how to adapt and be more resilient in a post-COVID-19 reality. One such article […]
Transformation for Optimization – Learning from Deming to Start Again
In a moment when so many businesses must learn to start again, they could not do better than build their efforts on the solid foundations of Deming’s Theory of Profound Knowledge. His credentials are impeccable: Japan was able to emerge from devastation and become an economic powerhouse by absorbing and applying his teachings after WWII. […]
Entrepreneurial Intelligence – Beyond IQ and EQ
Much has been written about the importance of not just IQ but EQ, Emotional Intelligence. (Daniel Goleman explains EQ in this video.) We now know that there are different forms of human intelligence and all of us have them to differing degrees. Why isn’t everyone an entrepreneur? Anyone can go and register a company, but […]
Addressing Fear and Vision Simultaneously in a Practical Way
In all our human activities, we are influenced by two “drivers”: one is connected with fear (control, limitation) and one with desire (vision, growth, expansion). That’s the way we are wired as humans. In a moment of crisis, it is natural that fear is very present, but no organization can afford to focus on […]
Out of the Crisis
This week, the Intelligent Management team is in Italy for week 4 of total lockdown. We hope that all our subscribers and readers and their families are safe and healthy and have the opportunity to practice the social and physical distancing that is gradually producing its first results in Italy. May we all emerge from […]