We know that intelligence and emotions are not the same. Certainly, people may be capable of great intellectual prowess but be cold and unfeeling. Other people may be kind and generous without having any particular academic inclination. While there may be extreme cases, most of us, and especially leaders and managers, live with the delicate […]
Continuous Innovation: Why Leaders Must Upgrade Their Thinking Skills
There is a lot of noise in our world today about innovation, particularly technological innovation. Undoubtedly, technology is a powerful aid to sustain transformation, but we need to understood what innovation really means. For managers and leaders, the question of innovation and technology has to be a fundamental part of their education process. Innovation Can (and Must) Be […]
Systemic Tools against Bias for Good Decisions about Risk
Our brains really struggle to be rational. This is a big problem when it comes to management and making decisions, especially decisions about risk. What can we do about it? The improbability of probability The human mind is unable to process probability. It’s a scientific fact proved over the last 20 years in a slew of publications (and […]
Managing Risk and Fear
No one can deny that risk exists. It’s the potential to lose something of value. It would be irresponsible to ignore it. The question becomes, what kind of decisional practice and behaviors are operationally and economically effective when it comes to risk in organizations? Operating from fear An article in Mashable about Google+ is a […]
Achieving Laser Focus in a Meeting the Systemic Way
I recently participated in a meeting for an innovative digital project where speed is now of the essence. We were able to surface assumptions that saved us endless conversations, weeks of delay and false starts based on misunderstandings. In that meeting I saw in action, yet again, the power of a Thinking Process Tool from the […]
How to Eliminate Toxic Beliefs that Choke Organizations
An excellent article entitled ‘5 Toxic Beliefs that Ruin Careers‘ hits on a key issue in life and business, namely how our perceptions affect the way we think and act. In this post, we look at how the Decalogue Methodology can address toxic beliefs. Why do some succeed where others fail in the same circumstances? […]
Tackling our Cognitive Constraints to Get to Breakthrough
A major stumbling block to growth for organizations lies in their cognitive constraints. In other words, there are mental models, or, more simply, limiting beliefs that prevent us from seeing solutions. In the Decalogue approach, we have worked over the last 20 years with hundreds of top and middle managers to build custom made implementations […]
Nothing Is the Same: How to Survive and Thrive in Today’s Market
This month marks ten years since the start of the 2007 financial crisis. Our economic models have failed us. Anyone who has lived with the aftermath of that crisis knows that. Many have lost their jobs, or lost their investments and even their future prospects. Many who expected to have a smooth career path are getting […]
How Can Systems Thinking Help Organizations?
Question: I have an organizational situation that I need to address and I’m not sure how to go about it. I’ve been hearing a lot about something called systems thinking and I’m interested in understanding what it is and how I benefit from it addressing the situation at hand. Your thoughts on how to pursue […]
Creative Thinking for Business – A Process that Can Be Learned
How can we produce more creative business thinkers? What sort of things should business schools be teaching to make that happen? When asked those questions, Neil Turok, Physicist and the director of the Perimeter Institute for Theoretical Physics in Waterloo, Ontario answered: “I’d want to show students how to see vast opportunities where everyone else […]