What is your number one tip for managing people? People do things for their reasons, not yours. Listen. Connect. Inspire (stretch). What is the best piece of advice you've ever received? It's hard to decide between my first boss's advice, "You are less than half as smart as you think you are", which set me… More »
My Notes — Management
New Management Focus: Invest in Relationships!
Designing an organization requires making a million decisions both large (e.g. picking a strategy) and small (e.g. picking out paper for the PC printer). It is easy to get lost in the trivial instead of focusing on getting the critical elements right. In my courses, I try to present ideas and frameworks that help identify what is important. At the recent Academy of Management Conference in Montreal I came across a phrase that was new to me. In my view, it crystallizes what managers need to do to design an organization that is able to respond to all the unexpected events that invariably occur in the life of an organization:
You Don’t Have to Pay Employees More Than the Competition to Keep Them Happy
Returning to Chicago for the first time in three years, I went to two of my favorite restaurants. In one, Lulu’s, most of the waitresses and busboys I had seen three years ago were still there. In the other, I recognized no one except for the owner. So I asked the owner of Lulu’s if… More »
May 3, 2010 · Management Teaching
CEO Q&A: Greg Bourke
What is your number one tip for managing people?
Be empathetic: When you understand the issues that constrain staff from doing their job you will usually identify bigger issues in the organization.
Is there a lesson you have never forogotten?
Progress is not perfection.
From BRW, April 29-June 2, 2010, p. 12.
CEO Q&A: Lincoln Crawely
What has been your greatest regret in Business?
That I didn’t really get to know and accept my strengths and weaknesses earlier.
What is your number one tip for managing people?
Fairness and balance, which must not be confused with compromise.
From BRW, April 15-21, 2010, p. 10.
March 19, 2010 · Management Teaching
Warren Buffet’s Symbolic Leadership
Watch this great advertisement staffed by employees of Geico. Warren Buffet, whose companey fully owns Geico, participates in the ad to demonstrate that he is one the many co-workers. It is funny to see the 80-year-old billionaire impersonate Axl Rose.
March 7, 2010 · Management Research
Problems with the Peer Review System in Science
Frank Furedi has written a very thoughtful essay on the problems with current peer review system in science. In my view, the issues are a lot more serious in the social sciences where is much harder to formulate non-trivial general laws and make precise predictions that can be proven or disproven. The natural sciences require… More »
February 27, 2010 · Management Teaching
The New AGSM MBA (Executive) Strategic Management Year
As the director of the Strategic Management Year, I led of team of faculty to redesign the year-long program. We added many new features (live case studies, book reviews, learning diaries, self-refelection papers, peer coaching, peer evaluations, rewriting of strategy paper) and organized the year around the fundamental problems that a general manager and entrepreneur faces:
1. How do I detect and select business opportunities?
2. How do I develop business opportunities?
3. How do I grow a business?
4. How do I transform a business?
In this short video, I describe the changes that we have made. Click on “More” to see a more detailed picture overview of all program.
Apple did not forsee the success of the application store
It is hard to forsee the future as the recent episode with Apple's application store demonstrates. The NY Times reports: The App Store’s success — as much a surprise to Apple as it has been to competitors — has given rise to a new digital ecosystem. Today, hundreds of software aspirants, from individuals tinkering in… More »
October 25, 2009 · Management Teaching
The Economist on Annoying Bussiness Guru and the Problems with MBA Curricula
The Economist has a wonderful new column called Schumpeter. The October 22 issue revists the shortcomings of management gurus that I highlight in my classes. The Sepember 24 column encourages business schools to teach people to be more sceptical. The three habits...of highly irritating management gurus Business schools have done too little to reform themselves… More »