Industrial age organizations operate using a chain of command structure

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In the “shift-age” it’s not the largest or best ,  

but the fastest that will survive and prosper.  To be fast you must personally have, or have access to, people who see emerging patterns (who instinctively focus on forests, not trees).  Studies indicate that females generally score higher than their male counterparts when...

 Innovative technologies and new management processes come and go, but

the principles of effective leadership have remained constant throughout the ages.  That’s because they are founded on timeless truths regarding what goes on within and between people.  Management science has given us a never ending stream of valuable ideas, tools and processes...

Then Prime minister Margret Thatcher, after a cabinet meeting in Brighton

, was reviewing documents with two staffers.  She had just excused herself to visit the rest room when a bomb went off uner the chair she had been sitting in.  Her  staffers were critically injured but she escaped unharmed.  The next day  terrorists sent her a message, “...

Like an expert jazz group, successful small companies can create beautiful

music because a limited number of players are motivated by the founder’s vision. They know the team’s strengths and limitations, cover for each other, are experts at; shooting from the hip, changing direction on the fly, and multi-tasking.  In short, they will do whatever...

Culture can be defined as a collective set of habits used by a group to

get things done. You’ve had experience breaking a personal habit—imagine how tough it is to break an unwanted  corporate habit.  Yet, many CEOs begin culture change initiatives with a “so it is written, so it is done” expectation.  Successful culture change (like breaking...

The following is an excerpt from The Baton Management System more visit

CEOs who set a good example  by adopting a “do as I do—not as I say” attitude with direct reports (particularly in terms of how to supervise) are a primary  leading- indicator of corporate  success in the “shift-age”.  Compliance by senior executives  to company-wide supervisory protocols is an essential factor in the  maintainance...

Most executives use metrics related to the output of group(s) reporting

directly or indirectly to their direct reports to assess the performance of each subordinate (what a poor choice of words).  For example the VP of sales is typically measured on sales numbers.  At first glance, this common practice makes sense, but using bottom line numbers exclusively...

Is there a difference between owning and managing a business? You bet

there is! I learned about managing during a fifteen year telecommunications industry career that culminated as a Director of Sales and Marketing. When I left to start my own management consulting company it wasn’t surprising that I focused exclusively on major corporations—I...

Nature hates empty spaces, and works hard to keep them filled. The phenomenal

Have you ever watched a tiger at the zoo? All its needs were being met; food, safety, free health care, and for a lucky few…a dating service. But like all caged creatures, it was dull-furred, dim eyed, and lethargic. Activity was relegated to pacing back and forth within its unnatural confine. Compare that sorry looking animal to its wild cousins...