A great deal of confusion exists about how assessments can help in hiring. Senior leaders typically leave these decisions to their HR departments, but the decision to use assessment should be made at the top of the organization. Only then can leaders ensure that they are using assessments effectively, legally, and ethically. Here are the […]
Frequently Asked Questions about Personality Testing Read More »
The movement advocating consensus decision-making happened at about the same time as the human resources movement emerged. People researched democratic decision-making, advocated for more group involvement, and promised new-found synergy among members of the decision-making team. But not until the past five years have leaders sought to have their direct reports *like* their decisions. Of
People *Like* Consensus Read More »
In the past week I’ve experienced a notable increase in people asking my opinion. That’s good news for a consultant who considers opinion-giving the coinage of her realm. But clients didn’t ask; businesses did. As I checked out of the FedEx store where I’d bought envelopes, the nice clerk handed me a receipt and said,
And the Surveys Go On Read More »
Airline captains don’t have an “open door policy, and there’s a good reason for that. Aside from the obvious terrorist and crazy passenger threats, airline pilots realize they face another adversary: treacherous interruptions. In 1974 an Eastern Airlines flight carrying seventy-eight passengers and four crew members crashed in dense fog during an instrument approach into
Does Your Company Need a Sterile Cockpit? Read More »
Today’s global economy leaves little room for error. It does not allow for mediocrity; the rules and players have changed; and “ordinary” simply won’t work anymore. If you don’t have the best products and services and the top people delivering them, your competitors will, and they will take their excellence all over the world. Only those
Challenge the Ordinary Read More »
Study after study puts the failure rate of mergers and acquisitions between 70% and 90%. Even when they don’t fail outright, they too often fail to delight. What steps can leaders take to make sure they don’t join the ranks of disappointing statistics? It all starts with communication—before, during, and after the deal: 1. Communicate
The Urge to Merge: Successful M & A Communication Strategies Read More »
New excuses for inferior performance crop up just as fast as one can whack them down—reminiscent of Whack-a-Mole, a game that involved forcing individual plastic moles back into their holes by hitting them directly on the head with a mallet. This week I encountered a new breed of mole related to a hospital’s low patient
Excuse Me. Do You Mind if I Deliver Inferior Performance? Read More »
Any discussion of motivation should begin with an analysis of people who have shown great application of it. Arguably, those whom Fortune ranks among the wealthiest in the world might make the list, especially if money were the only criteria for measuring motivation. It’s not, but it does provide a way of looking at the score after
Why Does Bill Gates go to Work? Read More »
In April, as decreed by the Church of England, we commemorate the life of William of Ockham, an English Franciscan friar and scholastic philosopher who has influenced modern organizational theory—but not enough. Peter Drucker’s medieval counterpart offered the observation that “entities must not be multiplied beyond necessity,” although these exact words never actually appear in
Who Was Occam? And Why Did He Need a Razor? Read More »
Probably everyone reading this article can ride a bike. In my neighborhood riding a bike was a rite of passage, a means of transportation, and a symbol of freedom. People from all walks of life and economic backgrounds know how to ride bikes. You might call it a universal success story of learning. And once
Why Don’t We Forget How to Ride Bikes? Read More »
