As I write this post, I am in Mexico City having just spent the day with a group of mid-career managers facilitating a program about how to have more productive conversations at work. I cannot say for sure what the participants got from today’s session, but I definitely walked away with some food for thought…. Read more »
Tag: Jay G. Cone
It’s A lot Like Synchronized Swimming
As a teenage, Christine LeGarde, the current Managing Director of the International Monetary Fund (IMF) competed as a member of the French national synchronized swimming team. In an interview with National Public Radio, the reporter pointed out that LeGarde had often compared her IMF role with being a member of her synchronized swimming team. I… Read more »
Tolerating Ambiguity in Four Simple Steps
I have started several conversations with colleagues over the last month on the topic of ambiguity tolerance as a competency area for organizational leaders. Ambiguity tolerance has been a focus area of my studies over the last couple of years, so it’s not surprising that I see connections to the topic everywhere, especially since I’m… Read more »
Big Data – Small Minds
I travel a lot. I am now what the Transportation Safety Administration (TSA) refers to as a “Trusted Traveler.” One of the main benefits of being a trusted traveler is that when an airport has a designated TSA pre-check security line, I can pass through airport security without taking my shoes off. I would not… Read more »
Strategy Favors the Prepared Organizational Mind
Traditionally, organizational strategy has been cast as equal parts analysis and prediction. A small group of elite organizational leaders apply a framework (e.g. Porter’s Five Forces), consider trends that might alter the status quo, and then produce a plan to guide decision making and resource allocation for the foreseeable future. It’s that “foreseeable future” thing… Read more »
Using Scenario Planning to Prototype the Future
I’ve taken an interest in the topic of strategic thinking from both a research and a practitioner perspective. I’m currently working on a training program for mid-level leaders to help them develop their strategic thinking capabilities as they move from functional management roles into general management roles. One tool that I’ve included in the workshop… Read more »
Acting Like Owners, Be Careful What You Wish For
Starting tomorrow, my colleague Ashley Welch and I will be in New Orleans for Entrepreneur Week. New Orleans Entrepreneur Week (NOEW) culminates a season of entrepreneurship sponsored by The Idea Village, a non-profit organization established in 2000 whose mission, according to their website, is to “identify, support and retain entrepreneurial talent in New Orleans.” Ashley… Read more »
A Chicken in Every Pot and a Screen at Every Fingertip
My wife Katherine, who teaches preschool, overheard the following question raised by a 4-year-old during lunch last week, “Does your mommy let you download apps?” During the rest of the conversation, the 4 and 5-year-olds compared technology access policies in their homes. On a separate occasion, Katherine told me about a student who was baffled… Read more »
Befriending Variability
The Ethicist column appears weekly in the New York Times Sunday magazine. The current “ethicist,” Chuck Klosterman has taken over for Randy Cohen, who wrote the column for 12 years. People write in to The Ethicist with thorny, modern problems raising questions about the right thing to do. Cohen collected some of his favorite questions… Read more »
Do You Still Go to Work?
We closed the Dallas Region office of my consulting firm in 2002. When I boxed up my stuff, it marked the end of 14 years of reporting to work in an office building. Since then, when I’m not travelling, I work from home. Until this week, I hadn’t given much thought to “office work.” I… Read more »