Many people “make sense” of the world through their peers—that is, they seek to better understand events in the world around them by talking with and learning how their peers are responding to the events in question. This occurs when a new corporate strategy is announced by top management that is ambiguous—that is, not clearly […]
Read More… from Opinions of Other Managers Guide Middle Management Response to Strategy
The agile management approach, which began as a project management approach in the field of software product development, rejects rigid structures and processes in favour of customer-focused incremental processes that respond and adapt continuously to changing developments and customer feedback. Numerous methodologies have been developed to ensure the flexibility and responsiveness at the heart of […]
Read More… from Leaders’ Management of Team Emotions Key to Agile Success
Significant developments such as new strategies, new competitive pressures, or new leadership often require changes to a company’s organizational culture. This undertaking, however, is complicated by the amorphous nature of organizational culture as an invisible but pervasive force guiding how people think and behave, rather than a tangible and clearly defined facet of the company […]
Read More… from How to Leverage Organizational’ Cultural Toolkit’ for Change
The best middle managers influence and inspire their subordinates to higher levels of performance. Research has shown that the secret to being an inspirational middle manager is behavioural integrity, which can be summarized as ‘walking the talk’. Subordinates become motivated and engaged when they see that the behaviour of managers aligns with what they say. […]
Read More… from Middle Managers-Walking the Talk Needs Top Management Support
In the annual global MIT/Deloitte survey of executives and managers, 90% of respondents recognized that digital trends would disrupt their industries. Only 44%, however, believed their organizations were prepared for the disruption. Parsing the data in the survey returns, the MIT/Deloitte team were able to divide the companies of respondents into three categories: early-stage, developing, […]
Read More… from Aligning Your Organization for the Digital Future
Behind all human progress is the question: What’s Next? Asking “What’s Next?” led humankind from the invention of the wheel to the building of the pyramids, the establishment of common laws, the printing press, the founding of universities, coinage and commerce, steamboats, passenger trains, the light bulb, space travel and, most recently, the iPhone. But […]
Read More… from 4 Nextsensing Skills to See What the Future Holds
Implementing change is never easy, but for a newly hired executive working with new people in a new culture, the challenge is even greater. Understanding the current culture of the company is an important first step. What are the norms, values and beliefs of the company? Who are its informal leaders? Dissecting the company’s organizational […]
Read More… from Ten Steps for New Executives: Understand the Culture before Implementing Change
The best companies are expected to model, if not to develop themselves, innovative new management practices. This expectation is known as the ‘institutional norm of progress’, and companies that use new and improvement management practices are said to be displaying ‘progressiveness’. A study by a team of researchers from the Rotterdam School of Management, Queensland […]
Read More… from The Symbolic Value of New Management Practices
To foster innovation, the first step is to recognize the difference between business thinking and innovative thinking. Business thinking is logical, builds on past precedents and pursues certainty. Innovation thinking is intuitive, revels in ambiguity, and favours slow reflection over quick decisions. Leaders in innovative companies are adept at both business thinking and innovative thinking. […]
Read More… from Three Building Blocks of Innovation Leadership
Whether developing new products or services, refining internal processes, or creating disruptive business models, innovation is the key to sustained competitive advantage. Many companies, however, are unable to meet their innovation goals. In a recent Center for Creative Leadership white paper, authors David Magellan Horth and Jonathan Vehar cite a survey of 500 leaders in […]
Read More… from Innovation Leaders Turn Creative Ideas Into Action
