Ask any manager what their most important resource is and they will almost always tell you it is their employees. Ask if the motivations of their employees are of vital importance and they will respond enthusiastically in the affirmative. Yet, those same managers are typically unable to respond when asked to describe what motivates each…
Client-Centric Organizations In a previous blog post on feedback control, I described how, to be successful, organizations need to be capable of fast response in times of change. I also described how effective feedback systems within an organization can allow them to achieve this without over-reacting. It turns out that this has clear implications for…
Ask any manager if their employees are important, and they will inevitably say “Yes!” Then ask if the motivations of those employees are also important and they will nod their head so vigorously that you’ll fear it might fall off! And yet, if you ask them to think of a direct report who they know…
The “Multiplier Effect” In a previous blog post describing the case of the high flyer, I described how many organizations survive on a narrow margin between their income and their expenditure. I also used a case history to show how, because of this, a relatively small reduction in sales had a significant impact on the…
The Bottom Line In business, there is no such thing as typical. Each business is unique and its challenges will vary over time. This having been said, most organizations survive on the margin between their income and their expenditure and, because of competitive influences, for many organizations, this margin (often referred to as the “Bottom…
Interpersonal Communication and Organizational Stability In my blog post on Setting Targets and Feedback Control, I described how effective organizational communication not only helps responsiveness but also organizational stability. In a subsequent blog post, The Listening Paradox, I described the unique role played by effective listening and, in doing so, referred to the feedback control…
Those who can’t, … teach Throughout the professions, there are those who preach one thing and practice something entirely different when it comes to the way in which they manage their own lives. Accountants who forget to file their own tax returns, dentists with rotten teeth and doctors who eat all the wrong foods and…
Feedback Control Response Times In a previous blog post, I discussed how organizations cannurture innovation through the development of a “Learning” organization. In that blog post, I also emphasized the need for lines of multi-level communication that will allow ideas to come up from the lower levels. To be effective, organizations need to have fast…
Brainstorming Sessions? There’s a school of thought that, when it comes to innovation, the best approach is to hold regular brainstorming sessions. While it’s undoubtedly true that such sessions can be useful, they are no substitution for the creation of an organizational culture within which innovation is nurtured at all levels. Provided they are run…
Blame Cultures In a recent blog post describing how feedback control works and its importance to the effective functioning of any organization, I mentioned that organizations that have blame cultures are much less well able to respond rapidly to problems discovered lower down in the organization. Through the deployment of Talent Chaser’s Performance Appraisal and…
