Quality Matters. So Does Trust
Today, Health Quality Ontario released a report on health system quality that deserves wide circulation. I worked with HQO to help develop and write this report, and the experience had a big impact on me, both as a patient and a student of organizations. Healthcare is the most complicated environment in which to make system […]
Why aiming for the moon is not such a great idea
I can’t remember the last time I made a New Year’s resolution, though I readily admit it’s a tempting time for a personal “reset” or goal-setting exercise. A little self-delusion can’t hurt. Organizations can feel the itch, too. In extreme form, it’s known in corporate-speak as “setting stretch goals.” Popularized by Jack Welch of General […]
Polyglot Management Teams Learn Best, and it Shows in Their Acquisitions
Big news today on the mergers and acquisitions (M&A) front: Hudson’s Bay Co. announced it was acquiring the U.S. luxury retailer Saks for $2.9-billion. This got me thinking about how some companies, like Amazon, General Electric, and Proctor & Gamble, have great track records in M&As; they make very few missteps. Others — I’m looking […]
Why are we smarter but less creative?
Put upon by demands at work and home, people in highly developed countries feel their creativity is being nipped in the bud. That’s one of the conclusions of the recently released State of Create report, sponsored by Adobe. The survey of people in the U.S., UK, Germany, France, and Japan is a global benchmark on attitudes […]
Wheatley: Admit you’re lost and seek wisdom in community
I’m a big fan of management thinker Meg Wheatley. Actually, to describe Wheatley as a management thinker doesn’t quite do her justice. Since the early 1990s, she has been researching and writing about organizational learning, change management, and spiritually grounded leadership. But she’s also devoted a considerable amount of energy to building heathy communities both […]