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One of the more startling statistics in the business world is that approximately 70% of organizational changes fail to produce the results for which they were undertaken. In her book The Last Word on Power, Tracy Goss reports that when interviewed, sixty-two percent (62%) of the managers from companies whose change efforts failed listed resistance Continue reading Do Leaders Cause Resistance?  One reason people experience stress and feel that they have more to do than time in which to do it is because they are in an argument with The First Law of Accomplishment. The First Law of Accomplishment states: “The accomplishment of anything requires a sufficient period of time in which to accomplish it.” Its Continue reading Obeying the First Law of Accomplishment I recently had the working managers in my MBA class on execution (as in implementation, not hanging) undertake an exercise to improve relationships with the people with whom they work. In particular, we were interested in whether or not they could improve their affinity (liking) for people they currently did not like very much. They Continue reading Improving Relationships at Work It is said that when Caesar invaded England, he burned his boats to let his men know that there was no way home. The only options were victory or death. For most of us, the idea of cutting off all retreat is unnerving. We like to keep our options open, to have a back door Continue reading Burn the Boats Have you ever heard someone say, “What we need around here is more accountability”? If so, you are in good company because accountability, how to get it, and why people don’t have more of it is a popular topic in today’s workplace. I encounter this complaint from the managers in my MBA classes as well as Continue reading The Two Sides to Getting “More Accountability” Don’t risk being held to account for things you don’t know about. Take the time to find out what people really expect you to do, and what they expect you to deliver. If they don’t tell you, ask. I recently had a conversation with a manager who was disturbed by her inability to meet the Continue reading Convert Expectations into Agreements While flying home from a weekend visit with my son in Houston, Texas, I got a flash of insight into why it is so difficult to train managers to be more effective. I was reading “The Psychology of Judgment and Decision Making” when I realized managers make a fundamental error in their understanding of what Continue reading The Fundamental Error in Managing Others If you want to kill a werewolf, you use a silver bullet. If you want to stop productivity, there are silver bullets that will do that too. To avoid being stopped, know your silver bullets – and make friends with them. Folklore has it that if you want to kill a werewolf, you do it Continue reading Know Your Silver Bullets Many of us confront challenges at work. Some of these are easily resolved. Others are more persistent. One reason challenges persist is because we don’t accept any responsibility for them. I recently gave an assignment to the managers in my MBA class on management in which they were to identify their top three persistent challenges. In Continue reading Top Management Challenges: Are We Being Victims? |
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