20070607
(answer to the question "Do you know any happy business leaders?" - for a book project)
There are quite a few happy business leaders out there. But how about the "ever after" part of the tale ? I guess that could make an interesting chapter to wrap your fairy tales up.
Most biz leaders discover the hollowness of their quest at the end of the corporate road, especially those who didn't create their company. Being a former CEO doesn't mean anything, and even Jack Welch didn't recover from this first death.
Many try to compensate in a different dimension (ie philantropy, the Gates / Buffet syndrom). It depends on the kind of leader : some are born to rule and command, only a few have something that makes them special whatever they do, even when they do nothing, because it is about who they truly ARE.
Showing posts with label management. Show all posts
Showing posts with label management. Show all posts
Friday
My favorite business publication
20070531
(answer to the question "What´s your favourite business publication?")
The Economist. They won't tell you everything, but they have a unique way of telling things. You are not compelled to agree with everything but it's never boring. The European / UK origin shows but they cover all areas rather fairly. I remember warning many colleagues about the internet bubble years ago, to no avail. To me that bubble burst around February 1998, when a dramatic @@@@@@@@rgh scream splashed The Economist's cover. I passed that article around and it instantly calmed quite a few gamblers down.
(answer to the question "What´s your favourite business publication?")
The Economist. They won't tell you everything, but they have a unique way of telling things. You are not compelled to agree with everything but it's never boring. The European / UK origin shows but they cover all areas rather fairly. I remember warning many colleagues about the internet bubble years ago, to no avail. To me that bubble burst around February 1998, when a dramatic @@@@@@@@rgh scream splashed The Economist's cover. I passed that article around and it instantly calmed quite a few gamblers down.
On the border of corruption
20070601
(answer to the question "Where would you draw the borderline towards "corruption"?")
For me, corruption starts where respect stops. All you have to do is to respect the law, but also your customers, your employees, your partners, your competitors, your environment, yourself...
You may not always win, but there is a room for sane business.
(answer to the question "Where would you draw the borderline towards "corruption"?")
For me, corruption starts where respect stops. All you have to do is to respect the law, but also your customers, your employees, your partners, your competitors, your environment, yourself...
You may not always win, but there is a room for sane business.
On the innovation process
20070530
(answer to the question "What are the essential elements of the innovation process?" - the creative and synthetizing part)
From experience (as a strategist as well as as an author), I know it takes at least two sets of qualities : at the concept / idea level, and at the communication level. I've always enjoyed the conceptual part, and I have a lot of fun writing. Being an author is a permanent state and writing just an action, but people judge you by your output.
Ideally, there should be a visual / mental "click" from your audience / readers, but it is not always easy to translate your great vision the most efficient way. Pedagogy / communicability is key : your vision should be simple to understand and explain. Some doors can remain open if needed (you cannot embrace every dimensions, solve all questions), but everyone should be able to see what's at stake, share a common ground with all others. Besides, there is certainly no such thing as a "one size fits all" process for innovation, nor a universal way of synthetizing.
Actually, each consulting firm has a method, some are relevant in certain contexts, counterproductive in others. For example, the BCG can be help you bulldoze small bumps on the road and have a big corporation embrace a clear strategy, but when it comes to innovation, you want to protect diversity and be careful not to destroy valuable germs. The devil is in the details but a great value lies in theses details too.
At the end of the day, it is all about making a vision of a piece of knowledge useful, more valuable than it is by itself.
On VCious questions for prospective entrepreneurs
20070519
(answer to the question "What kind of questions would venture capitalists ask to prospective entrepreneurs?")
In the "simple, to the point" range, I suggest : why ? what ? when ? and most important : who ? (who are you, who is following you, whom are you facing...) what if ?
(answer to the question "What kind of questions would venture capitalists ask to prospective entrepreneurs?")
In the "simple, to the point" range, I suggest : why ? what ? when ? and most important : who ? (who are you, who is following you, whom are you facing...) what if ?
On brain training
200705
(answer to the question "Is Brain Training fun, fad or a little of both?" and various softwares for soft brains)
To me it's like training in a gym, following a program while checking your heartbeat and the number of calories you're presumably burning... It can be fun and even make sense for people under reeducation, for medical purposes... but this isn't the real thing.
You want to err in open spaces, off the path, work things out with people instead of softwares and machines. Brain is one thing, intelligence another. Try to stimulate your intelligence instead of training your brain. And diversify your programs - reading a good book, listening to great music, that often beats your DS provided you open your mind beyond your eyes.
(answer to the question "Is Brain Training fun, fad or a little of both?" and various softwares for soft brains)
To me it's like training in a gym, following a program while checking your heartbeat and the number of calories you're presumably burning... It can be fun and even make sense for people under reeducation, for medical purposes... but this isn't the real thing.
You want to err in open spaces, off the path, work things out with people instead of softwares and machines. Brain is one thing, intelligence another. Try to stimulate your intelligence instead of training your brain. And diversify your programs - reading a good book, listening to great music, that often beats your DS provided you open your mind beyond your eyes.
On books on business knowledge
200705
(answer to a question on the "Pretence of Business Knowledge")
As an author, I don't believe in books. Some people are swallowing books like pills to enhance their performance. I've never heard of a great businessman / manager who learnt from the books.
Experience, sharing views, challenging one's own way of thinking and seeing things, opening up beyond one's business and environment... this is actual business knowledge.
(answer to a question on the "Pretence of Business Knowledge")
As an author, I don't believe in books. Some people are swallowing books like pills to enhance their performance. I've never heard of a great businessman / manager who learnt from the books.
Experience, sharing views, challenging one's own way of thinking and seeing things, opening up beyond one's business and environment... this is actual business knowledge.
Define: power
Power is about perception. You can feel it when it is at work, but it is much more difficult to tell who has it at other times. You can feel your hair rise when you pass by a small and obsolete power plant because much of the energy is wasted and that's OK because not much is at stake. But while fishing on a quiet lake, you cannot feel the huge potential of the dam you cannot see.
Don't see people as they want you to see them. See them as they truly are, beyond the power the may exert on their environment, including you. And see yourself as you truly are. We all have power within, not all the same, and not the same capacity to control it.
200705
(answer to the question "WHAT IS THIS THING WE CALL POWER? Does it come from OTHERS or does it come from WITHIN US, as a state of mind?")
Don't see people as they want you to see them. See them as they truly are, beyond the power the may exert on their environment, including you. And see yourself as you truly are. We all have power within, not all the same, and not the same capacity to control it.
200705
(answer to the question "WHAT IS THIS THING WE CALL POWER? Does it come from OTHERS or does it come from WITHIN US, as a state of mind?")
Define: managing director, managing partner, general manager
The Managing Director manages the dates of lunches with the Managing Partner. The General Manager manages the rest.
200705
(answer to the question "What is the difference between a Managing Director, a Managing Partner, and a General Manager?")
200705
(answer to the question "What is the difference between a Managing Director, a Managing Partner, and a General Manager?")
Define: partnership
Partnership is a mode of relationship that goes beyond the standard / natural mode usually observed in a given environment.
1) ie in business : beyond sell / buy
2) ie at the personal level : beyond love / hatred, family / friendship
3) ie in the wilderness : beyond symbiosis / parasitism / predation
Binding or not, a partnership is decided by all parties and requires their involvement and agreement.
=> Partnership truly requires intelligence, an understanding of one's environment beyond the natural reach. In a successful partnership, both parties fully understand each other's environment, which generaly includes a new point of view on their selves.
200703
(answer to the question "Partnership - what is it ?")
1) ie in business : beyond sell / buy
2) ie at the personal level : beyond love / hatred, family / friendship
3) ie in the wilderness : beyond symbiosis / parasitism / predation
Binding or not, a partnership is decided by all parties and requires their involvement and agreement.
=> Partnership truly requires intelligence, an understanding of one's environment beyond the natural reach. In a successful partnership, both parties fully understand each other's environment, which generaly includes a new point of view on their selves.
200703
(answer to the question "Partnership - what is it ?")
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