Art of Managing Archives

Art of Managing—Beware the Lure of Strategy in a Box Approaches

Aug 18, 2014

Strategy is one of those difficult topics that dog most management teams and most firms. The real work of strategy is challenging, time consuming and filled with hard-to-answer questions. Given the challenges of managing an effective, on-going strategy process, it’s no surprise “Strategy in a Box” approaches are often adopted by management teams looking to add a check mark to the strategy task on their annual goals. Here are some key reasons why there are no shortcuts when it comes to strategy:

Art of Managing—How to Respond When the Experiment Goes Wrong

Jun 30, 2014

In the most successful firms I’ve been around, the managers actively promote experimentation and learning as core to everyone’s job. Yet, it’s not the words on the wall or even the words that come out of their mouths about experimentation, it’s the actions they take when things go horribly wrong that fosters the effective learning environment. Here are 3 counter-intuitive ideas for turning project failures into lessons learned that stick:

Art of Managing—In Searching for Talent, Emphasize Potential

Jun 24, 2014

The author builds a case for shifting away from the competency model (core skills and experiences) that has dominated hiring practices for the recent past, to one that emphasizes assessing a candidate’s potential in the form of, “the ability to adapt to ever-changing business environments and grow into challenging new roles.”

Art of Managing—When People Develop at Their Pace, Not Yours

Jun 5, 2014

I’ve encountered more than a few managers who have expressed frustration over the pace of development of someone they have marked for future advancement and increased contribution. For many of these managers, it’s a vexing dilemma with no clear solution. Here are 4 ideas to help you navigate this potentially sticky situation:

Why Workplace Teams Struggle—And What to Do About It

Apr 28, 2014

Many workplace teams I observe are not much better than the typical nightmarish college class group project that most of us have lived through at one time or another. Here are 4 big reasons why workplace teams struggle and 9 ideas to help you do something about it:

Art of Managing—Sometimes You Have to Slow Down to Go Faster

Apr 21, 2014

Today’s management literature is filled with references to speed. If we’re following the trends, we’re all growing more “agile” and likely “lean” in the process. We’re working in “sprints” and “bursts,” and of course, we’re “teaming” whenever possible. All of this motion may be helping our waistlines, dancing moves and cardio health, but I’m not convinced that speed is always the right answer. Sometimes you just have to slow down to go faster.

Here are 4 key situations where pausing before acting makes good business sense:

Art of Managing—Shiny Objects and the Senior Management Team

Apr 13, 2014

One of the value killers found inside many organizations is the out of control pursuit of too many new initiatives. The root cause of this undisciplined pursuit of new initiatives rests squarely on the collective shoulders of the management team.

Leadership Caffeine™—Breakaway Leadership Part 2

Feb 23, 2014

Post number 1 in this series focused on the behaviors that often stifle the pursuit of moving into a new area while sustaining the legacy business. In this post, we look at 8 behaviors and approaches that YOU and your management counterparts directly control that contribute to success with this challenging endeavor:

Leadership Caffeine™—Exploring Breakaway Leadership, Part 1

Feb 10, 2014

If you’ve lived through a successful migration of a business from a legacy market to a new world, you know that it’s a sometimes messy, often emotionally turbo-charged experience. Here are 8 leadership behaviors that are guaranteed to create “tripping points” for any organization or team striving to breakaway from the past:

Strategy and Category—In Pursuit of Growth

Feb 6, 2014

Chances are your organization has plans to “change” and as part of your strategy, you have the challenge to identify and capitalize on new sources of growth. Those concepts make for pretty slides and create head-nodding executive and boardroom presentations. Actually doing the work is as I’m sure you know, far from simple. Here are some thoughts on the challenges to move into new growth categories while fighting the gravitational pull of the past:

The Leadership Caffeine Blog

Art of Managing—Beware the Lure of Strategy in a Box Approaches

Art of Managing—How to Respond When the Experiment Goes Wrong

Art of Managing—In Searching for Talent, Emphasize Potential

Art of Managing—When People Develop at Their Pace, Not Yours

Why Workplace Teams Struggle—And What to Do About It

Art of Managing—Sometimes You Have to Slow Down to Go Faster

Art of Managing—Shiny Objects and the Senior Management Team

Leadership Caffeine™—Breakaway Leadership Part 2

Leadership Caffeine™—Exploring Breakaway Leadership, Part 1

Strategy and Category—In Pursuit of Growth

Art Petty

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