On the Eve of 9-11
Every year, as we pass Labor Day and approach September 11th, I think of the not-so-modest proposal I offered a few years ago, for a new national way to think about those two American events. This year, the deliberately public, deliberately heinous beheadings of two journalists again bring my thoughts to “Freedom’s Labors.” Steven Sotloff and James […]
“How To Destroy Morale in 4 Easy Steps”
Thanks to @EthiFocus for bringing my attention to this bit of research in a Washington Post blog: How to destroy employee morale in 4 easy steps. These are also four do-nots if you care about Tone at the Top.
Conan’s Own Moral
Item #1: Conan O’Brien’s final quote: “If you work really hard and you’re kind, I’m telling you, amazing things will happen.” Item #2, even better: Since Friday night, when O’Brien said it, thousands of people have re-tweeted that quote. At a random time two days later, still another 10 re-tweets per minute. Think the average […]
Conan, Leno, and a Business Moral
Nice article in the Washington Post by business columnist Steven Pearlstein, asserting that NBC’s late night troubles are an analog for what’s wrong with American Business. Among his observations: It starts with the mind-set that puts short-term profit over long-term value creation…. Unable to come up with something new and fresh, NBC’s fallback — like […]
The Days of Freedom’s Labors
As we approach early September, I’d like to make a proposal. First, I propose that the Friday after Labor Day be designated a full federal postal and banking holiday, to be designated as Freedom Day. I know that the idea for this kind of holiday, designed to commemorate the shock, losses, and resolve of 9/11, […]
Bone at the Top
Occasionally, company leaders just do the darndest things. Things like short-term decisions that wind up wrecking a company’s reputation long-term. Things that must make the company’s efforts to build a culture of ethics internally, just seem to its employees like so much window dressing. These bone-headed decisions set a “tone at the top” you don’t […]
The Tiger Stands Defender
I had the great fun this weekend of attending my college reunions at Princeton. Among the many pleasures there was seeing one of my college friends, a woman known then (and now) for her unflinching social activism. When we were in school, she was the most vocal and active of all students about eliminating the […]
Another CEO for Golden Rule Management
Another vote for really, truly treating employees like teammates — for managing by the Golden and Silver Rules and thereby building a successful business — from Richard Teerlink, the retired chairman of Harley-Davidson. I recommend his recent comments, as reported by my friend Anne Ciesla Bancroft in her very substantive blog on managing workforce reductions. […]
Behavioral Econ Part II: Managing like you like it (and like them)
More thoughts on my April 25 post on behavioral economics and behavior change. This gets to the nub of what I want this blog to be (mostly) about. Randy Cohen‘s anecdote made me think of another that appears in my no-question favorite management book: “It’s Your Ship,” by D. Michael Abrashoff. The story is about […]
Golden rule management ala Berkun
Really nice exposition of management by the Golden and Silver Rules, by consultant and author Scott Berkun. In fact, the old Rule gets an explicit mention in #7 of Berkun’s “Top Ten Reasons Managers Become Great. “Practice of the golden rule. It’s funny how well known this little gem is, and rare in life people […]