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The art and science of the possible

~ A celebration of non-zero sum thinking

The art and science of the possible

Category Archives: management

What does an “innovation economy” really mean?

22 Friday May 2015

Posted by lnedelescu in human capital, innovation, management, Organizational Development, society

≈ 1 Comment

Tags

Agile, Economy, Independent judgement, Innovation, Knowledge Economy, Knowledge worker

Prosperity

We have entered the knowledge economy, but are only dismally realizing its tremendous potential for accelerating human progress and prosperity. While we acknowledge human talent as the chief resource of the 21st century, we fail to utilize the creative potential for a majority of the workforce. In fact, the portion of the employed workforce which utilizes independent judgement has remained stagnant for decades [see Nilofer Merchant]. Regarded from this angle, our state of the art economy is only marginally efficient at turning knowledge into innovation.  Progress is only achieved painstakingly and convolutedly. The lost opportunity cost is tremendous [see David Nordfords].

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The end of the “check-the-box” era

20 Monday Apr 2015

Posted by lnedelescu in business, human capital, innovation, management, society

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In my 2013 Global Peter Drucker Forum winning essay, Post-Causality: a Quiet Global Revolution in the Making, I made a compelling point that the world is moving away from an “if-then” paradigm. We are indeed moving away from the simple causal credo of the “if you find yourself in this situation, then check this box” type. But it is a slow, protracted transition. According to Nilofer Merchant, between 1950 and 2010 the percentage of the workforce that utilizes independent judgement has been left flat at 33%. But what is independent judgement you might ask? A fair question.

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Leadership: between passion and lunacy

20 Monday Apr 2015

Posted by lnedelescu in business, innovation, management, Organizational Development

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Innovation, Leadership, Psychology, Risk

harlequin

I just came across an interesting article from CNN Money on the story of Microsoft’s Surface product line. Apparently somewhere along the path to the success that the Surface Pro 3 has turned out to be, Microsoft lost lots of money on intermediary product versions. Particularly, they were left with $1 billion worth of Surface 2 inventory. Microsoft never wavered in their support for the guy behind the Surface line, Panos Panay. That my friends, is the essence of leadership. You ain’t a leader until passion has gotten you in a position where you’ve either questioned your own sanity or been suspected of lunacy by others.

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Exceptional corporate growth

17 Tuesday Mar 2015

Posted by lnedelescu in business, innovation, knowledge, learning, management, Organizational Development

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Business model scalability, Chris Argyris, Double Loop Learning, Growth

Double Loop Learning

There’s more than enough literature out there for corporate growth. Academics talk about implementing cultures of innovation. Consultants present case studies on sophisticated financial strategies to drive bottom line revenue. And yet, a fundamental model for growth mechanics remains elusive. In this post I present a model for scalable or better than average corporate growth.

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Communism is dead. Long live (corporate) Communism!

05 Tuesday Aug 2014

Posted by lnedelescu in business, capitalism, future, human capital, knowledge, management, philosophy, society

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business, Charles Handy, Communism, Corporations, human capital, Knowledge Economy, Peter Drucker, Progress, Society, Talent

Communism

The sensible consensus is that communism became all but extinct with the end of the Cold War. I say it may be so, but the mindset that fueled it continues to live unhindered. Your next thought may be that I am referring to North Korea. But I have something much closer to home in mind: the U.S. corporate sector. Yes, you didn’t misread. I will dare to say that the mindset of the corporate sector in 2014 is eerily reminiscent of communist thinking.

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When competence is offensive

25 Wednesday Jun 2014

Posted by lnedelescu in business, consulting, Crisis, management, problem solving

≈ 1 Comment

Tags

business, incompetence, management consulting, office politics, power games

Image

I remember vividly a meeting that took place a few years ago. I was a management consultant tasked by the owner of a large corporation with overseeing the creation of a new profit and loss business unit. My nemesis was a Vice President who did not want to see his power and “territorial” claims diminished by the new venture. Typical power games and office politics were very much at play. The owner liked to delegate and had a “survival of the fittest mentality” to mediating conflict.

The three of us had gotten together because the named Vice President was overtly sabotaging my efforts. He was making the case to the owner that, while the idea of the new business unit was great, the consultant was poorly fit for the job.

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Introducing the World to Generative Management

09 Sunday Mar 2014

Posted by lnedelescu in business, design thinking, management, strategy

≈ 2 Comments

Tags

Analytics, Big Data, business, Clay Christensen, Design Thinking, disruptive innovation, Generative Management, George Gilder, integrative thinking, Kevin Kelly, Nassim Taleb, operations, Peter Drucker, Roger Martin, Russell Ackoff, strategy, thought leaders

Image

Like yin and yang, human enterprise has two facets: closed-loop activities and open-ended endeavors. In management we call these two operations and strategy.

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A consulting industry first: strategy architected around complexity principles

25 Tuesday Feb 2014

Posted by lnedelescu in complexity, consulting, design thinking, innovation, knowledge, management, problem solving, strategy

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Alignment, complexity, Criteria, Innovation, Performance, Peter Drucker, phase transitions, Portfolio, Qualitative Leaps, Quantitative, strategy

Image

When people ask me what it is that I do, they often act surprised and sometimes suspicious upon hearing my answer: “I solve wicked problems with undefined parameters”; yes, really.

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Your boss, the middleman – Part II

20 Thursday Feb 2014

Posted by lnedelescu in business, human capital, management, Organizational Development, problem solving

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Boss, Business Talent Group, Charles Handy, Economy, Elephants, Fleas, Freelance, hierarchy, management, Middlemen, Roger Martin, Talent

Image

I ended my initial post on this topic with a pointer to the so-called “freelance economy”. In this post I want to take this thread further, as I think it can shed light into the future of employment.

What I was implying at the end of my initial post is that reducing or even doing away with “middleman” corporate hierarchies in a post-materialistic, fluid economy of ideas doesn’t lead to anarchy. Rather it logically leads to a “freelance economy”, a world where, in British management philosopher Charles Handy’s words, free-floating freelancer “fleas” service multiple corporate “elephants” following the need for their specific talents.

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Your boss, the middleman

19 Wednesday Feb 2014

Posted by lnedelescu in business, human capital, management, Organizational Development

≈ 3 Comments

Tags

Boss, Career, Corporations, Customer, Executives, Manager, Market, Middlemen, Performance Appraisals, Professional Growth

Image

For all you hard-working, well behaved corporate folk out there I suggest you wake up from the illusion of getting ahead by meeting or even exceeding your performance objectives. You will get that occasional 7.5% annual raise and you may even get a bonus once in a while, but it’s all part of a linear revenue ascendance mostly eroded by inflation or even wiped out by the occasional Wall Street black swan that dissolves your wealth.

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  • Intelligence is Intentional
  • Plenty of Room at the Top: the case for a viable man-machine economic future
  • What does an “innovation economy” really mean?
  • Lightfoot strategy
  • Capital: a brief philosophy

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