Seth Godin’s written a piece on what he’s coined Sheepwalking – those who float through jobs, even their careers, only following their ‘work manual’. I define “sheepwalking” as the outcome of hiring people who have been raised to be obedient and giving them a braindead job and enough fear to keep them in line. Step one is…

Trust is an essential component in almost all dealings between human beings, other than outright hostile ones like wars and terrorism. It is certainly vital for the proper running of any organization, as well as for almost all the components of trade and commerce. Lack of trust between trading partners undermines the proper functioning of…

I’ve been thinking and writing quite a lot this week about Hamburger Management: the type of management approach that is based on always doing whatever is quickest, simplest and (above all) cheapest. Hamburger Managers provide the kind of leadership that is best described as: “Never mind the quality, look how fast it goes and how…

Rules are the kind of thing you love when you want them, and hate when you don’t. More often than not, my advice to managers is to avoid the urge to set them. The only exception I can think of on the pro side of writing rules are The Real Rules of Engagement because they…

There is a new boogeyman striking fear into top executives. In the past decade managers have gotten pretty well brainwashed in their hero-worship of the caped crusader called Empowerment. They know it’s a good thing to strive for in their organizations. They even understand that their own work-life balance depends on it. They realize that only…