Posts Tagged ‘Hamburger-Management’

All Business is Personal

There are no objective, impersonal “laws” of business. Even all those numbers and ratios won’t change that. At bottom, business and organizations are deeply personal and horribly messy. Until we accept that, we won’t get far in improving how they work.

It’s fashionable to see business as an impersonal activity: as a world governed by objective numbers, financial ratios, and so-called “business fundamentals.”

It’s not like that. Not at all.

At the heart… » Continue

December 11 2006 | By Adrian | Tagged: business, choice, collaboration, Communication, Hamburger-Management, leadership | 5 comments»

Putting Your Trust in . . . Trust

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 business. Mistrust is a major cause of excessive (and unnecessary) workload on leaders, since the… » Continue

November 27 2006 | By Adrian | Tagged: business-ethics, civilized-work, collaboration, commitment, corporate-culture, empowerment, Hamburger-Management, honesty, innovation, integrity, leadership, Lifehack, Management, micro-management, motivation, office-politics, relationships, teamwork, trust, work, work-life, workstyle | 2 comments»

Finding More Entrepreneurs . . . and Fewer Jerks

I have two topics this week: the present-day obsession with clinging grimly to the status quo, when we have rarely needed change and entrepreneurial flair so much; and the obnoxious jerks whose presence in leadership positions disfigures too many organizations. These topics are linked by a recurring theme: the way that Hamburger Management—that dismal system of cutting corners, hounding people to reach crazy targets, and driving down every cost except… » Continue

November 20 2006 | By Adrian | Tagged: achievement, behavior, bestpractices, business, business-fundamentalism, businesslife, competition, creativity, effectiveness, entrepreneur, entrepreneurship, Hamburger-Management, innovation, leadership, Management, motivation, organization, performance, respect, slow-leadership, work, work/life-balance | 1 comment»

Change Here

After the election last week in the United States, change is a hot topic, but it isn’t political change that I have been thinking about recently. It’s how organizations and their leaders cope—or, more often, fail to cope too well—with the need for changes in business practices to promote growth and foster creativity.

It’s a truism to point out that no one can avoid change. It’s part of the reality in… » Continue

November 13 2006 | By Adrian | Tagged: breakthrough, business-fundamentalism, change, civilized-work, corporate-culture, creativity, dignity, effectiveness, Hamburger-Management, happiness, improvement, lifebalance, Management, priorities, slow-leadership, strategy, thinking, thought, trust, work, work-life, work/life-balance, worklife, workplace | 1 comment»

Why We Should Put an End to “Hamburger Management”

Hamburger Management is a shoddy, debased version of real leadership that focuses on just three things: whatever demands least, can be used fastest, and costs least. It thrives wherever organizations seek to meet unrealistic targets with insufficient resources to maximize short-term profits. Indeed, Hamburger Management is short-term by nature, and will habitually sacrifice long-term advantage and value for the immediate gratification of bosses and investors.

To force people to work long… » Continue

November 6 2006 | By Adrian | Tagged: accomplishment, anxiety, business-ethics, change, civilized-work, competition, creativity, effectiveness, Hamburger-Management, innovation, leadership, lifehacks, Management, manager, micro-management, organization, slow-leadership, strategy, stress, trust, value, work-life, work/life-balance, worklife, workplace | 3 comments»

Focusing on What Matters (and Ignoring What Does Not)

As I look back at this week’s postings on Slow Leadership, I notice that most of them were concerned with helping people stop wasting their time and energy on fruitless endeavors.

Take the first post, entitled: To Succeed, First Forget About Leadership Technique. In it, I argued that belief that success—in just about any business or leadership —comes from one simple source (applying the correct “leadership technique), is both… » Continue

October 30 2006 | By Adrian | Tagged: civilized-work, decision-making, firstthingsfirst, freedom, Hamburger-Management, lifebalance, Lifehack, Management, overwork, prioritization, problem, problemsolving, technique, timemanagement, work-life, work/life-balance, working, worklife | 1 comment»

Antidotes to Hamburger Management

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 cheap it is.” Sadly, this approach is being forced on a great many otherwise perfectly… » Continue

October 23 2006 | By Adrian | Tagged: attitude, behavior, bestpractices, business-ethics, civilization, civilized-work, competition, decision-making, effectiveness, empowerment, engagement, expectations, guideline, Hamburger-Management, innovation, integrity, leadership, lifebalance, Management, meetings, organization, performance, priorities, prioritization, slow-leadership, strategy, stress, success, trust, work, work-life, work/life-balance | 4 comments»

Doubt, Conformity, and “Hamburger Management”

When you write an article on a topic, it’s traditional to start with the problem, explain the causes next, then move into offering a solution. On the Slow Leadership site this week, I took things more or less in the opposite order, starting on Monday with part of the solution, giving my views on the reasons for the problem mid-week, and finally explaining the problem itself on Friday. This… » Continue

October 16 2006 | By Adrian | Tagged: business-ethics, business-fundamentalism, civilized-work, doubt, Hamburger-Management, lifebalance, Management, office-politics, performance, slow-leadership, strategy, success, timemanagement, work, work-life, work/life-balance | 3 comments»