Newsletter of June 28, 2010

Want to kill your firm quickly? Read HBR

Want to put your firm on the skids quickly? Then study the current issue of Harvard Business Review. Imbibe its philosophy, its attitudes and its values. Implement everything it says. In so doing, you will be well on the way to turning your organization into a fully-fledged mid-20th Century organization. The current issue of HBR (July-August 2010) is supposedly about "the effective organization". Unfortunately it's about "the effective organization of 1965." To find out why, go here.

After the Meltdown & the Oil Spill: What's Next?

Many of us have the sense that the financial meltdown of 2008 and the Gulf oil spill of 2010 signal something more profound than a couple of unfortunate and massive industrial accidents. But what? Richard Florida (The Rise of the Creative Class and Who's Your City) offers answers in his wonderful new book, The Great Reset. Read my review here.

The Great Reset: How New Ways of Living and Working Drive Post-Crash Prosperity by Richard Florida (Harper Business, 2010)

The Great Reset: Richard Florida podcast

I talked last week with Richard Florida about his book, The Great Reset. Richard is wonderfully passionate and articulate about what needs to happen after the financial meltdown of 2008. He sees that this is not about getting back to where we were. This is going to be wholly different. You can listen to the podcast here. (25 minutes, 8 megs, mp3).

Online Learning Event: Oct-Nov 2010:

Making Radical Management Happen

Participant feedback from workshops by Steve and Seth:

"It's bringing the words to life--the words in the books, the words in the slides. Now I see how to take this forward. The personal interaction is essential. I've read the words a lot. But now they are coming to life."

Larry Foster, Consultant, Former Senior Engineer at Shell

"I take away the courage to do what anyone would know they ought to do, but in the context of the organization, might be afraid to do. It's about learning how to tell your story to others so as to get buy-in and conduct a dialogue about what you wish life would be like. So in that sense, it's not radical at all. But the realization that that's not what you have in the organization right now, is radical. It's about conversing with other like-minded people in the class who really care about the workplace."

Jacqueline Zimmerman, US Department of Education

"What I really enjoyed and found very useful were the three ways you formatted the class. First, the textbooks, highly detailed, highly organized. Second, the experiential exercises, which have been very interactive amongst the group. And finally, the case studies, and the way you have engaged people, using their work environment."

Alexandra Mattson, MA Candidate, George Mason University

"Anyone who wants to improve their performance from both a personal and a managerial leadership perspective would benefit from this, at all levels."

Jim Peterson, Director, Training & Development, CNSI

That's what some participants said about a recent workshop that Seth Kahan and I held. Now we are bringing this experience to you on-line in October-November 2010. To find out more information and to register, go here.