Chances are, you’re already familiar with the concept of the Air Sandwich, if not the term itself. An Air Sandwich is what happens when the leadership within an organization issues orders from 80,000 feet and lobs them down to the folks at 20,000 feet. Without the benefit of feedback, questions, or even a reality check [...]
Archive | Culture & Leadership
Collaboration — the ability to co-labor — towards a shared goal is a purposeful way of engaging many people and their ideas to achieve a shared vision.
Google as Your Culture?
Here in the valley, there’s a weird awe of Google. It reminds me of the awe that Apple once had when I was there — as a place where the best and brightest go to work. I’ve heard that Intel had that cachet before Apple and some people are now suggesting that Twitter is the [...]
Got Power?
Do you feel you have power? Power is an interesting notion. Recently, I was at the TED conference where I was hanging out with some pretty powerful people (CEOs, general managers, thought leaders, inventors, fellows, authors, and so on) so I thought I would ask them how they got their power, and how powerful they [...]
What Batman Can Teach Us
You know who totally gets collaboration? Batman. He didn’t do the world-saving-things himself; he understood the power of a Robin and an Alfred and he collaborated well with the police. He got collaboration. And I think it made him more powerful. As I get ready for a talk on power thru collaboration on Saturday, I’ve [...]
Why We Should Hate All Consultants
When my company is stuck, I’m just as inclined to hire an outside advisor as other leaders are. But I hate it. Hiring a consultant means something needs to be fixed, or grown, or that I don’t know what to do next. I’m not talking about contractors whom I hire to do what I need [...]
Toyota’s Dysfunction
When you go slow, it could be you’re being thoughtful or considered, but more often than not, you are waiting for some one else to make a decision. In the case of Toyota’s recent and public failure, it took years for this issue to come to bear and get decided. The company knew the problem [...]
Why the How Matters
Connecting with friends now that the New How book is done about why I wrote it and the journey of 10 years it took me to really get why the “how” matters as much as the “what”. He wrote back something that is worth sharing: About the how mattering as much as the what…may be [...]
Little Things Like Pictures
Friend/colleague writes he saw this “On the shelf at my local Barnes and Noble. In UTAH. So cool.” It’s always the little things that can help brighten a day, isn’t it? What’s your little thing?
6 Ways to Change Business
The consistent question asked from any audience and group I work with is…. For us to do this high-performance collaborative work: Don’t the leaders have to change their approach? And, don’t the individual contributors have to change to step up to the game? But these questions are never asked together — meaning, individuals ask “don’t [...]
New How T-Shirt
Yes, it’s true, no one really needs another t-shirt. But we do wear logos, designs we care about. And we often wear things that embody our values. I can’t wait to get my TED 2010 shirt from #remo when I get home later today because TED stands for sharing ideas that matter. And I’ll likely [...]