Ever have a great idea for a project, only to see it fail due to unforeseen complications? Ever been the manager without the resources to accomplish a plan handed down from on high? Feel like the company has lots of good ideas but no time to implement them? Adaptive management is designed to overcome suchRead more…

Waves of social outcry and protest; debt crises in the United States, Europe, and Japan; a growing desire for autonomy among workers; and new technologies that upset the fundamentals of traditional business — 2011 represents a peak in the waves of changes affecting the business world since the beginning of the century. How will businessRead more…

As Paul Polman, CEO of Unilever, likes to say, “never waste a good crisis.” In each black swan, he sees an opportunity to question his leadership and strategy. You too can take advantage of the latest crisis by asking yourself the right questions. “In times of crisis, stay vigilant about the impact of your attitudeRead more…

Resilience, adaptability, unprecedented agility, and higher quality for less cost: these are the buzzwords surrounding the revolutionary design and leadership discipline known as biomimicry. Find out how companies are looking to nature for answers to their most challenging product, strategy, and structural design problems. Biomimicry is a way of looking at 3.8 years of goodRead more…

What is the best way to prepare for black swans, events with low probability but considerable consequences? It is all about flexibility, says Nassim Taleb. According to the researcher, nothing is served by trying to control every risk. Instead, leaders should focus on developing the overall resilience of their organization to the most unlikely crises.Read more…

More information is available from the past 25 years than all that accumulated over the course of the previous five centuries. Unless you know how to find your way through this rapidly growing body of data, information overload can result in lost productivity. How can you keep up with today’s flow of infobesity? Managers haveRead more…

Microsoft Finland recently spent several million dollars transforming their Helsinki ofices. After seeing the results, which give a boost to collaboration and flexibility, it is not surprising to learn that this computer giant is consistently ranked by the Great Place to Work Institute® as providing the best workplaces in the world. We wanted to breakRead more…

As the trend continues to mature, companies that went in blindly are facing numerous disillusionments in regards to social media, including difficulties harnessing collective intelligence, the risk of reduced employee productivity, and damage to brand reputation… But these are not reasons to abandon a shift toward Enterprise 2.0. As with any strategic project, social mediaRead more…

Is it time to envision R&D centers in Nigeria? Recruit engineers from Yemen? Design computers for users aged 65+ in Japan? Yes, yes, and yes, say experts on demographic change. The aging of the global population represents yet another reason to adopt more polycentric talent and market management strategies. As birth rates continue to fallRead more…

It’s no longer viable to innovate in a closed circuit! Like P&G, Google, and Boeing, more and more companies are recognizing the need to seek new ideas beyond their borders and are thus opening their innovation processes to outside communities (e.g., researchers, suppliers, consumers). How do they do it? The company must take leadership onRead more…