The other day I had lunch with a colleague and we explored the Urbane Cafe in San Diego, CA near the USD campus. They have great sandwiches and salads. While talking, Craig told me that what I had just said summed up my whole theory. Sometimes we need an outsider to see what we do not see ourselves. So today I decided to write some of those quotes; the lines that I tend to use often without paying too much attention to. Here they are:
□ In the absence of a uniform organizing principle, organizations continue to optimize the heck out of their silos of specialized knowledge, each following its own best practices. Effectively, they’re ripping the organization apart with the best of intentions.
□ If organizational trouble accumulates over many years, then why would any manager expect a consultant to solve it in a day, for less than 100 bucks, without their involvement?
□ The complexity of an organization can be similar to that of a multi-engine aircraft, but few executives study its control mechanisms. What makes the majority of executives believe they can control a multi-engine jet, flying 450 knots at 39,000ft, carrying 300+ passengers with the knowledge needed to obtain a drivers’ license?
□ Claiming that the purpose of an organization is to make money is like saying that the purpose of life is eating and drinking; both are essential but I believe there’s more to life and business than that.
□ The fact that we measure success and failure in monetary equivalents does not imply that an organization’s purpose is to make money; except for a mint.
□ Our obsession with efficiency has crossed into predatory cultivation. We operate businesses like a coast-to-coast road trip, believing that three wheels should be enough while tossing the spare because it’s dead weight and you hardly ever need it anyway. When falling by the wayside we ask ourselves in earnest what happened and wonder who could have known? Whom are we kidding?
□ What do executives think when introducing zero-tolerance policies and expecting their company to grow through creativity and innovation at the same time?
□ If executives really worry about the War-for-Talent, then why is their preferred tool for accelerating and decelerating the business the hiring or firing of talent?
□ The reason why people keep trying to solve financial problems with financial solution is because that’s the only tool in their toolbox. By now, we should know from experience that you cannot cut your way to success! Then, Stop trying; this is not a matter of perseverance!
□ The critical path of any renovation- or innovation project is more often a lack of executive sponsorship than a lack of opportunities and talent that can execute.
□ The word “Governance” has been hijacked to mean compliance with State and Federal regulations. Should we have paid more attention to the real meaning of governance, perhaps we would have had fewer regulations with which to comply.