Mistaken Solution

A story told by Jay Goltz to illustrate his strategy for learning from mistakes highlights common errors that many business managers and owners commit.  Though Jay’s story takes place in one of his small businesses these errors are indeed common and committed regularly by managers in both  small and large companies.

Recoiling Against Ideas

Neal Gabler, in a New York Times article, claimed, “ideas just aren’t what they used to be.  Once upon a time, they could ignite fires of debate, stimulate other thoughts, incite revolutions and fundamentally change the ways we look at and think about the world.”  Grabler also argued that the cause of the reduction in the quality of ideas is that we are simply choking on the vast amount of information available to us. This may be so, but there is another way to think about this.

Hidden Lessons in Leadership #28

In a New York Times interview, Kenny Chesney, the country music singer, offers a glimpse of his approach to managing.  Although Kenny Chesney Inc. employs about 150 people, 120 of which are on the road with him everyday, the insights we can gain from his way of thinking about managing/leading apply to any size organization.

Reductionism Can Reduce Everything

What is reductionism?  It is the theory and practice of solving problems by placing attention on its simpler constituent parts or components.  In other words, solving problems of the whole—which can be quite complex—can be realized by attention to the most important constituent—the one cause or the one outcome—of the whole. Moreover this approach to decision-making and problem resolution is likely not only quite widespread it is also a way of thinking that most are not consciously aware they practice.  So why should we care?