A few weeks ago I overheard a common complaint while in a meeting with technology experts. “They don’t know what an MVP is. Our business partners just aren’t thinking as well as we are about these things.” The promulgator of this complaint was looking around the room ready to soak in the approval of theirContinueContinue reading “Minimum Viable Part 1”
Category Archives: Uncategorized
Survivor Mindset
The goal of the CBS show Survivor is to Outwit, Outplay, Outlast. With physical, psychological, and political gamesmanship it can make for entertaining television. However, we’ve seen cases where people apply this mindset to their workplace. This introduces us to another of our installment on sicknesses; the survivor mindset.* The survivor mindset turns wit and political savvy from helpingContinueContinue reading “Survivor Mindset”
Rudder Events
In business, efficiency is often placed on a pedestal and revered as a demigod. Six sigma could serve as its Franciscan order. Agile was born of the pursuit of efficiency. There exists, however, a vast amount of work that lives in the qualitative and communication based setting known as a meeting. It is here thatContinueContinue reading “Rudder Events”
Well Executed Failure
I’d like to talk about how strategic is different from tactical. Before you go calling me Tactico-Strategicus, be warned that I differ in perspective with the tyrant in an important way. If you remember, the tyrant views tactical and strategic as a balance between near and long term plans. I’d rather distinguish strategic and tactical as occupying two different realms of thought.ContinueContinue reading “Well Executed Failure”
An Ego Justly Won
The window view is of traffic and a park a little further off. This tenth floor window peers out of a modest conference room where a group of successful men and women are mulling ideas of progress and transformation. The group of a dozen or so has segmented into two groups, one on each side.ContinueContinue reading “An Ego Justly Won”
The Frame Creates the Content
Years ago I had a seminar on “Greek Mathematical Thought and the Origins of Algebra”. While that topic may not fan the cockles of the average heart, I found it to be a fascinating study in how ontology (theory about the nature of being or the kinds of things that have existence) can shape our scientificContinueContinue reading “The Frame Creates the Content”
Ask a Damn Question
Early philosophers made a big deal of separating “true belief” from “knowledge”. The spiritual father of this distinction would have to be Socrates as a character in the Dialogues of Plato. He constantly harps on about how knowing a good deed is different from knowing why it is good. He believes strongly in the valueContinueContinue reading “Ask a Damn Question”
Corporate Politics
Election years aren’t the only politics out there. Corporate politics are an interesting sort of game. While oft-maligned, they are in many ways ingrained in everything that gets done in a large corporation. Certainly systems and checks can stop undue influence and limit personal bias, but those checks themselves are an indicator, not defeater of that department’s politicalContinueContinue reading “Corporate Politics”
Art of Being Effective: Confronting Confrontation
Confrontation amongst colleagues isn’t the transgression emotive legalists would have you believe. Nor is it license to abuse as the office trolls hope it will be. Instead, like any other interpersonal dynamic, it has it’s proper and balanced place in the work environment. I’d like to highlight two virtues that help people navigate the vices of legalism and license. Our first and most important virtueContinueContinue reading “Art of Being Effective: Confronting Confrontation”
The Deep and Inescapable Descent
There are times when a cause is lost. Knowing how and when to bail are sometimes more valuable than knowing what could possibly be done to fix the problem. I am reminded as I currently watch the NBA finals of the look people have in their eye when they see their own failure laid bareContinueContinue reading “The Deep and Inescapable Descent”
Return on Intelligence 