The true sources of corporate inertia

In his article entitled, “Why Good Companies Go Bad”, Donald N. Sull begins by pondering the following question: “why is it that when successful companies face big changes in their environment, they often fail to respond effectively?”

To answer this question, Sull makes a compelling argument. It’s not that these companies are paralyzed; frozen with fear and incapable of responding to the impending threat. Au contraire. One might say, they’re ‘over-responding’. Sull’s research indicates that when the captains of these companies see stormy waters ahead, everyone runs around in a flurry of activity doing what they can to save the day. Yet often, these actions are entirely inappropriate.

Improv techniques to help team-building

I recently picked up a book called Blink by Malcom Gladwell (it’s by the same guy who wrote The Tipping Point). There’s a section in one of his chapters about structured spontaneity. What he means is that it’s possible to make good instantaneous decisions when you have a structured approach. In this chapter, Gladwell describes an improv troupe based out of New York City called Mother. Although their plays are entirely spontaneous – no rehearsal, no preparation, they are always hysterical and successful because the group operates under one simple rule: you must accept all possibilities.

Finding the right metrics to avoid analysis paralysis

Last Monday, we came across an interesting little blurb in Harvey Schachter’s “Monday Morning Manager” section in The Globe and Mail. Under the section entitled ‘Power Points’, Schacter quotes Jakob Nielsen:

“We need a new metric: Businesses need to stop using “unique visitors” as a metric for their websites, as many people drawn to sites these days have come by clicking a link on another site or a search engine and quickly leave. Site tourists who leave a site immediately ratchet up the unique visitor count but don’t contribute long-term value.”

True…unless of course, you’re looking for ad sponsorship — in which case, eyeballs count. Nonetheless, we found Nielsen’s point well made: we often tell our clients they have all the wrong metrics in place.

Co-opetition: an interesting approach to management

Here is a great article published by the Economist on Diane Greene, head of VMware – a software development company. Not only is Greene’s story interesting: her journey began as a young graduate in mechanical engineering who couldn’t work on oil rigs because of her gender, so she switched to naval architecture, and then further into computer science — but what is most inspiring is how the obstacles she faced led her down the path of becoming an entrepreneur with a fresh new look on management and competition. The culture she has created at VMware, is certainly in large part a contributing factor to her success. In fact, it is much like the one created by Gore – a collegial, interactive and un-hierarchical approach is one that we could all learn from. In fact, companies like these are ranked by Fortune Magazine as some of the top ones to work for. Want to read more about them? Click here.

Are breasts really a drag?

It never ceases to amaze me how many different messages we get from society and various cultures about what it means to be a strong woman. For some it’s being a CEO or a successful entrepreneur. For others it’s strutting down a runway in Milan or being an Olympic athlete. Still others find strength in following their passion as a musician, an artist, a teacher, a doctor, a lawyer or an engineer.

Regardless of the image we form in our mind of what it means to be strong and at the top of our game, it’s very near impossible to ignore the messages embedded in pop culture about how we ought to get there. These subliminal messages come from hundreds of companies trying to profit from our insecurities. What they’re suggesting is that our gender – for better or for worse – can determine the extent of our success. And it’s the products that these companies market that will help us overcome our inadequacies.

The Road Less Traveled

By Corina Wong

The Scientific Revolution emerged around the 16th and 17th centuries, and was in part a response to the arbitrary and repressive control held by the Church. The period was commonly regarded as the origin of modern science, and intellectuals like Newton, Copernicus and Galileo questioned everything they saw and introduced the notion of Reason as the ultimate form of understanding. This forever changed the way humans viewed the world.

However, Tony Golsby-Smith’s article “The Second Road of Thought” argues that this dominant, rational way of thinking was guided by Aristotle’s ‘analytics’, and “ranks as one of the worst investment decisions our civilization has made.” Golsby-Smith, an Australian-based designer and strategic facilitator, believes that our thinking processes are greatly influenced by the culture of the sciences. As a society, we place too much emphasis on logic and analysis. For instance, even in universities (the “home of thinking”, as he describes it) subjects must be presented as a science in order to be taken seriously.

A tragic loss of Common Sense

This past weekend, Michael B. Tatham, President of The Tatham Group came across a great obituary. This is nothing new: it has been widely circulated on the internet for years. (Although, I believe it was first published in The London Times). Despite its popularity, we thought it was particularly fitting to post it on our blog given that we frequently remind people to use common sense when it comes to creating policies, re-designing processes and operating their business. For those readers who are familiar with The Tatham Systematic Method, you will certainly appreciate this wonderfully ironic piece of writing.

10 Golden rules to building lasting relationships

By Mari Franco, President, The Tatham Group Philippines with a foreword from Marianne Arnaudon

Ok, I admit. The title is a little misleading. This is not a new dating service or an advice column from ‘Dear Abby’. This is about customer relationships.

Last winter, we wrote about how important it is to keep in contact with your clients, particularly around the holidays. It’s a perfect time to reconnect, let them know you appreciate their business and wish them well for the upcoming year. But as we all know, building relationships is really an ongoing, never-ending process.

Mari Franco, President of the Tatham Group Philippines, is a master in the art of networking. The following is a list of tips he offers on how to create and foster lasting relationships that will benefit both you and the company.