The Cranky Middle Manager Show #312 The Future of the MBA Ken Starkey
Take the Whiney Middle Manager Quiz…
Posted on 29. Nov, 2006 by Wayne in General
Way back in the mists of time (okay it was November of 2005) I wrote a post called The Whiney Department Head Game. Well, a sequel of sorts is up on Management-Issues this month. It’s called The Whiney Middle Manager Quiz- take a look and let me know what you think.
If you haven’t checked out Management Issues yet, it’s a great source for research and factoids to support whatever you’re trying to get upper management to do…as well as some great columnists, many of whom have appeared on this show. Check it out.
The Cranky Middle Manager Show #72 Your Company’s Purpose- Nikos Mourkogiannis
Posted on 26. Nov, 2006 by Wayne in Podcast
The Cranky Middle Manager Show #072 (MP3 10.3MB 30:05 Min)
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This show was 4 months in the making. I got an advance copy of Nikos Mourkogiannis’ book, “Purpose, the Starting Point of Great Companies” . Maybe it’s because of the internal chaos at the Dreaded Day Job, but this book really resonated with me, and couldn’t wait for it to be available and share it with you all.
Note for the faint of heart- it’s not an airplane read. It’s a heavy serious book and you’ll have to take your time with it. It also uses words like “moral” and “duty” and if you’re looking for “Who Moved My Cheese”, this ain’t the place- at least not this week.
Show 72 Notes
0:00 I”m excited about this book Purpose. I’ve been driving people at work absolutely crazy about it. Take some time with this episode, gang.
The show is dedicated to Sir Bedivere the last great knight of the Round Table. Arthur and Bedivere understood the purpose of their outfit, unlike most managers and CEOs today. I also present the mission statement as a consultant would have crafted it for them.
3:37 The quote of the week is from Epictetus, one of my favorite philosophers. You have to define what you want before you go for it. You can read more about Epictetus in my book, “A Philistine’s Journal- an Average Guy Tackles the Classics”.
5:14 NOTE The sound on my end of the conversation is funky for reasons I can’t even begin to fathom. My recording software sometimes does this. I beg your forgiveness and the important thing is that Nikos sounds very clear- in more ways than one.
What is purpose? It’s above, Mission, Vision or Values. It’s what the human race finds good. This is not going to be the normal light weight interview, kids.
7:13 What does morality have to do with companies, and why are people so afraid of it?
9:20 In business, there are four major “purposes” and he provides very in-depth examples of each:
- Altruism: Sam Walton of Walmart
- Heroism: Henry Ford
- Discovery: Tom Watson of IBM
- Excellence: Siegmund Warburg and Warren Buffet
13:44 Some of these examples were brilliant for a while and faded… purpose is not eternal and if it doesn’t there would be no growth or transformation
19:04 How do you get a community of purpose? How do you get people on board?
22:34 Purpose is not something you can just create. It’s for grown-ups and requires a functioning organization.
- You start with financial advantage- make it a success
- Then you go to strategic advantage- growth and expansion
- Finally you have the larger purpose revealed
25:20 There are 6 questions in the book that are designed to reveal purpose, but one question above all- “why”?
27:28 For resources, Nikos suggests reading philosophy. Execution is great, but you can do really bad things really well. Management is doing things right, Leadership is doing the right things.
Folks, we’ve done 72 episodes, some of the light, some of them heavier and thoughtful. Check out the archives on the right side of your screen and listen to our back catalogue of episodes.
Don’t let the weasels get you down.
I’m Not Only Cranky- I’m B.A.D.
Posted on 21. Nov, 2006 by Wayne in General
Woke up this morning and found out I”m a B.A.D blogger- no it’s not a value judgment, it’s an honor. Liz Strauss writes the Successful Blog, uhhhh blog. You can check it out at www.successful-blog.com . She also has something called the Perfect Virtual Manager which you’ll be hearing more about I’m sure.
See the posting for yourself. That darned Phil Gerbyshak set it up and in normal fashion what should have been a short introductory call turned into almost an hour that wound up with my bride, The Duchess, completing her shopping and wandering off while we gabbed.
If you’re interested in finding eclectic blogs that you’d never otherwise stumble over, check her out.
The Cranky Middle Manager #71 Creating a Creative Climate- Scott Isaksen
Posted on 20. Nov, 2006 by Wayne in Podcast
The Cranky Middle Manager Show #071
Thank you listeners, for helping us crack the 10,000 download mark in October. If you like a given episode, share the link with a friend. If you hate it, share it with an enemy and plug up their inbox….
Show Notes
0:00 Welcome to Episode 71. Today we’re talking with Scott Isaksen of Creative Problem Solving Group. I came across him in an article about brainstorming in Fast Company.
And speaking of creative, the show is dedicated to Ymir, the Norse giant who sweated out the first people. Now THAT had to be some kind of brainstorm session.
2:50 Our quote of the week is from Voltaire who tells us how to judge a man- and how to start the discussion about creativity and brainstorming and getting good ideas.
3:36 Welcome Scott Isaksen. Brainstorming is suddenly a hot topic again. When you do it right, it’s productive, when you do it wrong it’s frustrating and useless. It’s not a debate, it’s not a discussion. It’s a process and needs to be facilitated correctly. It’s based on rules set out by Alex Osborne, the father of brainstorming.
7:50 Brainstorming is a group technique, but it doesn’t end there…. Scott uses the word ideation, which I challenge, then we coin the word “ideatively”. Use it and you owe the show money.
10:06 There is a media frenzy around creativity and innovation. How can you tell real tools and process from snake oil? Anyone claiming to know their stuff has to focus on three components:
- People
- Process
- Climate
13:28 Scott uses a tool called VIEW an assessment of problem solving styles, which looks at the different ways people generate ideas. Check the tool out here. It looks at three areas:
- What’s their orientation to change (are they explorers or developers)?
- How do they process information (internals or externals)?
- How do they decide (people vs. task)?
19:24 What makes a good creative climate? The manager has great power to create or kill creativity through leadership. Are they challenged and involved? Do they have autonomy? Is there trust and openness? Do they have time to think?
So why are people so afraid of their peers?
23:30 A case study of using tools to consciously create new products.
Resources
Creativity and Innovation Management Journal
Journal of Creativity Research
Insights of Genius by Arthur I Miller
That’s it for this episode. Please, tell your friends about episodes you really like. Be part of the conversation- write a posting for us, drop me an email, visit our Frappr map.
Don’t let the weasels get you down.