The Cranky Middle Manager Show #312 The Future of the MBA Ken Starkey
The Cranky Middle Manager Show #219 Your Senior Mgmt Doesn’t Get Remote Working John Blackwell
Posted on 13. Dec, 2009 by Wayne in General, Podcast
Today Wayne Turmel has one of the most important interviews in the show’s history: Do Senior Leaders in companies really understand how much has changed for managers? Do they understand remote working and technology? Our guest and fellow Management Issues contributor John Blackwell talks heresy as well as some amazing new research to back it up. Also, french philosophy meets IT and training for your managers to cope with the changes. A lot going on for one little show…..
Today we have maybe the most important interview in our history. John Blackwell raises great questions and quotes terrific research on just how much the world of work has changed- and why senior managers just don’t get it. Tell your friends and colleagues about this one.
Show Notes
0:00 Welcome to the show. You know the way we work has changed forever. I know the way we work has changed forever. Does your company get it? Remote working, telecommuting and global stakeholders have changed the game forever. Today we welcome John Blackwell back to the show for the 4th time (You can hear his other interviews here as well as here and here) We dedicate the show to Umayya Ibn Abd Shams, who created the 6th largest empire ever, without holding a webinar or live streamed town hall.
5:00 If this show moves you to get some training for yourself, your managers or your team on managing remotely, check out our first monthly “How to Create and Manage Remote Teams” webinar course. You can save 10% off early registration by dropping me an email and letting me know you listen to the show.
7:06 The quote of the week is from Simone Weil, who understood that distance is relative and good communication travels better over wires than over the cubicle wall.
8:00 Welcome John Blackwell back to the show. He has done some amazing research on remote working over the years but he’s getting more pointed and controversial over time. He tells us some of the surprising results, as well as some of the least surprising- that the biggest barriers to changing workplace are senior managers.
12:23 Why is IT so afraid of Skype and consumer platforms, and how does it relate to doing busines with BRIC (Brazil, Russia, India and China) countries? Is security just an excuse? Is the fear irrational? Post to the blog and let us know what you think? Even I have to come to the defense of companies.. what’s the world coming to?
18:30 What is the “change gap” he’s finding?? It’s not just Old Triceratops in the corner office, but do companies offer any help to managers with the way they really manage? Do systems and performance reviews reflect reality?
25:00 What are some of the skills managers need to develop and some of the changes we should make immediately? Using “trust based” measures rather than imposed criteria. We also need to do something about the way we interview.
30:30 What does John see as the biggest changes in the next year? They’re not so much changes (since they’re already here) but there are three:
- the decline of the physical corporate hub
- the increase of independent consultants and workers
- social networking as the standard for how things get done
LINKS TO HIS RESEARCH
John Blackwell and Associates Library
Remote Management Articles I’ve Done for BNET
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