We live in a world where trust in political and corporate leadership in America is still hovering near all-time lows. Of course, much of this lack of trust is easy to explain. The gridlock in Congress, along with the less-than-stellar role Wall Street and our financial institutions played in the last recession have created doubt […] Read more… Read More»
Managers cannot make work meaningful for employees. Managers, however, can shape the workplace environment to let meaningful work become possible for employees. With a context set to let meaning be experienced, employees can leverage the environment to derive meaning from their work…. Read More»
When Shawn Murphy and I launched ExchangeGain, we knew the bulk of our constituency would be business leaders – which it is, undoubtedly. However, what we didn’t consider was how this site would also serve as a resource for so many non-business leaders as well, including those in government, nonprofits, and education. There’s […] Read more… Read More»
Generation Y has entered businesses in a time of great flux. Truth be told all generations in the workplace are working in a significant time of flux. However, the younger generational cohort is coming into management leadership facing significant changes in the ways we feel about work, for whom we work, and why we work. […] Read more… Read More»
Software development is a fairly young profession, which continues to borrow heavily from other disciplines as it defines itself. 12 years ago, a group of passionate software professionals who had been using “lightweight methods” met to identify the commonality and the essence of their methods. Their intense collaboration resulted in the brief Agile Manifesto, which […] Read more… Read More»
To riff on the Billy Shakespeare’s quote, “The first thing we do, let’s kill all the bureaucrats.” I do find that sentiment funny, though I don’t subscribe to such a black and white view of life. I am, however, terribly honest, so here is my take: bureaucracy is unavoidable, logical, and can be good. Much […] Read more… Read More»
I have been arguing for several years now that the real value of social media goes way beyond marketing and communications: it is teaching us a new way to lead and manage our organizations. Thus I have been encouraged by the recent conversations I’m hearing around “social business.” While I think it has the makings […] Read more… Read More»
The year was 1929, toward the end of the third fiscal quarter and everything seemed fine. The promise of economic prosperity beckoned and worldwide optimism was at an all time high, especially in the United States. The steadily building wave of optimism led to an orgy of speculation and the belief that the beast that […] Read more… Read More»
Not long ago, my friend James decided to sell his software company and retire (young) to Naples, FL. That’s nothing new; the event alone certainly doesn’t deserve a unique blog post. Naples is to vacationing and retired CEOs what Beverly Hills is to movie stars. So you can’t swing a dead cat without hitting some […] Read more… Read More»
Wheezing from exhaustion is the outdated view that people are resources. The prevailing view of people is one rooted in finances. Resources – money, stocks and other assets – are finite and have an expiration date. People’s capabilities and ideas, however, are infinite. And by the prevailing use of the term resources in business, people […] Read more… Read More»
→