From the monthly archives:

May 2012

How to change the culture of your organization

May 31, 2012

Years ago, we used to believe that changing a large organization required nothing more than an act of communication. Of course crafting that communication was never easy but we used to believe in the power of hierarchy – if the person at the top issued the right communication then the organization would fall in line. […]

Read the full article →

Principles for creating change at scale

May 30, 2012

Change is essential to the continued vitality of humanity and our institutions. Yet it can be so difficult for people to change. Even when we know we need to change, we often find it so difficult to let go of what we are, what we believe, what we do, and what we have. This is […]

Read the full article →

What if you lost your title?

May 25, 2012

Imagine someone designed a device that could selectively wipe out human memory. Imagine that person used the device on everyone at your company – except you – to wipe out their memory of the organizational hierarchy. You go into work today and everything seems the same. People know what they do for a living. They […]

Read the full article →

Leadership vs. management

May 25, 2012

Leadership is one of the most written-about topics – personal leadership, business leadership, political leadership, etc. Yet, in these turbulent times, we are more in need of leadership than we have been for a long time. So perhaps one more opinion about leadership will not be considered one too many. I’d like to focus on […]

Read the full article →

A new kind of ridiculous

May 17, 2012

Below is a the entire signature from an email I recently received. I copied it in its entirety and did not edit it. This message (including any attachments) contains confidential information intended for a specific individual and purpose, and is protected by law. If you are not the intended recipient, you should delete this message. […]

Read the full article →

Why?

May 16, 2012

This is one of the most powerful words. Well, in English. In another language, other words might be more powerful. Like, in French, “croissant” is very powerful. But I digress. “Why” is such a powerful word because it invites people to make sense of what they’ve just said. And it’s so important to have an […]

Read the full article →

A more useful way to think about brands

May 16, 2012

With all of the time and money spent by brand managers and strategists thinking about brands, I think we’ve actually seen very little new thinking on the topic. It seems to me there have been two basic definitions of a brand. The old old school definition was: brand is a visual symbol (e.g., logo) that […]

Read the full article →