During times of change, especially when the change is threatening, the right response for leaders is to double-down on flexibility and problem-solving. Unfortunately, as researchers have discovered, CEO’s often fall victim to the “threat rigidity”… Read more »
Discovery Driven Planning
CEO Symbolic fallout, 2023 Edition
My friend and colleague Bob Sutton and I continue to be amazed (and a little depressed) at the ongoing popularity of his landmark book “The No Asshole Rule.” It seems that, as Ron Boire is… Read more »
Taking it to the streets – Uber CEO finds out what it’s really like to be an Uber driver
CEO’s make a lot more money, have a lot more autonomy and enjoy a lot more control, than the people working for them. The danger is that they can develop incredible blind spots, lose the… Read more »
Why uncertainty is your friend if you’re looking for big returns
It’s tempting to invest in areas that promise certain returns for a given investment. Unfortunately, by the time an opportunity has become so well understood that anyone could pursue it, it is well on the… Read more »
Stop requiring innovation heroism!
Rewarding Innovation heroes. Launching accelerators with great fanfare, then not following through. Making big claims about organizational transformation that never amount to anything. It’s all innovation theater and it won’t drive long-term benefits for organizations…. Read more »
Episodic Innovation
Raise the curtain on Innovation Theater yet again! We know that to create meaningful innovations that can move the needle for the companies that sponsor them, attention, resources and commitment needs to be sustained. But… Read more »
Subscriptions: The Hotel California of Business Transactions
As colleague Eric Johnson has pointed out, the decision architecture – how we are brought through the decision process – has a huge impact on the decisions that are ultimately made. But, knowing that, unscrupulous… Read more »
Everything You Ever Wanted to Know about Anxiety (But Were Afraid to Ask)
We’re doing a lot of talking about mental health these days, but that doesn’t make the issues magically disappear. What a great opportunity, then to be joined by Morra Aarons-Mele, an entrepreneur, host of the… Read more »
How can we help?
When your customers’ cash dries up… With all the turmoil surrounding the collapse of Silicon Valley Bank, the pullback of Venture Capital money and other nail-biting financial moments, how should you deal with customers who… Read more »
There’s an app for that – teaching discovery driven planning in the entrepreneurship curriculum
I’m often asked whether it is possible to teach entrepreneurship – or more importantly – having an entrepreneurial mindset. Well, I can’t teach you passion or hard work. What I can teach you is how… Read more »
Nasty choice architecture – the prevalence of dark patterns
We may think we exercise free choice when we are making decisions. But as my colleague Eric Johnson points out, the structure of our choice architecture actually has a huge influence on the eventual outcome…. Read more »
A heartwarming customer service story
The state of customer service across most of the economy is dreadful. A recent delightful experience at Patagonia proves that it doesn’t have to be that way. The sad world of customer service As I… Read more »