Management Thinking

If you're looking to run a High-Performance Organization, you need to be able to be able to recognize the signs of bad management. Here are ten classic bad habits to look out for that you ought never to put up with:

Business leaders are often held as examples that we can all learn from – normally accompanied with a large dose of hyperbole. But what about those business leaders who have failed? What can we learn from them?

In the current economic environment, playing it safe is probably the most dangerous thing you could do. But all too often, pressure from shareholders greedy for short-term gains makes executives fearful and risk-averse – with devastating consequences.

Remember last year when a snow storm shut down the US for two days? Or are you already working out how you'll get to work in London during the upcoming Olympics? With a good communication plan, you don't need to worry about either eventuality.

Crowdsourcing, viral Internet campaigns and guerilla promotions are quickly consigning tradition advertising to the annals of history, according to a Professor of Marketing at Olin Business School.

If you're my age, you probably grew up using a Kodak camera taking pictures on Kodak film. But many teenagers today would probably ask "what's Kodak?" because - like many other companies - they failed to adapt to a changed market.

A new report has suggested 10 skills we'll all need to thrive in the workplace of 2020. But I'd argue that we are going to need them much, much sooner than that.

Is your business remarkable? But what does that actually mean? What makes a business remarkable? In simple terms, you could say it's anything that gets people talking about it. And that means being dramatically and demonstrably different from your competitors.

Just because someone is a high performer doesn't automatically mean that they will make a successful move into a leadership role. But that's what many organizations seem to think – and in doing so, they are setting up their high potential employees to fail.

People in the West do business rapidly, frightened that if they don't act quickly, the deal will be lost. The Chinese way is very different. It takes time and patience. And perhaps that's no bad thing.

Today's manager needs to be plugged-in. That doesn't mean being tethered to a laptop 24/7 and being able to access your email anywhere. It means connecting on multiple levels and in many ways, both physically and psychologically.

Every year around Thanksgiving I publish my list of recommended reads. This year I'm focusing on helping small and mid-sized businesses fortify their position, and I think the following three titles are absolute must-reads for that purpose. Get these books as a gift for any business person or read them for yourself.

Economic cycles are a fact of life and business leaders are well used to dealing with their ups and downs. But this recession is different. It isn't just confidence in the economy that is eroding fast. Business leaders have lost their self-confidence, too - with damaging results.

Organisations that try to impose command-and-control management on today's generation of digital natives who have grown up with social media and Web 2.0 are in for a rude shock. Instead, they need to rethink the function of leadership and accept that information is a commodity, not a means of controlling people.

Many workplace lessons can be learned by considering the characters in the Wizard of Oz. Not least, you need to plan for Twisters, protect yourself against Wicked Witches and help out the Wizards. Then be like Dorothy and gather up your team, involving them and encouraging them along the way.

"Poor Economics", by Abhijit Banerjee and Esther Duflo, has won the Financial Times and Goldman Sachs Business Book of the Year Award 2011.

As far as most organisations are concerned, statistics are sacred. But the trouble is, numbers don't tell the whole story. In fact there's a whole level of reality that is obscured – not illuminated – by statistics.

In an uncertain economic climate, many organisations have no choice but to embark on cost-cutting. But too often, these cuts are a knee-jerk reaction to immediate events that focus on the wrong areas and do more harm than good.

Here's a call to all managers: spend a day in the life your staff and acquaint yourself with what your hard-working, dedicated employees actually do. The results will surprise you.

Many CEO are quick to trumpet the values of their organization and how these values inspire and motivate their workforce. But according to a new report, in the vast majority of American organizations it isn't values that drive employee behaviour, it's fear.

Getting customers to accept the need to invest in project management when they buy products or services can be tough. So here's how to address some of the common 'pushbacks' you might come across.

For too long, customers have taken a back seat to investors. But are they now making their voices heard? Three recent news stories suggest to me that they are.

Most of us believe that people over 40 make better bosses simply because they have more experience of life and of work. I tend to agree – with some reservations. So what can a young manager do to compensate for having less experience?

VUCA - volatility, uncertainty, complexity and ambiguity - is the new operating condition for business (and for life). Using these conditions to advantage requires a complete shift in mindset and a letting go of past notions about how the world works.

It's hardly surprising that levels of employee engagement are at an all-time low when so many of us are essentially modern-day serfs. A large part of the value that we create at work simply feeds the greed of the people at the top. And where's the meaning in that?

The next 20 years will look nothing like the last 20 years. So says best selling author, Gary Harpst. And as he tells Dan Bobinski, that means that owners of small and mid-size businesses need to be more focused than ever on their strategies and be willing to change the way they operate.

Championship-winning sports teams and championship-caliber businesses have certain fundamental traits in common. So recognizing and understanding these factors can go a long way towards helping an organization to reach perfection.

When there is drama in the workplace, lurking in the background is always a lack of clarity. If you are experiencing the signs of drama and negativity, look at these seven areas to see where you might be giving incongruent messages.

As corporate crises go, the one engulfing News International is a pretty major one. An organization is never more vulnerable than when a crisis strikes, but some leaders can handle crises in a way that sets them apart. So what do these leaders do that others do not? And how does News International stack up?

More and more organisations are developing project managers in a disciplined and mature way. But the same cannot be said of project sponsors, many of whom continue to believe that they are a figurehead who will never be called to active duty. How wrong. How very wrong.

High-profile corporate failures don't just happen. As a new study reveals, they occur because executives are fatally blind to fundamental risks to their business model and reputation and too focussed on pursuing growth at any cost.

The deliberate infringement of patents is clearly a legitimate cause for law suits. But we also need to remember that without copying, there is no progress. In nature, the most robust product is the one that survives.

We hear a lot of talk about 'greener' industry, but what does this actually mean in practice? If companies really are becoming more sustainable, what is it they are actually doing? Here's how one manufacturer has decided to go beyond eco-efficiency to adopt a new theory of eco-effectiveness.

We're all familiar with various styles of management: autocratic, paternalistic and democratic, for example. But what about managers who display all the symptos of hyperactivity? What sort of damage can they cause?

Of the top 25 companies in the Fortune 500 in 1961, only six remain there today. So what leads to organizational longevity? And what about the iconic companies of today? Will they survive? Do they pass the longevity test?

If you're going to be an effective manager, you better be able to make tough decisions. You also need to be good at communicating appreciation, taking initiative, delegating, and following through with your promises.

Conflicting priorities, a lack of direction and an obsession with chasing growth at all costs. That's how more than half of senior executives worldwide characterise their own organisations.

Made in China: What does it mean to you? Low costs? Good enough quality? Would you believe me if I told you that "being the smarter competitor" was becoming the objective of a number of aspiring Chinese global players?

Narcissism is becoming an epidemic in the United States. So just how do you manage a workplace in which many individuals have an unrealistic view of their own abilities and believe they are entitled to special treatment?

In case you weren't already convinced that cultural differences matter, brain research proves it. Our cultural background shapes the wiring of our brains. But what are the implications of this?

New research by Cass Business School argues that large corporate groups stifle enterprise and competition because their financial muscle and ability to redistribute funds scares potential rivals from the market.

A different breed of organisation is emerging in this world. They succeed because they have the courage, confidence or just sheer chutzpah to pursue a purpose that is beyond profit. They succeed because they are bold.

Management theories are all very well, but how many managers have been directly influenced by some 'big idea' in their day-to-day work? In reality, business is not driven by smart ideas, but by deeds – clever, foolish and neutral.

How many of us are not "accidental managers?" I mean, how many of us dreamed of becoming managers while we were growing up? Running a company, maybe, but not spending our lives in the dreaded role of a "middle manager".

Today, many people text more often than they talk on the phone. Among teenagers, around nine out of 10 of all phone communications are now text messages. So what's this got to do with management? As Bob Selden explains, the answer is "rather a lot".

New kinds of company require new kinds of management. Yet most old-economy managers make mediocre managers in the new economy because they have forgotten (if they ever knew) the entrepreneurial basics.

It is important to consider the future benefits that change might bring about in the decision-making process. Unfortunately, the short-term nature of most businesses means that this rarely happens.

How do the best companies differentiate themselves in the marketplace? One way is by staying focused and not getting distracted. To put it another way, it comes down to exceptional strategic planning and execution by staying in the moment.

Great impromptu performance in the face of the unknown will be an increasingly important attribute of successful management in the 21st century. Increasingly this means that it will be impossible to maintain control throughout, if only because we won't know what to control in advance.

Management looks really straightforward, doesn't it? You're awarded a title, and, if you are lucky, an office, and away you go. You bark some orders here and there and then you sit back until it's time to give another directive. If only it was that easy.

Revolutionaries everywhere understand that sometimes incremental changes are not enough and you have to gamble everything to change the world. Hundreds of thousands of protesters in Egypt were prepared to do that – so perhaps you should, too.

Why do so many firms do pretty much the same thing in the same way? One reason is that equity analysts – who wield a disproportionate influence over firms' share price – force them to, irrespective of whether it makes good strategic sense. And that's not good for anybody.

Leadership teams are still failing to take front-line managers with them when they embark on M&A initiatives. The result is plunging morale, declining productivity and if you're really careless, a mass exodus of key talent.

Inspired by lively debate about parenting styles in the east and west, Max McKeown explores whether there is any evidence that managers in the West can learn anything from the 'Tiger Managers' who are leading China to greatness.

As clichés go, "tis better to ask forgiveness than permission" is a good one. But while everyone wants to be part of the jolly rebel band that takes action, no one volunteers to go into the boss' office with you to explain exactly why you did what you did.

Modern participative management practices may have democratize the U.S. workplace, but they have also undermined management authority. So has this embrace of democratic management put the U.S. at a disadvantage in a world where rapid change is the norm?

In less than a decade from now, Gen Y will be firmly entrenched within the management layers of most large corporations. But what this will mean for organizations and what changes will Gen Y bring with them as they begin to steer the ship?

It's simply not true that an organization has to be customer-centric to be successful. In fact, many companies are successful with a minimal amount of customer focus and customer engagement.

It's taken for granted in organisations that growth is good and non-growth is bad. But why? Surely being growthless but not seriously declining, secure and seriously profitable, is highly agreeable?

We['re often told we need to 'think outside the box', with the implication that the 'box' is a bad thing. Yet, to be honest, the box is a very good thing indeed, because it contains the values, attitudes, beliefs and assumptions that allow us to behave in a rational and useful way.