As I recently mentioned, my professional “Deep Intent” comes from the sad memory, of seeing brave and respectable men begging my grandfather for work, because of a sudden closing of their coal mines in Southern Belgium. Laying people off, no matter how economically justified and how much courage it takes from the leader to do so, should always be considered…
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disruption
Disrupt or be Disrupted: the Principles of War by Michael Newman
Thursday December 1st, 2011 0 commentsIn 1988, as a newly commissioned Officer in the British Army, the world of disruption was my context. As a commander of 28 Royal Engineer soldiers (the famous ‘Sappers’) I was a very small, but I like to think important, part of the NATO master plan to defend Western Europe from the Warsaw Pact. Back in the 1980s, Hundreds of…
“Most integration processes fail by focusing exclusively on Logos”
Saturday October 29th, 2011 0 commentsGo back to your own experience: 8 to 10 months into the integration process (after a merger or an acquisition), the momentum seems to slow and difficulties surface. Michael Newman and I researched literature to see whether or not the observation our colleagues and I had about this specific moment was matched by others. These are some of what we…
So here comes the Depression again… Watch your unconscious reactions!
Saturday September 24th, 2011 2 commentsIs the crisis really back or not? For some, it increasingly seems that Stock Exchanges’ agitation (leave aside ethics and rationale) is cut off from the reality of those who really work and create value. And for others, suffices to study some leading indicators to be entitled to be seriously concerned again… In the recent months, I met with executives…
My best interview on the future of Leadership
Saturday September 3rd, 2011 5 comments(NEW CLIP OF INTERVIEW IN PORTUGUESE ADDED AT END OF THIS POST) During my recent stay in São-Paulo, I was interviewed by Patricia Bispo, who runs an excellent site dedicated to people and leadership issues. Her questions helped me clarify my thoughts on the future of leadership. Here are, in English, the key parts of the interview: Patricia Bispo –…
"Leading ourselves to exhaustion!!!"
Sunday May 15th, 2011 0 commentsIs it because everybody agrees, in private, that the fundamental problems of the recent crisis still have to be addressed, that most Boardrooms resonate with the same sacred word: GROWTH? Is it like a desperate and collective blind attempt to cash in before a tremendous after shock erupts? Whatever the answer to that question, some firms will succeed in disrupting…
“Co-creating, co-piloting, co-opetition: Why is “co” the new buzzword?”
Sunday February 27th, 2011 3 commentsThe open source phenomenon is profoundly changing the rules of the game in several businesses (publishing, software, business schools, medical research, toys industry with LEGO, healthcare and cosmetics with P&G, car manufacturing with Local Motors and big brands such as Audi, Daimler or FIAT now jumped on the bandwagon)… As we recently saw, the invention of the internet is a…
“What the Catholic Church can teach us in terms of being disrupted?”
Sunday February 6th, 2011 2 commentsAlan Moore and Gerd Leonhard[1] came up with a great metaphor in terms of illustrating the concept of disruption: The Catholic Church and Gutenberg’s invention… The clip here below summarizes the situation before and after the printing press invention in a short and convincing 4 minutes: The internet is probably the biggest technological revolution since Gutenberg’s printing press. And it…
“Those who can do, those who can’t… teach”
Sunday January 23rd, 2011 5 commentsMy rebellious side fell in love with this quote of G. B. Shaw, brought by Nick McRoberts[1]. We now have wonderful Enablers “intelligent fibers” shirts (Rhodia FiBras) on which the wise words are proudly worn. There is be a profound need for evolution in the world of teaching. I find the following clip below quite compelling: My daughter has the…