In the article Why Good Companies Go Bad, Donald Sull outlines why major change in large organizations is so difficult. Ironically in most cases the very elements that enabled the business to initially scale and succeed turn into what holds the company back. Sull refers to these forces as “Active Inertia”. What holds back change…
Month: September 2006
Emotional Intelligence (EQ)
Reflecting on Daniel Goleman’s writings on Emotional Intelligence (EQ) and how self-awareness, self-regulation, motivation, empathy, and social skills impact leadership.
Active Inertia in Business
How strategic frames, organizational processes, and existing values held by the organization get in the way of needed changes.
Emotional Intelligence (EQ)
In reading What Makes a Leader? (Goleman) I learned that while technical skills and IQ are important for senior managers to succeed it is emotional intelligence that is actually the most critical. As a long-time believer in soft skills I did not have any difficulty believing this assertion. Emotional Intelligence’s Five Components: Self-Awareness: The ability…
I’m hiring (again)
I’m looking for a Senior UI Designer / Information Architect to join my design team. In this role you will join the team which focuses on enabling eBay buyers to find just the items they want out of the over 78 million unique items available every day. To give you a sense of scale, eBay…
I’m hiring (again)
I’m looking for a Senior UI Designer / Information Architect to join my design team. In this role you will join the team which focuses on enabling eBay buyers to find just the items they want out of the over 78 million unique items available every day. To give you a sense of scale, eBay…
Evidence-Based Management
I recently read the article Evidence-Based Management (HBR Jan 06) which outlines an emerging movement which applies the scientific approach long used in medicine to the practice of management. A number of factors inhibit managers’ ability to make good decisions including: specialty bias (e.g. marketers tend to recommend marketing as a solution) hype (e.g. managers…
Evidence-Based Management
I recently read the article Evidence-Based Management (HBR Jan 06) which outlines an emerging movement which applies the scientific approach long used in medicine to the practice of management. A number of factors inhibit managers’ ability to make good decisions including: specialty bias (e.g. marketers tend to recommend marketing as a solution) hype (e.g. managers…
How to Play to Your Strengths
In the article How to Play to Your Strengths I learned about a career planning technique that focuses on 100% positive feedback—that’s right no “constructive feedback”. The article outlines that it’s human nature to focus on the negatives (when asked people remember four negative memories for every single positive one). And yet far too often,…