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May 18, 2006
Fantastic Voyage(r)
Still, the idea that you would stumble onto creating the largest cruise ship in history by accident almost defies belief -- it certainly defies modern corporate mythmaking, not to mention reasonable business practices. But there you have it: Royal Caribbean says that while everyone was busy trying to make Voyager a great vacation spot, building the ship got a little out of hand -- a case study in strategic innovation, tactical improvisation, and relentless execution.Posted by PJ at 07:25 AM | Comments (0) | TrackBack
May 17, 2006
If Banks Were Bands
If Banks Were Musicians, Citigroup Would Be Ozzy
May 12 (Bloomberg) -- Investment banks have personalities that are reflected in how they go about their business and how their peers view them. Bands express their character traits through the music they make and the company they keep. What happens when you match banks with musicians?
Before you click on the link, play a guessing game. Try and match up the bands listed below with the banks listed below:
BANKS:
Barclays Capital
Citigroup
Commerzbank
Deutsche Bank
Goldman Sachs
HSBC
JPMorgan
Merrill Lynch
Morgan Stanley
UBS
BANDS:
[Any Boyband]
Coldplay
David Hasselhoff
Fleetwood Mac
Madonna
Oasis
Ozzy Osbourne
Phil Collins
Radiohead
Rolling Stones
May 16, 2006
How We Work
We're interested in the habits, rituals and small (and occasionally big) methods people and teams use to get their work done. And in the specific anecdotes and the way people describe their own relationship to their own work. Here's a list of some stories and habits. Not sure it is actually useful for anything. Do any patterns emerge across stories, other than the obvious stories of super-focus, super-dedication?
These examples are mostly "names" because the list so far is mostly from published sources, but everyone's stories and habits are interesting, so go ahead and add yours in the comments.
He's up to almost 100 people on his list of how people work. It's fascinating reading. Check it out here.
Posted by PJ at 09:49 PM | Comments (0) | TrackBackMay 15, 2006
Finding Topics at the New York Times
Where do the ideas for stories in The New York Times originate?
Beyond the breaking news about events of the day, of which there is generally a lot in The Times, most articles are hatched from an idea. While I'm still fascinated after 40 years of newspapering by where the ideas originate for these enterprise stories, there are two aspects of the process in which readers have a serious stake.Posted by PJ at 01:00 PM | Comments (0) | TrackBack
The complaints of some disgruntled readers imply that the process is to blame when they think an article shouldn't have run or view its concept as inherently biased. They often suspect that the process was contaminated by the influence of some powerful special interest or the political leanings of a top editor.
Then there are all the readers who expect added value in The Times. It's the ability of reporters and editors to come up with ideas for enterprise articles that determines in large measure how much added value The Times delivers to readers — by anticipating future developments, providing insights into complicated situations or entertaining, among other things.
May 12, 2006
How's Your Workforce IQ?
How's Your Workforce IQ? Lifelong learning has advanced from a nice-to-have to a business essential, write the authors of Workforce Crisis. Their book examines the business implications of trends in the pool of current and future employees. Here's an excerpt:
One of the largest companies in the oil and gas industry, BP LLP (formerly British Petroleum) is a federation of financially successful business units with over 100,000 employees. As BP's corporate leadership knows, size matters only if BP can leverage its knowledge of technology, customer relationships, and business methods across the company—without interfering with business unit autonomy. To promote such knowledge sharing behaviors, BP implemented three explicit "peer processes":Posted by PJ at 05:39 AM | Comments (0) | TrackBack
Peer groups of senior managers share know-how across business units and with the Executive Committee.
Peer reviews of specific unit activities or business processes by senior professionals from other units identify strengths, weaknesses, and opportunities to improve or learn from other groups.
Peer assists get the right corporate know-how to the right place at the right time. Anyone can request expert assistance from a peer anywhere in BP, and the in-demand expert must do his best to help.
Such regularly shared knowledge and expertise has bolstered individuals' efforts, enriched customer outcomes, and improved BP's business methods directly. The collaborative learning here is more organic than systematic—that is, embedded in BP's culture and integrated into people's daily work. The increasingly valuable flow of knowledge among businesses and along leadership chains eliminates red tape and makes each business unit faster and more nimble. In short, BP's institutionalized learning through peer processes drives actual business results.
May 11, 2006
Like Cliff Notes For SNA
Want to brush up on your network and brokering concepts, but don't have time to read the latest books or academic paper? Check out these three resources from the Canadian Health Services Research Foundation: Networks Digest, Brokering Digest, and Network Notes. The couple page summary publications, updated on a regular basis, summarize books and papers on issues relating to social networking, giving the reader a high level overview of the issues, concepts, and research. Some of the documents have a health-bent to them, as is no surprise since they are from the CHSRF, but the overwhelming majority are appropriate to almost every audience.
Posted by PJ at 07:53 AM | Comments (0) | TrackBackMay 10, 2006
(Re)build It, And They Will Come
Pat Gillick has a winning formula: (Re)build it, and they will come:
Character counts (really). "When I'm scouting, I take character over physical ability every time," says Gillick. "If we get to the play-offs, we'll play more than 200 games. Over the course of seven months, you've got to have people who get along with each other, who have a common goal. We look for players who put team goals above personal goals."Posted by PJ at 10:29 AM | Comments (0) | TrackBack
Chemistry counts too. "Chemistry is unbelievably critical," Gillick says. "If you come into a workplace, and there is inconsistency, there are disruptive employees, or you don't know what to expect, then you won't be a motivated employee." The Mariners' quest for a happy clubhouse includes paying close attention to the wives and kids of the players. Gillick meets with wives early in the season to work out everything from ticketing to security to the potentially inflammatory problem of who sits where (which involves a careful ranking based on hubby's tenure in the majors). "There can be a lot of one-upmanship with the ladies," he says.
Invest in a balanced portfolio. "Our philosophy is to balance the payroll. If we have $25 million to spend, we'd rather have five guys making $5 million than one guy making $25 million," Gillick says. "We also make every attempt to have a salary structure where the best player is also the highest paid. Otherwise, there will be resentment. The most important salary structure is the one within your own club."
Everybody's on the team. "When I came to Seattle, we instituted a bonus program for all of our employees," Gillick says. "For the past two years, every employee -- from the minor leagues through top management -- has set goals. And for the past two years, we've met them. In that type of scenario, everybody stands to win. Now people are seeking us out, looking to work for the Mariners. Treat your assets well, and it will come back to you in spades."
Winning is fun-damental. "When I got here, I told our guys that our goal was to have fun, and the best way to have fun is to go home happy at least 100 times during the season. Our first year, we won 91 games. Last year, we won 116. So that's the key: Be positive, be upbeat, be supportive."
May 03, 2006
The Five Lies of Business
From Fast Company, "The Five Most Common Lies in Business":
1. "People are our most important asset."Posted by PJ at 10:27 AM | Comments (0) | TrackBack
2. "This was a rational decision."
3. "We judge people by their performance."
4. "This is business, it isn't personal."
5. "The customer comes first."
May 02, 2006
Update...
Sorry, fell off the wagon for a bit last week. I was at a fantastic conference organized by Rob Cross at the University of Virginia, and passed on the blogging. I'm getting back into the groove now...
Posted by PJ at 05:25 AM | Comments (0) | TrackBack
