Author Archives: Bruce Lewin
GM’s problems are best described as suicide rather than homicide
While Bob Sutton knows GM very well (research, speaker, existing contacts there), he can’t stop himself from feeling compelled to speak his mind. Here are some extracts from his piece; I am ambivalent about whether the auto industry should receive … Continue reading
Innovation and integration are unnatural acts
While this isn’t a Carry On film, Oliver Marks says that In lots of large corporations, innovation and integration are unnatural acts. Silos block cross functional cooperation and resistance stifles new ideas and concepts. A piece in HBR then “explores … Continue reading
Organisational structure predicts software quality
Philip Preissing talks about some fascinating research from Microsoft in which the outcome of software projects reflects and is very heavily influenced by the organisational structure in which they were conceived and developed. Building in part on Conway’s Law, a … Continue reading
The New York Times is fading away
Seth Godin picks up on the long established, death by a thousand cuts currently infiltrating the US newspaper industry. What is interesting about this piece is not so much the blow by blow account of the declining circulation and advertising … Continue reading
Starbucks has been foolish [in spite of McKinsey's endorsement!]
Kim Warren has a wonderful expose of the current state of Starbucks and how they have ended up where they are now. The summary is that having focused very successfully on building a highly engaged and productive workforce which served … Continue reading
I have utterly nothing new to say
Michael McKinney points to a piece in the FT, ‘Lunch with Tom Peters’. I haven’t read the full interview, but a choice extract made me stop and think. Few have criticized what [Tom Peters] does for a living as ferociously … Continue reading
More on collaboration
Johnnie points out a piece by Penny, both of whom talk about collaboration in its various forms. Penny sets the scene with the idea that; By recognising the nature of the interactions, we can better understand the restrictions of, and … Continue reading
From analysis to action
George Ambler explores the language around strategy, analysis, decision making and action. There are plenty of salient points including ‘Analysis Paralysis’ and ‘The Paradox of Choice’. George wraps things up by saying The underlying principle is that: Simplicity allows people … Continue reading
The rebirth of values and philosophy, can it be done?
Nick Carr has been writing plenty on computing and the move towards a new approach called cloud computing. A recent piece from Nick seeks to compare Google with Microsoft and their respective attempts to win business customers for their respective … Continue reading
Where next for hedge fund managers?
Psychometrics says Paul Wilmott! Surely not! I doubt whether it will catch on, sadly, but I’ve also been advocating for years that there should be a process of psychometric testing, along the line of Myers-Briggs, for fund managers. This is … Continue reading
