Happened to be browsing the magazine racks at Indigo and caught sight of latest issue of Inc. magazine. This month's cover blurb asks "Are you a tough enough boss?" and features "zero tolerance" CEO Thomas Charlton.
Charlton, a recreational boxer who Stings Like a Bee reportedly is fond of throwing objects against his office wall, and expects everyone to put in a 70 hour work week (quote: "Burnout is a term I don't even recognize"). While I can appreciate anyone who is willing to take the piss out of the head of marketing ("It was awesome."), there is a line between willingness to cut through the crap and being an asshole. Not to mention that I can see all sorts of pointy-headed managerial types who will apply exactly the wrong lessons from Charlton's hard-charging style.
Also spotted the latest Harvard Business Review which features these scary headlines:
- The Empire Strikes Back: Counterrevolutionary Strategies for Industry Leaders -- from the summary: "Industry leaders frequently worry that their companies will fall victim to some revolutionary business model or disruptive technology. But new research shows that it's strategically better for incumbents to counter a revolution than to ignore or fully embrace it."
- How to Identify Your Enemies Before They Destroy You -- "(The authors) have developed a tool that can help companies detect potential disruptive innovations while management still has time to respond effectively. The tool's decision-making methodology harnesses the organization's collective wisdom to determine how likely it is that a particular innovation will seriously damage an incumbent's business. The methodology has two components: an analytical instrument and an organizational process. And the tool's rigorous approach can spell the difference between flailing around and acting effectively in the face of a serious competitive threat."
Meanwhile, Fast Company's November issue has been out for a while. I haven't bothered to read it, but today's "Fast Take" e-mail alerted me to one article called Keith Yamashita Wants to Reinvent Your Company; some bullet points:
1. Outlaw PowerPoint.The rest of the article borders on fluffy New Economy hype (lots of emphasis on "storytelling"). If you take away nothing else, it should be bullet point number 1 noted above.
2. Don't rely on words alone.
3. Make strategy an everyday act.
4. Argue forcefully against your most dearly held hypotheses.
5. Make decisions, right or wrong.