Managing emails
A critical issue for many of us wanting to improve individual productivity is how we manage emails . . . e mail on the move ( smart phones etc) ,their sheer volume etc, force many of us to spend...
View ArticleIs there a connection ?
Between execution discipline and organizational change management?Here is an interesting paragraph from an old book ,Execution ;The Discipline of Getting Things Done ( Larry Bossidy & Ram Charan...
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Quantifying benefits and the benefits dependency network
In an earlier note I asked about the importance of benefits calculation and demonstration for the success of an improvement initiative.One of our constant struggles have been to quantify benefits.A...
View ArticleThe disappearing project sponsor
Have any of you been in situations where you see the project team and sponsor disappear for a project which you thought you were only supporting?Kotter's "Leading Change" talks about creating a guiding...
View ArticleThe How Vs What of improvement
Most of my posts have been around how to enable change or improvement. Have a sponsor,engage him,create a burning platform,have a good project team etc etc. This approach,sort of,assumes that you know...
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Business Model :Key to deciding what to change
As a response to my earlier post of how does one decide what to change in an organization, a colleague referred me to the book 'Confronting Reality'.My colleague was pointed out that a review of the...
View ArticleThe Six Sigma way to identify what to change
Six sigma practitioners have been pointing out six sigma also provides approaches to decide what requires change in an organization.If one were to look at what Stephen A. Zingraf says in 'Six Sigma-The...
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Competencies to enable change: Judgement
As I introspected on qualities that make up an effective change agent, I recognized 'Judgement' as one of the critical ones .Judgement is typically identified as a leadership quality. But given the...
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Influencing : a key change agent skill
Another critical skill that every change agent should attempt to develop is the skill to influence. On most occasions change agents will have to work through project team members over whom they have no...
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Process Vs Functional Organization
Organization structure is one of the key levers available to a leader wanting to make improvements in the organization.A key trend that we see today is the move to 'process based ' or even more a...
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The Change Monster : A mental model for org change
Every 'change agent'should have a perspective of the various 'theoritcal' frameworks that has been proposed around organizational change. A realisation of the diversity of the approaches and their...
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Personal competency model
Just came across this 'managerial' personal competency model, published in some manner by the UK Govt., way back in 1997. The contents resonate with my thoughts on what makes one a succesful change...
View ArticleLateral leadership : A'nother' key change agent skill
Another key skill that every person tasked with making change happen is Lateral Leadership. Roger Fisher (1998, Harper Collins) subtitles his book on lateral leadership as getting things done when you...
View ArticleDeciding what to change: Role of a diagnostic
It has always been a struggle to me to clearly establish an approach to identifying what to change. Six Sigma has its X's and Y's; process consultants have their maturity framework...but how does a CEO...
View ArticleReasons for a short break - Started writing again - will post by Nov 15 !
I was out in the field travelling till the 28th of May.Post which, some additional responsibilities and organizational realignment took up a lot of my time.I also realised that while I met my...
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Winning with integrative thinking
As people responsible to bring in change, we are sometimes faced with problems that seem unsurmountable.I have rarely come across directions on what could be called 'good' problem solving.Roger Martin...
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On taking decisions
In the past I have provided links to how great leaders arrive at solutions to problems that apparently had no apparent solutions. Being able to make sense of and take the most appropriate decision is...
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Buy In .. Kotter strikes again
Had this wonderful idea.. which never got implemented ? Got shot down by colleagues and friends whom you thought were allies ? Sure you don't want the experience to repeat?John P. Kotter, in his latest...
View ArticleAnother set of 'characteristics' for change agents
There is this fairly old book, by Robert E. Kelly "Star performers" (1998, Orion). Here is a list of characteristics (which are very relevant in a change agent context too)Initiative : Blazing trails...
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Celebrating 1000 visitors
A personal milestone. onimprovementmatters has finally seen 1000 hits. Not sure how many unique readers that made up the 1000 hits. Took me two years (!) with many gaps in between .Interestingly most...
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The DuPont Analysis
I realise that a lot of my focus in recent times has been on personal skills. Here is a post on a related topic , what to changeDupont analysis is used to illustrate how different factors impact...
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Business Model Generation
First of all, a big sorry for the slumber..Trying to get back into some of the GOOD habits of the past !!I recently came across the book , Business Model Generation, ( Wiley, Alexander Osterwalder and...
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Strengthening leadership capabilities
There is this interesting HBR article [How to make yourself Indispensible –John H. Zenger & Scott K. Edinger HBR October 2011] which talks about leadership competencies. Key conclusions• 16 key...
View ArticleConsulting on the Cusp of Disruption
My key take away: Consulting on the Cusp of Disruption (Christensen, Wong, & Bever, 2013)It is rare to find an article on ‘Consulting’ and that too in a widely respected magazine like Harvard...
View ArticleMy list of desert island books
Recently a friend asked me to list a set of management books I would want to read again and again. It is probably the influence of these books that it did not take me much time to make up this list....
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