Calculated Risk has posted a couple of interesting graphs showing the variance in the lengths of unemployment over the last 40 years (U.S. only). It’s what I’ve been saying: you don’t want to go unemployed these days because those without jobs aren’t going to get new ones. CR’s points are worth noting: … if the level of normal turnover was …
Megachurches are Liturgical
This starts my new thing on Evangelical church organization. If you’re not interested in American Evangelicals, you may be lost. Megachurches are most highly liturgical of any church. Those with televised satellite churches are even more so. Confused? Thought that megachurches eschewed liturgy for free and loose? Here’s why I say this. Liturgy is the branding of the church of …
Why Boards Go Wrong: “It’s the Group, Stupid!”
Back in 2005, the Brooklyn Law Review published the papers from the Corporate Misbehavior by Elite Decision-Makers Symposium, which Brooklyn Law School apparently held. Harvard’s Rakesh Khurana & Katharina Pick contributed a social-psychological look at how boards of directors of corporations can go wrong through social or group processes and how the current spate of “control the directors” changes have …
Hard Work Is A Necessary But Not Sufficient Cause of Success
A friend of mine made up her mind in college that she was going to be a professional singer. She worked hard at it, did the various groups, choirs and solo performances. She even went pro in a little jazz quartet with some others. After college, she decided to continue her studies and went to a prestigious conservatory in New …
Why You Can Tell Your Big Secret To Success (they won’t do it)
A few years back, I took on my first ISO 9001 project. An IT outsourcing company, then still in North America, wanted to certify the Desktop Support groups at each outsource contract in the world. You can apparently just do one site and certify the operations everywhere. Upper management gave them 90 days to complete the project. Just one quarter. …
Why There Is Never Going To Be A Silver Bullet
There is no single, best way to solve business problems. Or career problems. Or project problems. Or marriage problems. Or any one type of problems. You’d think that more than two decades after Fred Brooks told us that, at least in software, we would know that there is no silver bullet. The reason is simple: Life is complex. Most of …
Why Managers Should Not Write Technical Job Postings
A friend of mine encouraged me to tell this story which I watched unfold first hand while a software development manager for a mid-sized consulting firm. One of my best developers — a software architect, really — started laughing in the middle of the day. We all needed something to release the strain of our bi-weekly drop work, so all …
Imaginist, Systemicist, and Getting Myself Wrong
In late November, while talking to my old partner about how the Seven Decision Making Approaches (or “languages of achievement”) are relevant to his current work problems, I suddenly realised something startling. For several years, I have been selling myself as either Imaginist or Empiricist, but delivering Systemicist results. The disconnect has been startling. It cleanly explains many of the …
7 Decision Making Approaches: IMAGINIST / INTUITIONIST
[I continue my notes on Kinston & Algie’s decision systems.] As we continue with our exploration of the seven approaches to decision making that were originally developed by Jimmy Algie, reformulated by he and Warren Kinston, then extended by Warren [refs follow below], keep in mind that they can also be seen in two other ways. Languages of Achievement: The …
Being Erica: Interesting take on a hidden high potential
One of my friends suggested that I check out the pilot for the 2009 TV series called Being Erica from the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation (CBC). She thought that it had a lot of ties to things that I had discussed.