Management Stories

Realizing he was lost, a balloonist dropped down to ask directions. “Excuse me, but I’m a little off course” he shouted. “I promised to meet a friend an hour ago, I don’t know where I am.”

A woman hollered back: “You’re in a hot air balloon hovering approximately 30 feet above the ground. You’re at exactly 40 degrees, 22 minutes, and 21 seconds North latitude and 70 degrees, 30 minutes, and 33 seconds West longitude.”

“Amazing,” the balloonist replied. “You must be an engineer!”

“I am,” she replied, “How did you know?”

“Well,” answered the balloonist, “everything you told me is technically correct, but I can’t use your information. I’m still lost and you haven’t been much help at all. If anything, you’ve delayed my trip.”

The woman thought for a moment, then replied: “You must be in management.” “I am,” replied the balloonist, “but how did you know?”

“Well,” said the woman, “you don’t know where you are or where you’re going. You’ve risen to your position due to a large quantity of hot air. You made a promise that you have no idea how to keep, and you expect people beneath you to solve your problems.”

“In fact,” she said, “you’re in exactly the same position you were before we met, but somehow it’s now my fault.”

Source: The Bent of Tau Beta Pi (not sure of original source)

1 Comment » Posted by Administrator / Humor / Amusement and Management

In 1982, University of Wisconsin researchers who were conducting a study of the adult-learning process videotaped two bowling teams during several games. The members of each team then studied their efforts on video to improve their skills. But the two videos had been edited differently. One team received a video showing only its mistakes; the other team’s video, by contrast, showed only the good performances. After studying the videos, both teams improved their game, but the team that studied its successes improved its score twice as much as the one that studied its mistakes. Evidently, focusing on the errors can generate feelings of fatigue, blame, and resistance. Emphasizing what works well and discussing how to get more out of those strengths taps into creativity, passion, and the desire to succeed.

Source: The CEO’s role in leading transformation Continue Reading »

1 Comment » Posted by Administrator / Leadership and Management and Organizational Behavior / HR

Like many photographers before him, Richard Zaltman was visiting remote areas of the world to capture images of people living lives far removed from those in the United States.

Here’s what made his experience different.

One morning, while walking through an isolated village in Bhutan, he suddenly got the idea of turning his camera over to the locals to see what they would consider significant enough to show others about themselves.

Later, when he looked at all their pictures, he noticed that most of the photos cut off people’s feet. “At first, I thought the villagers had just aimed wrong,” Zaltman says. “But it turns out that being barefoot is a sign of poverty. Even though everyone was barefoot, people wanted to hide that - -which is an important message to see.”

You never really know someone until you see the choices she makes.

Source: What’s Not Revealed is Often Most Revealing by Kare Anderson / CEO Refresher, January 2007

2 Comments » Posted by Administrator / Customer Related and Leadership and Management and Marketing / Sales

At W.L. Gore, with its vision of “Freedom,” the decision-rights of associates (as all members of the organization are called) are determined by the “water-line” principle. Employees envision their enterprise as a ship on which they all sail together. If someone occasionally bores an accidental hole above the ship’s waterline, it’s not calamitous; after all, innovative organizations must make allowances for some mistakes. A hole below the waterline, however, could sink the ship. Therefore the waterline principle states that on “any action that might seriously harm the success, the reputation, or the survival of the enterprise, the associate will consult with appropriate associates who might share the responsibility of taking this action.”

Source: Connecting Across Boundaries: The Fluid-Network Organization / Arun N. Maira / Prism, 1998, Issue 1

No Comments » Posted by Administrator / Leadership and Management and Organizational Behavior / HR

“Tell me about the people at the organization you just left,” said the senior manager who was screening candidates to fill a key leadership role. “They were uneducated and lazy,” the candidate responded. “You always had to keep an eye on them because they were constantly trying to goof off or rip off the company. They were lousy communicators, resisted change, and only cared about themselves.” “That’s too bad,” replied the senior manager, “I am sorry to say that’s the same type of people you’ll find here. This doesn’t sound like a job you would enjoy.”

Once the next candidate was seated, she was asked the same question. “Oh, they were great,” she said. “Although many of them couldn’t read and we had some trouble communicating with each other, they were very driven to succeed. Once we all got to know each other, they were constantly helping one other and working together.” “Great,” the senior manager responded, “That’s the same type of people you’ll find here.”

Source: People Live Up or Down to a Leader’s Expectations / Jim Clemmer

1 Comment » Posted by Administrator / Leadership and Management and Organizational Behavior / HR

The date was December 9, 1934. The New York Giants were playing the Chicago Bears for the championship of the National Football League. The two teams were thought to be evenly matched, but there was a special factor that day that changed the dynamics of the game: heavy rains and cold temperatures had turned the field at New York’s Polo Grounds stadium into a virtual sheet of ice. The home team trailed 10-3 after two quarters and looked done for, as the visiting Bears were doing a much better job of slip-sliding up and down the field.

But in the Giants’ locker room at halftime, somebody had an idea. It had little to do with the sort of midgame adjustments that were common in football, such as changing offensive plays or defensive formations. This was completely different. The notion was that maybe the Giants would be more successful not by changing their game plan but by changing their shoes-specifically, by taking off their football cleats and wearing sneakers for better traction. A mad scramble turned up enough pairs to accommodate the team, and the sneakers ended up providing the Giants with sure footing that led to 27 second-half points and a 30-13 victory. The “Sneaker Game” became part of sporting lore.

The lesson to be learned from the Giants that day is that challenging the accepted way of doing things-daring to be different-is critical to progress and can bring great success.

Source: Dare to Be Different / Michael Ackland, David Rhodes / Boston Consulting Group (BCG), December 20, 2002

No Comments » Posted by Administrator / Innovation and Management

There’s a cardboard box company in Illinois that I ran into years ago. It was just phenomenal in terms of responsiveness. They were always on time or ahead of time, and they took on the tough orders. Their track record was brilliant. About a half dozen years ago, the guy who runs the company added two simple, innocent little columns to the end of the invoices. They stated “order requested” and “actual delivery date,” which pointed out, in black and white, that the company was always on time. It sounds corny, but it literally led to about a 20 percent instant overnight boost in business.

He was tooting his own horn; he was not bragging. One must be terribly careful because braggarts are the world’s biggest pain at age 22 or 72. But letting people somehow or other know that you have come through on a regular basis — subtly — makes all sorts of sense to me.

Source: Tom Peters / Business Finance, January 1997

No Comments » Posted by Administrator / Management and Marketing / Sales