The change-capable organization and the importance of metrics - accenture

One of the odd paradoxes of organizational change is that all the initiatives companies undertake to support major transformations—learning programs, structural changes, communications plans and the like—can actually prevent effective change as much as enable it. The enemy is time. It may take months to bring a team on board to design and execute a change program, then several more months to make the transition to a new way of working. By that time, who can be sure the initiative is even relevant to the real business issues of the day? Maybe, instead, the change program ends up being more like last year’s fashions—handsome and well crafted, but out of date.

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Is this the Re-Emergence of Apple University & What Does That Mean? | Horace Dediu - asymco

Any student of organizational theory must struggle with the question of how to assign weight to the influence of the leadership of a company. In the case of Apple, the question is: Is Jobs is the embodiment of Apple or is Apple already Jobsian, imbued with his ethos? John Gruber summed up (start at 8:00 min) the “Apple is Jobsian” argument by saying that Apple is Steve Jobs’ greatest creation and that he has been working on crafting the company as much as he has been crafting products. The result being that it’s well designed for sustainable longevity. The arguments for “Jobs is Apple” are mostly rooted in anecdotes of a supreme leader that is indispensable to every decision and detail. There are also ample examples from history of companies who foundered after the departure of founders (Apple itself is notably cited.)

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A Bias against 'Quirky'? Why Creative People Can Lose Out on Leadership Positions - Wharton@Management

Creativity is good -- and more critical than ever in business. So why do so many once-creative companies get bogged down over time, with continuous innovation the exception and not the norm? Wharton management professor Jennifer Mueller and colleagues from Cornell University and the Indian School of Business have gained critical insight into why.

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Emergence As A Framework for Organisational Strategy

The Webster Dictionary Definition of Emergence ...to come forth into view or notice, as from concealment or obscurity... Here is a description of emergence compiled from social media content using the Storify platform..

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Why Creativity Matters Most: What Business Owners Can Learn from Jazz Musicians - Q&A with Josh Linkner : The World :: American Express OPEN Forum

When Josh Linkner was growing up, a Lego set included a bunch of blocks that kids could fashion into whatever they imagined. By contrast, today’s Legos are packaged as specialty kits with intricate parts and step-by-step instructions for building one specific construction—such as Harry Potter’s Diagon Alley. To Linkner, a jazz musician, venture capitalist and the founder and chairman of ePrize, an interactive marketing company, this Lego trend reveals a troubling emphasis on teaching people how to follow directions at a time when using your imagination is more important.

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