Thoughts on people, teams, organizations, communities, effectiveness and success
McKesson Corporation, where I worked as a senior exec for over a decade, had a habit of the yearly reorganization – usually in March right before the start of the fiscal year on April 1. Reporting relationships changed, some people got shifted, some people got whacked, and business continued along.
Rarely did things in terms of the running the business significantly change.… Read the rest
There are three well-known West Coast asset management firms (financial services speak for mutual funds, venture capital, private equity, hedge funds, or fund of funds firms) – none of them clients – where the firm’s leadership team members barely tolerate each other.
They talk when they must. Otherwise they minimize their working relationships as much as possible.
The firms make money. … Read the rest
In the old days – circa 1980 or so – companies depended on managing their operations by policies and procedures. Senior managers would issue an updated process and procedure, and people would follow the new marching orders. It seemed to work well – except when times changed and it didn’t.
Swiss banking giant UBS (Union Bank of Switzerland), in a back-to-the future-moment, has just issued an extensive set of dress guidelines for its client-facing employees (“wear flesh colored underwear“) that makes it feel like the 1980’s all over. … Read the rest
It might be nice if you found a job that lasted you for the rest of your life. It’s unlikely to happen –
even if you’re in a profession like a teacher of doctor – and even less likely for anyone who holds what we think of as a “regular” job.
The reality, as career guru Richard Nelson Bolles has said, “is that every job has turned into a temp job — whether people are conscious of that or not.… Read the rest