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Why so serious?
This morning, my playlist played „Why so serious“ by Alice Morton. One of my favourite songs these days. By the way, one of my kids’ favourites, too. I like the tune. But even more I like the lyrics: “Why so serious?”. Listening to that song, a couple of seemingly unrelated…
AI is different
Artificial Intelligence is the fuzz all around the shop these days. Rightly so. If there has ever been disruption in the making, then AI is it. Yet, if it comes to management, there is still the notion that this is “just another tool”. Another tool like the ones before. Another…
Data is overrated
“Data is the new oil”, the catch phrase goes. But even more important than collecting and cleansing data, is finding ways of putting them to use. Without the invention of the combustion engine, synthetic fibre, plastic, … oil would be hardly as valuable as it is to us. Yet, when…
Clone Wars
In “Mittelmaß und Wahnsinn” (Mediocrity and Madness), I tend to struggle with many things around how we manage Human Resources in our big organisations. The notion that humans should not be reduced to being mere resources like — say — a waggon load of steel is hardly new but things…
The non-bias problem
In “Mittelmaß und Wahnsinn” (Mediocrity and Madness), I passionately argue that diversity is much more than gender diversity and that building true excellence does not stem from a blend of people that is on average above average but from a team of divers talents, each of them standing out in…
Empowerment humbug
In “Mittelmaß und Wahnsinn” (Mediocrity and Madness), I also touch upon the concept of “empowerment”. I argue that — at least in workplace management — there is reason to being wary about “empowerment”. All too frequent, it is patronising in disguise. Humbug. Fake empowerment More often than not, we have…
Seeking the entrepreneur
One of the key propositions of “Mittelmaß und Wahnsinn” (Mediocrity and Madness) is that almost as a law of nature, size drives mediocrity. You can reasonably argue that all the initiatives your average corporate giant undertakes are made to fight this correlation: “Customer Focus — Season 7”, “Operational Excellence –…
Mission impossible
Another piece inspired by “Mittelmaß und Wahnsinn” (Mediocrity and Madness). One, I suffered from dozens of times myself. One, everybody in our project driven business world can tell a thing or two about. Hear the epic poem of Beowulf and Grendel! These are our modern times’ monsters: large-scale projects. Doubtlessly…
Winners take all
As indicated already yesterday, I don’t want to write about my book today. Instead I am writing about another one: “Winners Take All: The Elite Charade of Changing the World” by Anand Giridharadas. “Anyone following the debate about the role of philanthrocapitalists, corporate foundations or tech billionaires in solving the world’s problems will want…