Just Fix the System Please – A Friday Funny

By Michelle Malay Carter on January 31, 2008 

I’ve been called irreverent.? Sometimes I use sarcasm to get a point across, but Despair, Inc. has found a way to turn cynicism into cash-flow with an entire line of products for people?interested in responding to the well-intentioned but?impotent motivational words and techniques that?organizations attempt.? Just fix the system please! Below are my personal favorites.??They […]

Filed Under Corporate Values, Employee Engagement, Strategy | 2 Comments

Declaring a Major at 18 When We Don’t Know Who We Are Until We’re 30

By Michelle Malay Carter on January 30, 2008 

I think most people reach about 30 years of age before they really know who they are and how that might translate into a job, and for some it happens later than that.? Some of this likely stems from our current education and work paradigms. My 15 year old neighbor is already being pressured as […]

Filed Under Organization Design, Personal Observation, Strategy, Talent Management | 7 Comments

Circumventing the Four-Year University Machine

By Michelle Malay Carter on January 29, 2008 

I’m not a futurist, but my last post about Management Megatrends got?me thinking about other potential “machines” that may become either irrelevant or reinvented in my lifetime.?? So this post is mostly musing and is more about questions than answers.? I’d love to get your perspective as I go out on a limb and poke […]

Filed Under Corporate Values, Organization Design, Personal Observation, Strategy, Talent Management | 5 Comments

Circumventing the Machine – Wake Up! The World is Changing

By Michelle Malay Carter on January 27, 2008 

I watched a video presentation by two futurists called Media Megatrends.? In it, Glen Hiemstra mentions that his assistant, a member of the?younger?”digital native” generation, remarked that once her phone/mobile device?had projection capability, she would no longer need a computer.? With projection, she could watch video on any wall, and she could type on any […]

Filed Under Accountability, Corporate Values, Employee Engagement, Executive Leadership, Managerial Leadership, Organization Design, Requisite Organization, Strategy, Talent Management | 1 Comment

Seamless Integration – A True Work of Art

By Michelle Malay Carter on January 24, 2008 

We’ve been talking about integrating the work of the team this week.? Do you think the artistry in the following video clip could have been accomplished without a leader integrating the work of the team?

Filed Under Accountability, Managerial Leadership, Requisite Organization, Talent Management | 2 Comments

Organizational Silos? No One to Blame but the CEO

By Michelle Malay Carter on January 23, 2008 

In my last post, I said that the manager owns the output of his team, as it is his accountability to integrate the work of the team. Therefore, when organizational silos exist between the functions, the person who owns all the functions, usually the CEO,?is not doing his job to integrate the work of the […]

Filed Under Accountability, Executive Leadership, Managerial Leadership, Organization Design, Requisite Organization, Strategy | 9 Comments

Integrating the Work of the Team – When the Left Hand Disagrees with the Right

By Michelle Malay Carter on January 21, 2008 

Managers own the output of their team.? Hence, seamless integration of each team member’s work?need be a critical managerial leadership accountability.? Is it?? Has your manager every held you specifically accountable for integrating the work of your team?? Did you discuss this concept in your MBA program? How Hierarchies Work? In a managerial hierarchy,?any given?manager […]

Filed Under Accountability, Corporate Values, Executive Leadership, Managerial Leadership, Requisite Organization | 3 Comments

Changing the Conversation about Work – A Friday Funny

By Michelle Malay Carter on January 17, 2008 

Have you heard – I’m OK.? You’re OK.? Let’s fix the system?? If you hadn’t noticed, I’m determined to change the focus of the conversations?being had about talent management, organization design, and leadership.? Why?? Because I imagine what work could be, and I want that for people.? AT&T does a great job of capturing “what […]

Filed Under Accountability, Corporate Values, Employee Engagement, Executive Leadership, High Potential, Managerial Leadership, Organization Design, Requisite Organization, Strategy, Succession Planning, Talent Management | Comments Off on Changing the Conversation about Work – A Friday Funny

Science Doesn’t Lie, But Liars Can Use Science (and Idiots too)

By Michelle Malay Carter on January 16, 2008 

The Invisible Killer – Dihydrogen Monoxide Dihydrogen monoxide is colorless, odorless, tasteless, and kills uncounted thousands of people every year. Most of these deaths are caused by accidental inhalation of DHMO, but the dangers of dihydrogen monoxide do not end there.? Prolonged exposure to its solid form causes severe tissue damage.? Symptoms of DHMO ingestion […]

Filed Under Accountability, Employee Engagement, Executive Leadership, Organization Design, Personal Observation, Requisite Organization, Strategy, Talent Management | 2 Comments

Why We Resist Positional Power – One Third of Employees Have Managers Who Can’t Be Their Leader

By Michelle Malay Carter on January 15, 2008 

Positional power, like hierarchies, is getting a bad rap from the kumbaya crowd these days.? No one appreciates abuse of power, and I am not denying its prevelance.?? However, eliminating positions within organizations is ludicrous.? Positional power is not inherently a bad thing.? What is bad is the confounded systems and unvalidated criteria that organizations […]

Filed Under Employee Engagement, Executive Leadership, Managerial Leadership, Requisite Organization, Strategy, Talent Management | Comments Off on Why We Resist Positional Power – One Third of Employees Have Managers Who Can’t Be Their Leader

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