Jamie's Blog

Notes on:
Kotter, J. P. (2007). “Leading change: why transformation efforts fail.” Harvard Business Review, January 2007, 96-103

• Transformation efforts go by many names
  • TQM
  • Reengineering
  • Rightsizing
  • Restructuring
  • Cultural change
  • Turnaround
• Key general lessons
  • Change involves series of steps. Do not skip the steps!
  • Mistakes in any phase can have devastating effects
• Errors
  • Lack of urgency
  • No guiding coalition
  • No vision
  • Lack of communication about vision
  • Leaving obstacles for new vision
  • Lack of quick wins
  • Predeclared victory (“Mission Accomplished!”)
  • Lack of anchors for change in culture

Notes on:

Ghosn, C. (2002). “Saving the Business Without Losing the Company.” Harvard Business Review, January 2002, p 37-45.

• Intro
  • Renault Nissan Merger
  • Ghosn natural candidate
    • Cleaned up failed merger with Volvo
  • Nissan unprofitable for 8 yrs
  • “do-or-die situation” (p 38)
  • retain self-esteem of employees
  • Plan
    • involve Nissan’s own managers
    • Cross-functional teams
    • company culture important
    • develop new culture
• Breaking with Tradition
  • Historically, product dev lessened to save money
  • No seniority rule
  • Sometimes younger managers suffer
  • New performance-based compensation
  • historically, loose areas of responsibility
    • positions with no responsibility
• Mobilizing Cross-Functional Teams
  • Dramatic changes
  • Went against some norms of Japanese society
  • Cross-functional teams were primary part of plan
    • Given 3 months to come up with turnaround recommendations
    • Came from company’s middle managers
    • Each CFT had subteams
    • Executive sponsors from different business areas
    • Pilots with frontline experience and credibility with rank and file
    • Challenge to reduce costs by 20%
    • Identified many small changes to reduce costs
    • Nissan Revival Plan, developed by Nissan’s own executives
      • Plan was about braking, and accelerating the company
• The Importance of Respect
  • Uneasy public
  • Employees trusted Ghosn b/c of respect he showed
  • “careful to protect Nissan’s identity and its dignity as a company” (p 44)
  • Renault did not try to renegotiate terms
  • Nissan’s culture more impt than Japanese culture

Notes on

Fischer, B. & Boynton, A. (2005). Harvard Business Review, July-August 2005, p 116-123

• Intro p 117
  • Whiz Kids – saved Ford
  • Seymour Cray – first commercial supercomputer
  • Virtuoso teams – composed of elite experts
  • Unique in ambition, intensity,  esprit, results-driven
  • Risks considered high
  • Default mode = mediocrity
  • V-teams use different rules
  • Examples of v-teams accomplished goals and changed business and industry in process
  • collaboration impt for leaders of v-teams
• Assemble the Stars p 118
  • People who are able are assigned to teams
  • In v-teams, “thinking is more impt than doing” p 119
  • v-team members push each other
  • they love challenge
  • v-teams must be composed of great people
  • Your Show of Shows’ staff greatest comedy staff of all time
    • high-energy contests
    • tension among group members
  • “Nasty tugs-of-war”
• Build the Group Ego p 119
  • Traditional teams are cooperative
  • v-teams are individual-based
  • v-teams transform into powerful team with shared identity later
  • Kjell Sunde assembled best technical people
    • Goal was to understand and prevent Bloc 34
    • Each technologist was confident
    • Sunde celebrated selected v-team
    • gave access to resources
    • Introduced teamwork pattern
    • Split group into half solving problems
    • transformed into “one great totality” p 120
• Make Work a Contact Sport p 120
  • traditional teams distant
  • v-teams need physical contact
  • passionate dialogue impt
  • experimentation/rapid-prototyping
  • pressure-cooker
  • dedicated team room
  • informal atmosphere
  • beware intense pressure vis-a-vis project duration
• Challenging the Customer p 122
  • v-teams believe customers want more
  • West Side Story risky
    • success = vindication
  • Norsk Hydro
    • customers were equity market analysts
    • thoughtful explanations minimized market erosion
• Herd the Cats p 122
• traditional team leaders want consensus and compromize
• v-team leaders must be def and forceful
• cannot constraint expresiveness
• must trust talents
• balance individual attention with demands and timelines of projects
• be a perfectionist
• Robbins pushed the WSS cast
• foster individual and creative freedom
  • contests of ideas
  • exploit time
  • deadline pressure requires focus
• stamp out mediocrity

Notes on:

Moving Mountains. (2003). Motivating People. Harvard Business Review, January 2003, p 41-47.

Interviews with people about how to motivate others.

• “Start with the Truth” (p 42)
  • Carly Fiorina, chairman and CEO of HP
• “Appeal to Greatness” (p 42)
  • Christopher Bangle, BMW global chief of design 
• “Make them Proud” (p 43)
  • Chauncey Veatch, 2002 National Teacher of the Year
• “Stick to your values” (p 43)
  • L.M. Banker, Jr., chairman of Wachovia
• “Be a broken record” (p 44)
  • Robert A. Eckert, chairman and CEO of Mattel
• “Build Trust” (p 44)
  • Susan Butcher, four-time winner of Iditarod
• “Encourage Risk” (p 45)
  • Ross J. Pillari, president of BP America
• “care for the Little Guy” (p 45)
  • Herb Baum, chairman, president, CEO of Dial
• “Ground without grinding” (p 46)
  • Mario Mazzola, chief development officer at Cisco Systems
• “Leap First, Ask Later” (p 46)
  • Robert D. Ballard, director of Univ Rhode Island’s Institute for Underwater Archeology
• “Set Different Incentive Levels” (p 47)
  • Liu Chuanzhi, chairman of Legend Group of Beijing
• “Work Quickly Through Pain” (p 47)
  • Hank McKinnell, chairman and CEO of Pfizer

Notes on:

Kellerman, B. (2007, December). What Every Leader Needs to Know About Followers. Harvard Business Review, December 2007, p 84-91.

• Modern leadership
  • Stress leaders rather than followers (amorphous)
• Followers matter!
  • Not obvious who is leader and who is follower
  • New typology for followers
• Who are followers?
  • “Low in the hierarchy and have less power” (p 86)
  • Free-agents (p 86)
    • Demise of communism
    • Dissolution of corporate oligarchies
  • Knowledge can be more important than position
• Types of followers
  • Zaleznik – level of dominance, level of activity
  • Kelley – level of independence, level of activity
  • Chaleff – level of leader support
  • Why segment?
    • impose order
    • determine individual motivations within group
• New Typology
  • Based on engagement level
    • This determines relationship with superiors
  • Provides immediate information for leaders
  • Isolates – don’t know, don’t care
  • Bystanders – know, but don’t care
  • Participants – some engagement
  • Activists – engagement and feelings for leaders/org
  • Die-hards – prepared to give everything
• Good and Bad Followers
  • Good followers have interests of org over superior
  • Bad followers have interests of self or superior over org

I’ve been trying to arrange a mall intercept survey at one of the local malls for a project we are doing. Although the person who suggested it made it seem easy, I have been shut down right and left! I can’t blame the malls, and I was doubtful as to whether they would specifically allow such a thing. The responses have thus far confirmed the suspicion, but there are still a few contacts I’m waiting to hear back from.

Barring any catastrophic events, this will be my last term as an MBA Candidate at Temple University. I enjoyed the experience. It gave me something to do, and something to look forward to outside of work and leisure. It’s funny how the busier you are, the more you make of time. I am not sure what I will do with the extra time I have after school is over and done with. At one point before I started the program, I had inquired about various opportunities ranging from art classes (I did take a few at Fleischer), becoming a tour guide, and being a technology tutor. I never did wind up pursuing these, unsure about the amount of time I would devote. As I grow older and settle farther into a routine, I see the sum of my life differently, if the parts still seem unchanged. I want to turn this routine on its head.

I received a six-sigma greenbelt via a project management class this summer. Among other things, we had to develop control charts for various processes and learn about how to diagnose processes that were out of control.

The task was to tell a story with a message.

School has been going well for us both. I am finding the MBA program at Temple informative and valuable, although I am growing weary of group work. I am simply not used to relying on others to complete assignments, but this experience will be valuable in my career as teamwork becomes more prevalent at work. As a manager, I imagine teamwork and coordination are the most important things.

The group work itself is not difficult, it’s just the personalities, ability, and work ethic of my cohorts that sometimes bothers me. Some of my cohorts seem preoccupied with non-school activities, which is understandable, but frustrating in the context that everyone leads a busy life, and everyone has other things to do, including me. I’ve only met a few really competent people, using myself as the rubric, and I don’t want to sound conceited, but I have found the majority of my peers lacking. Whether plodding, uncommitted, distracted, myopic, selfish, average, or technologically out of touch, these students are disappointing.

Next term, Lisa and I are taking two classes together. I am confident that she will be the ideal group member, both intelligent, capable, and responsible–otherwise there will be trouble in paradise.

- Jamie