In 1959, Frederick Herzberg published his now famous two-factor theory of motivation. It articulated two categories of activities that occurred in organizations, and which defined what compelled people to be productive. To this day, it continues to surprise organizations, managers, and scholars. The factors were named hygienic and non-hygienic. Hygienic factors were those things that […]
Talk to any transformation leader long enough, and the same story comes out. The project had a sponsor on paper. The kickoff deck named one. The steering committee charter assigned one. But somewhere between launch and landing, no one was actually steering the ship. The team made its hard calls in a vacuum, hit organizational […]
Have you ever been blindsided by a colleague’s words or actions? Or maybe been part of a team that spent more time complaining about others in the business rather than collaborating and solving the business decision at hand? If you have answered “yes” to either or both questions then you are probably not in an […]
In corporate circles, there’s a phenomenon known as the last mile. It was first identified in the telecommunications industry, and the problem went something like this: how do you get a signal to the end of the line that’s as strong as it was at the beginning? It’s a familiar issue with internet connections today. […]
In physics, Velocity is known as an object’s rate of change with respect to its location. Velocity is not the same thing as speed. Speed is very important when it comes to the time-value of money, bandwidth, profits, and costs. The problem with using speed as a measure of progress is that it only tells […]
History is a funny thing. For one reason or another, it keeps repeating itself. Despite the fact that world knowledge is accelerating – it’s doubling at the rate of about once per year – many have forgotten to put on their “thinking caps.” Mindlessly, it seems, they have embraced what has become one of the […]
The business world is a different animal than it was 20 or 30 years ago, and for the most part that’s a very good thing. Corporate social responsibility has become a buzz phrase, and many large companies are rising and falling in relation to the way that they treat both their employees and their customers. […]
As a business leader you want to start each new year off on a positive note. And, you most definitely want to keep that momentum going throughout the year. But, what do you do after those first couple of weeks when the enthusiasm has worn off and everyone seems to be back in their daily […]
Jesse Jacoby
