Business Transformation Requires Transformational Leaders

Organizations, especially large and global ones, are inundated with methods for everything. There are methods, processes, standards, frameworks, guidelines, and policies that apply in development, quality, governance, project management, and architecture — at varying levels in an organization. These methods and their variances are “owned” by roles.

When you first started to talk, after "Dada," "Mama," "cat," and "dog," your parents probably taught you the importance of saying, "please" and "thank you." For most toddlers, "please" comes fairly easily. When you say "please" you're more likely to get what you want. The cause and effect is immediate. But "thank you" -- as I'll explain in this Executive Update -- is another story. "Thank you" is about goodwill -- and the future.

Do you want to lead an organization that's nimble and flexible so it thrives under conditions of change, complexity, and uncertainty? Of course you do. So first you'll want to distinguish change as a noun from change as a verb (stay with me here, you'll get value from this, I promise).

Everything in life is a game. Someone is always keeping score. We're all being measured, whether we like it or not. Gamification is a technique that business leaders need to become familiar with in order to take advantage of this fact, since it takes measurement, behavior analysis, and engagement into the business setting in ways that can enable organizations to meet their objectives.

I've been reading a lot of articles lately about investors and analysts having lost faith in social media companies, particularly Facebook. Now, I readily admit that Facebook has made mistakes -- especially its hugely stock-deflating IPO debacle.

You may not like what you are about to read. Most senior executives are steeped in a way of thinking that was already obsolete when you learned it. It’s not fair, but that’s the way it is. More on how it happened below, but first....