Not all problems are open to a quick fix. Sometimes waiting is your best action. Waiting doesn’t have to be passive, though. Donald Sull on recent Harvard Business Review describes ways to think about waiting as strategy, especially in volatile markets. He puts particular importance on keeping one’s options open.
Sull tells leaders to “avoid marching [...]
The balanced scorecard revolutionized conventional thinking about performance metrics. When Kaplan and Norton first introduced the concept, in 1992, companies were busy transforming themselves to compete in the world of information; their ability to exploit intangible assets was becoming more decisive than their ability to manage physical assets.
The scorecard allowed companies to track financial results [...]
Paul Saffo argues that the primary goal of forecasting is to identify the full range of possibilities facing a company, society, or the world at large.
In his article, Saffo demythologizes the forecasting process to help executives become sophisticated and participative consumers of forecasts, rather than passive absorbers. He illustrates how to use forecasts to at [...]
One thing that I have done in my early twenties is to set goals for finishing school and building a career. I sat down at 22 in college and set goals for 6 months, 1 year, 3, 5, and 10 years. Thus I had goals for career and education. I ought to look at the [...]
Lessons from Ranjay Gulati, a professor at Northwestern’s Kellog School of Management, on how to avoid complacency:
Avoid the “post-pellet” pause. Lab rats always take a break when they find that pellet of food. Recognize that once an organization achieves success, it’s only natural to want to take it easy.
Look outside the industry. Comparing yourself only [...]
Build and maintain a contact list is necessary in business networking. David Noymer (former CEO of Lehman Millet Inc.), for example, has no less than 2,100 database of CFOs, accountants, CPAs, lawyers, and other professionals at his disposal. While David Fogel, vice president of finance and treasurer at Webgen Systems Inc., has no less than [...]