“Tenant farmers don’t pick up rocks.” Just as tenant farmers, who have short-term leases on the land they cultivate, lack the incentive to invest in long-term improvements like clearing the fields of rocks, some leaders with increasingly short tenures hesitate to make crucial investments in the future of their organisations. Rather than focus on initiatives that require time and resources to bear fruit, they often shutter them, earn a bonus on their efforts, and are out the gate before the lack of seedcorn becomes apparent. Consequently, the organisation becomes stuck in a cycle of short-term gains, missing out on the long-term benefits that arise from seedcorn investments and productivity programmes akin to picking up rocks.
Posted 3 weeks ago Tagged Aidan McCullen Aidan McCullen Innovation Blogs on Innovation Business Derek Van Bever Derek van Bever Stall Points Disruption Entrepreneurship Innovation Leadership Levi Strauss Strategy Failure Stall Points Strategy Technology The Seneca Effect The Seneca Effect in Business Transformation
The Seneca Effect, also known as the Seneca Cliff or Seneca Collapse, is a concept named after the ancient Roman philosopher Lucius Annaeus Seneca. The effect is based on Seneca’s quote, “Fortune is of sluggish growth, but ruin is rapid.” He observed that many things in nature, including human affairs, systems and civilisations, tend to decline much more rapidly than they ascend.
Posted 1 month ago Tagged Aidan McCullen Broken Window Syndrome Business Corporate Culture Disruption Entrepreneurship Innovation Leadership Strategy The Black Walnut Effect The Black Walnut Effect Broken Window Syndrome Toxic Colleagues Toxic Employee Transformation
If you neglect to remove the black walnut, you will see a gradual departure of the surrounding species to healthier pastures, with the younger saplings leading the way. In conclusion, just as removing a black walnut tree from an environment restores balance and promotes healthy growth, it’s essential to address toxic employees in the workplace to maintain a positive and productive work environment. It is essential to repair the broken windows.
Posted 1 month ago Tagged "chameleonic" culture Aidan McCullen Business Corporate Culture Disruption Innovation Leadership Strategy Transformation
When an organisation recalibrates to adopt a radically new strategy, most leaders focus on the changes in processes, practices and procedures. These are the mechanics of business, the easiest to measure and easier to implement. Successful change efforts engage both the mechanics and humanics of change. The humanics involves the community, collaboration and culture. In a world of constant change, organisations must adopt a “chameleonic” culture, one that is capable of rapid change in line with strategic change.
Posted 1 month ago Tagged \Cypress TJ Rodgers Aidan McCullen Charles O'Reilly Corporate Culture Innovation Leadership Michael Tushman Strategy
We are joined by the former CEO of Cypress Semiconductor, TJ Rodgers and his friend and author of Lead and Disrupt, Charles O’Reilly III
Posted 2 months ago Tagged Aidan McCullen Business Corporate Culture Disruption Entrepreneurship Leadership Strategic Hail Mary Pass Strategy Transformation
Businesses throw Hail Marys when encountering a crisis, such as declining sales or disruptive innovation, or technology suddenly upends their business plan. Equally, leaders throw Hail Marys to meet analyst expectations when they have been coasting in the game for a long time. In sports, there is a thin line between arrogance and confidence, and business organisations often fall into the success trap.
Posted 2 months ago Tagged Aidan McCullen Business Corporate Culture Deinosuchus Disruption Leadership Rightsizing Strategy Transformation
Leaders must rightsize the organisation for their current reality when confronting change, a difficult task, as Kodak discovered.
Posted 2 months ago Tagged Aidan McCullen Business Clayton Christensen Disruption Innovation Leadership Strategy Transformation
History is replete with examples where bankrupt organisations had all the ingredients they needed to endure, but their perspective biased their evaluation. In many cases, engineers at established firms had invented the same technology that led to their firm’s demise. However, the entrants led the commercialisation of disruptive technologies rather than incumbents because of the relativity problem.
Posted 3 months ago Tagged Aidan McCullen Corporate Culture Disruption Entrepreneurship Innovation Leadership Strategy Technology Transformation
Clayton Christensen mentored Bob Moesta, and they became fast friends. Bob was one of the principal architects of the Jobs To Be Done theory. He expands on the theory and shares his respect for his friend Clay.
Posted 3 months ago Tagged Aidan McCullen Business Corporate Culture Innovation Leadership Sports Academies are like Innovation and Incubation Labs Strategy Transformation
Sports Academies are like Innovation and Incubation Labs