To tell you the truth
My Director of Technology was venting over lunch. “Why did you agree to purchase that company, John? Their backup product is a pile of crap and now we have to sell and support it. To tell you the truth, I … Continue reading
Smokestacking in the 21st century
Business-to-business salesmen in the good old days used to arrive by train in a new community and climb up the highest hill in town. They would look out and identify where the smokestacks were. Each smokestack identified a manufacturing prospect … Continue reading
Chemistry — the critical secret ingredient in the hiring process
I wondered what I did wrong in hiring Joe. We prescreened all candidates carefully. We did multiple interviews. We had everyone who would be working with Joe talk with him and make sure the fit was right. We double-checked all … Continue reading
Is incentive compensation an oxymoron?
One formal definition of compensation, one of many definitions: “Something that motivates, rouses, or encourages; A bonus or reward, often monetary” I’ve seen incentives work well for a vendor or single specific closed-end dedicated staff project such as creating a … Continue reading
Why do the rich get richer?
Have you ever wondered how the rich get richer? Consider the old saying. “The higher the risk, the higher the gain.” The type of risk I’m talking about isn’t putting on a blindfold and walking across the highway. It’s the … Continue reading
“If only they had asked me”–how sad.
We were sitting in a doctor’s brand new office. The Physician’s Assistant came in and was quite grumpy. “The examination table is placed wrong relative to the window. The sink and power plugs are all in the wrong places. And … Continue reading
How good is your employee fit and finish?
Based on how well an employee “fits” their job, they can be a platinum-level player or literally a lead-level player dragging the organization down. (For more on the Platinum-Lead model read my Strategic Downsizing article.) What makes an employee a … Continue reading
Do your employees know what they are being paid for?
Many years ago I sat down with one of my employees and asked why he hadn’t made progress on his assignment. “I haven’t had the time to work on it,” he told me. I asked him what he had been … Continue reading
Small teams + tighter communications = better productivity
For over twenty years I had a love affair with APL, the world’s most productive computer programming language. APL is elegant, concise, and powerful. When embedded in the most responsive IBM mainframe timesharing system of the era, it enabled our … Continue reading
Are we there yet? When will it be finished?
Here is a trick question. Assume someone is working on developing a program that will take 100 hours to finish. If they are able to devote two hours a week to the project, how long will it take to finish? … Continue reading