March Management Journey Carnival

Originally published March 2012.

Welcome to the March edition of the Management Journey Carnival! Topics for this month’s Management Journey Blog Carnival include communication, marketing, employee engagement, product development, innovation, ethics, workplace diversity, talent management, conflict resolution, social networks, and other related topics. This carnival presents top posts from thought leaders around the web. Let’s get started!
An Oldie But Goodie

Every manager has customers whether they are internal or external. Someone receives her unit’s products or services. This month’s classic post comes from Ronald Brown of Mashable and it describes a creative approach for product development. In this infographic post, Product Development: 9 Steps for Creative Problem Solving, Ronald shows the power of seeing patterns and connecting dots.

man typing on a laptop

Articles

Featured Articles

Today, managers need to be able to lead change and innovation efforts. The challenge for many managers, particularly middle managers, is the fact that they do not have the authority to make these efforts happen. In his post, How to Innovate When You’re Not the Big Boss, John Beeson of Big Think shows how every manager—regardless of their organizational title and decision making authority—can become an innovator.

Email: you cannot live with it and you cannot live without it! Some companies are taking drastic measures to deal with this productivity drain—including getting rid of internal email altogether. In her post, Stop Email Overload, Amy Gallo of Harvard Business Review advocates less extreme containment measures worthy of consideration.

OK, it is almost April and some managers’ 2012 goals are suffering a bit! Their intentions were right. They just faced a few challenges. In her post, How to Stay On Track for Your Goals, Ali Luke of Pick the Brain provides practical strategies for getting 2012 planning back on course.

There’s a continuing debate in management and leadership circles about the value of managers ignoring their weaknesses and focusing more on their strengths. This strengths-only focus generates some strong pro and con opinions about the value of this approach—and I have a few of my own thoughts. From my blog, Management is a Journey, I offer Ignore Your Weaknesses and Focus on Your Strengths!

Organizational improvement nightmares! You’ve probably seen them. They are communicated from on-high and then pushed through the organization with insufficient analysis and planning. Eventually, they are disbanded after leaving a trail of resentment and dysfunction. Megan McArdle of The Atlantic provides a real-world case study in ‘Just Be More Productive!’: The Trouble With Coaching for Success.

University professors, managers, human resource professionals, and others will be talking about Greg Smith and his resignation letter to Goldman Sachs for years to come. In his post, Fixing the ‘Goldman Sachs’ Problem, Jeffrey Pfeffer of Business Week raises the question whether the issues raised in Greg’s letter are a symptom of a larger problem afflicting business and management education.

Business leaders and managers are under increasing scrutiny for the long term impact and ethical considerations of their decisions. Further, the public continues to evaluate how organizations behave in their interactions with customers and society. In her post, Precautionary Principle: Profiting with Care, Linda Fisher Thornton of Leading in Context provides a strategy for corporations to lead ethically

ribbon award winner editor pick

Editor’s Pick

Editor’s Pick

The March Editor’s Pick comes from Leigh Steere of the Lead Change Group.  In her thoughtful article, 5 Uncomfortable Observations About Workforce Diversity, Leigh makes a powerful indictment of our human weakness of judging a book by its cover. With thoughtful commentary and two video examples of Susan Boyle and Paul Potts from the popular talent show, Britain’s Got Talent, Leigh shows how quickly we make quick and dismissive judgments of people based on their appearance.

I cannot say it better than Leigh herself so I won’t try. Here’s Leigh in her own words:

Leaders and organizations say they prize diversity. But actions speak louder than words. In reality, I think we respect diversity only after a “different” person proves him/herself. . . . If you write off people based on first impressions, you risk missing out on some powerful voices that can take your business to the next level.

Leigh’s article speaks powerfully at many levels!

This concludes the March 2012 edition of the Management Journey Carnival.

Robert

Written by Robert Tanner | Copyrighted Material | All Rights Reserved Worldwide

This article is accurate to the best of the author’s knowledge.
Content is for informational or educational purposes only and does not substitute for professional advice in business, management, legal, or human resource matters.

Robert Tanner, MBA

Welcome to my leadership blog. I'm the Founder & Principal Consultant of Business Consulting Solutions LLC, a certified practitioner of psychometric assessments, and a former Adjunct Professor of Management. As a leadership professional, I bring 20+ years of real world experience at all levels of management.

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