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Don’t Let What You Know Limit What You Imagine

One of the most perplexing features of these troubled times is that so many capable people in so many fields look so lost and ineffective. Whether it’s the stubborn inefficiencies of the health-care system, the ever-rising costs of the higher-education system, even the slow-motion collapse of the US postal system, leaders with unrivaled expertise and decades of experience can’t seem to develop creative solutions to dire problems.

Why are so many smart executives so ineffective? In my latest post for HBR, I discuss the “paradox of expertise,” the virtues of vuja dé , and all sorts of ways to find new answers to old problems. You can read the HBR piece here.

The Values Proposition: Do Small Things with Great Love

The world confronts vast uncertainty, from unrest in the social climate to accelerating shifts in the climate itself. The economy faces huge challenges, from public-debt crises in Europe to the overhang of mortgage debt in the United States. The business community faces an ongoing series of stops and starts, from the loss of an icon like Steve Jobs to the rise of new-economy giants like Amazon and Facebook.

There is a temptation, amidst the turmoil, for pundits to conclude that the only sensible response is to make bold bets—new business models that challenge the logic of an industry, products that aim to be “category killers” and obsolete the competition. But I’ve come to believe that a better way to respond to uncertainty is with small gestures that send big signals about what you care about and stand for. In a world defined by crisis, acts of generosity and reassurance take on outsized importance.

That’s why, on my HBR blog, I devote my new post to the virtues of the “values proposition”—and the power, in the words of Mother Teresa, of “doing small things with great love.” You can read the full post here.

 

Slickest Plane Ever?

Just learned about an airline called Kulula.com, sort of the Southwest of South Africa, but with an even more effervescent personality. Check out this plane. What a fun exterior!

How to Lead After a Legend

It’s tough as a new CEO to fix a troubled company suffering under a legacy of misleadership, as Meg Whitman is about to learn at Hewlett-Packard. But it’s even tougher to follow in the footsteps of an icon—a leader who didn’t just win big with the company, but changed the game in the industry.

Just ask James Parker, who took over at Southwest Airlines after the larger-than-life Herb Kelleher, and stepped down after three underwhelming years. Or ask Jeffrey Immelt, who has spent a decade as CEO of General Electric, but still can’t escape the shadow of Jack Welch, Fortune’s “Manager of the Century” for the 20th century.

So it’s fair to say that Tim Cook, Steve Jobs’s successor at Apple, is stepping into the toughest job imaginable—taking over for everyone’s choice as “Manager of the Century” for the 21st century. How should Cook lead in the footsteps of such a legend? Over the weekend, The Washington Post asked me to write about that question. You can find my answer, in the form of an essay, here.

How HP Lost the “HP Way”

Really, Hewlett-Packard? This is what’s become of the company of Bill and Dave—not just the founders of HP, but the founding fathers of Silicon Valley? Three CEOs in six years. Two of those CEOs who embarrassed themselves with pathetically inept campaigns for elective office. The other CEO who managed to get tossed out of his job by virtue of his (still largely unexplained) fascination with a B-level (and that’s grading generously) actress. Not to mention boardroom soap operas, front-page ethics scandals, and more changes of direction than a surfer in a hurricane.

It’s hard to argue with the assessment of Thomas Perkins, the legendary venture capitalist and a former HP director (who has hardly covered himself in glory during this mess), who told the New York Times back in August: “I didn’t know there was such a thing s corporate suicide, but now we know that there is. It’s just astonishing.”

Here’s my take for HBR on the “astonishing” decline of Hewlett-Packard, which has been reposted on Bloomberg BusinessWeek as well. Great debates on both sites! How would you fix HP?

Why Steve Jobs Matters to You

All sorts of commentators are asking all sorts of questions about the resignation of Steve Jobs as CEO of Apple, Inc. What does it mean for the company’s future? What does it means for the stock price? What does it mean for the computer industry, the music industry, and the media industry?

All fine questions, to which I would add one more: What does it mean for you? Or, to put it another way, when you see the outpouring of affection, respect, and admiration for this one leader, an outpouring of emotion that I can’t recall for the departure of any other businessperson or technologist, isn’t it natural to think about your own eventual departure, the legacy you’ll leave behind, the ways in which your career will be remembered?

Few of us have the chance to achieve 1/100th of what Steve Jobs has achieved. But all of us can look at his body of work, and the reaction to that body of work, and use it as an opportunity to ask more of ourselves as leaders and innovators with a chance to make a small positive difference for our industry, our customers, and our colleagues.

Here’s my latest post for Harvard Business Review.

 

 

 

The Great “Great People” Debate

My HBR posts on “Why Great People are Overrated” continue to kick up some dust. This morning, the NPR program “Here and Now” devoted a 14-minute segment to an interview with me on the battle for talent in Silicon Valley, and my reservations about what’s going on.

What a fun time– a serious topic, but lots of laughs too. You can listen to the segment here. The interview starts at the 5:30 mark.

Creative Explosion–Lessons from the Fringe

This has been an explosive summer—markets in turmoil, cities in flames, politics in meltdown. So it’s a relief to enjoy and learn from an explosion of a different sort—the explosion of creativity taking place this August in Edinburgh, Scotland, at the renowned Edinburgh Fringe Festival. The festival, a one-time icon of artistic rebellion, is now the largest arts gathering in the world. It is also an entertaining case study in the power of grassroots innovation and open-source creativity—a positive symbol of how unchecked human energy, shaped by a few simple rules, can unleash truly amazing results.

Here’s my take on how “The Fringe Beats the Mainstream,” on my HBR blog.

How Do You Know a Great Person When You See One?

In the still-raging debate over my two HBR posts about why “Great People Are Overrated,” the one (and perhaps only) question that went under-discussed might be the most important question of all: How do you know a great person when you see one? In other words, is “greatness” purely a matter of raw brainpower and technical virtuosity, or is it impossible to discuss individual talent without thinking about the team, the enterprise, and the very mission of the organization?

Here, then, is the final installment in my Great People Trilogy for HBR, designed to help you answer that question. Join the discussion!