One of my home town baseball teams, the Chicago White Sox, was described during the 1983 season by Doug Rader, manager of the Texas Rangers, as "Winning Ugly". He was trying to dismiss the White Sox style of play which emphasized a kind of scrappiness and bull headed determination rather than consistently good hitting or pitching.



Although I am not, strictly speaking, a White Sox fan, (I live on the north side of the city) I have always appreciated the way this phrase, "winning… Continue

Communication is a central part of managing companies, of persuading markets or of leading governments. However, when people talk about communication, they often seem to be missing out on what the word actually means.



Inside organizations, when an individual or small group comes up with an idea, innovation, or plan of action, they hone it, make sure that they have worked out how best to make it work, how best to implement. Then, when the plans are all in place, they decide to… Continue

Change is really hard.



Whenever one considers changing a system – even if it’s to innovate and improve that system, there are always a number of good reasons to avoid the change altogether and keep things as they are. Is it worth the effort, the risk and the cost to change something that works now? Will the old way be missed? Will something valuable be lost if there is change? These are all legitimate and often used questions that can and occasionally should stop… Continue