This article was authored by Mick Yates after a workshop as part of CCC1, with input from many participants There is a real difference between Managers and Leaders (Peter Drucker, 1954; John Kotter, 1996). Leaders need to be great Managers, but Managers are not always great Leaders. Managers are essentially a 20th century concept, as complex, non-military work organizations grew. Managers run…

This article belongs to Cécile Demailly’s blog here; a version in French is available here: Entreprise 2.0 et cerveau, quels parallèles ? . Using metaphors enriches understanding and provides insights that are not only theoretical, but also incredibly practical. Gareth Morgan, in his book “Images of Organization”, mentions the Brain as one of them, among many others. It didn’t strike me as an…

At our autumn conference held in Oxford in September, we were fortunate to be joined by Chris McKenna, University Reader in Business Strategy and History, a Fellow of Brasenose College, Oxford, and the Director of the Novak Druce Centre for Professional Service Firms at Saïd Business School. He studies the historical development and strategy of professional firms, and their role in shaping global…

On Friday afternoon at the Paris conference, we sat captivated while David Jestaz, Director of the Corporate University of Management,  told his story of change in a business unit of EDF (EDRF).  David had created an award-winning training programme to support a major culture change – the business needed to compete in a market where they had previously held a monopoly.  This needed a different…

1. An accepted need for change There must be a “need” creation process – the Leader usually understands the reason and the need for the change first, but not always. Sometimes the need is there, well identified, yet no one knows how to deal with it. It is at this point that the Leader steps in. Importantly he or she must then help create the acceptance of the need for change amongst all…