Lead from Within

JUNE 9, 2018

A bank is a place where they lend you an umbrella in fair weather and ask for it back when it begins to rain. If the only tool you have is a hammer, every problem looks like a nail. The secret of successful managing is to keep the five guys who hate you away from the four guys who haven’t made up their minds.

Succession 160

Succession How To Gilbert Learning-by-Doing 160

Harvard Business Review

MAY 15, 2012

To stay competitive, organizations need to continually find opportunities for innovation in key processes such as customer service and product development, and adoption of a new process almost always requires the implementation of new information technology. Hammer's thinking was very powerful, but I'd challenge that last point.

Process 11

Process Innovation Hammer Resistance 11

Harvard Business Review

OCTOBER 9, 2015

“Everyone who has worked with American management can testify that the need to satisfy the pension fund manager’s quest for higher earnings next quarter, together with the panicky fear of the raider, constantly pushes top managements toward decisions they know to be costly, if not suicidal, mistakes,” he wrote. .”

Hedge 8

Hedge Short-term Long-term EPS 8

Harvard Business Review

SEPTEMBER 16, 2014

So here’s the money management industry. There is probably $50 billion of money under management in impact investing at the moment — that’s not going to set the world on fire for the large investment firms. They’re beset by downward pressure on their margins. We hope it doesn’t quite get that way any time soon.

Insurance 8

Insurance Bond Hedge Bottom-up 8