Harvard Business Review

JANUARY 4, 2017

Department of State is a seriously big bureaucracy. My experience as a digital leader in the Obama administration confirmed my optimism that change can come to large bureaucracies. My first challenge was that I was a political appointee, an interloper coming into a sea of dedicated career government workers.

Bureaucracy 10

Bureaucracy Politics Technology Morale 10

Harvard Business Review

FEBRUARY 15, 2012

We are delighted to announce the winners of the Beyond Bureaucracy Challenge , the second leg of the HBR/McKinsey M-Prize for Management Innovation. We asked some big questions in our quest to bust bureaucracy: What does it mean to build an organization in which everyone is aligned and inspired by a deeply-felt sense of purpose?

Bureaucracy 11

Bureaucracy Company Agility CIO 11

Harvard Business Review

MAY 23, 2017

We set out to change how the department thought about and treated talent through the full career cycle of our uniformed and civilian personnel, from their recruitment through their training, advancement, retention, and retirement. Taking 50% of the population off the table meant losing too much potential talent.

Talent Management 9

Talent Management Learning-by-Doing Advertising Training 9

In the CEO Afterlife

MAY 30, 2012

The fact that giant companies don’t operate this way opens the door for the smaller competitor. I spent an entire career espousing the power of creativity, and the companies I touched did very well by it. Whining about the economy, budget constraints, and low-cost competition does nothing to improve a company’s well-being.

Bureaucracy 245

Bureaucracy Constraint Creativity Discount 245

Harvard Business Review

DECEMBER 8, 2016

They’d met at university, and although Derek had gone on to graduate school and a career in banking, while Rogier had joined his family construction business and then founded Contect, they’d never lost touch. The next morning, as Derek was driving to the office, he mulled over his relationship with Rogier.

Case Study 8

Case Study Decentralization CFO Construction 8

Strategy Driven

JUNE 22, 2012

Products and services assist the bureaucracy to do its job more efficiently but cannot claim credit for Big Picture success of a client’s entire industry. Doing nothing causes much more organizational damage than making mistakes while operating in good faith. Greatness is earned over an entire career. We Earn It.

Brand 50

Brand Analysis Advertising Software 50

Harvard Business Review

JUNE 7, 2016

Under the guise of acting like owners, many leaders operate as bureaucrats or, far worse, in some cases as personal-wealth maximizers. Companies with a strong founder’s mentality focus relentlessly on freeing up cash from their operations, but not so that they can hoard it or return it to creditors or shareholders.

Bureaucracy 8

Bureaucracy Short-term Budgeting Long-term 8