Eddielogic

– Thoughts on Strategy and Management

Broken Windows Theory: Broken windows and graffiti give the perception that nobody cares

August 24, 2015
by Dagmar
Comments Off on The Broken Windows Theory – how not to attract the best employees

The Broken Windows Theory – how not to attract the best employees

The Broken Windows Theory originates in law enforcement. It aims at reducing crime rates. This is not the typical source of ideas for corporate management, isn’t it?
Actually, businesses can learn a lot from the successful implantation of this theory in the public sector. It can be transferred to many disciplines of management. Attracting and recruiting the best talent is one of them. Continue Reading →

Baltic Sea with the Reric pier at dawn

August 20, 2015
by Dagmar
3 Comments

The restaurant that refuses to grow

We are back from our summer vacation in Rerik, a small seaside resort at the Baltic Sea. Once again, I learned a valuable management lesson where I didn’t expect it. This year’s summer lesson is about growth.

Conventional strategic wisdom tells you that every business should strive to grow. Growth is essential. If you don’t grow, you’ll soon lack behind. During our summer vacation, we found the perfect proof for the opposite: the restaurant that refuses to grow. Continue Reading →

July 21, 2015
by Dagmar
Comments Off on Should strategists have answers or questions?

Should strategists have answers or questions?

Strategists always are some sort of consultant. They help businesses make their way into the future.

A consultant should have in-depth specialist knowledge, shouldn’t he?

So a strategist is mostly expected to provide answers to existential questions like What will our market look like in ten years? or How can I protect my customer base in the long term?

Who would expect a strategist to have more questions than answers?

I do.

The best strategist is the one who asks the most questions before he gives his first answer. Continue Reading →

Quote about companies and change

July 13, 2015
by Dagmar
Comments Off on What is your approach to strategy? Two quotes on change give direction

What is your approach to strategy? Two quotes on change give direction

Quote about companies and change

To which group do you want your business to belong?

As with many things, it is much easier to write about good strategy making than to actually do it.

Every strategist and every business needs to make up his own guiding theme that gives him direction in the wide field of strategy making. I found mine a long time ago. A professor used a quote in one of his strategy lectures during my MBA course:

Some companies make things happen.
Some companies see things happen.
Some companies wonder that things happen.

He finished with the question “To which group do you want your business to belong?”
 Continue Reading →

July 8, 2015
by Dagmar
Comments Off on Total system failure

Total system failure

Last week, I was the victim of a total system failure. I was surrounded by a perfectly well designed system that was set up to protect me from any harm and – in case something bad should happen anyway – to lessen the negative effects.

If only one element of that system – including myself – had performed as it was intended to do, nothing bad would have happened. However, sometimes the unthinkable becomes reality. I had to endure the consequences.

Here is what happened: Continue Reading →

June 30, 2015
by Dagmar
Comments Off on “Not yet decided” – a new management trend?

“Not yet decided” – a new management trend?

It seems as if I have spotted a new trend in management methods. I have observed it more and more frequently over the last couple of months. To my big surprise, other management writers did not pick up this topic on a large scale so far.

Did you ever hear about “Not yet decided”-management?
I just invented the term since there seems to be no better one around. Continue Reading →

Three mutually reinforcing problems in strategic planning

June 23, 2015
by Dagmar
1 Comment

The Bermuda Triangle of mutually reinforcing problems in strategic planning

Half of strategic planning is a craft that can be learnt. The other half consists of the working styles, experiences and personal attitudes of the key people involved. This is where the problems may start: Personal working styles and attitudes tend to be full of biases as well as of intentional and unintentional misjudgments.

Read how these can team up with typical problems in strategic planning processes in order to lead to disaster. Continue Reading →

June 17, 2015
by Dagmar
Comments Off on What is your biggest problem with corporate strategy?

What is your biggest problem with corporate strategy?

Themanager.org and the strategy blog Eddielogic.com are your regular sources of food for thought and information on strategy.

We want to become even better in meeting your needs and interests. Therefore we’d like to learn what concerns you most in the wide field of strategy – be it some aspect of the planning process, of strategy development or implementation.

With your feedback you help me to write about the things that are really relevant to you. So, write me your answer to this one single question:

What is your biggest problem with corporate strategy?

Participating is easy. Use one or more of the following channels:

  • Use the comment form below
  • Send me an email to drecklies[at]themanager.org (replace the [at] with an @)
  • Participate in our poll:

We appreciate your Input!

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Our parrot Eddie helps us to work on our profile

June 15, 2015
by Dagmar
Comments Off on Sharpening our profile

Sharpening our profile

The first step to insight is to acknowledge that you can’t do everything on your own. You can’t know everything and you can’t be good at everything. This is especially true for taking activities one step further that you hadn’t changed for a long time.

Sometimes you get stuck with what you’ve always done that way or another. This is the moment when some objective and external view can help you to move forward. This is what we did today: Continue Reading →