January, 2014 “What they are doing is making themselves dysfunctional by taking all this data.” —William Binney, former senior NSA official talking about his previous agency I was fortunate many years ago to visit Trinity College in Dublin with my children and see The Book of Kells. My wife is a talented artist who has […]
Own it and know it By Todd Ordal As a leader, how do you know what’s going on in your organization? I believe this has always been an important question in organizational effectiveness, but is a particularly interesting question in our current environment. Harry Truman was president of the United States of America for several weeks […]
It takes some slow, deliberate thought By Todd Ordal I know a guy who comes across as one of the most articulate, brightest folks I’ve met. He seems to always know what to say and states it with aplomb. His ability to think on his feet is amazing – until you ask him about it. You […]
Bigger isn’t always better By Todd Ordal Which of the below sound like good business advice? You should: • Maximize profits. • Minimize expenses. • Minimize conflict. • Maximize customer service. • Maximize market share. In some cases and to some degree, these statements are true. However, they can also be extremely problematic. Maximize profits over […]
Sometimes, you just need to show up By Todd Ordal Perhaps you saw Peter Sellers’ last movie, Being There (out in 1979, just this side of the Jurassic period). In it, a simple-minded gardener named Chance ends up being seen as a guru of sorts. By merely “being there,” he influences the rich and powerful with his simple […]
But why would you want to? By Todd Ordal How to Work with Anyone: That was the title of a blog post I saw recently. I didn’t read it. What a dumb objective! Why would you want to work with “anyone” when you have choices? This isn’t North Korea! Let’s get a few exceptions out of […]
August, 2013 I’m a sucker for spy/crime/detective novels. The coolest thing is finding an author you love who has written a series of these. Many years ago, it was Robert Ludlum. In the past year, my favorite series have been by Michael Connelly (the Harry Bosch series) and Dennis Lehane (the Kenzie and Gennaro series). […]
Know the difference between bad luck and poor performance By Todd Ordal “If y’all just go out there and execute, everything will be fine!” my CEO said to me many years ago, after I pointed out that our business model was losing relevance. The fact that he was a big-hat, no-cattle kind of leader was apparent […]
Well, maybe some of you have By Todd Ordal This guy never made the cover of The Wall Street Journal and had few financial resources, little to no technology and many hurdles. Yet he ignited a huge growth spurt and united a disparate organization into an empire. He built infrastructure to facilitate more efficient distribution, developed a complex […]
You don’t need to be a super hero to survive and thrive By Todd Ordal “Obamacare will kill us!” said my client, the co-owner of a labor-intensive business. “We might have to shut the doors.” Although this particular company had some significant hurdles, my client’s partner and the executive team luckily weren’t ready to throw in […]