Imagine this. Your boss asks you to work with eight countries in West Africa. The assignment: to support the establishment of practices for the effective and equitable operation of microfinance lending to small and medium size business clients in the … Read the rest ...
Author Archives: Drew Davison
Uncommitted Sponsors
We know that actively engaged sponsors are a critical success factor in effective project delivery. But, most senior executives who must assume the sponsor mantle are anything but actively engaged. At least initially. I call them the uncommitted sponsors!
Senior … Read the rest ...
The Power of One
It’s easy to follow routines. But, good things often happen when someone senses an opportunity, deviates from the well-worn path and chooses to follow a new road to an uncertain but potentially brighter future, bringing others on the journey as … Read the rest ...
Make Your Boss a Star
Has your boss ever handed you an assignment you thought was downright crazy? Did you pull your hair out trying to figure out how to respond? Or, did you seek greener pastures to avoid the looming failure? If so, this … Read the rest ...
Missed Opportunities
Change is all around us, from those minor adjustments in our daily lives to world-shaping events. Excepting the whims of Mother Nature, in each change, someone is usually the catalyst, the driver. If the change affects us directly, we can … Read the rest ...
Change Management Lessons from Brexit
On June 23, 2016, the United Kingdom (UK) voted to withdraw from the European Union (EU). The referendum, called by Prime Minister David Cameron, produced a 52% to 48% win for the Leave side. Tellingly, the campaign has been dubbed … Read the rest ...
The Wonders of Wishful Thinking
Mergers and acquisitions are fraught, invariably, with peril. Wharton accounting professor Robert Holthausen, who teaches courses on M&A strategy, says that researchers estimate the range for failure is between 50% and 80%. Roger L. Martin stated in a recent Harvard … Read the rest ...
Building Resilience and Agility – A Success Story
Jim Goodnight, the Co-Founder and CEO of SAS once stated, “Ninety-five percent of my assets drive out the gate every evening. It’s my job to maintain a work environment that keeps those people coming back every morning.” That mindset has … Read the rest ...
Cultivating Culture
An article by Jay W. Lorsch and Emily McTague in the Harvard Business Review suggests that placing major emphasis on changing an organization’s culture is putting the cart before the horse. In the article, entitled Culture is Not the Culprit… Read the rest ...
The Zero Defect Project
Change invariably spawns problems. Hopefully they’re small and can be fixed quickly and inexpensively. But sometimes the problems encountered are doozies that disrupt normal, day-to-day operations. The bigger the change, the greater the risk of business disruption. So, we spend … Read the rest ...