In this episode, I talk with Dr. Fred Spier, a retired senior lecturer in big history at the University of Amsterdam, The Netherlands. We discuss his recent book,  How the Biosphere Works (2022). Fred was previously on the podcast back in episode 113 , titled The Future of Humanity. Listeners may also recall that the … Continue reading 132 – The organization of the biosphere →

In this episode, I am joined by Lindsey Agness, CEO of The Change Corporation (UK). We discuss her book, Change Your Business with NLP. Connect with Lindsey at TheChangeCorporation.com Email: Lindsey@thechangecorporation.com Charles G. Chandler, Ph.D. — Host of The Age of Organizational Effectiveness podcast Reference: Agness, Lindsey. Change Your Business with NLP: Tools to improve … Continue reading 131 — Change your organization →

Gary Hamel (formerly of the London Business School) has characterized management as the technology of human accomplishment. Management came into its own in the late 1800s and early 1900s, as the USA entered the new century. Among the traditional long-standing factors of production (land, labor, and capital) in the British tradition, management became the fourth, … Continue reading 128 – Validity in management →

You may have heard the term ‘Big History’. It comes from historian David Christian, at Macquarie University in Sydney, Australia. He has a TED talk describing what his team has been up to with Big History, a project that has received some funding from the Gates Foundation. Big History is the story of how life … Continue reading 127 – Organizations in ‘Big History’ →

Given the significant pressures on firms in the real world, what do we know about the traits, characteristics, or management approaches that help ensure that a firm can and will survive within its environment? Some might think this is a difficult, if not an impossible task, given all of the variables at play. Nonetheless, we … Continue reading 126 – Predicting firm survival →

In this episode, I am joined by Glenda Eoyang, who along with her coauthor (Royce Holladay), wrote the book, Adaptive Action: Leveraging uncertainty in your organization. Glenda is the founding director of the Human Systems Dynamics Institute. We discuss her book and her approach to organizational uncertainty. You can connect with Glenda at the HSDI … Continue reading 122 – Adaptive action →

Today I am joined by author Lisa Earle McLeod who has written two books in the last few years on ‘noble purpose.’ Much of her early career was spent in the sales department of a large firm, but in 2001 Lisa started her own company, McLeod & More. In this episode, we discuss the key … Continue reading 111 – Noble purpose →

In this episode, I interview Professor Luca Solari of the University of Milan (Italy) who has written a book, Freedom Management: How leaders can stay afloat in a sea of social connections. The book focuses on how organizations can give their employees more freedom at work in order to engage their knowledge and creativity. Reference:Solari, Luca. … Continue reading 110 – Freedom management (encore) →

Today I am joined by a philosopher. Jean-Philippe Deranty is a Professor of Philosophy at Macquarie University in Sydney, Australia. His research focuses mainly on social issues, particularly those related to work and employment. In this episode, we discuss philosophy in the context of organizations and their management. One of Jean-Philippe’s papers (“The Organization of … Continue reading 109 – A philosophy of organizations →

In this episode, I am joined by Marek Zmyslowski, author of the book, Chasing Black Unicorns: How Building the Amazon of Africa Put Me on Interpol's Most Wanted List (2019). Marek is a Polish-born entrepreneur and executive, focused on online businesses in frontier and emerging markets.

In this episode, I am joined by David Veech, author of the book, Leadersights: Creating Great Leaders Who Create Great Workplaces (2017). David teaches leaders how to love, learn, and let go. He thinks that work should be fun, exciting, and challenging, but most of all, it should be meaningful. We discuss how great leaders create … Continue reading 107 – Great leaders create great workplaces →

Today I am joined by Martin Leifeld, author of the book, Five Minutes for Fundraising. Martin directed the raising of over $500 million dollars during his 24 years of fundraising leadership in the St. Louis region. Martin’s book is a collection of expert advice from gifted fundraisers. Visit Martin’s website for videos, free downloads, and … Continue reading 105 – Fundraising for nonprofits →

In this episode, I welcome a guest author from the UK to the podcast. Paul Skinner is the author of Collaborative Advantage: How collaboration beats competition as a strategy for success. Paul believes that collaboration is a worthwhile stance because most value is necessarily created by the customer (and other stakeholders), and co-creation of value … Continue reading 103 – Adopting a collaborative stance →

Today’s episode is called “Managing the Next 10,000 years.” That could be a tall order, since managing the next 10 years will be challenging due to expected global climate disruptions, but stay with me and you may be intrigued. Civilization began the last 10,000 years in its pre-history phase, as humans, living in small bands, … Continue reading 102 – Managing the next 10,000 years →

Bureaucracy was an innovation in the mid-1800s, as the world changed from a traditional society to one driven by a new sense of rational-legalism, largely driven by the Protestant ethic. Max Weber, a German sociologist, described the times in his book, The Protestant Ethic and the Spirit of Capitalism (1904, in German; 1930, English translation). … Continue reading 101 – When bureaucracy was an innovation →

Today the podcast has reached a milestone, at episode 100. Starting back in February 2016, it has taken a little over 3.5 years to get to this point. I hope you have been one of those who have come along on the journey. I am calling today’s episode, “Your mission, vision, values, and offerings … … Continue reading 100 – Your mission, vision, values, and offerings … in 10 minutes →

This month, August 2019, the Business Roundtable issued a new overall statement of purpose for a corporation, signed by the CEOs of almost 200 of the largest US corporations. This is a big deal because the previous 1997 statement from this same group had created a major problem by elevating shareholder value as the prime … Continue reading 098 – The Purpose of a Corporation →

In this episode, I am joined by Dolores Hirschmann as we discuss the IDEA method for finding clarity in business. Dolores is a STRATEGIST, COACH, and BUSINESS OWNER. Her focus is on helping clients find their ‘core idea’ on which to base their business (or any other initiative). Her clients have become speakers and authors … Continue reading 097 – Finding clarity in business →

This episode continues our occasional series in which we visit a business to try to understand how it works. Today, our guide will be Mandy Barton who is President of Barton Logistics. Mandy shares an interesting story which serves as a window into the movement of freight by truck, rail, and air in the USA. … Continue reading 096 – The freight market →

In this episode, I talk about the need to reinvent management and suggest a way forward to achieve it. I like to think of management as a technology that makes all other technologies productive (if done right). Yet, today’s dominant approach to management (command & control) relies upon an outdated input-output model (developed during the … Continue reading 095 – Reinventing management →

In this episode, I interview Isaac Tolpin, who is a serial entrepreneur and CEO of ConveYour.com, a micro-learning platform. We cover several topics related to the role of training in organizations. Isaac is a knowledgeable observer in the sector and provides an interesting perspective on several training issues. Charles G. Chandler, Ph.D. Links: 1. http://www.ConveYour.com 2. … Continue reading 094 – The role of training in organizations →

In this episode, I join Kendall Lott, host of the PM Point of View podcast, which originates from the Washington, D.C. chapter of the Project Management Institute.  Kendall invited me to come on his podcast to explain the new management model found in my 2017 book (Become Truly Great: Serve the common good through Management … Continue reading 093 – Management by Positive Organizational Effectiveness →

Gary Hamel (London Business School) characterizes management as the technology of human accomplishment. It came into its own in the late 1800s and early 1900s, as the USA entered the new century. Among the traditional long-standing factors of production (land, labor, and capital) in the British tradition, management became the fourth, the one that helped … Continue reading 091 – Measurement, meaning, and validity in management →

Given the significant pressures on firms in the real world, what do we know about the traits, characteristics, or management approaches that help ensure that a firm can and will survive within its environment? Some might think this is a difficult, if not an impossible task, given all of the variables at play. Nonetheless, we … Continue reading 089 – The Keys to Firm Survival →

For most of the history of management (beginning in the mid-1800s), organizations included command and control structures and top-down information flow. Managers were viewed as the boss, the big cheese, the man, or master within a hierarchical system of control. This is an authoritarian model of organization, where management drives the organization as a machine, … Continue reading 088 – Management as servant, not master →

Anthropologists tell us that anatomically modern humans (i.e., Homo Sapiens) emerged about 300 thousand years ago during the Pleistocene era on the African savannas. For over 95% of their history (until the present day), modern humans have been exclusively hunter/gathers, that is, they explored the bounty of nature in small bands, adapting their behavior as … Continue reading 087 – Back to the Pleistocene →

Worker productivity is the output of goods and services per hour worked. In the broad terms of an industry, productivity is the gross output of industry sales divided by the number of workers allocated to produce the output. After World War II, worker productivity in the USA improved significantly due to the investments made by … Continue reading 086 – Why does worker productivity remain low? →

Peter Drucker predicted in his 1959 book, The Landmarks of Tomorrow, that the most valuable assets of a 21st Century institution (business or non-business) would be knowledge workers and their productivity. In this episode, I explore this idea, and how it has played out (since we are almost 60 years downstream from Drucker’s prediction). Not … Continue reading 085 – We are all knowledge workers now →

If we need fresh evidence that management is broken, we only have to look at the 2017 numbers on worker engagement from Gallup. Only 21% of employees strongly agree that they are managed in a way that motivates them to do outstanding work. Overall, 33% of US workers report that they are actively engaged with … Continue reading 084 – Three reasons management is broken (but can be fixed) →

In this episode, I interview David Childs, Ph.D., who is the author of The Organization Whisperer: The 12 Core Actions that Ripple Excellence through your Organization. Join us as we explore key areas of focus for any organization. The twelve core actions described in the book are: Communication; Worth; Purpose; Family; Decisions; Plan; Do; Measure; Processes; … Continue reading 083 – The Organization Whisperer →

In this episode, we visit with Matt Miller, founder of School Spirit Vending. Matt heads a business enterprise that uses a franchise model to serve a unique niche at the intersection of vending & school spirit — helping to raise extra funds for elementary schools. Charles G. Chandler, Ph.D. Links mention in this episode: School Spirit Vending Vending Secrets for Passive Income (course)

In this episode, I explore three ideas about effective entrepreneurship: the most effective entrepreneurs create a platform for others to build upon and benefit from, one that users can interact with on a continuing basis (e.g., Apple’s iPhone, Leggos, Skype) ; effective entrepreneurs understand the game they are playing (i.e., what constitutes visible progress and … Continue reading 081 – Effective entrepreneurship →

Consider how an upbeat story about a business (Shake Shack) was distorted on social media, eliciting some negative responses in which people question the underlying motivation of management. There seems to be a dominant, and rather negative narrative that plays in the back of people’s minds about capitalism, providing a context in which to interpret daily events. Clearly, capitalism is not working for everyone.  … Continue reading 080 – Adventures in Capitalism →

It is said that the fox knows many things, but the hedgehog knows one big thing. Whether generalist or specialist, an organization needs to claim a niche and serve it so well that the competition is irrelevant. In doing so, an organization can carve out a continuing role in its ecosystem. This episode explores (among other things) how Marriott, Hyatt, Hilton and … Continue reading 079 – Claim a niche and serve it →

In this episode, I tell three stories which illustrate the power that this form of expression can have. Stories knit threads together, shape how we see things, and derive power from the outcomes that they describe. If you are going to change the world, it helps to first illustrate how to change a small part … Continue reading 078 – The Power of Story →

Today I want to focus on a transition happening in the technology services industry driven by some macro trends. This issue appeared on my radar screen while I was looking into the business models used by technology services firms such as IBM, Cisco, and SAP. It is the emerging phenomena that some have called the … Continue reading 077 – The outcome economy in technology services →

In this episode, I welcome back Ms. Lee Caraher, CEO of Double-Forte, a public relations and marketing services firm with offices in San Francisco, New York, and Boston. Lee was first on the podcast in June 2016 (episode 021) to talk about her first book (Millennials and Management). She has written a second book entitled, … Continue reading 076 – The Boomerang Principle (encore) →

In his 1999 book, Management Challenges for the 21st Century, Peter Drucker explored the assumptions that pertain to the study of management. They are important, he wrote, because they “largely determine what the discipline assumes to be REALITY.” Now, almost 20 years after Drucker wrote these words, it is worthwhile to consider how well the … Continue reading 075 – The new assumptions of management →

There are three reasons why an organization needs to be intentional about being virtuous. The first is that positive values, virtues, and attributes amplify the demand-side responses to the organization. We all want to interact with virtuous organizations. Virtuousness, if it is fully enacted and can be relied upon by customers as part of an … Continue reading 074 – Being intentional about being virtuous →

In this episode, I welcome Jeff McManus to the podcast, who is the Director of Landscape Services for the University of Mississippi (Ole Miss). Jeff has a new book titled Growing Weeders into Leaders: Leadership Lessons from the Ground Level, and we explore what it takes to create and maintain a pleasing environment on a … Continue reading 073 – Growing Weeders into Leaders →

In this episode, I interview Professor Luca Solari of the University of Milan (Italy) who has written a new book, Freedom Management: How leaders can stay afloat in a sea of social connections. The book focuses on how organizations can give their employees more freedom at work in order to engage their knowledge and creativity on a … Continue reading 072 – Engaging workers on a deeper level (encore) →

You may have heard of a BHAG, which stands for Big Hairy Audacious Goal. It is the idea that for an organization to excel at what it does, it needs to work toward a big long-term goal that takes a decade or more to achieve. This is not just a stretch goal, but an audacious … Continue reading 071 – Does an organization need a big goal? →

In this episode, I discuss the surprising idea that the goal of every organization is the same. Join me as I explain how this finding is part of a new way to think about management, called Management by Positive Organizational Effectiveness. Charles G. Chandler, Ph.D. cchandler@AssumptionAnalysis.com

In this episode, I am joined by author John Rossman as we talk about The Amazon Way, a book he wrote on his experience as an Amazon executive. Tune in to explore some of the 14 principles that are part of the Amazon Way. Offers: To take advantage of the free offers that John mentioned … Continue reading 069 – The Amazon Way →

In the spring of 1804, explorers Lewis & Clark and their party, began an assent of the Missouri River from St Louis in search of an overland passage to the Pacific Coast. They were on a mission of discovery at the request of President Thomas Jefferson, who had added a vast tract of land to … Continue reading 068 – Simplicity on the far side of complexity →

If you have listened to this podcast for a while you will know that the philosophy I advocate to lead your organization is called Management by Positive Organizational Effectiveness (M+OE). It is outlined in my recent book, Become Truly Great. The approach has three phases: 1) Be Virtuous, 2) Discover Effectiveness, and 3) Become Truly … Continue reading 067 – ‘Greatness’ does not arise from negative values →

You may have heard the term ‘Big History’. It comes from historian David Christian, at Macquarie University in Sydney, Australia. He has a TED talk describing what his team has been up to with Big History, a project that has received some funding from the Gates Foundation. Big History is the story of how life … Continue reading 066 – ‘Big History’ and its extension →

A technology is the application of scientific knowledge for practical purposes. When it comes to management technologies that can be used to guide the overall performance of an organization, new ones appear very rarely. One was introduced in 1911 by an American engineer, Frederick Winslow Taylor. Taylor’s technology (often called ‘Taylorism’) attempted to improve the … Continue reading 065 – The new management technology that every organization needs →

This episode is part of a discussion of organizations as complex adaptive systems. Organizational narratives can serve as attractors to align behavior within an organization to its broader goals and objectives, thus providing a tool to help shape an organization’s cognition and action(s) as the future flows toward it. Narratives can also serve as attractors … Continue reading 064 – Narratives as attractors (within CAS) encore →

In this episode, I interview Karim Bishay, the principal consultant at Living Orgs., based in Oakland, California. We discuss the organizational governance technology termed holacracy, where decision making is vested in self-organizing teams (structured around work roles) rather than a rigidly-dictated management hierarchy. As to the question of whether holacracy can replace bureaucracy, the quick … Continue reading 063 – Can Holacracy replace Bureaucracy? →

In this episode, I continue the discussion on programming the organization that was begun last week. This week’s episode focuses on programming under uncertainty, illustrating techniques such as searching for positive deviance, embedding an agent within a complex system, and co-creating a solution with the stakeholders. Charles G. Chandler, Ph.D. cchandler@AssumptionAnalysis.com References: 1. TED talk … Continue reading 062 – Programming the work (Part II) encore →

In this episode, I explore the question of how a system of management programs an organization, including the tasks of its manual workers and knowledge workers. A few examples are given to illustrate the points. Charles G. Chandler, Ph.D. cchandler@AssumptionAnalysis.com Reference: 1. Taylor, F.W. 1911. The Principles of Scientific Management. Dover Publications: Mineola, NY (1998 edition). … Continue reading 061 – Programming the work (Part I) encore →

Let’s talk about the value of virtuous values. The first phase in our approach to Management by Positive Organizational Effectiveness is “Be Virtuous”. It is all well and good to have virtuous values, but can an organization take its values to the bank? The quick answer is “yes”, and I explain how in today’s episode. … Continue reading 060 – Taking an organization’s values to the bank (encore) →

In this episode, I welcome Dr. Linda Holbeche to the podcast. Linda is the author of several books, but her most recent one is entitled Influencing Organizational Effectiveness: A Critical Take on the HR Contribution. The book offers a historical narrative on the changing landscape of work since the 1980s and considers how definitions of organizational effectiveness have … Continue reading 059 – A critical take on the contribution of HR →

In this episode, I welcome back Ms. Lee Caraher, CEO of Double-Forte, a public relations and marketing services firm with offices in San Francisco, New York, and Boston. Lee was first on the podcast in June 2016 (episode 021) to talk about her first book (Millennials and Management). She has now written a second book … Continue reading 058 – Creating Lifetime Employee Loyalty →

You have probably heard of purpose-driven organizations. In this podcast, I discuss the lineage of this idea. I will also explain a possible next step in this evolution, that is, the effectiveness-driven organization. Tune in to find out how it is different. Charles G. Chandler, Ph.D. cchandler@AssumptionAnalysis.com References: 1. Hakimi S. 2015. “Why Purpose-Driven Companies … Continue reading 057 – The Purpose-Driven Organization (encore) →

One of the recurring themes I see expressed from time to time in the media is humanity’s fascination, mixed with fear, that a humanoid robot equipped with artificial intelligence could be created, and that it’s kind would one day take over the world, perhaps subjugating humans in the process. This scenario is termed the “AI … Continue reading 056 – The Intentions of Our Robotic Overlords (rerun) →

In this episode, I discuss a finding from my recent book (Become Truly Great). It is the surprising idea that the goal of every organization is the same. Join me as I explain how this finding is part of a new way to think about management. Charles G. Chandler, Ph.D. cchandler@AssumptionAnalysis.com

In this episode, I interview Jannice Moore, President of The Governance Coach, a consulting firm that specializes in coaching boards. Over the last 22 years, The Governance Coach team of consultants has assisted over 500 boards to improve their governance, with particular attention to the clarity of roles between board and CEO. Website for Reference: … Continue reading 054 – Best practice for Boards (rerun) →

In this episode, I celebrate the one year anniversary of the podcast (which started on February 4, 2016, with episode 001) by looking back over the last year. Much of the year’s activity has culminated in a new book, Become Truly Great: Serve the Common Good through Management by Positive Organizational Effectiveness. This episode describes … Continue reading 053 – Serving the Common Good →

This week’s episode deals with complex adaptive systems, which are found both in nature and in organizational settings (among other places)… With storm clouds overhead, I stand along a dry creek bank in Texas. As the rain starts, very soon there is a small trickle of water, it grows larger, and in time becomes a … Continue reading 052 – Organizations as Complex Adaptive Systems →

In this episode I interview Mr. Jeryl Hoover, Executive Director of the Pioneer Museum in Fredericksburg, Texas. The museum is located in the City of Fredericksburg on a 3 acre campus near downtown and tells the story of German immigrants that founded the city. Website for further information: Pioneer Museum: http://pioneermuseum.net/ Charles G. Chandler, Ph.D. … Continue reading 051 – Managing a historical museum (rerun) →

In this episode, I consider whether a paradigm shift is underway in management thought. The original inspiration for this question came from a couple of articles that Steve Denning wrote in Forbes, during the period 2011-2012. The traditional management model has roots in Taylorism (1911).  I discuss the differences between traditional management (based on Taylorism, the … Continue reading 050 – Is management thought undergoing a paradigm shift? (rerun) →

In this episode, I take a look at the idea of “shared value”, introduced by Michael Porter and Mark Kramer in 2011, and consider whether it has lived up to its original promise, that is, to reinvent capitalism. Charles G. Chandler, Ph.D. cchandler@AssumptionAnalysis.com References: 1. Porter M. & Kramer M. 2011. “Creating Shared Value”. Harvard … Continue reading 049 Using ‘shared value’ to reinvent capitalism (rerun) →

This was our first episode on non-profit organizations (and #003 in our podcast series).  It was originally broadcast in February 2016). In this episode, I interview Mr. David Howard, Executive Director of the Hill Country Arts Foundation (HCAF) in Ingram, Texas. HCAF is a center for the visual and performing arts founded in 1959 on 14 … Continue reading 048 – Management of Visual and Performing Arts (rerun) →

In this episode I visit the City of Kerrville (Texas) to discuss the management of water and sewer services with Ms. Kristine Day (Deputy City Manager) and Mr. Stuart Barron (Director of Public Works). Website for further information: City of Kerrville: http://kerrvilletx.gov/index.aspx?NID=80 Charles G. Chandler, Ph.D. cchandler@AssumptionAnalysis.com

In this episode, I interview Ms. Laura Bechtel, Library Director at the Butt-Holdsworth Memorial Library (Kerrville, Texas) to discuss the concept of excellence in library management, and what it means to be an effective library. Charles G. Chandler, Ph.D. cchandler@AssumptionAnalysis.com Website for reference: Butt-Holdsworth Library

In this episode, I interview Professor Luca Solari of the University of Milan (Italy) who has written a new book, Freedom Management: How leaders can stay afloat in a sea of social connections. The book focuses on how organizations can give their employees more freedom at work in order to engage their knowledge and creativity. Luca’s blog … Continue reading 045 Freedom Management →

In this episode I discuss how the visible hand of management (described by Alfred D. Chandler, Jr.) replaced the invisible hand of the free market (first mentioned by Adam Smith), so that our economy can now be characterized as one dominated by managerial capitalism rather than free market capitalism. This has implications for how managers … Continue reading 044 The visible hand of management (rerun) →

In this episode I interview Dr. Michael Grillo, Director of Institutional Effectiveness and Assistant Professor of Political Science at Schreiner University (Kerrville, Texas). We explore institutional effectiveness within the context of a university. Charles G. Chandler, Ph.D. cchandler@AssumptionAnalysis.com Websites: University Website: Schreiner University Office of Institutional Effectiveness: Student Outcomes Accreditation agency: SACS/COC