Should I Laugh Or Cry

HOT READS FOR THE PRACTITIONER

Title: What Business Can Learn from Organized Crime

Competency: strategic thinking, entrepreneurial leadership, technological leadership, creativity, innovation

Who benefits: this thought-provoking link is for anyone who likes their thoughts provoked

Consultant Usage: may be of limited use to organizational consultants; could serve as a handout/discussion piece in certain training classes

What’s it about? Today’s post is unusually short.  My objective is to get you click on the link above (Title) and read Marc Goodman’s most interesting post comparing business practices to organized crime (The cynic in me first asks, “Is there a difference?”.) in the November 2012 issue of Harvard Business Review.

As an avid reader of police procedurals I can attest to the accuracy of the comparisons he makes.  What I am having trouble with are my feelings.  Can this post educate us?  Or just scare us? I think it is a good read just because it is out of the box and provokes thinking.

In brief, his 5 lessons are as follows:

1. Use the news to create opportunity.

2. Outsource to specialists.

3. Cash isn’t the only incentive.

4. Exploit the long tail.

5. Collaborate across borders.

Each of these points end with a specific Lesson for Management.  The lessons are indeed good tips.

With just a touch of irony I am midway through an excellent mystery (a real page turner) called The Professionals which utilizes all five of the lessons in Goodman’s essay.  I guess it is Truth in Fiction … or vice versa.

Catch you later.

Bill Bradley

Bill Bradley (mostly) retired after 35 years in organizational consulting, training and management development. During those years he worked internally with seven organizations and trained and consulted externally with more than 90 large and small businesses, government agencies, hospitals and schools.