I have contemplated the issue of people in the workplace. Perhaps the most significant problem I see is people are complex, and companies do not want to deal with complex. Hence, their response is to try to turn people into processes that the company can break down and analyze on a strictly performance basis. Most studies show this does not work well, but companies go to it anyways. The reliance on AI in management is only going to aggravate the situation.

I still get production emails from XXXX company. Lately, the emails have been far less compliance-oriented and more conciliatory. This last one was more like begging the suppliers to help them comply with the new overseas regulations. I must say had they treated their suppliers better. They would not be in this position. I did tell them on a different issue of how important it is to have a partner-oriented supplier relationship and not a compliance relationship. Now the chick

One of my favorite speakers on leadership made a statement with which I am afraid I have to disagree. He stated in the context of problem-solving finite and infinite thinking that businesses could learn from the government, the concept of infinite or long-term thinking. The problem is this, on a local, state, and federal level, the government creates bureaucracies that have the power to create rules with a hammer to take your freedom to force compliance with their infinite th

Honesty is everything. Treat others as you want to be treated. Be humble in all things. The law of unintended consequences in decision making can never be forgotten. Company culture does not have to change just because the company is growing. While small to medium size companies are building, and in the process, trying to become grown-ups and bureaucratic, large companies are trying to recover their freewheeling youth and shed the bureaucracy. Strong business convictio

My son has been struggling in robotics this year. After two years of having a friend be a partner, which turned out to be not the best kind of partner to have, he decided to try to go it alone. Unfortunately, his strength is not the mechanical side of robotics but the strategy side. Yesterday he informed me that he told the robotics teacher that he was stopping work on his robot and would do what he could to help the teacher and the class. I think that his teacher dealt with

The lack of understanding of the following quote is a very real issue in today's society. Experience is not gained in a classroom. Skills yes, experience no. Take young people with skills and pair them with a leader who has the experience, and you have a winning team. Take young people and pair them with an inexperienced leader, and you have, in many cases, chaos. Thomas Watson shows in the following quote; he is an experienced leader. "Recently, I was asked if I was going to

I am listening to the Infinite Game audiobook by Simon Sinek this morning, and in the course of the book, he gets to the responsibility of the employee. This is a subject not being taught to most young people in this country and subject I think should be a mandatory class in high school. A job is a contract between a company and an individual. The company offers wages and benefits, and the individual provides their time and services in return. It is a somewhat lopsided contra

Pat was talking about three prominent local businesses closing in Manhattan. These are the keys to small business success in today's world listed in order of importance. A stroke of existing small business luck, little to no corporate competition, and skill.

I have been contemplating the issue of people in the workplace. Perhaps the most significant issue I see is people are complex, and companies do not want to deal with the complex. Hence, their response is to try and turn people into processes that the company can break down and analyze on a strict performance basis. Most studies show this does not work well, but companies go to it anyways. The reliance on AI in management is only going to aggravate the situation.