Category Archives: change managment

5 Reasons why Tim Cook cannot save Apple

Posted on May 27, 2012 by lawrence serewicz

Tim Cook has received a large amount of attention for his deft handling of the post-Steven Jobs era at Apple. He has produced excellent financial results and his approach while a contrast to Jobs, presents an important continuity for the … Continue reading →

Posted in change managment, creative destruction, culture, innovation, leadership, management, path dependency, renewal | Tagged Apple, apple iphones, China, IPad, ipads, IPod, Jonathan Ive, Steve Jobs, technology, Tim Cook | Comments Off

Public resignations do these change a corporate culture?

Posted on May 5, 2012 by lawrence serewicz

You chafe under an organisational hierarchy seemingly focused on the wrong goals, or behaviour, or even potentially criminal activity, and you dream that you can change it through a bold personal act. For some, it will be a report to … Continue reading →

Posted in change, change managment, culture, leadership, learning organisation, management | Tagged DNA, Enron, Goldman Sachs, Greg Smith, HBOS, leadership, Organizational culture, Paul Moore, Whistleblower | 5 Comments

Risk cannot be conquered: Has Wall Street forgotten Machiavelli’s lessons?

Posted on March 6, 2012 by lawrence serewicz

In chapter 25 of Machiavelli’s Prince, we see the problem of fortune and the challenge it presents to a prince. In this instance, we are using fortune to refer to risk. The two are not exactly the same so one … Continue reading →

Posted in change managment, coruption, culture, management, renewal | Tagged #ows, environment, Hedge fund, hedge fund managers, Hurricane Katrina, Niccolò Machiavelli, politics, Prince, Wall Street | 3 Comments

Is the future of work an aristocratic democracy?: Leo Strauss on Managment

Posted on February 26, 2012 by lawrence serewicz

Harold Jarche has a challenging post about the future of management and the future of work at his site: Enterprise 2.0 and Social Business are Hollow Shells without Democracy. Are the future of work and the future of management inherently … Continue reading →

Posted in change, change managment, culture, knowledge worker, learning organisation, path dependency | Tagged Direct democracy, Harold Jarche, Niccolò Machiavelli, Organizational culture | 2 Comments

Using your company’s services like a customer: your chance to learn and change?

Posted on January 23, 2012 by lawrence serewicz

In a recent blog post, Dan Lee had an excellent suggestion that gets to the heart of local government improvement. On point 12 of the post, he suggested that “Use local government services like a resident would to see how … Continue reading →

Posted in change managment, culture, customer service, innovation, local government, management | Tagged Peter Drucker, Robert McNamara | 1 Comment

Do we still have typing pools?: Why culture trumps technology even social media

Posted on January 2, 2012 by lawrence serewicz

Dan Slee posted an interesting and provocative post with predictions about the future of social media in local government. http://danslee.wordpress.com/2011/12/30/epic-change-12-predictions-in-digital-in-local-government-for-2012/ I thought I would give my response and my prediction at the end. Overall, I tend to agree with him … Continue reading →

Posted in change managment, knowledge worker, learning organisation, local government, path dependency | Tagged JFDI, local government, social media, Twitter, yammer | 1 Comment

Does the fish rot from the head down? When organisations go toxic

Posted on November 21, 2011 by lawrence serewicz

An ancient phrase says that a fish rots from the head down. The phrase is known in China as well as Europe in the middle ages. http://www.phrases.org.uk/meanings/fish-rot-from-the-head-down.html What is interesting about the consistency between the meanings for the phrase is … Continue reading →

Posted in change managment, learning organisation, local government, management | Tagged Business, Enron, Government, Jeffrey Skilling, Kenneth Lay, Xenophon | 5 Comments

Freedom of Information and Transparency performance improvement tools: Case Study: Camden squatters and empty properties

Posted on November 14, 2011 by lawrence serewicz

In the press there has been some concern that the move towards transparency either in £500 spend lists or specific requests for disclosure of information, has led to increased fraud. However, I would argue that neither FOI nor the transparency … Continue reading →

Posted in change managment, customer service, information management, local government | Tagged Camden, Camden Council, Crime, Freedom of information, Information Tribunal, London, Property, Squatting | 5 Comments

The future of the Middle Manager: sense making in a social media age

Posted on October 23, 2011 by lawrence serewicz

There is a debate over the future of middle managers. (See for example Lynda Gratton’s article) http://hbr.org/2011/01/column-the-end-of-the-middle-manager/ar/1 at its heart, the question is whether middle manager still have a role. If their tasks are changed or replaced by technology, are … Continue reading →

Posted in change managment, knowledge worker, local government, management | Tagged Capgemini, Drucker, Middle management, social media, yammer | 3 Comments

The Tyranny of Time: the other side of open data

Posted on October 7, 2011 by lawrence serewicz

I came across the following reference to time within the retail sector and it made me consider how local government, or any business, thinks about time. An old saying in the retail industry is that: ‘If information is available monthly, … Continue reading →

Posted in change managment, customer service, innovation, learning organisation, local government | Tagged Government, Government of the United Kingdom, Real-time data, Research and Analysis, Twitter | Comments Off