Category: Cross Culture

Tomorrow’s Culture–Today!

When asked when something is needed, how many of us have heard or even said, “I need it yesterday?” Our world is turning  faster all the time.  The now quaint old phrase, “Internet is like dog years.  One human year is equal to seven Internet years” now seems like slow motion.  Change is all around us

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Teaming Realities

Why are Diversity, Equity and Inclusion (DEI) initiatives failing? In previous blogs, we have addressed the challenges of turning organizational initiatives into culture.  Moreover, we discussed DEI and the shortcomings of those institutional efforts as well as broached the construct of Teams incorporating DEI. In this edition, we will expand on those subjects and develop

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Are Your DEI Wheels Spinning?

Originally published as a LinkedIn article on July 6, 2021, this updated version is reprinted here with the permission of the author.  Links to relevant sources are added. Lately, many LinkedIn posts bemoan the state of Diversity, Equity, Inclusion (DEI) initiatives. The seeming slow take up of great ideas. Some argue that DEI initiatives are no

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Roadmap to Decision Making In the ‘Smart’ Era

“Nothing is more difficult, and therefore more precious, than to be able to decide.” — Napoleon Bonaparte Volumes have been written on decision-making and this pundit has offered his share of insight and comment on the subject as well.  Some of our comments regard the appropriateness of the human intercession in electronic decision making.  Others

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ESG Implementation–Strong v Weak Revisited

“A healthy corporation acts on the interests of its stakeholders and customers” — Ari Melber, Journalist Currently, organizations are being implored to implement Environmental, Social, and Governance (ESG) driven business models.   Proponents even suggest that investment in organizations that do not have this imprimatur should be avoided or even divested. However, one wonders what has

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Complicity or Write a Book?

I Need a Book Deal!   With the change of the US federal administration, previous key individuals are now coming out and writing books regarding their former boss.  This all the while with plenty of video evidence where these individuals pontificated a position and even changed their position dramatically while in the employ and in

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Teaming Safely

“For safety is not a gadget but a state of mind”   Second only to the basic need for food, water and what is required to sustain physical life, safety and security are the next step in Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs.  In other words one cannot love or feel belonging or achieve a level of

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Is Your Remote Team Aligned?

Recently, my team and I were tasked with a delicate decision making process.  Due to its nature and signatory level, team members were only authorized to explore and present options.  The final decision was mine alone.  Our project governance model clearly defined this decision making process. One day I received a call from remote members

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Covid-19 Positive: Telemedicine Kicked into High Gear

Crisis Drives Change In 2001 this writer approached the Houston medical community, post tropical storm Allison which flooded many basements in the Houston Medical Center with the loss of experimental data and other records.  We proposed the development of an Internet based solution to hold and manage medical records of all types.  The response to

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Linear Metrics in Non-Linear Times?

“If it disagrees with experiment, its wrong” Our point today is to assess how behavioral decisions are being made today; not about the politics of one candidate or the other. The race to the US presidential election has entered its final phase.  As of this writing, establishment wisdom holds the conventional candidate as the presumptive

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The Tyranny of the Blank Sheet of Paper

We have all had that, “Where do I start” moment?  Confronted with the NEW, sometimes the task seems daunting.  In a recent conversation, a colleague and I were discussing an adult training program.  The subject centered on how to help students jump start a creative flow. We humans are fond of using so called cheat

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Running Across an Open Field: Strategy for Disruptive Technology?

Several weeks ago, as an amateur history buff, I was watching a documentary about World War I.  During one segment the commentator discussed the apparent fact that if soldiers refused to charge out of their trenches across an open field into the teeth of waiting machine guns they would be shot. The brutality of such

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Culture Matters A Lot! Cultural Interactions Matter MORE!!

“Failures of culture have been the single biggest destroyers of value in the last five years,” states the former senior vice president of HR of Google in a recent article.  This revelation by one of the contemporary tech giants supports the previous dictum, “Culture eats strategy for breakfast.”  Depending on one’s perspective, this latter quote

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Brand Your Digital Oilfield Culture: Internalize Its Transformation

Our recent article, “The Digital Oilfield Culture: Transformation Value for the Organizational Ecosystem” (pp.24-26) takes a somewhat different change management approach.  Why not brand your digital oilfield culture? Most consumers are familiar with the so-called ‘Brand Name.’  These are names so ubiquitous that in some cases that we take them for granted.  Soft drinks, beer,

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Fleeting Success: In Pursuit of Sustainability

Winston Churchill is credited with saying, “Success is not final, failure is not fatal: it is the courage to continue that counts.”  The late Prime Minister nailed it; once again! Our journey through life, including our career is a marathon not a sprint.  While we celebrate success, often at happy hour or a party, we

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Millennials Take On Our Increasingly Complex World

Originally published in 2013. On January 1st at 0348 hours a young engineer employed by a service company is trying to address a problem she has encountered with a compressor on a drilling rig in the Deepwater Gulf of Mexico.  She graduated from college three years ago and went to work for a large energy

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Command and Control: Is this the Way to Run the modern Railroad?

The managerial model, Command and Control (C&C) dates back to the dawn of humanity when tribal chieftains dictated the behavior of the group.  It survives to this day in many forms.  Typically, one thinks of military operations as the current manifestation of C&C in the western world. According to Wikipedia, by one definition found in

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Selling Your Economic Value Proposition to the C Suite: Translating Technology to the Language of Business

The challenge of building a Business Case for CAPEX investments with high intangible content, i.e., IoT, professional services and operational excellence, remains difficult.  Many also argue that disruptive new business models are making the old ways irrelevant. Hence, we simply must make the investment to remain competitive.  After all, everyone is doing it.  A matter

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Organizational Predators: Jackals, Hyenas, and Wolves in Managerial Clothing

Prologue In the author’s August 2004 edition of the then, Executive Briefing Newsletter (early online delivery) we addressed the impact on the firm of managerial misbehavior.  This article was one of a list of challenges put forth to that generation of management. Sadly, recent events have compelled us all to revisit this issue, although for

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A New Relationship

This time of year, many make the so-called New Year’s Resolutions and make a personal if not short-term commitment to modify behaviors deemed as needing change.  Typical personal commitments include, losing weight, getting more exercise, becoming a better spouse/partner, etc. Unfortunately, most of these behavioral changes go by the wayside in short order.  Many reasons

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Excellent Behaviors: Assessing Relationships in the Operational Excellence Ecosystem

One of the hot business buzzwords of 2017 is “Operational Excellence.” It has been the subject for many pundits, including this one. In October and November we published a two part series, Assuring Operational Excellence from Contractors and Their Subcontractors through BTOES Insights. Each part included a link to additional information. The October edition featured

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