Strategy Bites Back
By: Henry Mintzberg
“Biases and Limitations of Judgment: Humans and Animals” By: Spyros G. Makridakis
This article proved a thought we’ve had for awhile. It’s the thought that when managers, or anyone, research something to answer one of their hypothesis’ they are more likely to find information that supports their claim. we also learned that a human is more likely to remember information that would help them prove the point they are trying to make. This fault is evident in humans across the board, no matter which field of work you pursue. It’s good that we can be aware of this natural bias so we can try and monitor it when we need to make a big decision.
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“Everything I Need to Know About Strategy I Learned at the National Zoo” By: Jeanne Liedtka
We have already read this article at the beginning of class, but we still think it’s worth the re-read. It has a lot of good information that continues to stand true even as times change. Even with the economy being so unsure and companies going under all over the place, Liedtka’s ideas are still holding steady.
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“The Man vs. The Machine” By: Charles Krauthammer
This was a really insightful article about the effects of machines, particularly computers, has on life. It’s amazing to us that a computer can be adaptable enough to beat a human at a game of chess. We would think that a computer would need to be able to think on it’s own in order to do something like that, but apparently we’re wrong or it does indeed have a mind or it’s own!
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“Think Like a Grandmaster” By: G.M. Alexander Kotov
We really liked this article because it talked a lot about decision making, which was our theme for today. It’s so obvious that we can spend amazing amounts of time (hours, days, even years) trying to decided which decision to make, but in the end, it just takes a minute to actually make the decision and then move forward. We think the author is touching on the idea that sometimes that’s what we need to do- make the decision and then just go with it.
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“The Emperor’s New Suit” By: Hans Christian Andersen
This is one of my favorite stories and we believe it applies wonderfully to strategy and leadership! Everyone of the Emperor’s men thought that the new fabric was a farce, but no one wanted to lose their job over, is they went along with it. Even the Emperor had himself convinced! we think this can apply to management because if a manager is extremely confident in an idea, then those below him may be too scared to lose their respect if they disagree. This why being an innovative manager is a hard thing to do!
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“Management Expert Gary Hamel Talks with Enron’s Ken Lay About What It’s Like to Launch a New Strategy in the Real World” By: Gary Hamel
We were so excited to read this byte and we were not disappointed. It is interesting to hear management advice and thoughts from someone who was at the top and then is now at the bottom. Guiding, or causing, his company through everything Enron had to go through gave Lay insight that very few people have. We still haven’t decided if we really do value what he has to say or if if past gets in the way!