An investigation was launched at a large metal commodities company: a young man, who was promoted to 'team leader', did not arrive on the next day transformed into a suit wearing, KPI demanding psychopathic police enforcer, as was normally the case. By 1100 in the morning the global supply of metal commodities had ground to … Continue reading SHOCK! Millennial Manager Causes Mayhem at Firm
A company that asked its employees to define their shared values has discovered a surprising result. The firm has realised that it is the least ambitious company in the history of the world. Staff had the choice of numerous nouns describing values including: passion, ambition, collaboration, inspiration, agility, fun. Employees could also propose options which would … Continue reading Company Values Exercise Exposes Total Lack Of Ambition
Teams at a large bank face a yearly ritual called 'the headcount challenge'. In simple terms, the ritual involves the head of HR handing out new headcount targets to each division on the basis of cost reductions. The joke is of course that no manager can actually do anything: it is impossible to fire people … Continue reading Headcount Tactics
When one of the world's leading sailboat makers realized the company was dead in the water - completely unable to innovate - the CEO invited the management team for an extensive workshop on one of their sailing boats. On the second day, the unlucky crew sustained significant damage to their boat during a mild storm. … Continue reading “Shipwrecked” Management Team Returns To A Completely Different Company
In line with a trend sweeping corporations across the globe, A 300 year old banking company has launched a 'diversity' program to help increase innovation. The company faces an existential threat in the form of cryptocurrency. The executive group are all white males, ranging in age from 60 to 65, were all educated at Oxford, … Continue reading Diversity Initiative The Answer To BLOCKCHAIN Threat.
An employee who is well known for rigorously following processes, has reportedly been stuck in an endless loop for 4 days. The crisis occurred upon visiting the toilet; the employee found that the male toilets symbol was missing the head. The worker, who seems to have lost all power of common sense thanks to his … Continue reading Stuck In The Process: The Extreme Loss Of Common Sense
Following the global trend towards more workspace flexibility, a large telecommunications company has changed more thoroughly than ever expected. The company has offered home working as a standard. The majority of employees - bored by corporate politics and the lack of real change - have chosen to take full advantage of the proposal. Two months … Continue reading Home office renders company completely lifeless
An employee given the mission, budget, time and the "freedom" to innovate, has been hindered at every step. The motivated employee, Catherine Ormond, was keen to buy a product as part of a quick technical demonstration. She wanted to follow start-up logic of fail fast, fail cheap. However, Catherine was blocked at the first hurdle; … Continue reading BLOCKED By The System: Innovation Is Just Too Difficult
A company has recognized that it currently has at least 2 managers for every 1 employee. The realisation came after consultants were asked to understand the company's nose diving quality, customer satisfaction and staff engagement results. The poor results are in spite of having a swelling order books and a healthy cash flow. The root cause: … Continue reading Too Many Chefs And Not Enough Cooks
Recognizing that legions of change agents promoting continuous improvements were not able to break ground for a cultural change in his company, the CEO of a large toothpaste manufacturer has taken the decision to switch to a more radical model: continuous reorganization. Switching from the well known lean technique of "5-whys" to a blame allocation … Continue reading Continuous Reorganization beats Continuous Improvement
Managing Spaghetti 