Paradox of the Week

Paradox of the week – Jim Whitehurst

Jul 21, 2017 | Paradox of the Week

According to Jim Whitehurst, business has changed. As he writes on the very first page of his 2015 management advice book, The Open Organization: “The classic rules of the game—which used to define who won or lost in business—are being swept away”...

Paradox of the week – Adam Grant

Jun 16, 2017 | Paradox of the Week

As many of my regular readers are by now well aware, I have a problem with contradictory or paradoxical management advice. But contrary to what you might think, it’s not just that I find this phenomena annoying...

Paradox of the Week – “Corner Office”

May 26, 2017 | Paradox of the Week

As some of you may know, on page two of the Business Section of the Sunday New York Times you’ll find a weekly feature called “Corner Office” written by Adam Bryant. For this edition in my “Paradox of the week” series of posts, a closer look at Mr. Bryant’s series...

Paradox of the week – Henri Fayol

Mar 31, 2017 | Paradox of the Week

This Friday, another installment in my “Paradox of the week” series of posts. For today’s edition, a couple of examples from the work of Henri Fayol, a 19th Century French mining engineer and mining executive...

Paradox of the week – Firing

Feb 24, 2017 | Paradox of the Week

According to many, the most difficult act a manager will ever engage in is to lay-off, terminate, or otherwise fire someone. And given that it is such a challenging and/or emotionally taxing endeavor, you’d think there’d be more than a few management books devoted to just this subject...