By Carter McNamara on March 27, 2012
(This is a guest post from Professor Günther H. Schust and is based on his free ebook “Supportive Leadership.”) More than two thirds of all problems in our society result from a decrepit leadership culture in economy and politics which allows indispensable profound reforms (i.e. climate protection, finance and tax legislation) and “green” technologies for [...]
By Carol Mase on November 15, 2011
Last week I had the opportunity to hear Thomas Lockwood speak about design thinking at the ODN Conference in Baltimore. His ideas support those of others writing on this topic as well as Cairn Consulting’s Situational Thinking. To start let me reinforce his comment that design thinking is not the same as “design,” the former [...]
By Carol Mase on June 6, 2011
Over the last 20 years numerous business and management authors have identified awareness as a key success factor for leaders. One way to broaden your awareness uses a 4Quadrant approach to frame your perspective, thinking, behavior, decisions, and actions. Unlike the BCG 2×2 matrix, these four quadrants metaphorically capture the four topographies of an organization: [...]
By Carol Mase on May 11, 2011
The book I find most useful during Adaptive Change is The Practice of Adaptive Leadership by Ron Heifetz, Alex Grashow, and Marty Linsky. When Destabilizing Events arise our first response is to act, and in some cases this is the best response. But those cases are actually rare. In order to truly understand the adaptive [...]
By Carol Mase on May 4, 2011
When leading Adaptive Change, you have the opportunity to design the journey initiated by Destabilizing Events so that you can reach the future you desire. Because the actual path you take is unknown and can’t be predicted your leadership provides direction but you cannot control the process. As each person, team, or division moves through [...]
By Carol Mase on April 26, 2011
Turbulence describes the business environment over the last 25 years, and there is no sign of it letting up. This means that leaders for the foreseeable future will be surrounded by our old friend VUCA – volatility, uncertainty, complexity, and ambiguity. Turning this into an opportunity to adapt requires that we ask the right questions. [...]
By Carol Mase on April 20, 2011
When I facilitated the PDCP Change Process (Blog March 2, Leading Adaptive Change) I was neither leading nor managing the actual work – the joy and frustration of being a facilitator. Observing leaders and managers who were at the working surface (the point where things actually happen) I realized the following: During times of Adaptive [...]
By Carol Mase on April 13, 2011
Every year thousands of change initiatives are undertaken globally in the form of reorganization, structural and procedural change, new product and service launches, and the setting of strategy, goals, and objectives. Yet, according to Harvard Business Review, 70% of all change initiatives fail. The financial cost of failed change to organizations, the economy, and society is [...]
By Carol Mase on March 30, 2011
You know that when change is upon you, you will be letting go of ideas, behavior, perhaps functions, structures, roles, authority, and even titles. Poised on the brink of change we are overcome by loss and the uncertainty of what we might be asked to give up. At this moment leaders need to focus the [...]
By Carol Mase on March 9, 2011
Equilibrium is death. As a biologist, I believe this fundamental truth of life also applies to business. When a living breathing business flat-lines, the end is near. It is the dynamic flow of resources, goods, services, money, information, and workers that keep businesses alive and healthy. The global financial collapse of 2008 came close to [...]
Carol Mase, President of Cairn Consultants, is an educator and coach-consultant who has worked in global marketing, strategic planning, and large scale organizational change. [Read more ...]
Kristin Keffeler, MSM, of Kinetic Enterprise, is a business development and leadership coach who specializes in supporting entrepreneurs and business leaders to bring their Big Ideas to life.
Dr. Steven Ober is a senior executive coach and consultant. He has worked successfully with executives and managers in high tech, business and industry, health care, government, and education. 