Management and Practice
The dog days of summer continue. I’d like to say that this gives me lots of time for careful reflection and reading but that hasn’t been the case. Fortunately, there’s no shortage of good material this week.
First, the Wall Street Journal talked to Henry “Managers not MBAs” Mintzberg to find out What Managers Really Do. Mintzberg looks at how managers handle interruptions, and discusses three ways that managers can create results.
In a similar vein, Michael Loop has an old-but-good article on how to move a software project from crisis to cruise. Read how he runs his staff meeting - I’m going to give this a try this week.
Finally, I just finished reading “Talent is Overrated” by Geoff Colvin. Excellent book, despite being blurbed by Noel Tichy. (Note to author: don’t get blurbs from narcissists. Especially those who you interviewed in the book. Looks desperate.). Colvin’s description of deliberate practice reminded me of something I read last year that explained what business leaders can learn from how elite athletes train and improve.
And so what, according to Colvin and Graham Jones, was the secret to exceptional performance? Here’s a hint:
[youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eGDBR2L5kzI&hl=en&fs=1&color1=0x006699&color2=0x54abd6&w=425&h=344]