Wednesday, April 24, 2013

How Does This Place Work?


That's a very important but often unanswered question. Tucked within it are other questions such as:

  • Where does the money come from?
  • What are our assumptions?
  • Which products or services sell the most?
  • Which ones are the most profitable?
  • Which ones are "dogs?"
  • What are the short and long term goals?
  • How well known are those goals?
  • How much discord is there in the executive team?
  • What is the real organization chart?
  • How are skills developed?
  • Is conflict handled professionally or does it go underground?
  • Why do people leave?
  • What do we do well?
  • What do we fumble?
  • How would our customers describe us?
  • How happy are our employees?
  • Are we rewarding the wrong thing?
  • Are there any problems that are not being effectively addressed?
  • Where do the great ideas come from?
  • When was the last time there was an exciting project?
  • What are the organization's biases?
  • Can all of the management practices be revealed without embarrassment?
  • Is everyone pulling in the same direction?

4 comments:

Dan in Philly said...

Another A+ post.

Michael Wade said...

Dan,

Thanks!

Michael

CincyCat said...

The question about the "real" org chart is a good one. I'm beginning to discover in some areas of my life that the answer is, "it depends on who you ask".

Michael Wade said...

CincyCat,

Many Administrative Assistants and Secretaries have enormous power and when a crisis hits, the tech with the specialized knowledge can quickly get serious leverage.

Michael