Digital Tonto

OCTOBER 27, 2024

The 18th century French enlightenment writer Voltaire once said, “If you wish to converse with me, define your terms,” and we need to approach transformation with a similar mindset. Some transformations require changes in investments, while others require changes in behaviors and these have very different challenges. Until fairly recently, our economy was based on atoms and transformations were usually focused on strategic decisions such as building a new factory, entering a new market or launch

Change 193

Change Strategy Strategy Project 193

Digital Tonto

OCTOBER 6, 2024

Many managers spend a lot of time and energy designing compensation schemes to incentivize performance. Yet as Daniel Pink explained in Drive, decades of studies show incentive pay often decreases productivity, especially for tasks that require creative thinking. He argues that the best way to motivate people is to give them opportunities for autonomy, mastery and purpose.

Creative Thinking 199

Creative Thinking Leadership Creativity Study 199

Digital Tonto

SEPTEMBER 29, 2024

Most of the time, we operate with a manager mindset and that works fine. We build consensus and execute with predictable outcomes. Our colleagues are motivated, customers are satisfied and everybody is happy. In an era of disruption, however, it’s only a matter of time until we need to adapt and drive transformation. That’s never easy. To pull it off we need to shift from a manager mindset to a changemaker mindset in which we no longer assume an environment of predictability but explore unknowns

Change 188

Change Management Disruption Culture 188

Digital Tonto

SEPTEMBER 22, 2024

Over the past two centuries, we have seen echoes of the same pattern first established in the late 18th century: a wave of new ideas is resisted by the dominant powers, as tensions build below the surface and eventually explode. Sometimes order holds and sometimes it gives way to a period of chaos and destruction before, eventually, finding some sort of homeostasis.

Artificial Inteligence 192

Artificial Inteligence Disruption Technology Resources 192

Digital Tonto

SEPTEMBER 15, 2024

Back in the Gilded Age of the 19th century, it was taken for granted that industrialists were all powerful. Men met in smoke-filled back rooms, traded information and, much like Adam Smith described, conspired against the public to raise prices and increase profits. Eventually, the public could bear no more, political pressure built, and legislation was passed to prevent collusive and predatory behavior.

Artificial Inteligence 200

Artificial Inteligence Competition Technical Review ChatGPT 200

Digital Tonto

SEPTEMBER 8, 2024

The biggest misconception about change is that once people understand it, they will embrace it. That’s almost never true. If you intend to influence an entire organization— or even an entire society—you have to assume the deck is stacked against you. The status quo has had years—and sometimes decades or longer—to build connections and form networks.

Change 210

Change Tips Strategy Strategy 210

Digital Tonto

SEPTEMBER 1, 2024

It’s tough to imagine how anyone who is familiar with the evidence would ever assume that change is linear, that it is a good idea to “create a sense of urgency around change,” or that you should move quickly to publicize an early win. Yet, more often than not, that’s what otherwise smart, accomplished people set out to do. There are a few reasons that this is the case.

Change 106

Change Disruption Culture Management 106

Digital Tonto

AUGUST 25, 2024

It’s funny how things can turn out. We’re heading in a particular direction, focused on the future and things somehow go awry. We try in vain to get back on track, but instead we end up setting out in a new direction, exploring avenues we scarcely knew existed. Before we know it, we’ve gotten to […] The post Happy 15th Birthday Digital Tonto!

128

128

Digital Tonto

AUGUST 18, 2024

My friend Stephen Shapiro argues that best practices are stupid. It’s not that he believes they can’t be useful, in fact in areas of low-competence they can be very helpful in helping a team get up to speed. Yet Steve’s point is that you can’t separate a practice from its context. Copying Netflix’s Culture Deck or Amazon’s six-page memo is unlikely to improve your performance if you don’t develop the norms and rituals to support them.

Culture 205

Culture Change Project Strategy 205

Digital Tonto

AUGUST 11, 2024

Bill Gates recently wrote that, “The development of AI is as fundamental as the creation of the microprocessor, the personal computer, the Internet, and the mobile phone.” Yet the unspoken problem is that none of those technologies, except for the Internet, had a significant impact on productivity. In fact, since 2005, we seem to be caught in a second productivity paradox.

Artificial Inteligence 209

Artificial Inteligence Technology System Change 209

Digital Tonto

AUGUST 4, 2024

The ugly truth about change management is that the traditional change models simply don’t work. They aren’t based on any serious research and have shown themselves, over a period of decades, to fail consistently. Often, organizational change management units are used by consulting firms and vendors to cheerlead a larger engagement. That isn’t to say it’s some sort of con.

Change 205

Change Exercises Engagement Strategy 205

Digital Tonto

JULY 28, 2024

We tend to see change as an engineering problem. There is a desired end state, so we design a logical strategy to achieve it, build a timeline and execute the plan. We expect some obstacles along the way, work to identify sticking points and maybe even devise some plans to address them. It seems that, with some will and determination, we should be able to push through.

Change 200

Change Design Strategy Strategy 200

Digital Tonto

JULY 21, 2024

When I first moved overseas in 1997, email was still relatively new. There was no social media. Mostly, we communicated by landline and that was expensive. You couldn’t always reach who you wanted to, so things necessarily moved slower. We had to be more thoughtful because we didn’t really have any other choice. Today we live in a much more technological age, where many things move faster and we’ve come to expect nearly instant gratification.

Creative Process 204

Creative Process Creativity Technology Project 204

Digital Tonto

JULY 14, 2024

The story of Blockbuster video is one that is often repeated, but rarely understood. The CEO, John Antioco, did not, as is frequently assumed, ignore the Netflix threat but devised an effective strategy to meet it head on. However, tensions with shareholders eventually boiled over, a salary dispute led him to resign and the strategy was abandoned. Antioco’s mistake wasn't a lack of a market strategy, but a lack of a resistance strategy.

Video 214

Video Strategy Strategy Change 214

Digital Tonto

JULY 7, 2024

About a decade ago I made the trip out to see Brian Robertson, the creator of Holacracy, the leaderless management governance method. It was all the rage at the time, with high-flying firms such as Zappos and Medium adopting it enthusiastically. Brian was kind enough to spend a few hours with me, explaining the ins and outs of how it all worked. But even then I was skeptical and I told him so.

Course 205

Course Creativity Learning Strategy 205

Digital Tonto

JUNE 23, 2024

Most of the time, we operate with a manager mindset and that works fine. We build consensus and execute with predictable outcomes. Our colleagues are motivated, customers are satisfied and everybody is happy. However, in an era of disruption it’s only a matter of time until we need to adapt and drive transformation. That’s never easy. Top performers learn to switch between mindsets.

Entrepreneurship 207

Entrepreneurship Disruption Training Competition 207

Digital Tonto

JUNE 16, 2024

In "Homo Deus," author Yuval Noah Harari asserted that “organisms are algorithms.” Much like vending machines are programmed to respond to buttons, Harari argues that humans and other animals are programmed by genetics and evolution to respond to “sensations, emotions and thoughts.” When those particular buttons are pushed, we respond, much like a vending machine does.

Software 113

Software Disruption Resources Learning 113

Digital Tonto

JUNE 9, 2024

When evolutionary biologist Richard Dawkins claimed that genes are selfish, he didn’t mean that he thought they are cognisant, with a will of their own. Rather, that genes act as if they are selfish, working to replicate themselves in the most efficient way, regardless of what that entails for the organism that carries them. In other words, the phrase "survival of the fittest" applies to our genes, not to us.

Artificial Inteligence 210

Artificial Inteligence Tips Data Culture 210

Digital Tonto

JUNE 2, 2024

Management fads tend to come from people who did well in school. Many of these are business school professors and consultants, who've never operated a business. They are often people who’ve never failed, been told that they’re smart all their lives and expect others to be impressed by their ideas, not to examine them thoroughly. They tend come up with their ideas by talking to other smart, successful people about their experiences.

Case Study 207

Case Study Strategy Strategy Change 207

Digital Tonto

MAY 26, 2024

More than a decade ago I published an article in Forbes about IBM’s Watson. With the system’s triumph, beating the best human players at Jeopardy!, everybody was wondering whether humans had a future or whether we would all be at the mercy of “our new robot overlords.” It was an exciting and confusing time. Yet […] The post 11 Books That Will Make You A Better Communicator first appeared on Digital Tonto.

System 124

System Change 124

Digital Tonto

MAY 19, 2024

Genuine transformation is notoriously difficult, but transformation theater is relatively easy. There’s never any shortage of corporate hucksters, gurus and other con artists looking to sell us the change gospel, weaving visions of “burning platforms,” in a VUCA world. Many build impressive careers, moving from failed initiative to failed initiative, without ever actually accomplishing anything.

Analysis 218

Analysis Change Course Learning 218

Digital Tonto

MAY 12, 2024

For the past century or so, the most reliable path to success has been the ability to retain information and manipulate numbers. That’s what gained entrance into the most prestigious schools and led to a career at a prestigious firm. Yet the reason that information processing has been so highly valued is precisely because humans are so bad at it. Today’s super-powered algorithms can mine vast stores of information and then express that information in writing, images, even sound and film.

Artificial Inteligence 214

Artificial Inteligence Conference Collaboration Learning 214

Digital Tonto

MAY 5, 2024

At any given time, there are literally thousands of people looking to fool us. Grifters, politicians and nation states looking to sow discord are constantly bombarding us with falsities mixed with just enough truth to seem plausible. Often, these messages reach us through trusted friends and family members and, when we go to verify them online, we’re likely to find confirmation (often from the same sources that duped our peers).

Creativity 217

Creativity Marketing Data Strategy 217

Digital Tonto

APRIL 28, 2024

In one of my favorite essays the physicist Richard Feynman wrote, “The first principle is that you must not fool yourself—and you are the easiest person to fool. So you have to be very careful about that.” I can think of no greater example of this simple axiom than the practice of change management, especially with regard to communication. There is an enormous track record of failure—study after study finds that the vast majority do not succeed.

Case Study 212

Case Study LEAN Tips Agile 212

Digital Tonto

APRIL 21, 2024

When Jack Welch was named “Manager of the Century” by Fortune magazine in 1999, it was still unclear what his legacy was going to be. Yet all the success belied serious problems rumbling underneath the surface. Welch increased profits largely by “financializing” the firm. Innovation languished. Yet perhaps the greatest indictment of Welch is those he chose to carry on his legacy.

Artificial Inteligence 206

Artificial Inteligence Underperforming Technical Team Culture Learning 206

Digital Tonto

APRIL 14, 2024

One of the things that I’ve learned in over two decades researching innovation, transformation and change is that things that change the world always arrive out of context, for the simple reason that the world hasn’t changed yet. Ideas start out feeble, weak and alone. They need ecosystems to make an impact on the world. Einstein's ideas about relativity started out as a boyhood dream about riding on a bolt of light.

Change 217

Change Learning Innovation Leadership 217

Digital Tonto

APRIL 7, 2024

The biggest misconception about change is that once people understand it, they will embrace it. That’s almost never true. If you intend to influence an entire organization, you have to assume the deck is stacked against you. You not only need to build support for an alternative vision of the future, you have to undermine the forces supporting the status quo.

Strategy 204

Strategy Strategy Change Design 204

Digital Tonto

MARCH 31, 2024

Over the past few decades pundits have become enamored by the change gospel. We’re told that we live in a VUCA world that is more volatile, uncertain, complex and ambiguous and therefore our only option is to disrupt the status quo, which is bureaucratic and bumbling. We need to move fast and break things. The simple fact is that it’s much easier to talk about genuine transformation than produce it.

Analysis 214

Analysis Culture Disruption Competition 214

Digital Tonto

MARCH 24, 2024

The French writer Albert Camus believed our existence was absurd. He compared the human condition to Sisyphus, the mythical Greek king condemned to roll a boulder uphill, only to see it roll back down, for eternity. Incredibly, Camus imagines Sisyphus, returning to his labors at the foot of the mountain, as happy, having found meaning in his task. That is the nature of existential rebellion, to find meaning for yourself in a universe that provides none.

Innovation 214

Innovation Change How To Entrepreneurship 214

Digital Tonto

MARCH 17, 2024

A simple truth about status games is that we all play them, whether we are aware of it or not. It is our drive for status that helps us form and signal identity, figure out who we are in relation to others and derive a sense of meaning about our existence, whether that meaning is rooted in achievement, care for those around us or our ability to enforce our will on others.

Conference 201

Conference Culture Study Learning 201

Digital Tonto

MARCH 3, 2024

Saul Alinsky noted that every revolution inspires its own counter-revolution. “Once we accept and learn to anticipate the inevitable counterrevolution, we may then alter the historical pattern of revolution and counterrevolution from the traditional slow advance of two steps forward and one step backward to minimizing the latter,” he wrote. We are at an inflection point, with multiple pendulum’s beginning to swing the other way.

Trends 197

Trends Change Competition Learning 197

Digital Tonto

FEBRUARY 25, 2024

Ockham’s Razor, or the “principle of parsimony,” is often interpreted as another version of the KISS (Keep It Simple Stupid) rule. Yet it is far more profound than that. A far more accurate translation from the original latin is, “Entities must not be multiplied beyond necessity.” In other words, we should think before we add things that complicate matters.

Course 199

Course Change Learning Leadership 199

Digital Tonto

FEBRUARY 11, 2024

In The Righteous Mind, social psychologist Jonathan Haidt makes the point that many of our opinions are a product of our inclusion in a particular team. Because our judgments are so closely intertwined with our identity, contrary views can feel like an attack. So we feel the urge to lash out and silence opposition. That almost guarantees a failure to survive victory.

Change 196

Change Tips Culture Design 196

Digital Tonto

JANUARY 21, 2024

When I first arrived in Ukraine it was a cynical place. After 80 years of communism and then 10 more under kleptocratic rule, few thought change was possible. So why worry or complain about things that you couldn’t do anything about anyway? It seemed better to focus on things close to you; your family, your work, your friends. The Orange Revolution in 2004 changed that.

Change 200

Change Learning Policies Culture 200

Digital Tonto

JANUARY 14, 2024

Today, the truth can seem like nothing more than a preference. We pick a side, form a group identity and set out to prove our worth by supporting the party line. In our quest for status, we try to top those around us, leading to a purity spiral in which everyone competes to see who can be the most true to the cause. Yet truth is more than opinion. Facts are falsifiable.

Tools 143

Tools Groups Leadership Management 143

Digital Tonto

DECEMBER 24, 2023

My friend Stephen Shapiro does not like New Year’s Resolutions. “According to our study, only 8% of Americans say they always achieve their New Year’s resolutions,” he writes. “The way it seems to work now, setting a New Year’s Resolution is a recipe for defeat. It has come to be one of the nation’s most […] The post Top Posts Of 2023 first appeared on Digital Tonto.

Study 180

Study 180

Digital Tonto

DECEMBER 17, 2023

I mark time through books because books define the zeitgeist. They reflect not only the wisdoms being received, but the questions being asked. We go to books not only for answers, but to sharpen our own inquiry. Last year’s list featured books about Ukraine (and this year’s list includes a great one too). So perhaps […] The post The 2023 Digital Tonto Reading List 2023 first appeared on Digital Tonto.

180

180