No one has personified British author Richard Dawkins’ idea that yesterday’s dangerous idea is “today’s orthodoxy and tomorrow’s cliché” better than our 35th President, John Kennedy. When President Kennedy took office in January of 1961, the thought of trying to land a man on the moon terrified most rational people. Yet, the President put aRead more
In 1519 Heran Cortes landed in Mexico with 600 Spaniards and 11 boats. The conquistador and his men had just embarked on a conquest of the Aztec empire, a kingdom that hoarded a cache of the world’s greatest treasures-gold, silver, and precious jewels. Cortex undertook this mission knowing that, for centuries, other conquerors with farRead more
When people talk about the inner contradictions of an organization, they frequently refer to “culture,” that omnipresent word that describes all pleasant and unpleasant by-products of decisions. But they seldom identify the real problem–the decisions that create the traps. Here are ten examples of how that happens: People don’t realize that their decisions create theRead more
If you played sports in school, did the coach play everyone equally? Create an egalitarian form of governance in which each person had a say? Or, did the stars, the one who had the innate athletic ability and drive to put it into action receive a disproportionate amount of playing time and the coach’s attention?Read more
In September chief executive Jeff Smisek, and two senior officials of United Airlines stepped down in response to a federal investigation into whether the airline had traded favors with the chairman of the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey. The scandal involved United agreeing to reinstate money-losing flights to the airport nearest theRead more
