organizational transformation Archives

Decision-Making: The Revolving Door of Organizational Centralization and Decentralization

Decision-Making: The Revolving Door of Organizational Centralization and Decentralization Issue 202, March 6, 2025 We have been keen observers of an organizational cyclical pattern to solve problems that we call the revolving door of centralization and decentralization. Organizations across many industries experience this recurring pattern, shifting between these two organizational constructs. Counterintuitively, organizations seem to repeat the cycle every few years, often framed as a novel strategic solution to operational challenges. A decentralized approach fails. Centralize. A centralized function becomes…

Kevin Novak

March 6, 2025

Ideas and Innovations Newsletter

Risk Management: Are You a Responder or Solver?

Risk Management: Are You a Responder or Solver? Issue 177, September 12, 2024 We were recently invited to sit in on a cybersecurity simulation at a cybertech conference. The simulation was staged as an interactive exercise between the experts and the audience. The expert panel was comprised of local, state and federal disaster relief experts, a US Congress representative, the military and a few private sector officials. The simulation started with a cyberattack, not unlike those we see in movies,…

Kevin Novak

September 11, 2024

Ideas and Innovations Newsletter

Are You Trapped in a Wake? What is Prevalence Inflation?

Are You Trapped in a Wake? What is Prevalence Inflation? Issue 170, July 25, 2024 Imagine this hypothetical situation. You are sucked into the slipstream of a fast-moving vehicle, controlled within a narrow bandwidth by its velocity. This may sound improbable, but racecar drivers use this technique to their advantage. It’s called drafting, and the low-pressure wake behind a leading car reduces the aerodynamic resistance on the front of the trailing car, allowing the second car to pull closer. As the…

Kevin Novak

July 25, 2024

Ideas and Innovations Newsletter

Why Do Great Ideas Get Ignored?

Why Do Great Ideas Get Ignored? Issue 168, July 11, 2024 How great are you at getting your ideas understood and accepted? You’ve been mulling over how to solve a problem for a couple of weeks now. You’ve reviewed the facts, recognized the challenges and thought long and hard about how to ensure impressive results. It has been a struggle given so many distractions with the surface noise of meetings, emails and intermittent mental exhaustion. But yesterday you woke up…

Kevin Novak

July 11, 2024

Ideas and Innovations Newsletter

Whistleblowers and Trust: Revealing Courageous Leadership

Whistleblowers and Trust: Revealing Courageous Leadership Issue 164, June 13, 2024 Who do we trust in the public forum? It’s hard to judge with cascades of misinformation and intentional disinformation swirling around on the internet, in the courts and at the rallies. It’s also hard to identify any public heroes in a polarized society. One person’s champion is another’s enemy. To say it’s confusing is an understatement. Psychology Today describes heroes as individuals who give us hope, energize us, heal…

Kevin Novak

June 13, 2024

Ideas and Innovations Newsletter

The Importance of Language in Organizational Transformation

The Importance of Language in Organizational Transformation Issue 157, April 25, 2024 Think about this for a moment. The English language we speak is referred to as Modern English dating back to 1450. It‘s related to the emergence of the printing press and was adopted through the expanded volume of printed materials including Shakespeare in the late 1500s and the King James Bible in 1611 (study.com). That was over 570 years ago. If you’re following us here, it might dawn…

Kevin Novak

April 24, 2024

Ideas and Innovations Newsletter

The Value of Reflective Decision-Making

The Value of Reflective Decision-Making Issue 155, April 11, 2024 Admit it, most of us are stressed out and often filled with anxiety. We are time-pressed. Overbooked. Distracted. Confused. Dumbfounded. Surprised. And potentially even trending to pessimism. We are trying to make sense of events we can’t control that are hurtling toward us daily through our news feeds. A Moment in Time We’re also grappling with the speed of change in the digital economy and our connected society. The news…

Kevin Novak

April 10, 2024

Ideas and Innovations Newsletter

Reactive Decision-Making, Social, and Youth

Reactive Decision-Making, Social, and Youth Issue 154, April 4, 2024 We’re worried about the members of our younger generations – your customers, employees, children, and family members. We’re worried as well about the kneejerk attempts of some of our leaders and those with influence to solve what is perceived as a problem without truly understanding it or the consequences of the solution they attempt to put into place. Reactive States of Mind Post-pandemic society appears to be in reaction mode,…

Kevin Novak

April 4, 2024

Ideas and Innovations Newsletter

Do You Fall Prey to Oversimplification?

Do You Fall Prey to Oversimplification? Issue 147, February 15, 2024 We all do it. We oversimplify when it suits us or when we believe that is what our audience wants to hear. In business, we have been programmed not to share too many financial details and just report the high-level numbers. Or not get all techy; talk in plain English. Avoid all those legal terms that make heads spin. Can’t you just say that a different way? Add to…

Kevin Novak

February 14, 2024

Ideas and Innovations Newsletter

Randomness and Flukes: Changing the Course of History

Randomness and Flukes: Changing the Course of History Issue 145, February 1, 2024 Hindsight is foresight, yet we may be better equipped to predict the future with the benefit of so much emerging tech. But what AI and ML don’t anticipate is the random moments that change the course of history. What’s frustrating is that you rarely see those moments in real-time. We suggest the reason is that we are looking for the wrong thing, making those random occurrences nearly…

Kevin Novak

January 31, 2024

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