Successful managers are made – not born. They are thrown into situations they did not make or may not have anticipated, but are held responsible for producing a positive outcome. They work in a ‘problem space’ that has no solid basis for judging a problem-solving move as better than another, according to Richard Boland and Fred Collopy of the Weatherhead School of Management. 

And yet they must choose and proceed.

Boland and Collopy suggest that vocabulary and negative words trap us in “solutions” when we train managers. But jargon and buzzwords about avoiding crisis, crossing chasms and re-engineering are just part of the “problem.”

“Fire” means different things to police officers than to firefighters – yet each create strategies for facing unknown, dangerous situations and working toward a positive outcome.

Program managers need to prove their efforts work. That means making the best decisions with the information at the time, implementing programs, define and create value and then measuring results. It sounds very straight-forward.

Talk is cheap and yet words matter as much as effort, attitude and, most importantly, objectively measuring outcomes so everyone understands. Even “wins” can be rebranded by a new manager as “failure” for political or other reasons. So words matter, but outcomes and goals are a universal language, critical in a modern enterprise.

Let’s discuss the mastery of leadership, sustainable innovation, managing for resilience and building agility that combine for a successful program. WE promise this blog will bring you real-world advice, solid practices and hype-free information that helps you reach goals and build your team.

“Experience the unexpected”

Your in-box is already full of business school case studies and management book bestsellers on transformation, change management, lean, agile and disruptive innovation.

What are your questions? How can we help you implement and measure?

Are there warning signs or insights from a new industry? For example, lean concepts from manufacturing processes became a de facto standard for healthcare transformation – was it effective or done with ‘good intentions’ but producing the wrong or no results?

Responding in your own way with the proper tools is something you won’t know until you try. We look forward to being your support team for training and consulting, here at ShareDynamics.