Management Archives

The Top 4 Business Model Evaluation Strategies

How to Have an Effective Strategic Discussion

Why is it important to evaluate a business model? How do you know your model will actually work given your product/service and your target market? Once you’ve defined your business model, you’ll need to evaluate if your organization is prepared to move forward with it. There are a number of tools that you can use to evaluate the viability of your business model. In this article, we’ll explore four business model evaluation strategies you can use to analyze and optimize the effectiveness of your business models.

Leading From Inside the Box: The Deception Trap

What is the deception box in the book Leadership and Self-Deception? How do you know if you’re leading from the box? In Leadership and Self-Deception, the Arbinger Institute tells a story of a manager named Tom who is “stuck in the box.” However, Tom can’t escape the box unless he first realizes that he is in it, and recognizes his habit of self-betrayal. Keep reading to learn what it means to be in the deception box.

Feedforward Feedback: How to Request and Practice It

What is feedforward feedback? How does requesting feedforward feedback from your colleagues help you improve as a manager? “Feedforward” is the opposite of “feedback”—it is practical advice on what you can do to improve your behavior even further moving forward. Requesting feedforward from your colleagues can help you improve as a manager and foster a stronger relationship with your employees. Here’s how to request and practice feedforward feedback.

The Oz Principle: Quotes and Passages

Are you looking for The Oz Principle quotes? What are some of the most noteworthy passages worth revisiting? In The Oz Principle, Craig Hickman, Roger Connors, and Tom Smith explain how to journey, like Dorothy from The Wizard of Oz, from a mindset of victimism to one of accountability. The Oz Principle is: To reach your goals, take initiative and assume accountability for your circumstances and your future. Below is a selection of The Oz Principle quotes with explanations.

Mutual Reinforcement Is Damaging Your Organization

What is mutual reinforcement in the context of management? How can blaming others for problems put both the accuser and the accused “in the box”? In the Arbinger Institute’s leadership fable Leadership and Self-Deception, they discuss why blaming others only causes problems to grow. This made the main character Tom realize that he is guilty of mutual reinforcement both at work and home. Continue reading to see what the Arbinger Institute has to say on mutual reinforcement and blame.

How to Be an Empowering Coach: Ask This Question

How can you become an empowering coach? How do you unleash your employees’ potential? An empowering coach strengthens workplace communication and relationships, creates psychological safety in the workplace, and gives employees wings to soar. The Coaching Habit recommends one particular question that empowering coaches should ask. Keep reading to learn how to be an empowering coach.

Leadership and Self-Deception: Getting Out of the Box

What does it mean to lead outside the box? What makes the Zagrum company an out-of-the-box company? In the Arbinger Institute’s story Leadership and Self-Deception, they tell of a company called Zagrum that manages to keep people focused on results while treating others as people—this makes them an out-of-the-box company. And if the main character Tom wants to keep his job, he’ll need to learn the Zagrum way. Continue reading for Leadership and Self-Deception advice for getting out of the box.

Overcome the Einstellung Effect: 2 Ways to Get Unstuck

What is the Einstellung effect? How does it prevent you from solving problems? The Einstellung effect is when you have such a fixed idea about problems that you can’t see new solutions. Basically, you default to the same old solutions because you think it’s the same old problems. Your brain needs a reset so that you can see each problem individually and in fresh ways. The book Think Like a Rocket Scientist offers two suggestions to get unstuck. Read more to learn about the Einstellung effect and effective problem-solving.

Responding to Feedback: Tips for Managers

What is the best way to respond to co-workers’ feedback? How do you overcome defensiveness in the face of negative feedback? Requesting feedback from your colleagues is the first step to improving your management skills, but that feedback means nothing if you don’t know how to respond to it. You need to resist the urge to become defensive and instead, figure out what you can do to improve. Here is how you should go about responding to feedback from your colleagues.

Joint Accountability: Be Accountable as a Team

What is joint accountability? What can you, as a leader, do to foster a mindset of joint accountability amongst your team members? Joint accountability starts with recognizing that, as part of a greater whole, you and your team members are interdependent. To instill a mindset of joint accountability in your team, leaders must emphasize results over employees’ individual duties. In this article, we’ll discuss some tips on how to foster a spirit of shared team accountability.