This applies to almost all established organizations, especially government agencies. Once you get to a certain level, a certain age, you expect things to be done a certain way.

Harvard Business School’s Working Knowledge newsletter features a great article entitled, Corporate Values and Employee Cynicism.Many studies have shown the power of meaningful values to energize employees, providing them with a sense of purpose and identity in a world that is in flux…. The public itself is a powerful stakeholder that is increasingly demanding about issues ranging from the environment to employee benefits.

Dexter Filkins, writing in the 2/19/06 New York TImes Magazine about the new strategy the U.S. is using in Iraq:”In the classic arc of Greek tragedy, the hero rises to great heights, only to be brought low by his own hubris…. But it’s also possible that something more crushing is in the works, with a slightly different trajectory than the Greeks had in mind: the mighty country invades a smaller one, commits countless errors and wastes thousands of lives.

As part of a software upgrade, we’ve redesigned StratBlog. One new feature is the header graphic, taken from this wonderful photograph by Thomas Hawk:

Of course, it’s a New York evening street scene, Times Square. I miss the energy of New York. And of course, I miss Carnegie Deli—only ten blocks away!

No, this graphic has [...]

Fast Company: “Look beneath the surface of many great business successes, and you’re likely to find a trail of failures that preceded them. Describing the painstaking trial-and-error process that led eventually to the creation of the incandescent light bulb-and General Electric-prolific inventor Thomas Edison said ‘I have not failed. I have merely found [...]

In Bureaucracy = Death, Seth Godin talks about bureaucracy related to 9/11 and Hurricane Katrina, and presents a nice, but unworkable, idea to bust bureacuracy.

Seth’s Analysis: “Very little remarkable comes out of bureaucracies for a simple reason. The members of the bureaucracy seek to be beyond reproach. Reproach is their nightmare, their enemy, the thing [...]

Groundhog Day: “What happened in the failures of government in the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina was not something intrinsic to the nature of bureaucracies or the public sector. What happened was a failure of leadership…” More of David Roger’s analysis:

“That failure in leadership was not an accident. It was the result of too many years [...]

Dan Gillmor thinks Speaker Hastert made a good point when he questioned the wisdom of rebuilding an-under-sea-level New Orleans: “Too bad he’s being pilloried for it.”

There’s a time and place for everything, but this wasn’t the time for the Speaker to suggest bulldozing New Orleans. It would have been a good time to question [...]

My heart goes out to all those suffering the devastation caused by Hurricane Katrina.

New Orleans Mayor Ray Nagin’s stunning radio interview provides a compelling, emotional window into the situation. Compare his comments with those of FEMA director and other officials and it’s clear that local, state and federal government officials are not on the same [...]

Kim Clark, outgoing Dean of Harvard Business School for the past ten years, was interviewed by Charlie Rose on his last day in the job (7/29/2005). Great discussion about leadership and leadership education at HBS. Some interesting quotes:

Advice he’s given to each graduating class:

“There is no success in business—none—that can compensate you for failure [...]