Archive for June, 2010
Goldman Sachs and the Need for Hangings in the Village Square
The child like and pseudo religious belief that the free market will, by itself, right all wrongs in time, a belief adhered to by Alan Greenspan and other groupies of Ayn Rand, is at the heart of our financial crisis and the crisis of capitalism. This Greek tragedy was played out at Enron, Lehman Brothers, and now Goldman Sachs and BP. The question is whether corporate executives are capable of adhering to principled behavior in the absence of punishment of significant severity to balance out the significance of potential rewards for unprincipled behavior.
Lean Politics: Give Up Ideological Waste
The environmental disaster in the Gulf of Mexico is in part the result of political/ideological waste. Lean management focuses on the elimination of waste from manufacturing and other processes. Lean managers develop a keen sense for what adds value and everything else is waste. There is some mass schizophrenia when it comes to the role of government and the private sector. This madness is a complete waste of resources and is itself responsible for many of our problems. It is past time to get beyond this madness.
Obama’s Gulf Leadership Lesson: The Limits of Power and the Power of Empathy
There are times when intelligence, analytic ability, is far less important than urgency and empathy. It is the difference between leadership in combat and leadership in a court room or academic setting.