Part of the series Leading Through Turbulence. How much certainty may a leader wait for before a decision stops being prudent and starts being late? The case for waiting deserves an honest hearing, because it rests on real virtues. More…
Fourteenth letter from Andreas Bruckmüller to Michael Mrak Dear Michael, Your letter is one of the darkest so far. You ask whether the planet is finished, you reach for the law as the last lever that still moves, and between your lines I…
Part of the series Leading Through Turbulence. Why should a leader spend scarce hours on planning methods for futures that may never arrive? The question deserves an honest answer, because the hours are real and a method can look academic.…
Thirteenth letter from Michael Mrak to Andreas Bruckmüller Dear Andreas, At the end of your twelfth letter you handed me a task, and I accept it the way one accepts a task one suspects will exceed one’s strength. How do…
More than four out of five corporate reorganisations fail to deliver the value they were meant to, in the time that was planned, and about one in ten leave the company measurably worse off, according to a McKinsey survey. Those numbers…
Twelfth letter from Andreas Bruckmüller to Michael Mrak Dear Michael, In your last letter you ended with two demands held together: patience with people, rigour with method, both at the same time. It is the hardest sentence in your letter, and the truest.…
The kinds of crisis a business faces, and how to recognise each one before it is too late Part of the series Leading Through Turbulence. The word crisis is used freely these days. But what, by definition, is a crisis?…
Eleventh letter from Michael Mrak to Andreas Bruckmüller My dear friend Andreas, Your tenth letter performed a turn for which I am grateful. In my ninth letter I had stopped at the diagnosis. You took the diagnosis and translated it…
Tenth Letter from Andreas to Michael Dear Michael, Your ninth letter arrived at the right time, and at the wrong time, which is often the same thing. The right time, because the question you raise is the one that shadows…
Two Modes, One Discipline Part of the series Leading Through Turbulence. In August 1997, Steve Jobs walked onto a stage at Macworld Boston to announce that Apple had accepted a 150 million dollar investment from Microsoft. The audience booed. Apple…