by Esther Derby | Aug 19, 2020 | Coaching, Systems and Complexity
When there’s an issue in an organization, people have a tendency to focus on fixing the person(s). But there may be other—more effective—ways to fix the problem. People are easy to see, and easy to criticize. That’s where we’ve been taught to focus. Performance...
by Esther Derby | Jan 27, 2016 | Collaboration & Teams, Systems and Complexity
Many problems are easier to solve when you have data. However, there is a difference between having data and using data. Several years ago, I worked wit an organization that was experiencing system outages. After months of outages and no effective action, they...
by Esther Derby | Jun 2, 2011 | Leadership & Management
I’ve been noticing what’s missing lately. In some ways, its harder to see what’s not there than what is. But there’s lost of useful information in what isn’t said, as well as what is. For example: A manager, talking about one of the...
by Esther Derby | May 25, 2011 | Coaching, Collaboration & Teams
I was talking to my friend Penny the other day about a team she coaches. She has a problem I’ve seen on many teams: a smart guy (or gal) who dominates the team. I’ll call Penny’s team member Bob. Most of the time Bob is an asset to the team. But when...
by Esther Derby | May 5, 2011 | Leadership & Management, Organizational Change
Here in the United States, our business culture tends to be action-oriented. We value the ability to think fast and act decisively. These qualities can be strengths. However, like most strengths, they can also be a weakness. Taking action when you don’t know the...
