I’ve been lucky to have a lot of great mentors. I’m hoping I can find ways to share what I learn more broadly.

no.5 I put my first mentor on a pedastal. He fell off and disappointed me. I never did it again with anyone else. I was in my mid 20’s when it happened…a lesson learned early in life!

no.10 Who doesn’t like surprises! This is very effective.

no.20 How true, it’s all about the people.

n0 22 Always!

How blessed you are to have a mentor like John. Thanks for sharing his wisdom.

To add simplicity into my life, I actually made it an “AND.”

I like to be exhaustive, complete, and maximize things. I couldn’t simply switch to simple. Instead, I added simple in addition to my complex or complete. It’s been a great way to practice the art of depth and the art of simplicity. The “And” was the key. I used to miss the simple, now I always add it by design.

@ Dr. Michael

Very well put. I’m a fan of leading by example or making things happen. Complaining is just too slow and boring for me

It sounds like Ackoff was a treasure trove of insight.

Beautiful point on doing the right things over the wrong things righter.

He rejected the label ‘guru’. Followers of gurus do not think for themselves

Ackoff never achieved the widespread fame of Peter Drucker, the 20th century’s most distinguished management writer. It is a little ironic that Ackoff should die just as the November issue of the Harvard Business Review is published marking the centenary of Drucker’s birth, with a photo of the great Austrian on the cover and the question “What would Peter do?” printed next to it.

Thanks to Vince Barabba, who until 2003 was general manager of corporate strategy at General Motors, ‘we’ know what Peter did do, at least on one occasion: acknowledge his debt to Ackoff. “He really taught me a lot,” Drucker told the GM man, and followed up by writing a letter to Ackoff to express his gratitude.

I met Ackoff inPhiladelphia long ago, when he gave me a lengthy and enjoyable tutorial. He was softly spoken, but intellectually rigorous. “All of our problems arise out of doing the wrong thing righter,” he told me. “The more efficient you are at doing the wrong thing, the wronger you become. It is much better to do the right thing wronger than the wrong thing righter. If you do the right thing wrong and correct it, you get better.”

One of his last and certainly most accessible books is, Management f-Laws (co-authored with Herb Addison and Sally Bibb). The book is a collection of 81 subversive epigrams on management, each one followed by an explanatory text.

There are some terrific zingers in it. “Business schools are high security prisons of the mind,” he wrote. (Although an emeritus professor at the Wharton School in his home town of Philadelphia, he remained ambivalent about educational institutions in general and business schools in particular.)

“An organization that cannot accommodate nonconformity will not be able to retain creative people,” Ackoff stated.

And: “Organizations fail more often because of what they have not done than because of what they have done.” And: “The less managers expect of their subordinates, the less they get.”

Ackoff – like Drucker – rejected the label “guru”. Followers of gurus do not think for themselves, Ackoff believed. He preferred to see himself as an educator. Consultants go into businesses and try to impose a solution, he said. Educators train the people responsible for the work to work things out for themselves. I couldn’t help smiling, when I once read a little known little booklet –“Further reflection’s on Mexico”, where as a government consultant,
upon reflecting on what he was actually doing in Mexico, defined himself as a ‘Great Entertainer’ that was titillating the brains of the Mexican officials supposed to introduce
some urgent change in their institutions.

Ackoff’s death, even at the impressive age of 90, has provoked an outpouring of expressions of regret and admiration from former students and colleagues. I suspect that some of them feel his work never quite received the recognition it deserved. He remained a too well-kept secret.

Listen to that clever and humane voice one more time: “The only problems that have simple solutions are simple problems. The only managers that have simple problems have simple minds. Problems that arise in organizations are almost always the product of interactions of parts, never the action of a single part. Complex problems do not have simple solutions.”

Concerning lesson number (7) – If you are explaining you’re losing; John Baldoni and Barack Obama seem to be willing to contribute to your further understanding of that particular issue:

Explanation is a key attribute of leadership communications. Leaders know to inject their communications with verve and enthusiasm as a means of persuasion, but they also need to include an explanation for the excitement. What does it mean and why are we doing it are critical questions that every leader must answer with straightforward explanations. Here are three ways to become an effective explainer.
Define what it is. The purpose of an explanation is to describe the issue, the initiative, or the problem. For example, if you are pushing for cost reductions, explain why they are necessary and what they will entail. Put the cost reductions into the context of business operations. Be certain to explicate the benefits.
Define what it isn’t. Here is where the leader moves into the “never assume mode.” Be clear to define the exclusions. For example, returning to our cost reduction issue, if you are asking for reductions in costs, not people, be explicit. Otherwise employees will assume they are being axed. Leave no room for assumptions. This is not simply true for potential layoffs but for any business issue.
Define what you want people to do. This becomes an opportunity to issue the call for action. Establishing expectations is critical. Cost reductions mean employees will have to do more with less; explain what that will entail in clear and precise terms. Leaders can also use the expectations step as a challenge for people to think and do differently. Your explanation then takes on broader significance.
Good explainers need to be careful, however, not to overdo the details. In a town hall meeting format, the leader sketches the facts and supports them with data points. Dwelling too long on a single point, or points, risks not simply boring the audience but confusing them. Save detailed explanations, which are necessary, for written documentation or team meetings. The latter presents an opportunity for the next level of leaders to translate the communications into action steps.
As such, detailed explanations work well in face-to-face situations, or in team meetings. They become opportunities to elaborate on possibilities. More important, they also allow individuals to offer their feedback, something that typically cannot occur in large-scale town hall events. The explanation becomes an invitation for discussion, and skillful leaders use it to communicate not simply facts, but also to engage support for their ideas.

Thank you. I agree – happiness is a dish best shared. A model that’s helped me is growing others and making others great lifts me up in the process.

@ Jenn

Thank you. If you need help, let me know. As a PM for years, I’ve tuned my skills for vision, business case, impact … etc. It’s night and day from when I first started.

@ A.V. Thamburaj

Thank you. I really like that one too because it’s a great way to explain a common pattern.

@ Juliet

Thank you. I like the fact the lessons are quick to share, but have a level of depth you can chew on.

@ Alik

It really is fresh stuff and I like the ah-ha factor. I like the six year old test because it forces you to boil down to the essence and direct with precision and simplicity.

I joined Microsoft so I could work with people smarter than me and I could be a small fish in a big pond. My best managers always turn out to be my best mentors.

I have a really high bar now … I’ve had some of the best managers around.

@ JB King

You did a great job distilling the lessons into themes. I especially like how you articulated the strategy pattern.

@ Patricia

Thank you.

You have a ton of insight and experience to share. If you haven’t already, checkout ChangeThis.com and consider creating some Manifestos to flex your change artistry skills.

@ Paul

I agree. I think it comes down to values. It’s putting a value on results, people, growth, and excellence. I think the people focus grows from empathy and compassion. The system side is really about thinking holistically in terms of cycles, ecosystems, timeframes, product-lines, … etc. Luckily, there are some great techniques, models and skills for improving the people side or the system side.

That’s a good way to put it and, yes, it’s a powerful combination.

@ Oscar

Thank you! I’m lucky to have inspiring people to learn from.

@ Megan

Beautifully put and great example. I love how the right words can have instant zing or they can miss the boat. Some sound bites instantly resonate and spread like wild fire.

Demand generation is tough. I think Apple does a good job both at finding latent needs, as well as creating demand through emotional appeal — it just feels good. They also play the envy game.

@ Jannie

Thank you — Back at ya!

The best times in my life are always shared experiences.

It is good to have a boss that you can learn from

Say, are you hiring? – LOL!