Lean Connections

I’ve been on the waiting list to attend the TED conference (subtitled: Ideas worth spreading“) for a while now and unfortunately I’m still pretty far down the totem pole.  So in the meantime I’ve had to make do with reading TED presentation transcripts and checking out their videos and podcasts.  This one struck me as timely and relevant to my work and to all the manic discussions now taking place in both the public and private sectors regarding executive compensation.

So, is money the ultimate job motivator? Here is the link to an awesome video of Dan Pink speaking at this year’s TED conference on exactly this issue.  Turns out that it depends highly on the kind of work that needs doing. And it looks to me like we might just want to revisit some of our basic asssumptions about how we pay people and the kind of performance we get in return.  Let’s do some out-of-the-box lean thinking on this one. What do you think?  Adam Zak

Will you select the right one?

In every conversation with senior leadership I’ve had during the past two weeks this one truth stands out loud and clear:  Acquiring, orienting and deploying the right new talent is an expensive business to get right, and even more expensive to get wrong.  Just think of all that muda!