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Many people are surprised today by Rick Wagoners 'firing' by President Obama. However, I see this is the most prominent concrete sign that things are really changing – that the 'old rules' (which created much of the ka-ka we see in today's economic uncertainty) no longer apply.
GM is certainly a poster-child of the way things were run in the latter half of the 1900s, and today it shows the ROI of that style of management. As Rosabeth Moss Kanter says, the plans that they submitted to Congress were nothing new – doing the same old thing the same old way, just more cost-effectively.
Those plans did not go deeply into what has caused the problems GM and so many other corporations are facing today – how things are done, how things are led. We've talked a lot about leadership over the past several decades, but if you look at the research that's been conducted, overall leadership has not shifted that much. It's been just that – talk.
One of the key pillars of effective leadership is challenging the way everything is being done – including your own leadership – and that's something that GM just did not do. It's like that old definition of insanity – doing the same thing over and over and expecting a different result. Their new plan – we'll just do the same things more cost-effectively.
This economic uncertainty is forcing us to look at how we do things – it is creating a an opportunity for those who are ready to truly transform themselves and their businesses, and I applaud the fact that Obama and his team recognize real change from moving deck chairs on the Titanic.
Are you ready to take advantage of the opportunity in these times?
What are your 2 cents?
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