Strategy – Third Eye Observations

Stop Doomed Projects: 3 Books Offer Insights on Planning, Communication, and Execution

Project failures are rampant. Seven in ten projects fail to deliver promised benefits, often exceeding budgets. After two decades witnessing this firsthand in reengineering and transformation projects, I sought insights from three books to understand why well-intentioned projects fail and how to address a common culprit: poor communication. The books reviewed are: While none earnedContinue reading “Stop Doomed Projects: 3 Books Offer Insights on Planning, Communication, and Execution”

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Calm in Chaos: A Framework for the Overhyped Now

This essay’s TL;DR ? Don’t get too caught up in the current “this time it’s different” hype cycle. Focus on the basics and what is immutable. “EVERYTHING IS CHANGING. NEW NEW THING WILL NOW REPLACE THE OLD NEW THING!” Currently the zeitgiest is all about and around AI hot takes. Earlier it was Blockchain andContinue reading “Calm in Chaos: A Framework for the Overhyped Now”

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Everyone Hates RyanAir. Not me.

You read and read those dry HBR and assorted blogs and Inc, Fast Company and Fortune Magazine articles about how SPEED is a competitive advantage. You hear CEOs intone how their firms are committed to it and then, finally, you see the real thing. It was glorious ‘efficiency porn’ and it was absolutely riveting to watch. 13thContinue reading “Everyone Hates RyanAir. Not me.”

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The likely connection between Profitability and Good Customer Service

ka-ching! : An imitation of the sound made by a cash register, used when someone’s action will result in more money. Wow! : In this context, the exhaled sound from a delighted customer walking away from the transaction. Usually precedes the Ka-Ching. So the greats (Amazon, Zappos, Apple, Southwest) easily manage both on the aboveContinue reading “The likely connection between Profitability and Good Customer Service”

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On Innovation at Staid Firms

A phrase in the article ‘The Next Russian Revolution’ By Chrystia Freeland in The Atlantic about Skolkovo, a planned ‘silicon valley’ of sorts in Russia is worth rehashing : “…..After all, one of the most important—and, if you happen to be a democrat, inspiring—lessons of the past two millennia of human history is that openContinue reading “On Innovation at Staid Firms”

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On Corporate Innovation

I was at a my company offsite recently and we were deep into discussing why it was imperative that we move away from offering just wage arbitrage as a USP and embrace ‘Innovation’ more aggressively. The audience was reminded that our competition was matching us on the price front and so ‘innovation’ was the ticketContinue reading “On Corporate Innovation”

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The damage bad managers can inflict is astounding

There is only so much good one noble person can do but there is no such upper limit to damage a bad actor can inflict. A good leader-manager can only make so much of a difference. But a bad one can just burn it all down. Entrepreneurs and CXOs need to be every vigilant of lettingContinue reading “The damage bad managers can inflict is astounding”

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Hacking the Service Code

‘Smart’ pundits who love climaxing to epigrams sometimes dub China the ‘world’s factory’ and India, it’s ‘back office’. Although I would contend this is an irritating reductionism masking an aversion to in-depth research or independent thinking or worse, both, the economic nom de plumes can be taken as a go-point for some mental base jumping.Continue reading “Hacking the Service Code”