The five stages of culture every organization passes through, and how to tell which one you’re really in. A car dealership executive told me about one of his service technicians not long ago. The man was finishing up a vehicle at the end of a long shift, and the executive stopped by and asked what … Read more
A coral reef is one of the most beautiful and complex structures in the natural world. It is an entire ecosystem, alive and self-sustaining, every part depending on every other. And here is the amazing characteristic about a coral reef. No one built it. It occurred. You cannot commission a coral reef or draw up … Read more
Integrity is not what you say in the boardroom. It is what you do when no one is watching. When I was a young lieutenant in Germany, I had a platoon of about 41 Soldiers. We patrolled the East and West German border, and when we weren’t out at the border outposts, we worked on … Read more
The Army taught me a phrase early, and it shaped everything I have done since. Be the Standard. Know the task and the duties of your profession. Then do them, every day. You represent what right looks like. Be, Know, Do. Three words, and the order matters. Being comes first. Before you know anything technical and … Read more
As I’ve described earlier, West Point and the Army made deliberate decisions to move from a culture of compliance to a culture of commitment, from measuring who could survive to investing in who could lead. That is a culture turnaround. It is one of the most transparent examples I know of what large-scale culture change … Read more
In the spring of 2020, Patrick McBrayer was the CEO of ACell Inc., a medical device company with a workforce that had gone home, a supply chain under pressure, and an industry landscape that was changing by the week. The pandemic was not a problem that could be solved with a good quarter or a … Read more
