"In concentrating on all the trees, we lose sight of the forest"

 

"But here is what surprises me most: given the sophistication of firm strategies and the intensity of our work lives, I would expect to see impressive firm profitability at most companies and more-than-generous compensation packages for nearly everyone. I see neither. Take firm profitability: one-fourth of the firms included in the S&P 500 fail to earn long-term returns in excess of their cost of capital. In China, this traction is even higher, closer to one-third.

Think about it. How can it be that so many companies, their ranks filled with talented and highly engaged employees, have so little to show for so much effort? Why do hard work and sophisticated strategy lead to enduring financial success for some companies but not for others?

...

As our strategic initiatives multiply, something unforeseen happens. In concentrating on all the trees, we lose sight of the forest. In a profusion of activities, an overall direction, a guiding principle, is hard to see. Any promising idea is an idea that seems worth pursuing. In the end, common sense rules, and strategy loses much of its ability to steer our businesses. In this world, strategic planning becomes an annual ritual that feels bureaucratic and less than helpful in resolving critical issues. In fact, it is not difficult to find firms that have no strategy at all. In many others, it consists of an 80-page deck that is rich in data but short on insights, fabulous at listing considerations but of little help in actual decision-making. When I review companies' strategic plans, I often see a plethora of frameworks-many of them inconsistent with each other - but few guideposts for effective management. If the hallmark of a great strategy is its telling you what not to do, what not to worry about, which developments to disregard, many of today's efforts fall short."

Num tempo em que as organizações multiplicam iniciativas, frameworks e relatórios estratégicos com dezenas de slides, o que deveria ser claro torna-se confuso. Estratégia, que deveria ser bússola, é substituída por checklists de ambições desconexas.

O paradoxo é evidente: empresas com equipas talentosas e altamente envolvidas, com planos sofisticados e reuniões intermináveis... mas que não conseguem gerar rendibilidade sustentável. Nos EUA, 1 em cada 4 empresas do S&P 500 não cobre o seu custo de capital. Na China, é pior.

A explicação pode estar menos na execução e mais na ausência de direcção real. Perdeu-se a clareza sobre o que não fazer, o que deixar para trás, e que decisões não merecem atenção. O resultado? Estratégias que mais confundem do que orientam.

Mais frameworks nem sempre significam mais visão. Estratégia não é um repositório de boas intenções — é uma escolha deliberada, muitas vezes difícil, que implica renúncia e foco. E, acima de tudo, deve ser útil. Na semana passada numa reunião por Teams alguém levantava uma dor que sentia, mas teve a honestidade de dizer que também contribuía para a dor (a clássica competição do planeamento, produção, logística e comercial sobre prazos de entrega, eficiência e custos). Depois, ao fim da tarde, durante uma sessão de jogging oiço um podcast uma frase que se ajusta a tantas dores: "Não há soluções, só trade-offs". E a estratégia deve ser a bitola para negociar esses trade-offs, não o poder individual dos intervenientes.

Que papel desempenha a estratégia na sua organização? Está a ajudar a decidir? Ou apenas a decorar apresentações? 

Trechos retirados de "Better, simpler strategy : a value-based guide to exceptional performance" de Felix Oberholzer-Gee. 

O tecelão

 

"Then Klopp walked on stage and the chemistry changed, in the way it sometimes can in a large arena. He smiled - that huge megawatt smile — and started answering questions from John Bishop, the MC, about his nine-year tenure at the club. Yet the German didn't want to talk about the matches, goals or highlights, but rather the moments behind the scenes that had, he believed, proved crucial.

He talked of a moment at the start of his reign when he asked the players to gather in the media room while the staff - gardeners, cooks, fitness coaches etc — walked through one at a time. He asked the players: "Do you know these people? Do you know their names?" Embarrassed, the players realised that they often didn't have a clue. "They are here to help you to perform 100 per cent. They are part of the team," he said.

Another moment regarded by Klopp as "seminal" in those early days was a trip he arranged to Tenerife with the whole of the backroom team. "I didn't know these people before I came here, but they became friends," he said. "Friends for life." Bishop couldn't help smiling and the crowd murmured, glimpsing the significance of what Klopp was saying.

And as he talked, I found an image forming in my mind. It wasn't of Klopp the manager, but rather of Klopp the weaver. I couldn't help thinking that, for all his tactical knowledge and formidable competitive instincts, his deeper strength lies in knitting people together, weaving disparate individuals into a shared ethos. "We had to get the culture right," he said. "That's what this club is about." 

E na sua organização, quem é/são o(s) tecelão(ões)?

Trechos publicados no The Times do passado dia 1 de Maio em "Liverpool offer lesson in succession"

Unreasonable hospitality - parte II

""All it takes for something extraordinary to happen is one person with enthusiasm."

...

Let your energy impact the people you're talking to, as opposed to the other way around."

O trecho que se segue fez-me lembrar alguns empresários de PMEs que aprenderam esta lição há uns anos:

"Randy also instilled in us a sense of ownership by finding ways to demonstrate his faith in our judgment.

"You okay if I get out of here a little early?" he'd ask, tossing me the keys to the front door. As a twenty-two-year-old, I was thrilled to be left in charge. If the boss was gone, then I was the boss-which is why I worked harder when Randy was gone than when he was there.

More important, I never forgot how much his trust meant to me, which is why developing a sense of ownership in the people who worked for me would become a priority for me as soon as I was the one tossing the keys."

Um momento de silêncio pelas PMEs que este estudo revela:

"a "cult" is what people who work for companies that haven't invested enough in their cultures tend to call the companies that have."

Paro aqui porque a próxima citação merece um postal isolado. 

Trechos retirados de "Unreasonable hospitality: the remarkable power of giving people more than they expect" de Will Guidara.

Parte I.

The babble effect

"Putting people in a group doesn't automatically make them a team. 

...

Leaders play an important role in establishing cohesion. They have the authority to turn independent individuals into an interdependent team. But all too often, when it comes time to decide who takes the helm, we fail to consider the glue factor.

When we select leaders, we don't usually pick the person with the strongest leadership skills. We frequently choose the person who talks the most. It's called the babble effect. Research shows that groups promote the people who command the most airtime -regardless of their aptitude and expertise. We mistake confidence for competence, certainty for credibility, and quantity for quality. We get stuck following people who dominate the discussion instead of those who elevate it.

It's not just the loudest voices who rise to lead even if they aren't qualified. The worst babblers are the ball hogs. In many cases, the people with the poorest prosocial skills and the biggest egos end up assuming the mantle-at a great cost to teams and organizations. In a meta-analysis, highly narcissistic people were more likely to rise into leadership roles, but they were less effective in those roles. They made self-serving decisions and instilled a zero-sum view of success, provoking cutthroat behavior and undermining cohesion and collaboration."

Trechos retirados de "Hidden Potential" de Adam Grant.  

"Define the problems the organization should focus on"

"What I found is that to make the transition successfully, executives must navigate a tricky set of changes in a their leadership focus and skills, which I call the seven seismic shifts. They must learn to move from specialist to generalist, analyst to integrator, tactician to strategist, bricklayer to architect, problem solver to agenda setter, warrior to diplomat, and supporting cast member to lead role.

...

Problem Solver to Agenda Setter

Define the problems the organization should focus on, and spot issues that don't fall neatly into any one function but are still important."

A propósito de "Define the problems the organization should focus on", quantas vezes esta definição é feita de forma reactiva? Quantas vezes é feita sem a transição de tacticista para estratégico?

Trechos retirados de "How Managers Become Leaders"  

Eles gostam de ser enganados!

Primeiro, encontrei este trecho num artigo na HBR já há dias, "How to Spot an Incompetent Leader":

"The bad news is that, despite the availability of such tools, very few organizations are using them. The problem then, it seems, is not that we lack the means to spot incompetence, but that we more often choose to be seduced by it. This means we have only ourselves to blame for our self-destructive leadership choices. Perhaps it is time to stop paying lip service to humility and integrity, until we practice what we preach and pick leaders on the basis of these traits. Instead of promoting people on the basis of their charisma, overconfidence, and narcissism, we must put in charge people with actual competence, humility, and integrity. The issue is not that these traits are difficult to measure, but that we appear to not want them as much as we say."

Um chefe competente é um chefe exigente, é um chefe que nos apresenta a realidade, não estórias de embalar. Um chefe competente não promete facilidades, elas serão uma consequência indirecta do sucesso do esforço. 

Depois, recordei este trecho bíblico, Lucas VI, 43-44:

"Não existe árvore boa produzindo mau fruto; nem inversamente, uma árvore má produzindo bom fruto. Pois cada árvore é conhecida pelos seus próprios frutos. Não é possível colher-se figos de espinheiros, nem tampouco, uvas de ervas daninhas"

Voltemos às chefias, em vez de humildade e procura... 

"It also reminded me of something I’ve noticed in my work helping organizations transform themselves. Some are willing to take a hard look at themselves and make tough changes, while others are addicted to happy talk and try to wish problems away. Make no mistake. You can’t tackle the future without looking with clear eyes at how the present came into being." [Moi ici: Joaquim Aguiar diz isto tantas vezes. Enquanto não reconhecermos os nossos erros, não estamos preparados para os ultrapassar] (1)

Vejo tanta desta resistência nas empresas ... sobretudo quando se procura desenvolver uma acção correctiva, uma acção para eliminar a(s) causa(s) raiz por trás de um problema considerado relevante. Em vez de humildade e procura... defesa, medo, desculpas.

Por fim, ontem:

"É bom que haja luz no fim do túnel, mas a questão é o que essa luz ilumina.

Quando se chegar ao fim do túnel, o que haverá para ver é um nível de dívida que só é sustentável enquanto o Banco Central Europeu e a sua política monetária permitirem, uma incapacidade de acumulação de capital que só poderá ser compensada com a atracção de capital externo, uma demografia sem vitalidade que só poderá ser compensada com imigração em grande escala, e taxas de crescimento da economia que há duas décadas são insuficientes para sustentar os discursos políticos da justiça social.

A democracia não resolve a questão que a luz no fim do túnel lumina. A democracia é um processo que oferece aos eleitores o poder de atribuir legitimidade aos que se candidatam a exercer o poder político, mas não garante que sejam escolhidos os que são mais capazes para o exercer. A democracia é eficaz a seleccionar e a afastar, mas não inventa qualidade onde ela não existir. Quando se chegar à luz que está no fim do túnel, terá de se reflectir sobre o modo como é exercido o poder que a democracia legitima. Ou se quer continuar num regime político distributivo, em que se faz circular recursos internos de uns grupos sociais para outros

...

Ou se reconhece que é necessário assumir a exigência do regime político competitivo para colocar no crescimento económico e na comparação com o exterior os primeiros critérios da escolha democrática e as prioridades da estratégia política."

Quando eu era miúdo fazia uns ditados na escola primária baseados em contos populares com uma moral no fim. Julgo que vivo numa desses contos em que concluo que gostamos, como povo, que nos enganem, que nos contem estórias de embalar. Nesses contos o Diabo, na bifurcação aparecia sempre a apresentar o caminho que leva ao Inferno, o mais bonito e agradável.

Trechos da autoria de Joaquim Aguiar e publicados no JdN de 4 de Maio de 2021 sob o título "Crise, democracia, regime"

(1) Trecho retirado de "Some Can Transform Themselves. Others Can’t. Here’s What Makes The Difference:"

"The biggest challenge for many business leaders is to see their role as orchestrating, not commanding"

"The business leaders who are best at managing in uncertain worlds also rely on systems thinking that allows them to sort out complex problems, the report concluded. They prioritize diverse inputs, teamwork, and partnerships. These leaders assemble the best team they can, and trust that team to find the information the organization needs to get through a crisis.

.

“These CEOs understand they don’t need to know it all themselves,” 

...

expects the U.S. economy to contract by 11 percent by the end of the year. Significantly, it estimated that 60 percent of that contraction will be the direct consequence of uncertainty: that is, a condition in which important information is unknowable.

.

Because nobody knows what is next, no CEO reasonably can be taken to task for not knowing everything. That provides an opening for leaders who have deployed top-down, command-and-control leadership styles to switch to a mind-set that helps them and their teams better navigate uncertain conditions.

.

Leaders don’t have to like dealing with uncertainty in order to master it. “You can be uncomfortable with uncertainty. We don’t grow if we don’t feel uncomfortable,”

...

The biggest challenge for many business leaders, in Leavitt’s view, is to see their role as orchestrating, not commanding. That means making sure your employees are in touch with their own desires and potential just as much as your business is aligned with its sense of purpose.

.

The point isn’t for CEOs to be the hero, Leavitt said, but for them be able to say, once they are past the crisis: “Look at how the team was built up during this time! Look at what they did! Look how they stepped up!”

.

That behavior makes all the difference between whether employees respond to uncertainty by becoming more creative and proactive, or overstressed and paralyzed. The ability to cope with uncertainty and keep pursuing your mission will be the difference between success and failure."

Trechos retirados de "Why managing uncertainty is a key leadership skill"

"you can’t be exceptional in the marketplace unless ..."

“too many companies focus too narrowly on the details of price, performance, and features when they explain their offerings to customers.
...
I appreciate that leaders who aspire to do big things can’t lose sight of the small things that make such a huge impression inside and outside the organization.
...
Whether you’re building a lovemark or just spreading some love, you can’t be exceptional in the marketplace unless you create something exceptional in the workplace. Your brand is the outward expression of your culture, your culture is the platform that sustains your brand.”

Excerto de: William C. Taylor. “Simply Brilliant: How Great Organizations Do Ordinary Things in Extraordinary Ways”. Apple Books.

‘I can’t be real with this person.’

"“Everyone is so intent on expressing their own opinion, or they’re so distracted by technology or by their own thoughts, that it’s making us isolated, misinformed and intolerant. I wanted to raise awareness of the value and great joy of listening.”
...
everyone had a great story to tell if you could be bothered to talk to them properly and listen to what they had to say.
...
“Anyone who has shared something personal and received a thoughtless or uncomprehending response knows how it makes your soul want to crawl back into its hiding place,” she writes. “Whether someone is confessing a misdeed, proposing an idea, sharing a dream, revealing an anxiety or recalling a significant event – that person is giving up a piece of him or herself. And if you don’t handle it with care, the person will start to edit future conversations with you, knowing: ‘I can’t be real with this person.’”"

Trechos retirados de "How to be a good listener: my mission to learn the most important skill of all"

Aprender com o futuro (parte III)

Parte II e parte I.

Como diz Otto Scharmer, aprender com o futuro à medida que este emerge:

"According to a recent study, two out of ten German companies with more than 100 employees is already using 3D printing and another 23 % are planning to do so. Germany's leading industries, i.e. automotive, mechanical engineering and chemicals, are pioneers in 3D printing.
...
The representative study concludes that 3D printing is one of the most important topics in the German economy. According to the study 19 % of all German companies with more than 100 employees, has already started to use additive manufacturing.
...
According to the Bitkom study, the automotive industry is also a pioneer in 3D printing, with 41 % (22 % in 2017) of companies already using it. Currently, car manufacturers are using additive technologies mainly for prototype and tool making. Trials of additive series production are conducted more frequently.
...
38 % of machine and plant manufacturers are already using 3D printing. In 2017, only 26 % of the companies used this technology. This increase can partly be explained by the possibility of optimizing the functionality of additively manufactured components, such as optimized cooling structures.
...
In the chemical and pharmaceutical industries, 38 % of companies also make use of additive manufacturing - twice as many as in 2017 (19 %)."

Impressionante a velocidade a que a coisa se propaga.

Que considerações estratégicas levam as empresas a usar a impressão 3D?

Pelo menos 3 ou 4 destes motivos parecem-me muito interessantes como meios de aprendizagem acerca do futuro.

Como não fazer a ponte para este postal "Para reflexão" e para "Se eu fosse líder de um adjudicatário, ou de uma entidade executante, e quisesse ter um papel nesse futuro, montaria 3 ou 4, ou 5 ou 10 dessas casas auto-suficientes, e usaria-as como cobaias, para perceber", para aprender com o futuro que está a emergir e desenvolver uma vantagem competitiva.

Trechos iniciais retirados de "3D Printing is One of the Most Important Economic Topics"

Aprender com o futuro (parte II)

 Parte I.

“Understanding process means to understand the making of our social relationships. If you want to change a stakeholder relationship from, say, dysfunctional to helpful, you cannot just order people to do it. You have to intervene further upstream in the process of social reality creation. You have to change the making of that relationship from one mode to another—for example, from reactive to co-creative.
...
Often in organizations you see CEOs and executives who fail to get that. They think they can create behavioral change just by making speeches and pushing tools onto the organization. Tools are important. But they are also overrated because they are so visible. But what is usually underrated is all the stuff that is invisible to the eye—for example, the less visible elements of a good holding space: intention, attention, and the subtle qualities of deep listening. Building a good container means to build a good holding space for a generative social process.
...
And just as the organic farmer depends completely on the living quality of the soil, social pioneers depend on the living quality of the social field. I define social field as the quality of relationships that give rise to patterns of thinking, conversing, and organizing, which in turn produce practical results.
And just as the farmer cannot “drive” a plant to grow faster, a leader or change maker in an organization or a community cannot force practical results. Instead, attention must be focused on improving the quality of the soil. What is the quality of the social soil? It is the quality of relationships among individuals, teams, and institutions that give rise to collective behavior and practical results.
...
For example: the quality of my listening co-shapes how the conversation unfolds. Or, speaking more generally, the quality of results in any social system is a function of the consciousness from which the people in that system operate. Boiled down to three words, the idea can be expressed as form follows consciousness.
...
Listening is probably the most underrated leadership skill. At the heart of most examples of colossal leadership failures—which are in no short supply—leaders are often unable to connect with and make sense of the “VUCA” world around them; that is, a world defined by volatility, uncertainty, complexity, and ambiguity.
Listening, however, is not only important to leadership. If you are not a good listener, there is no way that you can develop real mastery in any discipline.
The most consistent feedback we have received from the hundreds of workshops, programs, and innovation journeys we have facilitated is this: Shifting your mode of listening is life-changing. Shifting how you listen, the way you pay attention, sounds like a really small change. But here is the thing: Changing how you listen means that you change how you experience relationships and the world. And if you change that, you change, well, EVERYTHING.”

Ao ler estes trechos vieram-me à memória as imagens que visualizei no Twitter há dias:

In case you missed it, video of the week: Dutch PM checks his bike into a big underground parking place. Attendant (of Kurdish origin) is amazed: “He has to check in and out like a normal person! This is how you run a country. I’m never leaving” pic.twitter.com/49aGdWH2Tx

— Ben Coates (@bencoates1) January 25, 2020

E reli " It is the quality of relationships among individuals, teams, and institutions that give rise to collective behavior and practical results."

Ainda ontem, durante um telefonema, recordei esta estória "Crédito fácil e barato", sem "intention, attention, and the subtle qualities of deep listening" como criar o terreno para uma mudança real?

Trechos retirados de "The Essentials of Theory U: Core Principles and Applications" de Otto Scharmer.

Generative Listening

Depois de escrever o último postal, "Start moving in some general direction", fiquei a matutar no postal de 2007, "Liderança = energia + movimento":

"The plan (or map) will not of itself actually tell them the route to take: the job of the leader in this situation is one of instilling some confidence in people to start them moving in some general direction, and to be sure that they look closely at cues created by their action, so that they learn where they are and where they want to be. When there is uncertainty or, more properly, equivocality in the environment, intelligent choices may be difficult; such situations put a premium on the robustness of the adaptive procedures rather than of the "map", the strategy or the organization."

Depois, fui ver um filme que o meu parceiro das conversas oxigenadoras me mandou. Gostei tanto dele que ainda fui à procura de outro:

Curling master

Como o tempo voa... há mais de 7 anos escrevi este postal "Crédito fácil e barato".

Lembrei-me logo dele ao ler "How to Motivate Your Team During Crunch Time". No texto sobre o que não fazer lembrei-me logo de uma série de políticos:

"Don’t

• Be dishonest or sugarcoat matters. Acknowledge to your team the burden and sacrifices involved.

• Ignore obvious problems. If you see that an employee is struggling, reach out. Ask: What roadblocks need to be removed? 

• Disappear behind closed doors. You need to be accessible and visible to your team."

Para que a organização cumpra o seu propósito, a gestão de topo não pode deixar de pensar no seu papel de master-curling.

"leaders eat last"

"Officers Eat Last is a phrase used by U.S. Marines that effectively means servant leadership.
It’s also an action used by Marine leaders.
The most senior leaders of the organization actually eat last when the unit has a meal together during field training and in certain combat environments. When the leaders eat last it is a physical expression of servant leadership.
...
The key piece is that in order to be successful as a leader you must put your people first.
It doesn’t mean you must be easy on them. It doesn’t mean that you don’t hold them accountable. It means that you take care of everyone of them and if you do, they will take care of the mission and you.
I have been the last to eat many times throughout my career.
There have been times where there wasn’t any food left.
It is extremely unfortunate when this happens, but the best people to fix logistic issues or any other issues are the leaders. The front line people in most organizations are critical to the overall effectiveness of the organization."

Lembrei-me desta expressão e do livro de Simon Sinek, "Leaders Eat Last" ao ler:

Trecho retirado de "What does “Officers Eat Last” really mean?"

"You can’t grow and cling to the comfort of the status quo"

"Growth requires:
.
Not knowing.There’s nowhere to grow if you already know.
Making mistakes. Success solidifies who you are. Failure changes you.
Feeling like an impostor. You have to try on new behaviors to ignite growth.
...
Most leaders want to grow, but not everyone wants to step from the known into the unknown.
.
Growth occurs where the path ends and the forest begins. You can’t grow and cling to the comfort of the status quo."

Trechos retirados de "Where the Path Ends and the Forest Begins"

Para reflexão

Julgo que já escrevi sobre o tema aqui no blogue. Um estudante tira um curso de engenharia, vai para uma empresa e ao fim de 6 meses põem-no a chefiar uma secção à frente de 10/15 homens. No entanto, ao longo de todo o curso nunca estudou uma disciplina que abordasse a temática da liderança  ou da gestão de pessoas.

Depois, encontro estes números e fico a pensar:

"So much depends upon managers. For example, a Gallup study found that at least 70% of the variance in employee engagement scores is driven by who the boss is. This is disconcerting because the same research found that about 70% of people in management roles are not well equipped for the job. This state of affairs is hurting not just employee engagement and quality of life, but also corporate performance.
.
Most companies understand the importance of having highly effective managers, but few invest heavily in training to help them get there."

Trecho retirado de "What Great Managers Do Daily"

Ainda acerca da liderança e do futuro

A propósito de "José Mourinho is a cultural terrorist who is too immature to create a dynasty" (comentada aqui), recordar o que escrevemos aqui:

• Um interrogação que José Mourinho me lança (Setembro de 2007)
• Acerca da liderança e do futuro (Junho de 2013)

“Who do you want to become.”

"Everything great begins with unhappiness.
...
Discomfort initiates growth. Vision guides it.
...
“Becoming,” not “doing,” is real growth.
...
The ultimate question is, “Who do you want to become.”
...
When “doing” drives living, frustration grows. When identity drives behavior, fulfillment grows."

Trechos retirados de "Seven Steps to New Leadership"

Mais batedores do que gestores

Primeiro, recordar esta reflexão de Abril de ... 2007:

“A maioria das empresas portuguesas, a maioria dos gestores portugueses, foi/está habituada a uma gestão de exploração do crescimento do mercado, não a uma gestão do conhecido. São batedores, não são verdadeiros gestores para mercados maduros, gostam de cavalgar a onda de um mercado em crescimento (está tão alinhado com a nossa mentalidade de desenrasque) que permite e até privilegia algum “granel instituído.”

Depois, estes recortes do livro "XLR8" de Kotter que acabei recentemente:

"Management ensures the stability and efficiency necessary to run today’s enterprise reliably. Leadership creates needed change to take advantage of new opportunities, to avoid serious threats, and to create and execute new strategies. The point is that management and leadership are very different"

A figura que se segue, também retirada do mesmo livro:

Ilustra a evolução normal das empresas. As empresas novas, começam como entidades muito flexíveis, muito ágeis, muito informais, uma espécie de rede de relações concentrada em conquistar clientes e desenvolver produtos e serviços. Depois, à medida que a empresa vai amadurecendo, o desafio passa a ser de gestão, passa a ser de eficiência. Por isso, a empresa vai-se burocratizando, vai definindo formalmente as funções e responsabilidades.
.
Nem sempre o perfil da pessoa para liderar a primeira fase, consegue adaptar-se ao perfil de gestor requerido pela segunda fase.

"Management is a set of well-known processes that help organizations produce reliable, efficient, and predictable results. Really good management helps us do well what we more or less know how to do regardless of the size, complexity, or geographic reach of an enterprise.
These processes include planning, budgeting, structuring jobs, staffing jobs, giving people time-tested policies and procedures to guide their actions, measuring their results, and problem solving when results do not fit the plan."

A par desta evolução natural intra-empresa, há que equacionar que vamos a caminho de uma fase da economia, Mongo, em que a incerteza aumenta, em que os benefícios da eficiência se reduzem e, por isso, o exemplo português do calçado e do têxtil, e a evolução do tamanho médio das empresas:

Por fim, este texto de Helena Garrido "Muita iniciativa, pouco capitalismo"
.
BTW, recordar a influência da legislação no tamanho das empresas em vários países europeus:

• "As long as you’ve got fewer than 15 employees, the union usually leaves you alone"
• "Acerca da dimensão das empresas"

Liberdade no terreno

Recordar o exemplo do desempenho da Wal-Mart em Nova Orleães no pós-Katrina em "Lições de 2012":

"Os funcionários superiores da Wal-Mart concentraram-se em estabelecer metas, avaliando o progresso e mantendo as linhas de comunicação com os empregados nas linhas da frente e com agências oficiais quando podiam. Por outras palavras, para lidar com esta situação complexa não emitiram instruções. As condições eram demasiado imprevisíveis e estavam sempre a mudar. O trabalho deles era assegurar que as pessoas falavam umas com as outras."

E comparar com a mensagem de David Marquet em "Turn the Ship Around":

"Specifying to the crew that the true objective was to put the fire out as quickly as possible was a mechanism primarly for competence. Specifying goals, not methods is a mechanism for competence"  

E comparar com o sucesso da Blitzkrieg:

"Tell team members what needs to be accomplished, get their agreement to accomplish it, then hold them strictly accountable for doing it - but don't prescribe how. Requires very high levels of mutual trust." 

E recordar "Schwerpunkt":

"Schwerpunkt represents a unifying medium that provides a directed way to tie initiative of many subordinate actions with superior intent as a basis to diminish friction and compress time in order to generate a favorable mismatch in time/ability to shape and adapt to unfolding circumstances."