“‘While companies might have an intended strategy, the strategy that actually emerges can be very different,’ says HBS professor Clark G. Gilbert. It is a topic that Gilbert and professor Joseph L. Bower have explored at length for a new book they have edited, From Resource Allocation to Strategy, published by Oxford University Press.”

“In my day job, I not only hear a lot of PowerPoint pitches, but I also read a lot of business plans. The PowerPoint pitches explain my Ménière’s disease, but the business plans explain my recent need for reading glasses. One of my goals for blogging is to reduce the external factors that are causing the degradation of my body, so this entry’s topic is the zen of business plans.”

“Starting and stopping on time is easy. One person with power simply has to decide to care, the rest follows. Having recently survived a tragicomic 8 way international conference call, an experience worthy of the 4th level of hell, I’m here to offer 5 honest tips that would have saved the day.”

“CEOs can’t change companies on their own. The secret is to foster a leadership mentality throughout the ranks.”

“Because the meetings were so long, someone on the team suggested we institute ’stand up meetings.’ Instead of sitting at a traditional conference table, we took the chairs out of the room and ran meetings while standing on our feet. Well, the length of the meetings DRASTICALLY dropped…”

“As you read this, hundreds of Silicon Valley CEOs are under their desks in full duck-and-cover mode, fearing that the Department of Justice or a shareholder mob might pounce at any time to cart them off for ‘backdating’ or ’spring-loading’ stock options. The paranoia has gotten so bad that corporate lawyers from San Francisco to San Jose are charging $600 an hour to scour records, all in an effort to clear companies’ reputations before they get besmirched.”

“If you’re like most people, you’ve got too much to do and not enough time to do it. The e-mail inbox is always overflowing and the list of to-dos never ends. You always feel that twinge of guilt because you’re never spending quite enough time on what you should be. What’s even more frustrating is that the more you work, the more it seems there is to do. Argh! So how do we manage the madness?”

“Most gurus and teachers spend their time telling people what to do. But if you’re already over-stretched and facing an unending future of still more pressure, that’s not likely to appear palatable. Here’s how NOT doing things can help even the most stressed person find ways to improve their working life.”