Things They Forgot to Tell Me in Business School
Parts 1+...n
A series of articles on business, leadership, organizational development, and urbanization. Usually funny, often smart, occasionally insightful, always short; connecting the dots in unconventional ways.
Why "Things They Forgot..."? Well, an MBA is a powerful tool, a boot camp for the business leaders of tomorrow, etc., where you learn how to do many things - but it doesn't place a high premium on reflection or broader understanding.
In the end, life is not just about how to work things, but also about how things work.
Leadership & Decision Making
1. Decisioneering and the Tao of Star Trek
2. What, So What, and Now What: How to Assess Other People’s Thinking
3. Decisioneering and the Pitfalls of Wishful Thinking
4. The Shape of Management: Deep, Broad & Round
5. Truthiness and the Role of Euphemism in Consulting
6. The Hidden Leadership Value of Male Answer Syndrome and the Illusion of Explanatory Depth
7. Enough of Thought Leaders: In Praise of Thought Followers
8. The Art and Necessity of Half-Knowing
9. Spinning Plates - A Management Technique for Busy People
10. Definitionally Correct - How to Use Tautology to Succeed
11. My Five Favorite Cognitive Biases and How to Make Them Work for You!
12. Management Consultants: The Swiss Army Knife of Experts for Hire
13. Strategy Development: Aiming at Targets and Other Businesslike Activities
Communication
14. Business Communication: Jargon for Days
15. Is It All Bad News, Or Is All the News Just Bad?
Logistics
16. The Great Toilet Paper Caper of 2020
Marketing
17. Is All Publicity Good Publicity?
Negotiations
18. Let’s Just Start with Plan B: A Simpler Guide to Negotiating Co-opetition
Numeracy
19. The Value of Hunches Fed by Guesstimates Resting on Pseudo-Measures
20. Why Market Research Sounds the Same
21. Tell Me Again the Tale of the Efficient Market Hypothesis
22. The Decline and Fall of Stationarity
Politics
23. The Business of Ideology
24. Free Trade Is So Yesterday, Wake Up and Smell the Protectionism!
25. USA to Take Over Canada? Finally!
26. USA Political Impact of Canada as 51st State
Professional Practice
27. The Romance and Reality of the Gig Economy
Technology
28. Nothing But The Fax: When is the Right Time for Technology Transformation?
Urbanism
29. A Brief History of Urbanization, By The Numbers
30. Urban Regeneration: 20 Top Factors for Success
31. Eight Steps to Immortality: How Urban Development Projects Move From Nothing to Something
32. Rebirth of the Old City
33. Ten Rules to Remember When Building a City
34. The Limits of Benchmarking
35. Cracks in the Sidewalk: Looking Back at the Future of Smart Cities
36. KSA Urban Development Reset: What To Do When You Have Too Much of a Good Thing
37. Reversion To The Mean: Forcing Workers Back to the Office
Other
38. Accidental Reflections 2023: Thoughts After a Big Crash
39. Does this Plastic Smell of Tobacco and Taste Like Opioids (The Fraud of Plastic Recycling)