OnBiz QUOTE: Don't solve problems--copy success!

This is advice a prof isn't supposed to be excited about.  

Academics are known for their fancy models, their complicated diagrams, endless PowerPoint slide shows--all in the service of describing careful analysis of what's wrong and precise prescription about what to do.  After all, they're supposed to be the experts at understanding what's hay-wire and what ought to be done when a big hairy problem exists.  

The clean world academics mentally live in doesn't really exist much beyond the classrooms they lecture in, for the work-a-day world of most in management is very messy, complicated, and down-right difficult to control all the factors that management profs think critical.  Enter Dan and Chip Heath, authors of the best selling book Made to Stick and, more recently, Switch [both terrific books].  

In a recent issue of FastCompany, they propose the following ...

Don't solve problems--copy success:  Find a bright spot and clone it. That's the first step to fixing everything from addiction to corporate malaise to malnutrition. A problem may look hopelessly complex. But there's a game plan that can yield movement on even the toughest issues. And it starts with locating a bright spot -- a ray of hope.

If you want more in just a few minutes, Dan and Chip offer story after story in a short "read" that's sure to inspire you as a manager--or future manager--on how real-world solutions are found and used to good advantage.  

“Switch: Don't solve problems--copy success,” by Dan and Chip Heath, FastCompany, February, 2010.  
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What’s an ON BIZ QUOTE?
An ON BIZ QUOTE is just that--a memorable comment by someone in business who makes a remark that's note-worthy or it's a comment by some outside of business, but from which biz managers can profit!

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