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Thursday, April 16, 2009

Management Fads & Trends

Over at BNET, there is a post entitled 9 Notable Management Fads (or Trends) that is worth a quick read. Of the 9 mentioned, my favorite comment is the one regarding strategic planning:

Strategic Planning. Rarely has such a critical concept been so poorly executed by so many consultants, executives and companies. It’s almost embarrassing.

I couldn't agree more with this sentiment. Strategic Planning has a bad reputation! We spend a significant amount of our time in front of our prospective clients explaining why the approach we take to planning is different than what they are used to. Its gotten to the point where we have started using the term transition planning, success planning and anything else that we can find to differentiate ourselves from the countless consultants who think a SWOT analysis and a series of "what actions are we going to take this year" is a reasonable approach to strategy.

In addition to the nine, I also think that two that are missing from the list, but warrant being included are Six Sigma and Innovation. An entire industry of consultants has popped up around each of these topics which have both spawned and untold number of books about how to implement Six Sigma and how to instill a culture of innovation in your company.

Are there any fads/trends that should be added to the list?

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