Leadership – Scott J. Pearson’s Book Review

Designing Matrix Organizations That Actually Work: How IBM, Procter & Gamble, and Others Design for Success

By Scott J. Pearson | March 12, 2025March 12, 2025 by Scott J. Pearson

I work in software at a research lab in an academic medical center. We produce new software to address large problems, locally and globally. Although our organization’s formal structure is hierarchical, our informal structure very much resembles a matrix – not uncommon in research labs. In business, a matrix organization occurs when people report to more than one manager. In my work, most teams I’m near are cross-functional. I recently moved from a developer role…

Kids Leadership Religion-Philosophy

The Anatomy of Peace: Resolving the Heart of Conflict

By Scott J. Pearson | February 15, 2025February 15, 2025 by Scott J. Pearson

Leadership is a tricky task. No amount of technical excellence makes a good leader. The Arbinger Institute, a leadership research group, suggests that a heart at peace internally is the most important component for individuals to lead effectively. They contend this assertion applies to almost every realm of leadership, from parenting and organizations to world politics. And they show exactly how in this leadership fable. This story tells about a group that resolves family conflicts…

Kids Leadership

The Three Big Questions for a Frantic Family: A Leadership Fable About Restoring Sanity to the Most Important Organization in Your Life

By Scott J. Pearson | February 11, 2025February 11, 2025 by Scott J. Pearson

Organizational leadership is well-studied because it has such a wide impact. Many professionals spend time perusing books and other materials to glean actionable insights. However, many of those same people don’t spend any time learning how their families work. To reply, leadership author Patrick Lencioni points out that families are just another sort of organization. Yes, family dynamics are different than those of businesses; they deserve a different approach. As with organizations, the skill of…

Leadership Management-Business Psychology

Leadership & Self-Deception: Getting Out of the Box

By Scott J. Pearson | February 8, 2025February 8, 2025 by Scott J. Pearson

Many blindly go into leadership roles to achieve a level of social prestige and power over others. However, that attitude does not last long as the spoils of ego satisfaction fade away quickly. To contrast, the Arbinger Institute offers a better way: service to one’s fellow human beings, centered around getting results for the company. When an organizational catches on to this purpose, its effectiveness can skyrocket. This fictional story illustrates how such a mindset…

Leadership Management-Business

HBR’s 10 Must Reads on Collaboration

By Scott J. Pearson | February 4, 2025February 4, 2025 by Scott J. Pearson

Since most emerging contemporary problems require team approaches, fostering a collaborative environment is a key to business success in today’s marketplace. Therefore, the Harvard Business Review (HBR) has a long list of articles available on the topic. They picked and compiled the ten best in this short guide. Much like the magazine articles they originally were, chapters cover various topics, each with its own angle. For instance, one chapter addresses how to check if the…

Leadership

Trust & Inspire: How Truly Great Leaders Unleash Greatness in Others

By Scott J. Pearson | January 20, 2025January 20, 2025 by Scott J. Pearson

Today’s leadership, as practiced, often includes an approach borrowed from the Industrial Age and popularized by Frederick Winslow Taylor’s “scientific management.” It seeks to have a leader in complete “command and control” of all aspects of production. However, in the postmodern age, interdisciplinary knowledge workers often conduct every step along the way, and any leader does not and cannot know every step of the journey. Coupled with human nature, command and control tactics inhibit productivity…

Leadership Management-Business

Collaborative Intelligence: Using Teams to Solve Hard Problems

By Scott J. Pearson | November 29, 2024November 29, 2024 by Scott J. Pearson

Big problems – the kind that societies face – often require an approach like Aesop’s fable. A bunch of blindfolded folks touch different parts of an elephant and describe them to each other. No one can make sense about what the reality is because they’re all describing different things like a tail, a trunk, a belly, or a foot. It’s only when they combine their descriptions into a consistent framework that they can gather that…

Leadership Management-Business

Leading Teams: Setting the Stage for Great Performances

By Scott J. Pearson | October 31, 2024October 31, 2024 by Scott J. Pearson

Books on leadership continue to fill bookstores’ bookshelves. Most more or less peddle the same message: Exhibit these characteristics as a leader, and your team will perform great. The problem then becomes how to attain a leadership position. However, life and business usually don’t follow such a simple cause-and-effect pattern. A simple set of postulates cannot control team performance, as if it were a geometry problem. And individual leaders alone do not shape a team;…

Leadership Management-Business

Switch: How to Change Things When Change is Hard

By Scott J. Pearson | October 13, 2024October 13, 2024 by Scott J. Pearson

We’ve all been there at some point in our lives: We tell ourselves, “This really, really needs to happen,” yet in the same breath, we answer ourselves, “But it’s impossible.” Say, we have a boss and a power structure around us that needs to shift. Or an intractable family disagreement with no obvious way forward. In our better moments, we all feel like we’re great leaders that shape history, but at other times, I wonder…

Leadership Management-Business

Leading Through: Activating the Soul, Heart & Mind of Leadership

By Scott J. Pearson | September 26, 2024September 26, 2024 by Scott J. Pearson

Throughout history, many leaders have approached their task with the desire to hold power over others. Ancient roman rulers epitomized this approach, and literature indicates that other great empires shared this mindset. However, history’s nuances also contain a subtler narrative of empowering others to fulfill their individual aspirations. Aristotle’s phrase of “human flourishing” comes to mind. This book’s authors harken to this humanistic tradition to describe their empowering view on leadership: “Leading through.” Leading through…