Mike Rollings

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Entries Tagged as 'Empathy'


Luck, Serendipity, and the Contextual Strategist

by Mike Rollings  |  December 27, 2011  |  Comments Off

Recently, @davegray @tetradian @nickmalik and I (@mikerollings) had a brief twitter exchange about the role of luck in strategy. What is luck anyway? Isn’t it just a happy accident, an unexpected happening, a simple explanation for the unexpected, a serendipitous association that leaves us in awe of the randomness of life? In that context, strategy [...]

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Category: Altered States Contextual Strategist Human Behavior Management Strategic Planning Transformation     Tags: , , , , , , , ,

i-i-i is about Focusing on the Individual and Not Yourself

by Mike Rollings  |  November 21, 2011  |  Comments Off

The “i” generation – not quite the selfish focused gang that was recently called out in the UK by its Chief Rabbi and noted by c|net’s Chris Matyszczyk. Like prior generational movements, this one too is misunderstood. The “i” generation is about the importance of the individual which is profoundly different than focusing selfishly on [...]

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Category: Altered States Contextual Strategist Human Behavior Transformation Uncategorized     Tags: , , , , , , ,

Fight inertia and resurrect entrepreneurs

by Mike Rollings  |  July 18, 2011  |  Comments Off

All organizations at some time in their history have experimented, gained knowledge, and operationalized it – experimentation is synonymous with entrepreneurialism. Entrepreneurs test many theories as they launch an idea. They are not afraid of making errors and learning from their mistakes. As they refine ideas and gain more knowledge through experimentation, they eventually reach [...]

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Category: Altered States Contextual Strategist Human Behavior Management Transformation Uncategorized     Tags: , , , , , , , ,

Replacing Taylorism as our Management Doctrine

by Mike Rollings  |  April 18, 2011  |  11 Comments

Over the last 239 years, organizations have been applying hierarchy, and top-down command-oriented management. This mindset erupted with the dawn of the steam engine in 1771, and in the late 1800s it was honed to razor sharpness by Frederick Winslow Taylor – the father of efficiency thinking and the science of productivity. Taylor’s work is [...]

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Category: Altered States Economy Human Behavior Management Strategic Planning Transformation Uncategorized     Tags: , , , , ,

Gamification – a Small Play for Game Dynamics

by Mike Rollings  |  April 4, 2011  |  6 Comments

Gamification, where organizations incorporate game dynamics into applications, is one of the latest trends.  Many view it as a silver bullet to load into marketing websites, innovation tools, worker productivity tools, ERP systems, and social environments. The hope is that these applications will attract and retain ‘players’ that will get hooked into playing their new [...]

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Category: Human Behavior Management Transformation Uncategorized     Tags: , , ,

A life out of control

by Mike Rollings  |  January 19, 2011  |  2 Comments

So many things in our life are governed by the idea that we can control the outcome.  Take strategy as as an example.  For years strategists have operated under the false notion that strategies were conceived, plans created and execution of the plan happened.  This resulted in an elite view of conducting strategy and the [...]

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Category: Altered States Economy Human Behavior Management Strategic Planning Transformation Uncategorized     Tags: , , , , ,

Three Cups of Tea and Improving Relationships

by Mike Rollings  |  December 6, 2010  |  1 Comment

Friday night my children and I had the pleasure to hear Greg Mortenson speak at the St. Louis County Library.  Mortenson is a humanitarian and advocate for children’s education in Pakistan and Afghanistan.  He is the author of “Three Cups of Tea” and “Stones to Schools“, two books about his life’s work to promote peace [...]

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Category: Human Behavior Transformation     Tags: , , ,

Creative destruction: A Lesson in Innovation

by Mike Rollings  |  October 20, 2010  |  2 Comments

I have several creative friends.  Some are musicians, some photographers, one a playwright, and one friend in particular (Tim) is a performance artist.  Tim’s art comes in many forms.  He works with autistic children, he tends bar, he plays a manual typewriter and recites as part of jazz improvisation, and he creates sculpture with metal [...]

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Category: Economy Human Behavior Transformation Uncategorized     Tags: , , , ,

Change Requires Commitment, Repetition, and Feedback

by Mike Rollings  |  September 29, 2010  |  Comments Off

Scientists have studied the human brain to make some amazing discoveries about the ability to learn, adapt, and relearn abilities lost resulting from brain trauma. The Brain Fitness Program — a public television program about brain plasticity, which is the lifelong ability of the brain to reorganize neural pathways based on new experiences—provides insight into [...]

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Category: Human Behavior Transformation Uncategorized     Tags: , , ,

Empathy for the Individual

by Mike Rollings  |  September 8, 2010  |  1 Comment

The early part of September is filled with memories.  My deceased aunt’s birthday, my deceased father’s birthday , and my birthday are all in the first part of September.  Every year we would celebrate our collective birthdays on Labor Day weekend with a family barbeque. Labor Day also has additional significance since my father and [...]

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Category: Transformation Uncategorized     Tags: ,