Seth Kahan

While writing my bestseller, Getting Change Right, I had a conversation with my former boss, Jim Wolfensohn. Jim  began his work as president of the World Bank with an ambitious change agenda. When he arrived, he found an organization that was considered by many heads of state to be a necessary but bothersome bureaucracy that […]

In 1999 I was Communications Manager for a large scale, global initiative at the World Bank. We were gutting over 100 disconnected systems and replacing them with a single real-time application. At the behest of our Steering Committee, I hired Michael Hammer, the international best-selling author of Reengineering the Corporation, to come and speak to

In thermodynamics a phase transition marks the shift from one state to another. As energy in the system increases, the enthalpy, the states move through the progression outlined to the right. What I want to point out is that each state has its own properties and in most cases it would be hard to confuse

The keystone is a wedge-shaped stone at the very top of an arch. It was the last piece to be placed in the construction and completes the curved structure. The other stones push against it and as a result the arch does not collapse. This is why it is key, earning its name and providing

It takes a lot of hard work to hit the bullseye, doesn’t it? Seemingly endless preparation. Grit. Practice. Maturity. Talent (talent? how did that get in there? Does talent take hard work?). Backbone. Elbow grease. Tenacity. Perserverance. Resolve. Fortitude. Nerve. Steel. It seems it takes a lot of those things that drain you just thinking

Pressure can come from a variety of sources both planned (meeting with VIP stakeholder), and unplanned (natural or manmade disaster). For leaders, high-stress situations are inevitable. Many rise to the occasion, channeling energy to serve their performance. Your needs will vary depending on your circumstances and intents. Here are six guidelines: 1. Be proactive rather

Harvard Business School professor John Kotter is a world-class authority on change leadership, perhaps best known for his eight-step model for leading successful change. His vision is, Millions Leading, Billions Benefiting. His body of work, which provides extensive help to those who lead change, matches his farsighted, noble intentions. Each of his eighteen books makes

The only way to have a new idea catch fire is to introduce it into the world in ways that enable as many people as possible to begin using it for their advantage. That’s when exponential uptake occurs. You see, we are constantly generating the future through interaction with unforeseen events and circumstances. This applies

Philip Anschutz, the American businessman with an estimated net worth of $7 billion, started in the oil business drilling his own wells. His first efforts in the 60s were unsuccessful, turning up one dry hole after another. When he finally hit oil, everything looked great for a day… Then a crisis followed which he called

Things are changing so fast today there are three worlds in simultaneous transition: 1. Your organization’s world Market conditions shift constantly and sometimes dramatically. Revenue streams and profit margins sometimes require compensation and adjustment in real time. Greater speed and responsiveness to opportunity is a significant asset. Talent acquisition and development is becoming critical due