Comments on: The 360 C-suite http://cultureby.com/2009/05/the-360-c-suite.html This Blog Sits At the Intersection of Anthropology and Economics Wed, 17 Mar 2010 08:10:58 -0400 http://wordpress.org/?v=2.8.6 hourly 1 By: Chris Conley http://cultureby.com/2009/05/the-360-c-suite.html/comment-page-1#comment-653 Chris Conley Tue, 02 Jun 2009 14:12:58 +0000 http://grantmccracken.com/cco/http:/grantmccracken/page-title#comment-653 <p>Great post. I might suggest we let go of metaphors which are just one step beyond the cult of personality (the cult of the c-suite, the cult of mission control?) and embrace the network, the wisdom of the crowd (with its real principles, not superficial meaning) and manage our companies more like W. L. Gore. Check out Hamel's The Future of Management for a nice critique of the C-Suite style of management and thinking about how we might change our perception and ideas of management and decision-making.</p> Great post. I might suggest we let go of metaphors which are just one step beyond the cult of personality (the cult of the c-suite, the cult of mission control?) and embrace the network, the wisdom of the crowd (with its real principles, not superficial meaning) and manage our companies more like W. L. Gore. Check out Hamel's The Future of Management for a nice critique of the C-Suite style of management and thinking about how we might change our perception and ideas of management and decision-making.

]]> By: srp http://cultureby.com/2009/05/the-360-c-suite.html/comment-page-1#comment-652 srp Fri, 29 May 2009 00:35:39 +0000 http://grantmccracken.com/cco/http:/grantmccracken/page-title#comment-652 <p>If we ever get to the point "where to see the data is to know how to act upon the data" we won't need the managers at all, at least not highly-paid senior types. All actions of this type could be implemented by software or by lower-level employees. Soon, unmanned and remotely piloted vehicles will take F-22 style data and use it to operate without moment-b-moment pilot control.</p> <p>It is a fascinating question whether this kind of automation of top executive decisions might be possible any time soon. Basically, we're talking about developing a coherent and stable theory of an individual firm's performance as a function of known environmental factors and specific choices. I'm personally doubtful, but the vision in this post might turn out to be right in the end. Then the top executives would have to go meta and become programmers and designers of the data stream and decision software.</p> If we ever get to the point "where to see the data is to know how to act upon the data" we won't need the managers at all, at least not highly-paid senior types. All actions of this type could be implemented by software or by lower-level employees. Soon, unmanned and remotely piloted vehicles will take F-22 style data and use it to operate without moment-b-moment pilot control.

It is a fascinating question whether this kind of automation of top executive decisions might be possible any time soon. Basically, we're talking about developing a coherent and stable theory of an individual firm's performance as a function of known environmental factors and specific choices. I'm personally doubtful, but the vision in this post might turn out to be right in the end. Then the top executives would have to go meta and become programmers and designers of the data stream and decision software.

]]> By: peter http://cultureby.com/2009/05/the-360-c-suite.html/comment-page-1#comment-651 peter Thu, 28 May 2009 12:56:23 +0000 http://grantmccracken.com/cco/http:/grantmccracken/page-title#comment-651 <p>If I may be permitted a second comment! You say:</p> <p>"In my dream world, this is a job for the Santa Fe Institute. Smart people in the desert. Don't we know that this is a very good way to solve big problems?" </p> <p>With respect, I would say this is precisely what we DON'T want! The people designing these systems need to get their hands and knees dirty, being (or becoming) very familiar with the actual decisions to be made, the actual environments in which the supporting data is generated, and the actual environments where the consequences of decisions take place -- ie, in the middle of the factory floor or the suburban retail outlet, not in the rarified air of isolated research communities. Downtown Shanghai or Mumbai or the East Village, not Santa Fe.<br /> </p> If I may be permitted a second comment! You say:

"In my dream world, this is a job for the Santa Fe Institute. Smart people in the desert. Don't we know that this is a very good way to solve big problems?"

With respect, I would say this is precisely what we DON'T want! The people designing these systems need to get their hands and knees dirty, being (or becoming) very familiar with the actual decisions to be made, the actual environments in which the supporting data is generated, and the actual environments where the consequences of decisions take place — ie, in the middle of the factory floor or the suburban retail outlet, not in the rarified air of isolated research communities. Downtown Shanghai or Mumbai or the East Village, not Santa Fe.

]]> By: peter http://cultureby.com/2009/05/the-360-c-suite.html/comment-page-1#comment-650 peter Thu, 28 May 2009 12:40:44 +0000 http://grantmccracken.com/cco/http:/grantmccracken/page-title#comment-650 <p>Grant --</p> <p>There are several companies offering these so-called "dashboard systems" along lines in the direction you describe. BMA Group, the company of my former colleague Neill Haine, in Australia, is one I would recommend:</p> <p><a href="http://www.bma.com.au/index.htm" rel="nofollow">http://www.bma.com.au/index.htm</a></p> <p>As I'm sure you realize, a key challenge is making such systems future-proof. It is usually straightforward technically to collect, clean, assemble, analyze and display all the data needed to make yesterday's decisions correctly, but a whole lot more difficult to do so for tomorrow's decisions! So these systems are more common, and have more value, in tactical situations than in strategic ones -- ie, in situations where the nature of decision-making, the available decision-options, and the necessary supporting data, do not change much from one decision occasion to the next, or change only in predictable ways. </p> Grant –

There are several companies offering these so-called "dashboard systems" along lines in the direction you describe. BMA Group, the company of my former colleague Neill Haine, in Australia, is one I would recommend:

http://www.bma.com.au/index.htm

As I'm sure you realize, a key challenge is making such systems future-proof. It is usually straightforward technically to collect, clean, assemble, analyze and display all the data needed to make yesterday's decisions correctly, but a whole lot more difficult to do so for tomorrow's decisions! So these systems are more common, and have more value, in tactical situations than in strategic ones — ie, in situations where the nature of decision-making, the available decision-options, and the necessary supporting data, do not change much from one decision occasion to the next, or change only in predictable ways.

]]> By: Paul Snyderman http://cultureby.com/2009/05/the-360-c-suite.html/comment-page-1#comment-649 Paul Snyderman Thu, 28 May 2009 01:16:26 +0000 http://grantmccracken.com/cco/http:/grantmccracken/page-title#comment-649 <p>I love the metaphore, but don't we need to consider the "pilot" part of the equation. Don't we need people in the C-suite who have the skills necessary to take that multi-aspect screen of information and interpret, react, etc. with reflex speed? If the F-15 is the analog of computers that responded to "code' and the F-22 is the "point and click" - our organizations need to shift to synthesis-capable folks piloting, and not rely on coders swapping old solutions in and out.</p> I love the metaphore, but don't we need to consider the "pilot" part of the equation. Don't we need people in the C-suite who have the skills necessary to take that multi-aspect screen of information and interpret, react, etc. with reflex speed? If the F-15 is the analog of computers that responded to "code' and the F-22 is the "point and click" – our organizations need to shift to synthesis-capable folks piloting, and not rely on coders swapping old solutions in and out.

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