Though I’ve been yammering about ‘change’ and the near impossibility of strategic planning for an unknowable future, we still spend significant time here banging around in the dark, trying to figure it out. So, to avoid accusations of complete cowardice, here are five predictions for the future, which I think EllisDon must be ready for. For a bunch of reasons, I think these represent both...
Read More About Ch Ch Ch Changes - Five Fearless Predictions »

I don’t know about your world; ours is getting rocked.  Technology is changing, the competitors are changing, I’m convinced the very structure and business model of the industry are changing.  Threats and opportunities are everywhere.  Ponder the wondrous technological change taking place everywhere around us, for example, and you have to be inspired.  But if...
Read More About On Being Uncomfortable. Very Uncomfortable. »

From everything I read, two pillars of effective strategic planning are intimate knowledge of your clients, and detailed analysis of your competitors. Beyond the very obvious – you can’t be in business without very close daily contact with your customers and competitors, and any leader not paying focused attention to both has been long since fired – the wisdom of placing either or both right at...
Read More About Ignoring Customers and Competitors (Strategic Planning Dissent - Part II) »

Questioning the value of 'Strategic Planning' is perhaps slightly more ill-advised than criticizing Gandhi. I doubt there's anything more hallowed in the hallways of corporate management and governance. But, what the hell, let's give it a go anyway.   To be clear, I'm not talking about 'product launch' strategies, or 'how do we best deploy resources...
Read More About Is Strategic Planning Good Strategy? (Part I) »

    I write a monthly message on EllisDon's intranet Portal, which is sometimes the same, but also frequently different than my 'blog'. I posted the message below today on our Portal, to all EllisDon's employees, but thought it might be worthwhile posting as a blog as well. It's an issue that's been bothering me a lot. Thanks for reading. Everybody knows this, but since...
Read More About The Last 'Acceptable' Prejudice »

Most MBA schools, Boards of Directors and management types prefer clearly defined management structures and authority.  Who answers to whom, who is accountable for what, everyone knows their place, etc.  I agree that accountability is key, but have no problem with ‘joint’ accountability or with ‘shared leadership’.  I know it’s frowned upon at all the right think tanks, but I’d...
Read More About Blurry Leadership »

Am I the only person who has mixed emotions about the overpowering conventional wisdom that a person must be a ‘team player’ in order to be considered for hiring or promotion? I hear it everywhere, certainly including at EllisDon.  My son recently got a job in a very tough market at least in part because he was a lacrosse team captain at University.  Why?  (I’m now pushing my...
Read More About The Problem With Teamwork »

My father Don, who founded EllisDon at 27, is 88 now.  He’s pretty frail, but very sharp.  And he has never changed.  If you’d like to know something of the ‘pure entrepreneur’, here’s a big clue (I think): A couple of weeks ago, my 84 year old mother tripped and busted up her kneecap.  My mother’s the same – very strong mentally, not so much physically, and both of them...
Read More About The Mind of the Pure Entrepreneur »

Every now and again, we get to meet someone really interesting, who helps to re-orient our perspective.  A couple of years ago, settling in for a long flight, I was immediately accosted by the irrepressible, relentlessly optimistic and pretty much irresistible Kevin McIntosh, who happens to run a world class engineering firm out of Ottawa called Baird Engineering (you should google them...
Read More About Guest Blog From Kevin MacIntosh: Just Get On Board! »

Way back in the nineties, I read an article about Ross Perot, who built the E.D.S. (Electronic Data Systems), and then sold it to General Motors.  (Later, Perot ran for President of the US as an Independent, after that, GM sold off EDS, which then went on to great prosperity.) Here’s what Perot said in this article: “At GM, if someone sees a snake in the hallway, they...
Read More About Snakes on the Plane »