I am currently traveling – heading to San Diego for the Palladium Americas Summit. This is our fifth sponsorship of the event, which alternates between San Francisco and San Diego. I always enjoy the energy of this event, which focuses purely on the methodology of performance management. As an American living abroad, it is also great to be “home” in the states. Next month I will be on the opposite side of the globe in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia for the IIR Balanced Scorecard Forum. Both events feature Robert Kaplan as a speaker.
I find it striking that on two continents on opposite ends of the world in very different cultures, businesses experience similar issues and seek common answers. It speaks volumes of the flexibility and universal appeal of applying the Balanced Scorecard framework. My favorite sessions at these events are the case studies. I never tire of listening to bright minds describe innovative methods of management. Organizations are fascinating to study because they are completely different than the sum of their parts. A corporate “biography” is a far more complex read than one of an individual because it involves complicated relationships, politics, psychology, sociology, structures, processes, and volumes of data. Each company has its own unique fingerprint and DNA. And yet, like people, despite the vast differences, there are remarkable similarities across a wide range of organizations.
While a one-hour case study cannot unravel all the corporate mysteries contained within, it can offer a brief glimpse of what occurs behind closed doors. They inspire recognition of how our own organizations operate, and facilitate creative thinking and problem-solving in our own business environment. My only wish is that there is more material available about how not to manage, but it seems a company needs to sink to the post-mortem level of an Enron to be documented in such a light.
If you are in San Diego or Riyadh in the next few weeks, look us up. And if you are Robert Kaplan, no, I am not stalking you.
