It was a windowless conference room with beige colored walls. A few department representatives hung materials to be reviewed around the room. The big boss was absent and no one seemed willing to lead the weekly executive meeting. The first person on the agenda bravely broke the ice and began updating the team about a project on which she had been working. We went around the table and each department head gave his or her spiel to this rather unenthusiastic audience. During the

Today is International Women’s Day. It might surprise you to know that women weren’t even allowed to vote in the United States until the 19th amendment to the constitution passed in 1920. Forty-four years later, the passing of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 prohibited employment discrimination based on sex, race, religion and national origin. Over the next twenty-five years women participating in the labor force grew exponentially. And that was the best thing that could have ev

A few decades ago there was a trend in corporate America to flatten organizations. Some of the benefits cited for this change included: 1) empowering lower-level employees—with fewer layers, employees could make more of their own decisions; 2) improved communication and collaboration as employees had greater access to all levels of the organization; and, 3) adaptability—organizations could adapt faster with fewer levels of bureaucracy. How is that working out for us? Unfortun