Here are some blog posts that caught my attention at mid-week. I'm pointing you to the Carnival of the Capitalists and posts on the importance of feedback, developing a "culture of money," happiness, firing well, and a discussion of whether it's a good idea to break up GE.

Start with the most recent Carnival of the Capitalists. You'll find pointers to lots of quality posts.

From Steve Roesler: Management Stress and "Stuffing Thoughts"
"Whatever is unresolved becomes a stressor."

Wally's Comment: This is an excellent post on the importance of feedback.  The discussion should be good, too.  I'm going to swing over later and leave my own comment.

From Information Arbitrage: Building a "Culture of Money": A Powerful Engine for Business Success
"Winning in the marketplace. Building a winning team. Executing a plan with laser focus. Attracting and retaining the best. Instilling a "We cannot be stopped" sense of urgency and effectiveness. Creating an exciting, dynamic, high-energy environment. These are simply some of the benefits resulting from building and nurturing of a 'Culture of Money.'"

Wally's Comment: A tip of the hat to Business Pundit for the pointer to this post.

There's also an interesting discussion going on over on David Maister's blog about happiness.

From David Maister: Happiness is Relative
"There have been a number of studies in recent years showing that, while people in many countries are getting richer, they are not necessarily getting happier. The research seems to show that, for most people, apparently, happiness lies not in the absolute amount of "rewards" you have, but in whether or not you have more or less than others."

From Bob Cenek: A Primer on Avoiding the Botched Termination
"The American physician & writer, Austin O'Malley, once stated that 'revenge is often like biting a dog because the dog bit you.' Like a cantankerous dog, terminated employees will sometimes strike back too, especially if they've been shoddily treated on the way out. In the case of ex-employees however, they are not striking back with fangs, but rather with a two-legged guard dog that’s morphed into a lawsuit.
Granted, not all employment-related litigation is avoidable. But if an employer is careful, forthright and professional with an employee during the separation process, the odds of an amicable separation are much higher. While the Golden Rule is a good starting point, there are other actions that employers should take to avoid the most common miscues in employee terminations, as described below."

Wally's Comment: An excellent piece on how to handle a termination humanely and effectively.

From Harvard Business Online: Should GE Be Scrapped for Parts?
"There are rumblings from shareholders to break up General Electric. Does such a move make any strategic sense? The question that’s really being asked here is whether GE’s businesses are better off together or under alternative ownership. To address this question, Chairman and CEO Jeffrey Immelt needs to determine how GE adds value to the performance of its individual businesses. Is it from the corporate center’s oversight, leadership, and direction? Is it from revenue or productivity enhancements from the other businesses across GE? To justify GE’s unified state, the answer has to be yes to both of these questions."

Wally's Comment: I'll be interested to see if any of the discussion mentions that GE's leadership development process, which moves rising executives around as they advance through a career, as a key benefit of staying together as a single entity.

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