More Spocky, Less Rocky

Gary Cokins
Gary Cokins|September 22, 2009

On the shelves in the business topics section of any bookstore are numerous books about leadership and management. I have never considered myself a motivational writer or speaker that describes the importance of executives’ rallying the workforce with inspiration. In my career I have seen examples of leadership that reflect [...]

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The Real World versus MBA Textbooks

Gary Cokins
Gary Cokins|June 11, 2009

The professional disciplines of law and medicine are codified with decades, arguably centuries, of a body of accumulated and layered knowledge. The discipline of management is not codified and structured to facilitate learning. Most managers learn from their prior managers. Ever work for a lousy manager? One can get an [...]

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Innovating the Practice of Performance Management

Gary Cokins
Gary Cokins|February 11, 2009

Everywhere you turn in the business media there are articles about how to manage during an economic downturn. Even I have written a recent blog on this topic titled ABBA: Take a Chance on Me … Choose Performance Management in an Ailing Economy. Many of these articles are advocating the [...]

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Does Enterprise Performance Management Start with Employees?

Gary Cokins
Gary Cokins|September 2, 2008

I have devoted a fair amount of my writing clarifying that enterprise performance management should not be confused with the human resource function’s attention to assessing and improving the performance of individuals. My caveat, though, is that good enterprise performance obviously requires an effective workforce. This is highlighted by by [...]

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What Does It Take to Successfully Implement Performance Management?

Gary Cokins
Gary Cokins|August 15, 2007

Everyone seems to be talking about implementing the components of the performance management framework. Some organizations have even created a “Director of Performance Management” position. But what is involved to successfully implement the full vision of performance management? The editors of Business Performance Management magazine recently asked me this question. [...]

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Fortunately Not Banned in Boston

Gary Cokins
Gary Cokins|July 9, 2007

One of journalists’ many admirable capabilities of is their knack for getting right to the heart of a topic. Is it just knowing how to make the most of limited time or a sixth sense they possess? I recently flew to Boston – where there is a concentration of publications [...]

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The Tone at the Top

Gary Cokins
Gary Cokins|June 28, 2007

One of the mysteries I ponder: why is the adoption rate of the various methodologies that constitute performance management is so slow? Why are organizations only gradually adopting strategy maps to define an organization’s strategic objectives and determine key initiatives and performance measures? Why do CFOs tolerate broad-brushed, indirect expense [...]

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