Entries by Tom Doescher

Can you admit your mistakes?*

I recently read an article about Lance Armstrong in which the writer said, “NBC’s ‘Rock Center’ recently covered Lance Armstrong’s fall from grace, and they show that the scandal is much worse than merely doping. The lengths that Armstrong went to in order to cover up his misdeeds were much worse than the doping itself.” […]

Do you really believe what you say?

I just read an article about Japan’s Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant entitled “Japan Utility Says Nuclear Crisis Could Have Been Avoided”. I then went to the Tokyo Electric Power Co.’s (TEPCO) website, and this is what it says: “TEPCO strongly wishes to be a nuclear power plant operator which has the world’s highest level […]

Are you holding your team accountable?

One of my favorite books is Who Says Elephants Can’t Dance?, by Louis V. Gerstner Jr. In his closing comments, he says, “People do what you inspect, not what you expect.” I was reminded of this thought-provoking advice when I read “What happened to accountability?” by Tom Ricks in the October 2012 issue of the […]

Quicker does not always mean better

This story will really date me, but please hang in there. I was at a reception one evening some years ago, and was engaged in a fascinating conversation with a prominent corporate attorney. The fax machine was the latest technology at the time (no smart-alecky comments, please), and he was talking about how it was […]