FROMTHEEDITORPracticalCatsLEADERSMATTERMOSTwhenprojectsandproblemsdon'teas-ilybreakdownintoto-dolists.Whentealeavesareunclearorwhenrulesaremurky;whenthereareoptionstobeweighedandimplicationstobepondered;whenwhat'sneededisajudgmentcall,notjusttheOKtorunaplayalreadyinthebook-that'swhenyouwantthefullattentionofyourtoppeople.Unfortunately,upstairsintheexec-utivecommitteemeeting,they'retalkingaboutalmosteverythingelse.TheshockinglessonoftheleadarticleinthisissueofHBRis,alas,notsurprising:Thevastmajorityoftopmanagementteamsspendtoolittletimetogetherandfritterawaytoomuchofitonahodgepodgeofinci-dentals.Allofthemembersbringitemstotheagenda,asiftheywereSecretSantasatanofficeparty.Seeminglyurgentproblemsgetthemostattentionwhileimportantissuesgetpushedtothenextmeeting.ResearchbyMichaelMankinsoftheconsultingfirmMarakonAssociatesshowsthatmosttopteamssystematicallyshortchangethebigconversationsandbigdecisions-formulatingstrategy,allocatingcapital,weighingthecompetingclaimsofbusi-nessunits.Theauthor'sresearch,fortunately,alsouncoverssomeexceptionalcompaniesthathavelearnedtousetopmanagement'stimelikethescarceresourceitis."StopWastingValuableTime"isthetitleofthearticlethatshowshowthesecompaniesdowhattheydo,andIurgeyounottowasteanytimebeforereadingit.Theproblemofdealingwithdemandingpeople,suchasseniorexecutives,isoftenlikenedtotheimpossibletaskofherdingcats.Thecomparisonismisleading,though,ifyoutakeittomean"youcan'tdoanythingaboutcats."Herdingisn'tthesameasmanaging.Catscanbemanaged-theyjustcan'tbemanagedasyouwouldmanagecattle.Itseemstomethatthemostimportantproblemsinbusinessare"managingcats"problems.Gettingseniorteamstofocusontherightissuesisone.Anotherisshar-ingknowledge.Knowledge-managementtypesliketotalkaboutthedifferencebetweenstructuredandunstructuredknowledge.Structuredknowledgeisrelativelyeasytocodifyoreventoturnintochecklists;unstructuredstuffishardtoarticulate,hardtopasson,andbestlearnedthroughexperienceandovertime.Almostbydefinition,unstruc-turedknowledgeismorevaluable-pr...
