“Each organization should be treated as sui generis —requiring ethnographic sensitivity rather than prescriptive frameworks.”

Outdated fluff A blog about HR, leadership and organization life, starring the first lady of HR, Gloria Ramsbottom-Lemieux

Software, by its very nature, is half-baked. It takes years to mature—like a banana. Most clients, bless their hearts, lack the mindset or technical sophistication to appreciate our work.
ramsbottom-lemieux.blogspot.com/2025/06/meet...

From the brink of Chaos, to Total Chaos   March, 2026 Another war? Nothing new. In 1972 I lay in the mud in pouring rain at 2 a.m., on night patrol along the Jordanian border, as rockets fell on nearby Ashdot Yaakov. I was a soldier in...

"and in short, I was afraid"
www.blog.gr2010.com/from-the-bri...

Outdated fluff A blog about HR, leadership and organization life, starring the first lady of HR, Gloria Ramsbottom-Lemieux

Software, by its very nature, is half-baked. It takes years to mature—like a banana. Most clients, bless their hearts, lack the mindset or technical sophistication to appreciate our work.
ramsbottom-lemieux.blogspot.com/2025/06/meet...

Just don’t call a change a change-and thereby drive change Many organizations go through a series of “cosmetic operations.” They produce a mission statement displayed on billboards or laptop screens, a list of critical success factors such as “the customer is...

Just don’t call a change a change-and thereby drive change
www.blog.gr2010.com/working-with...

8 indicators that you have a western bias as a consultant (revised yet again 2026) By far, this is the most widely read post on my blog, with 40,098 people having read it recently. I have made some minor changes as well as additions- and thus re-publishing. I must admit that it is a...

8 indicators that you have a western bias as a consultant (revised yet again 2026)
www.blog.gr2010.com/5-indicators...

a man is screaming in front of a russian flag with the words scream if you love russia ALT: a man is screaming in front of a russian flag with the words scream if you love russia

CONFIDENTIAL – FOR INTERNAL CIRCULATION ONLY
ramsbottom-lemieux.blogspot.com/2026/02/conf...

our old Geezer Work Package Offer:
Nerds 65+ who sign up will receive the following life-enhancing goodies:
Stool softeners, because nobody should fight physics at work
......
ramsbottom-lemieux.blogspot.com/2025/01/recr...

Strange behaviour in organizational life is not that strange I have just finished reading Nancy Scheper Hughes ethnography Death without Weeping-The Violence of Everyday Life in Brazil; this ethnography outlines how maternal instincts are not so instinctive. Th...

Each organization should be treated as sui generis—requiring ethnographic sensitivity rather than prescriptive frameworks.
www.blog.gr2010.com/strange-beha...

Strange behaviour in organizational life is not that strange I have just finished reading Nancy Scheper Hughes ethnography Death without Weeping-The Violence of Everyday Life in Brazil; this ethnography outlines how maternal instincts are not so instinctive. Th...

Strange behaviour in organizational life is not that strange

www.blog.gr2010.com/strange-beha...

a close up of a fountain pen writing on paper ALT: a close up of a fountain pen writing on paper

A simpler place in time
www.blog.gr2010.com/a-simpler-pl...

Using photos as a leverage for organizational change Some leaders are exceptionally talented at narrating problems out of existence. A real issue quietly shapeshifts into a more comfortable story: weak products become “sales challenges,” high turnover t...

Some leaders are exceptionally talented at narrating problems out of existence. A real issue quietly shapeshifts. Eg, Mediocrity gets a glossy rebrand as “cutting-edge.” The language changes—but the reality doesn’t. Here's what to do
www.blog.gr2010.com/using-photos...

two dogs are riding a sled down a snow covered road . ALT: two dogs are riding a sled down a snow covered road .

Using photos to leverage change
blog.gr2010.com/using-photos...

Bullying middle managers in acquisitions (Hebrew version below) After an acquisition, the bean counters step aside and the value they hoped to create often starts falling apart. There are many possible reasons for that; in this post I want to address one salient r...

Bullying middle managers ruin acquisitions

www.blog.gr2010.com/bullying-mid...

Navigating Stuck OD Interventions: My Approach Organizational Development is not an exact science. Mais non! Maintaining the momentum of an OD intervention can feel like navigating a twisted labyrinth or running uphill in the heat—sometimes we gai...

Looking bad from time to time is nothing to fear. An OD consultant often looks like sh-- when momentum is lost.

www.blog.gr2010.com/navigating-s...

The limits of “Cure” in Organizational Development Lately, I’ve been immersed in the work of Philippe Bourgois, particularly his research on homeless heroin addicts. This is a natural continuation of my long-standing sociological and political interes...

Don’t try to “fix” organizational pathology. Focus on mitigating it.
This approach has guided my work for over 45 years and has served clients well. No new fad, framework, or tech revolution changes this truth.
www.blog.gr2010.com/treat-dont-c...

The Organizational Dictionary: Deciphering Culture, Driving Clarity Language has many uses. It can clarify, divert, focus and defocus. An organization’s genetic code (including strengths and pathologies) can be hidden via way words are used. A consultant who knows how...

The Organizational Dictionary: Deciphering Culture, Driving Clarity
www.blog.gr2010.com/the-organiza...

Consulting to Over-Committed Organizations: Why They Crash, Why They Thrive, and What Consultants Must Do Consulting to Over-Committed Organizations: Anatomy of Failure, Survival, and Intervention Organizations frequently commit to delivering products, features, or projects far beyond their actual capacit...

The business cycle rewards short-term promises—even insane ones. Everyone makes money during the climb, and the crash is treated as “circumstantial.
www.blog.gr2010.com/consulting-t...

On trust, power and designing for transparency Remote and virtual teams are no longer an experiment; they are a structural reality of modern organizations. Distributed work brings clear advantages — access to global talent, continuous operations, ...

The most damaging trust failures in remote teams rarely involve interpersonal conflict. They involve control.
www.blog.gr2010.com/on-trust-pow...

Welcome to the Organizational Zoo: A Field Guide to Office Politics Most of us begin our careers believing that talent, motivation, and hard work will naturally lead to success. And then reality intervenes. Again and again, capable people watch opportunities slip away...

Capable people watch opportunities slip away—not because they lack skill, but because they lack political awareness. Meanwhile, others with sharper political instincts seem to thrive, sometimes despite modest competence.
www.blog.gr2010.com/welcome-to-t...

Welcome to the Organizational Zoo: A Field Guide to Office Politics Most of us begin our careers believing that talent, motivation, and hard work will naturally lead to success. And then reality intervenes. Again and again, capable people watch opportunities slip away...

Capable people watch opportunities slip away—not because they lack skill, but because they lack political awareness. Meanwhile, others with sharper political instincts seem to thrive, sometimes despite modest competence.
www.blog.gr2010.com/welcome-to-t...

The Mikado, Gilbert & Sullivan Opera Company, Little List YouTube video by Gilbert & Sullivan Festival

The Mikado, Gilbert & Sullivan Opera Company, Little List

BY FAR, the best performance of Little List I have ever seen (and I have seen MANY)

youtu.be/TW_Ukl71OH4?... via @YouTube

Consulting to Over-Committed Organizations: Why They Crash, Why They Thrive, and What Consultants Must Do Consulting to Over-Committed Organizations: Anatomy of Failure, Survival, and Intervention Organizations frequently commit to delivering products, features, or projects far beyond their actual capacit...

Verbal tapdancing in organizations
www.blog.gr2010.com/consulting-t...

Consulting to Over-Committed Organizations: Why They Crash, Why They Thrive, and What Consultants Must Do Consulting to Over-Committed Organizations: Anatomy of Failure, Survival, and Intervention Organizations frequently commit to delivering products, features, or projects far beyond their actual capacit...

Middle managers are trapped. They must:
protect employees, yet
appear aligned with senior leadership.
They become translators between fantasy & reality. The fantasy is way way up in the clouds, and the reality can cold, bitter &overwhelming.
www.blog.gr2010.com/consulting-t...

Consulting to Over-Committed Organizations: Why They Crash, Why They Thrive, and What Consultants Must Do Consulting to Over-Committed Organizations: Anatomy of Failure, Survival, and Intervention Organizations frequently commit to delivering products, features, or projects far beyond their actual capacit...

Culture matters.
Risk-tolerant cultures embrace aggressive commitments more easily.
www.blog.gr2010.com/consulting-t...

Can Highly Successful Organizations Still Do Most Things Wrong? I would like to present two brief case studies and then offer several conclusions. Case Study 1: Save-Save Save-Save is a device that claims to reduce consumers’ electricity bills by up to 40%. Founde...

www.blog.gr2010.com/can-highly-s...

Why is OD not as common an undertaking as it used to be Both barn dancing and the Beatles are not as popular as well; for heaven’s sake, some people don’t even know who Gerry and the Pacemakers were! And who was Chuck Berry? Or Hank Snow? Them was the good...

OD became a fad, like sideburns, short skirts, fedora hats and Blackberry phones. That era is dead, מת, caduc.
There is less OD done than in the past. in this post I want to focus more on factors endogenic to OD. Here's why
www.blog.gr2010.com/why-is-od-no...