I’ve been thinking about the old Hans Christian Anderson fable “The Emperor’s New Clothes” lately.  It’s been on my mind as I read current articles regaling us with tales of corporate leadership and management run amok.  It also brings to mind some of the fabled business cases of the past (like the SAP implementations at Hershey and Levi Strauss) where a grand vision was cast and hailed by all as a marvel right up until reality set in and bit hard.  Much of what I see along these lines I think can be attributed to some level of what I’ll call “faking maturity” by organizations that, quite frankly, should know better.  And the fall out at times can approach nuclear grade waste. Continue reading →