Change Strikes Finnish Companies – How Can They Handle It?

It seems we have finally woken up to the fact that the change is inevitable. Like the management guru Tom Peters says, the speed of change accelerates. For some odd reason, us Finns seem to have realized this fact only recently. In today’s Helsingin Sanomat was a great wrap-up by Minna Nalbantoglu about the change striking Finnish companies.

An Authoritarian Finnish Manager Eventually Loses It

I wrote about this in Finnish in July, 2013. I had just came back from lunch with a good friend of mine. His employer had just shown him the door due to “vision conflicts.” He told me that he didn’t agree to be the dog on a leash, who would bark when told to. My friend had made a serious mistake; he tried to develop the company’s business and told the CEO his opinions. The corner-office-boss could not take the attack. Instead of listening the ideas, he gave my friend the boot.

Stupidity Starts to Pay Off: Finland Is Now #1 in Public Sector Costs

Yippee! The awards of dubious honors for Finland is endless! In today’s Helsingin Sanomat our president Sauli Niinistö stated that the public sector costs are 58 % from our GDP. That gives us #1 position in the whole world. And, the value keeps on rising. The number of enterprises in Finland is around 260,000, where the number of public sector employees is around 800,000. Roughly calculated: an enterprise has to carry the costs of three public sector employees.

Your Invisible Clients Reveal the Truth About Your Business – and Share It With Others

Today I sat down for a lunch in our downstairs bistro. I’ve told dozens of people that their food is excellent and service unbelievably fast. I noticed they had raised the prices since January 1st. I soon realized that I was about to pay more and get worse service.

Wake Up, Finland! Only Jobs Disappear, Not the Work

In the biggest newspaper Helsingin Sanomat was an article today about the threat that automation will replace every third job in Finland. So? It has always been that way. Like Tom Peters has said,

The speed of change accelerates.

Finland’s Dubious Honor and Living by the Book Kills Creative Thinking

A U.S. based research institute Fund for Peace nominated Finland as the least failed states in 2012. Although the institute measures non-business based values, the dubious honor we received reflects our thinking and restricts our business success. We live by the book and it kills creative thinking.

What Did Jack Welch Teach Me About Leadership?

In 2012 and 2013, I had the privilege of being the editor of Nordic Business Report. Last year I had a unique opportunity to interview one of the world’s most famous business leaders, Mr. Jack Welch himself. Although there were many extremely valuable lessons he taught us during the precious 30 minutes, there was one thing that touch me the most.