"Assuming we care (if not, we're in the wrong place), the leadership challenge -- even obligation -- is to help others care. In today's environment this is one of the toughest aspects of leadership."

- from Jim Clemmer's article, "Decentralized Organization Structures Empower and Energize"

"We are in the midst of a major transition from organization and management practices that began around the turn of the 20th century. Our cloudy crystal ball won't allow us to see which organization structure or model will dominate the 21st century. Since we're no longer in an age of mass production and standardization, there won't likely be just one type. Rather, we'll see our top organizations grow and shed a variety of structures and models to suit the their changing circumstances."

- from Jim Clemmer's article, "High Performance Organization Structures and Characteristics"

"The search for an ideal or perfect structure is about as futile as trying to find the ideal canned improvement process to drop on the organization (or ourselves). It depends on the organization's context and focus (vision, values, and purpose), goals and priorities, skill and experience levels, culture, teams' effectiveness and so on. Each is unique to any organization."

- from Jim Clemmer's article, "High Performance Organization Structures and Characteristics"

"A mountain of evidence shows that 85 to 90 percent of errors originate in the organization's structure, system or process. Yet all too many executives look for who rather than what went wrong."

- from Jim Clemmer's article, "Measurement Traps"

"Get the people whose motivation and morale you're concerned about to identify their biggest barriers. One company tackled this task through a "dumb rules and forms" committee. Led by a vice-president, the group's mission was to search out and destroy all the demeaning and useless bureaucratic busywork that complicated the organization and turned people off."

- from Jim Clemmer's article, "Morale Problem? Look in the Mirror"

"I once saw a strange pumpkin at a county fair. It had been grown in a four-cornered Mason jar. The jar had since been broken and removed. The remaining pumpkin was shaped exactly like a small Mason jar. Beside it was a pumpkin from the same batch of seeds that was allowed to grow without constraints. It was about five times bigger. Organization structures and systems have the same effect on the people in them. They either limit or liberate their performance potential."

- from Jim Clemmer's article, "Organization Structure Limits or Liberates High Performance"

"Too often, systems serve accountants, technocrats, or management. Get the cart behind the horse. Systems should serve customers or those producing, delivering, or supporting your products or services."

- from Jim Clemmer's article, "That Empower Word Again"