Management Lessons Learned from A Game of Thrones

A Game of Thrones is the first novel in A Song of Ice and Fire, a series of high fantasy novels by American author George R. R. Martin.I rarely watch television, but for Christmas, my wife bought me Season 1 of  Game of Thrones, the HBO series inspired by the novels.  Don't worry, this blog post will not contain any spoilers. Watching the characters jockey for power and influence reminded me of my experience navigating organizations over the course of my career.   Here are my top lessons learned from the series:1.  Doing the right thing does not always workI have strongly believed that the nice guy can finish first and that in the long term those with strength of moral character will triumph.    In Game of Thrones, some of the moral characters are outfoxed by manipulative, cruel, and deceptive characters.   One character notes "When you play the game of thrones, you win or you die."     I have no plans to change my personal philosophy or approach to life, but it is interesting to reflect that some battles cannot be won with honor if your opponents are truly evil.2.  There should be alignment of authority and responsibility.One character notes "The man who passes the sentence should swing the sword."   It's easy for management to make decisions when someone else has to implement them.  Over the course of my career, I've been careful to "eat my own dog food" using the products I'm responsible for creating, making hard ...
Source: Life as a Healthcare CIO - Category: Technology Consultants Source Type: blogs