By now, if you've tapped into almost any media source, you've heard of how the Costa Concordia ran aground, sank, and created a world of mayhem for all involved.

The initial cause as I read about it in the media, is,"…made an unauthorized, unapproved deviation from its programmed course, a "human error" that led to the grounding of the vessel…," says the chief executive of the ship's Italian…

A friend recently received a call from a large tobacco company. The product she would would be leading is fantastic. The kind of work being offered is even more fantastic.

But at its core, the business represents something which is against her personal ethics. Is she being inappropriately biased, debating whether to accept the job?

This might seem one of those rare occasions…

In one of the product management forums I monitor, there has been an ongoing discussion about decision ownership. For instance, does the product manager make all the final decisions regarding his or her product?

As the discussion evolved, it reminded me a guiding principal a mentor gave me early in my career. "Never lose alone."

The best successes come from collaborative efforts, working alongside others. You may get lucky as a sole…

As leaders I think we all find our teams besieged by fires at one point in

time or another.  Sometimes it seems they’re simply building one atop another

and, unless you can do something, you risk being over run…your core mission

compromised.

In a corporate environment the fires can seem to come at your team from every direction.  The President pulls on your strings, Sales is pulling on Development, Projects demand ECOs…