Tag Archives: comics

The Wonderful World of Downsizing

Stikkee Situations - Downsizing Cartoon

In Stikkee Situations we’ll try to take a humorous look at a lot of different serious business topics.

In this episode we poke fun at the wonderful world of downsizing.

Employees hate workforce reductions (aka downsizing), but some CEOs (even in profitable companies) seem to love these traumatic events as a tool to save their job and to drive short-term movements in the price of a company’s stock price, often coming on the heels of a company missing their earnings estimates.

But the positive short term stock price effects of an across the board workforce reduction come with heavy consequences, several of which greatly affect the innovation capacity of the organization, including:

  1. Destruction of trust within the organization
  2. Reduction in collaboration in the organization
  3. Loss of forward momentum on project work
  4. Loss of some of your best talent as they proactively find themselves jobs elsewhere
  5. Reduction in passion, creativity, and engagement among those who remain
  6. Elimination or reduction in the organization’s commitment to innovation

Now of course sometimes workforce reductions are necessary to avoid bankruptcy or for strategic realignment (removing human resources from business areas you are exiting), and they can be potentially healthy for the organization.

But, when downsizing is done purely to please wall street and in an untargeted way, in the long run I would assert that the organization suffers more than it benefits because any reduction in forward innovation momentum is an invitation to competitors and startups to speed past you.

So, keep innovating!

Please note the following licensing terms for Stikkee Situations cartoons:

1. BLOGS – Link back to https://bradenkelley.com/category/stikkees/ and you can embed them for free
2. PRESENTATIONS, please send $25 to me on PayPal by clicking the button 3. NEWSLETTERS & WEB SITES, please send me $50 on PayPal by clicking the button
License for presentations - $25
License for newsletters and web sites - $50

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Do you support #StrikeFastFood or not?

Stikkee Situations FightFor15

Today is the big day for the #StrikeFastFood movement (aka #FightFor15), during which fast food workers will walk off the job in search of a living wage – in this case they are hoping for $15 an hour.

What do you think of this movement?

Do you support it, or do you think the market should decide?

And do you think they’re foolish for changing the hashtag for their movement in the last 48hrs from #FightFor15 to #StrikeFastFood?

(You might notice the title for the cartoon is #FightFor15 because I created it yesterday)

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Announcing Stikkee Situations

Stikkee Situations Number 1

I am proud to announce the launch of my business cartoon series called Stikkee Situations. I will try and do at least one business cartoon a week on the themes of innovation, marketing, management, leadership, strategy, culture, human resources, entrepreneurship, and the occasional political cartoon just for fun.

You may notice changes over time as I take a rapid prototype, Lean Startup type approach to the creation and evolution of this strip.

Please send me your topic ideas if there is a particular cartoon you’d like to see (or leave a comment) and give me your feedback and be part of its hopeful growth and improvement over time!

Please note the following licensing terms for Stikkee Situations cartoons:

1. BLOGS – Link back to https://bradenkelley.com/category/stikkees/ and you can embed them for free
2. PRESENTATIONS, please send $25 to me on PayPal by clicking the button 3. NEWSLETTERS & WEB SITES, please send me $50 on PayPal by clicking the button
License for presentations - $25
License for newsletters and web sites - $50

I hope you enjoy the ‘toons!

Subscribe to Human-Centered Change & Innovation WeeklySign up here to get Human-Centered Change & Innovation Weekly delivered to your inbox every week.