Recruiting your brightest and best to solve the more intractable challenges facing your business is the right thing to do. But proceed with forethought. Failing to act upon their recommendations doesn’t develop your team, it opens up Pandora’s box.
Read MoreHere is a minor but amusing example of what happens when some event disruptes a complicated process and makes it complex.
A healthy confident organisation responds appropriately. It relaxes,delegates and trusts teams that 'do'. The focus is doing the right thing.
Frightened organisations focus on avoiding mistakes internally. Their response is to tense the corporate body. They become rigid and more restrictive when they should be doing the reverse—loosening the boundaries (within restrictions), and delegating the capability to front line problem solver.
Read MoreImagine having a market where demand is guaranteed (yes, guaranteed) to grow, where competition is limited, and the cost of entry is high.
Too good to be true? Maybe.
But there is a downside. Such dynamics can cause organisations to become sluggish and indifferent to innovation. After all, why should they change?
Norris Zucchet faced such conditions. It turned out to be the most demanding, exhausting and exhilarating 13 years of his career.
What did he do and what did he learn? Grab 15 mins of wisdom in this edition of 'This I have learnt.'
Read MoreLife is richer with strong friends and strong coffee.
Read MoreLarge organisations are characterised by the size of their employee population. Engaging the group to co-operate for combined and individual benefits is the single largest challenge of leaders in such in an organisation. In fact, in some ways, it is the only thing they do.
Tom Schmidt has had a successful career within a number of large organisations. In this episode of 'This I have learnt' he shares with us some of his experiences on how to lead others, but also how to lead and develop oneself in order to be a better leader.
Read MoreHad the typhus squeezed the last few ounces of life from his limpid body, Thomas Paine might have felt blessed release.
If his biography had been written soon after he was stretched off that ship in Philadelphia, he would have been deemed a failure.
But thankfully he did survive; the works that he composed in the succeeding year, ‘Common Sense’ ‘Age of Reason’ and ‘Rights of Man’ influenced the formation and direction the current liberal democracies. Many US Presidents quote Paine’s words at their inauguration, and Napoleon is said to have carried copies of Paine’s works while on campaign.
Paine found a way, encouraged by others such Benjamin Franklin, to co-mingle his spiky personality with his grand idea of a new social order and his incredible ability to write for the ‘common man.’
Read MoreThe life of the entrepreneur. All goodies and glamour if you believe the business press, but these reports often avoid revealing that (at least) eight out of ten businesses fail within the first three years.
So what makes a successful entrepreneur? It seems they share three approaches:
Read MoreWhat can life under fire teach you about setting priorities and leading others?
Quite a lot it seems. It has helped Colonel Donald lead a successful and stimulating life.
Some may have a successful career in the military, others in the public sector or many more in a business career. There are a rare few, such as our guest Colonel Donald Pudney, who have excelled in all three.
He has lived in war zones for extended periods, been head of a civil service, and a director of several prominent organisations. He has valuable lessons to share.
Read MoreThis interview is a cracker. It powerful, uplifting and heartening—especially if you are a woman in the workplace.
While those of us who work in business occasionally complain about challenging market conditions or a lack of resources, these are nothing compared to the difficulties and restrictions endured by some not-for-profits.
A poor decision in commerce might result to a disgruntled customer, a poor decision in a not-for-profit could destroy the life of a child, with similar consequences to the employees involved.
Those of us in business have much to learn from those in such circumstances.
Cari DeSantis has brought about innovation change in some of the toughest jobs,and shares lessons learnt in this episode.
Finally, she has an uplifting message of young women entering work today.
I hope you enjoy the programme.
Read More“How can I get customer insight that is actionable?” Don't rely on that thick, industry-sponsored report for easy answers.
Most market and customer research are too turgid, too long and too expensive. Very few give easily accessible actionable output. I use a method which addresses some of the limitations
The philosophy here is to drive continuous input to fuel continuous improvement —and to do with customer involvement. This means you can have innovation but at lower risk and lower cost.
Read MoreExecutives tell me, in their more candid moments, that they doubt the value of the ‘employee engagement survey.’
They find it time-consuming and stressful, and most have all but given up on trying to calculate any return-on-investment. No wonder then such surveys have the reputation of being “all pain and no profit.”
So why bother? The answer lies in why we form organisations.
Read MoreYou have to lead to succeed.
In an increasingly complex world no individual can solve every problem. In response we form teams, organisations, and even nations. Each of these needs successful, not perfect, leaders.
And here is the challenge.
How can we become successful leaders when humans have no manual?
Answer.
I’m writing this in the studio, and my legs are lovely and smooth.
Well, they’re not really.
They are itchy, and covered in cuts, and you'll ready why in a minute. Plus also a tip on how to avoid the same thing happening to you and your customer—but first a plea.
Make it easy for your customers to love you.
Read MoreI was admonished via email yesterday for not having posted in blog in recent times.
My repost was simple. I quoted David Ogilvy's office memo to Ogilvy and Mather employees. Recently, doing has eclipsed writing.
Read MoreThere is a river of Goodness that flows within those who wish to improve the lives of others. Their capabilities are carried to the beneficiaries in a variety of vessels (workshops, writings, reports, interviews), all buoyed along with the aim of improving the lot of the recipients.
However, the actions of others serves to dam or obstruct the flow. These representations of human blotting paper should be rapidly removed, rebuffed or retrained with the appropriate disciplined vigour.
Why the stridency?
Read More
