How to manage Chaos appropriately - a case study
I was asked recently to provide an example of how to deal with problems in the Chaotic domain. The attached 12 minute documentary* provides a vivid contemporary case study. The video focuses on the use of watercraft to aid the removal of hundreds of thousands of people who were stranded on Lower Manhattan at the time of the attack on the Twin Towers. Within less than an hour of the attack, none of the common commuter escape routes were available. The subways, bridges and tunnels had all been closed, and for office workers pushed to the extreme edges of Manhattan by collapsing buildings, escape by water seemed the only option.
Read More
Business Functions have brains too
Business Functions (IT, Legal, HR,Communications etc) sometimes feel like poor second cousins to the Commercial Unit when asked to participate in the corporate strategy process. This should not be the case. Functions should be vigorous and confident when communicating the value they can bring to business performance. But in so doing, they need to be clear on the impact they have upon their clients, and their strategic thinking should be as lucid and incisive as their commercial colleagues.
Read More
Clarity and Simplicity: the essential requirements of strategy

We have a statement to make.  

Over the past two weeks we have had a number of requests asking us to provide our view on the distinction between, vision, values, mission, intent etc.

We could provide the definitions.  We have a library of strategy books written by well-informed, intellectually muscular writers, each giving their shade on the rainbow of perspectives.

Here's the problem.  Folks want black and white.

Read More
Simon Luntstrategy Comment
"Are the benefits greater than the cost of the spin-off problem?”
If you resolve a problem successfully, then you generate a spin-off as a consequence of your success. However, the skills and talent necessary for the former may not be the most appropriate for the resolution of the latter. For example, reducing global high overhead costs by consolidating the back office operations may reduce fixed expenses, but it produces the spin-off problem of reduced flexibility in response to local pricing and product opportunities.
Read More
Simon LuntComment
How the French butcher saved the working horse. Why the solution to a spin-off problem might be under your nose!
For every solution there is a spin off-problem. Horses were once effective work animals. But they were expensive, labour-intensive and prone to sickness. The tractor avoided these problems. But overtime, the tractor too has produced spin-off problems. Tractors have compacted land, are unable to tackle challenging terrain, and issue discharge which compromises environmental legislation on certain crops. Working horses have come to the rescue. Now equipped with GPS, horses do, in certain circumstances, yield higher returns on the land versus tractors. But these breds of working horses would have died out had it not been for the butcher. What are the spin-off problems arising from your success, and how can you manage them, before they manage you?
Read More
When the complicated becomes complex and is treated simply`

Here 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 More
S1 E3: This I have learnt—Norris Zucchet, CEO (retired), Mount Pleasant Group of Cemeteries

Imagine 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 More
S1 E2: This I have learnt—Tom Schmidt, Managing Director, Norton McMullen Corporate Finance

Large 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 More
Driving up your ROI (Really Outstanding Improvement)

Had 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 More
Simon LuntComment
S1 E5: This I have learnt—The Soldier, Colonel Donald Pudney

What 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 More
S1 E6: This I have learnt—The Not-for-profit, Ms Cari DeSantis

This 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