Blog
Take a look at recent insights in leadership, strategy and more.
Are you a theme player?
Some participants make sure their contributions to the meeting add something to the main thread of the dialogue. You can tell they are mindful of the main direction of the subject at hand, and see it as bigger than any of them individually. They know how to nurture...
On-topic or off-topic?
They have something to say so they say it, whether it takes the theme forward or not. Sometimes what they say is a distraction sapping energy from the main flow of the dialogue. Eventually progress slows as momentum is lost and participants get tired. A key role of...
Too comfortable?
To what extent should leaders expect to feel uncomfortable—a little of the time, a lot of the time, or somewhere in the middle? Sometimes people in leadership positions comment that such and such made them uncomfortable. Something they experienced didn't fit with...
Social media—a normative influence?
We hear commentary that social media has a detrimental effect on ability to relate to other people—not too sure about that myself. Leaving that debate to one side, here's another aspect... The very pervasiveness of social media, especially networks like LinkedIn,...
Universal truth or just your worldview?
It comes as a bit of a jolt: What you thought was something which was true everywhere—that always applied—turns out to be just part of your map, a piece of your programming, in fact. It’s a healthy shock, of course, and one I’ve got more used to—enough to be more...
Mastery in the young, or at least younger
Helping some clients visualize the next 12 months of their business (and so increase the likelihood of it happening), it's interesting to notice that these young business people haven't learned to be resistant to learning. Not having ever had experience of other...
Incoherence and bullying
Strategic coherence: Some organizations have it, others not so much. In those that do, it’s easier to get things done across functions, across the ubiquitous silos, because everyone’s already pointing in something like the same direction. Where there’s...
If your organization was an orchestra, how would it sound?
Is everyone playing the same piece? Are they even in the same hall? Assuming, yes, then how unified is the performance? Ok, the comparison is not entirely valid, because an organization needs to evolve, so some players need to be trying out new things, and new...
A simple story of ego
The lady behind the reception desk said “I’m sorry, but the pool closes at six o’clock on a Monday” She must have made a mistake... “Are you sure? The website says it’s open.” She confirms the pool is definitely closed. I’m for blaming something, so I say... “I think...
Respect and goodwill go a long way
Leaving aside the politics, and the relative merit of either presidential candidate... Mitt Romney made an interesting comment—interesting in the context of the theme here: “I learned as the Governor of Massachusetts that the best achievements are shared achievements,...
If you want to understand organizations (and the world)…
Somebody said—I can’t remember who—if you want to understand organizations, try changing them. That’s a good insight, in my opinion. Certainly it’s my experience that making changes to organizations reveals all the mechanisms by which they really work. We can go a...
Fundamental or superficial?
Sometimes coaching or consultancy clients comment on the depth of the work we are doing, the suggestion being that they find it unusual to be operating beneath the everyday. But the thing is... Unless we seek to understand our world at a fundamental, first principles...
Our unconscious can’t tell the difference
I knew it was a slip as soon as I said it... I’m sat having coffee and a catch-up with a friend. Getting a little too carried away talking about an issue with a third party, I express some annoyance. My friend on the other side of the table listens sympathetically,...
Turning our questions on ourselves, and why we should
Helping a client work through an issue, it occurs to me, not the first time, that I could do with answering some of my questions myself. Nothing very earth-shattering there. What is new for me is realising that a way to help ourselves get our thinking straight is to...
Abrasiveness loses in the end
An interesting lesson highlighted in UK politics this week... UK Government Chief Whip Andrew Mitchell finally resigned after being abusive to a policeman on security duty in Downing Street (outside the Prime Minister’s Office) several weeks ago. Exactly what was said...