Blog
Take a look at recent insights in leadership, strategy and more.
Are we (or they) holding things back by controlling too much?
We tend to feel uncomfortable if we don't have complete control of the situation we are in. And yet, sometimes - often? - we need to let go and accept that if the team as whole is going to make progress, we can't keep a tight rein on everything. If we have to have...
More than one path to meeting a need?
We might not be able to address someone’s needs directly: We may not be able to provide the specific thing they say they are looking for right now. But perhaps we can see something even more important we believe they need—something they don’t see themselves, so much...
Broad or precise?
Broad or precise, which do you prefer? Possibly (but not necessarily) because I’m engineer, I generally regard precision (and the requisite level of detail) as an unmitigated good thing. Not everyone has the same preference of course. It is quite striking (to me, that...
What’s the difference between a building and a “space?”
A building is a building is a building, right? Or is it? What makes the difference between a physical, inert, very tangible building and a much more intangible, somehow vibrant and stimulating “space?” Some of the answer will be to do with the objects you have in the...
Hard to help?
Are you hard to help? Or does that just apply to some of the people you work with? It's such a waste when we make it difficult for other people to give us the help we need; when we let our pride or our ego put up barriers when others are trying to act in our best...
Life’s too short…
...to have such a long process. Sometimes, we get carried away with the thoroughness of the process we put in place. Yes, we need to do a diligent job, but good enough is good enough. Arguably, that’s one lesson of Apple’s success—implementing enough features but not...
The vital importance of feedback
Most of us struggle with it, at least at times—taking feedback that may be painful to receive. We might be rather better at giving it than receiving it. The thing is though... It’s such an important determinant of success and growth, hearing what we need to hear to...
If there’s an obstacle…
...we probably need to overcome it before anything else will work. It’s striking how often we try changing all manner of things to get the result we want, apart from the one underlying issue that’s actually stopping us succeeding. Why is that? Sometimes, some aspect...
If you want people to listen…
...let them speak. It’s quite simple really. The days of talking at an audience and expecting them to take much of it on board are gone. Expectations have changed: People want a conversation. They want to be heard as well as to hear. Sometimes we fear initiating a...
Just when I thought it couldn’t get any worse…
...it did. (And a note on the kindness of strangers.) Last weekend turned into a nightmare for reasons of ill health in the family and other unexpected developments. Part of dealing with that involved driving some family members home late on Monday night in awkward...
Drop everything?
We need to get people’s attention from time to time... We may well need them to accommodate what we need done, or what they need to do to give effect to what we’re offering them. If we expect them to drop everything though, it probably isn’t going to happen. I’ve made...
If you’re really stuck…
Start really, really small. Sometimes, it's difficult to get moving. For whatever reason, we've become stationary. Perhaps we've been away and everything has ground to a halt in the interim. The scale of what we need to accomplish—what we need to get moving again—can...
If it’s not happening, it probably means they don’t know how
We so often find it frustrating when people don't do what we think they need to do, especially in their dealings with other people. Often it seems pretty obvious what that needed action is, perhaps even to them. And yet it doesn't happen. Maybe even despite explicit...
Can you governance your way to innovation?
It's the modern management obsession: "governance" and, to a degree, quite rightly so. We do need our organisations and our projects to be well-managed. The trouble is... Governance on its own isn't enough to prepare an organisation for the future. We can't legislate...
Changing the future
What really is a priority? It so often seems urgent things are the priority and sometimes they undoubtedly are. The trouble is if we keep doing the urgent at the expense of what will make a long-term difference, we gradually become more and more sub-optimised and less...