Blog
Take a look at recent insights in leadership, strategy and more.
Welcoming feedback?
We know we need feedback: We need other people to let us know how we are doing; to challenge our ideas; and to shake our assumptions (especially if they are out of date). That doesn’t mean we necessarily enjoy the process, of course. Often it’s distinctly...
Leadership is contagious
Unlike management, which doesn't really spread from person to person, leadership is contagious. If one person is an effective and energetic leader, those around them are likely to pick up some of the traits too. Management authority has to be arranged and people have...
How thorough do we need to be?
Ok, we probably need to stop before getting on to the gold plating, but how thorough do we really need to be, in practice? Perfectionism probably isn't the ideal trait, in most situations. We need cost-effectiveness too. There's a difference between perfect and...
How’s your own “brand” doing?
We perhaps tend to think of "brand" from the purely business point of view of supporting a premium price for a product or attracting customers. But the concept is also very relevant to relationships at the individual level. If we have a favourable personal "brand"...
The fine tuning of big change
We tend to think that big change requires brute force and large, broad strokes. Maybe not... Sometimes, the bigger the change required, the more delicate the approach needs to be—the more finely attuned is the effort that will succeed. It's a bit like getting a...
A more distracting environment than there’s ever been?
Is this true? Watching my early teenage years children struggle at times to focus on their homework in the face of diverse and increasing electronic distractions, I wonder whether their generation is growing up in the most distracting environment there has ever been....
Feeling included (or not)
How is it that it makes such a difference if we make sure people feel included? I understand the explanation to be a deep-seated part of our nature—the need to belong to a group to survive—literally. In earlier times, if we became separated from the group, we would be...
What’s the difference between espoused theories and theories in use?
The short answer is ego. Organisations, teams, and individuals (including ourselves) have a habit of claiming to operate according to a set of theories that apply to our work. With the best of intentions, we set out to do our business based on a set of assumptions we...
When you’ve got going, should you keep going?
One thing writing teaches you is, when you get going, keep going. When you've overcome your own inertia, keep that boulder moving. Lots of other things are like that too. But what about planning and prioritising? Don't we need to stop and assess our direction or...
We don’t challenge what we say ourselves
We don't challenge what we say ourselves. (Not unless we're like Gollum in The Lord of the Rings anyway.) OK, we might be conflicted about some subject of concern to us, and have some inner tension around that, but on the whole, we don't reject the things we say. We...
The danger of creeping mediocrity
In owning and operating something complex, like a house, for instance, it's easy to let small flaws grow into big ones. If we don't deal with minor issues in a relentless way, eventually the whole entity is degraded. It's like that with a business or an...
The talent that comes from clarity
Sometimes it seems that other people have special talents—talents we can't match. There may be some truth in that in some cases. More often... The difference is just that they've developed tremendous clarity in what they are about. And because they're very clear......
Overcoming ego
We all have an ego. We couldn't function properly without one. We need our sense of separateness. On the other hand... Our ego can blind us to the feedback we need to receive in order to grow and to develop or make the right decision. Unfortunately, we tend to reject...
Are you associated with the problem?
I don't mean are you causing the problem: I mean are you engaged with it; or engaged with the people who are dealing with it? If not, you probably won't have much impact. If you're dissociated from the problem or the people, chances are you won't be able to influence...
How fast can we go?
Traditionally, we said “at the pace of the slowest man.” Nowadays, we’d say “person,” of course. In times of change, is that really right? Do we need to go at the speed of the team as a whole? Change does take time. We can accelerate it by providing suitable...