Picture from Silvio Roli on Railpictures.net Setting strategy can be complex. Organisations carry out complex analyses of who they are and how they can make the most of opportunities. The plan should be simple. The best teams know a few things they always ‘MUST’ do and a few things they know they must ‘NEVER’ do. [...]
A painting of the Battle of Borodino. In 1812 Napoleon invaded Russia. At Borodino at the gates of Moscow, Napoleon won a decisive victory against the Russian army. This was the bloodiest battle in modern history. There was appalling loss of life on both sides. Napoleon waited outside Moscow for the surrender party. No one [...]
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rfsDPz2uof4 Local consultants tell this breathless story about how the lion must run to catch prey. The antelope must run to survive. Therefore when the sun rises on Africa, you had better be running. I have watched game in the bush. They don't spend the day running. But when they run – they run [...]
“Our organisation is a family. Quite often clients will point this out. With gravity. As though this is a guarantee of light, peace and tranquility. A haven safe from conflict. But of course all families are dysfunctional. As poet and author of the family memoir “The Liars Club” says, “ a dysfunctional family is any [...]
Remember in Lord of the Rings when Aragorn has just sorted out this guy? And he says “Let’s hunt some orc” or something like that. He, Gimli and Legolas, go running off across the mountains. Every now and then he does this: customer measures - Aragorn has his ear to the ground He [...]
Apologies up front for the photo - if this doesn't make your mouth water nothing will. How do you make a cup of tea? Piece of cake! Bags in a pot, throw in the water. You just have to decide whether you pouring for a MIF or a TIF and everyone is happy. But how [...]
External Analysis The featured picture is a shot of downtown Swakopmund – the original department store Woermann Brock, established in 1894. A while back I worked with a guy called Basil at Rössing Uranium near Swakopmund, Namibia. And this is what he told me. His wife opened a baby supplies shop in the town. Commerce [...]
Having a clear vision is very powerful. In my last ever corporate job, I spent 45 minutes a day in the parking lot, writing my three daily pages of journal notes. People were encouraging me to hold an exhibition. Each day I would start my journal by writing, “What are you doing about your exhibition?” [...]
The real truth behind values-based change My friend Jane runs a business in which she has a handyman visiting client houses. Time and cost management are critical. One day while I was visiting, the handyman came in from a job. He had to return to the same house with equipment he had forgotten the first [...]
End your struggle with procrastination This is pathos. Though couched in humour, so much of Calvin’s experience cuts to the heart. We can all relate to this message. Procrastination is one of our besetting problems. The search for ‘Procrastination Jokes’ returns 527,000 results in 0.31 seconds in Google. This is a big deal in [...]
