We find ourselves in extraordinary times. Although we regard the “Industrial Age” as far behind us, many if not most of our established businesses and organisations are still structured in its image, with hierarchies, attitudes and reward structures based on control. We are past the “Knowledge Age”, and although we can now find anything we want […]
Read moreBest, or Better?
May 2, 2012 
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Conventional business culture encourages us to be aspire to be the “best”. I think that limits us. Best suggests an end point, somewhere we can arrive at and look down on lesser entities. It is, I believe, and dangerous mind set. To be the best, we need a clear set of rules and boundaries. We […]
Read moreThinking Together
February 19, 2012 0 Comments
In the 30 Jan edition of the “New Yorker” there is a great piece by Jonah Lehrer under “Annals of Ideas” in which he explodes some of the myths around brainstorming. The article is well worth reading if this area interests you, but let me summarise; – people think more creatively on their own than […]
Read morePerspective, Hope and Fear – creating 21st Century Prosperity.
September 29, 2011 0 Comments
I attended a breakfast meeting in Birmingham yesterday wonderfully titled “China wants your Lunch, and India wants your Dinner”. Lord Digby Jones is a great presenter – avuncular, charismatic and not short of opinion, so that I found his talk in a region suffering more than most at present from economic uncertainty deeply disempowering was […]
Read moreDrone Politics
September 25, 2011 0 Comments
As I was driving down to Heathrow today, I found myself listening, as is my daily habit, to radio 4. There was a disturbing, if interesting piece on the current war trade show, and the exploding( sorry) market for UAVs, or drone aircraft. There was an interview with one of the “pilots” who with some […]
Read moreSystems, Fear and Improvisation
September 22, 2011 0 Comments
Anne McCrossan (Twitter, @annemcx) wonders whether planning and improvisation are opposing muscles. Would agree, and also wonder about the nervous system that drives them. The current economic climate is, to be generous, uncertain, and the neuroscientists will tell you that research indicates that uncertainties trigger almost all of the same neural circuits of fear. and […]
Read moreThe Call Centre Moment
September 12, 2011 0 Comments
I have found myself vaguely fascinated by recent interactions with the O2 call centre. Our contracts are coming to an end, so clearly it has triggered an action somewhere deep in O2′s system, that they need to ring me and tell me how important I am. And that’s where it gets interesting. They call me […]
Read moreThe need for powerful questions
August 25, 2011 0 Comments
I think there is little that is more dangerous than the right answer to the wrong question. Having said that, I am very conscious that I am part of a generation that was educated, trained and rewarded on being able to produce answers. We moved from curious pre-schoolers to graduates to people whose success and […]
Read moreOrganising genius
August 16, 2011 0 Comments
One of the best books I have ever read on managing talented groups. Published in 1997 – but it is by Warren Bennis, so does not obey normal rules of half life. The takeaways: Greatness starts with superb people Great groups and great leaders create each other. Every great group has a strong leader The […]
Read moreChindogu Thinking
August 16, 2011 3 Comments
I first came across the concept of Chindogu in Charles Handy’s book “The Hungry Spirit”. “Chindogu” is a Japanese term for intriguing, but useless inventions. Handy’s observation was that our economies in the West were becoming overwhelmed by Chindogu products in the search for growth – everything from over equipped cars and over specified computers […]
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