Pcubed : Insight : Insight #1 :. Some interesting, personal, observations from a conversation with Sim Preston of AIA. He gives some very powerful perspectives in terms of the upside and downside for 2014. Definitely work a read.
You Can't Pursue Happiness if You are Sitting Still. The headline of this blog is a little misleading…however the contents are interesting, not only because of the fact that I have a teenager, but also because there seems to be an increasing discussion around the subject…Craig Ferguson’s diatribe on the Late Late Show is a good example. Worth a read.
It may seem strange to those of you who know me that I’m in the profession of planning otherwise known as project / programme management. For years, my life was anything but planned, work opportunities seem to occur through a combination of chance and happy circumstance. Obviously it’s been easy to post rationalise my various moves (!) but the reality was very different. That was not however due to a […]
I’ve been on a few flights this week and beyond catching up with my favourite shows on the BBC iPlayer (!), the article penned by Malcolm Henry which I reposted last week, seems to be having a disturbing effect on me! Malcolm was describing the debate in Scotland as to the establishment of a bill of rights and his proposition that a bill of obligations would be much more powerful. […]
Rights Or Obligations: Which Is It Going To Be, Scotland?. This comes from a blogger whom I’ve been following around his observations around Scottish independence. However the application of a bill of obligations / as opposed to rights has the potential for application in a corporate environment as well. An interesting concept for future change management initiatives?
Quick, bring back nanny – the market's failed. Powerful piece on a potential new type of government intervention. Well worth the read
As I reached an interesting milestone in the build of my consultancy in Asia last month, I had a moment to think about what it was that I was actually in control of. Not the stuff that you tell your shareholders, or your boss, or your colleagues or indeed your husband / wife…but the reality. And it struck me in a second of starting simplicity. The only thing I can […]
The 5 questions which turn Selling into Consulting.. I was referred to Michael following the recent piece on SME to Consulting. Really good blog which gets to the heart of the selling issue for consultants.
Two interesting moments this week: I was asked by a client to work with his team to help them understand what it is to become consultants. Interesting mandate and many might say, why on earth would you want to do that? A powerful debate with a fellow consultant around the challenge behind being both a subject matter expert and a consultant. In preparing something for the first of these challenges, […]
Article from the FT today.. “Basing more of the fee on work done is a good start Imagine that, upon arrival at the doctor’s office, you are told that you will be charged in a new way: only if major surgery is required. At the end of your examination, you are assured that only a quadruple bypass will save you. What then? You storm out, never to return, of course. […]
Profit isn't a dirty word. Powerful piece that addresses one of the major challenges that we face as a civilised society…how to reduce dependence from those with wealth and create independence amongst those without.
Three truths about communication which are accepted by most: Non-verbal communication constitutes 70-80% of the message (tone and body language to be precise). Human beings are extraordinarily good at perceiving that which is authentic and that which is not. Leaders lead through the power of their communication capability. Every project manager I’ve ever met, when asked about the core skill required that distinguishes the average from the exceptional in their […]
I suspect that the phrase most often heard and rarely delivered against in the transactions world is ‘people are our most important asset‘. It’s right up there with ‘there’s a natural cultural fit between our two companies‘ and ‘this acquisition will be earnings accretive in x years’! Why does the tendency to make statements based on zero knowledge and little chance of delivery continue in a market situation which has […]
A few weeks ago I wrote a piece on a change management project we were working on entitled ‘my world, your world…systems led change and why it fails’. I promised some solutions or at least some ideas about how to resolve this type of issue and a number of you have reminded me that I have not been true to my promise, so here goes! Firstly, take the time you’ve […]
I’ve followed Rory Sutherland on TED for a long time. He has always been an advocate of behavioural economics but in this latest piece explores the lack of a ‘framework’ which has held psychology back unlike other subjects which straddle academia and the corporate world.
Many years ago when I first started consulting, my wife said to me, “make sure you continue to speak English, if its your single contribution to your profession that you do this, it will have been a career worth having!” It’s an extraordinary thing that we seem to delight in, coming up with language which is so nebulous as if the sole purpose is to confuse rather than clarify! Maybe […]
Inarticulate ramblings of a management consultant 