Tag Archive for ‘Collective behaviour’
Absorptive Capacity, Knowledge Management and Innovation Capacity
Originally posted on Paul4innovating's Innovation Views:
Let’s start with some defining statements. Innovation is totally dependent on becoming aware of external ideas and the knowledge that is needed and then translated for it to become new innovation. We can ‘fall over these ideas’ or we can find ideas or concepts through explicit search. Then to translate these and turn them into something new and different we need to…
The bubble….why does it continue? Our poor forecasting capability or collective amnesia?
I was listening this morning to the Forum on the BBC which had an archectural theme to it, notably including Stephen Bayley, a commentator with whom I had dealings some years ago and whose opinion is always worth listening to. He made the point that the completion of very large, eye catching buildings seemed to frequently coincide with an economic downturn and quoted Dubai and various buildings in London, the […]
You Can’t Pursue Happiness if You are Sitting Still
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.
What’s the value of a plan?
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 […]
Rights Or Obligations: Which Is It Going To Be, Scotland?
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?
The only thing that matters in running a consultancy
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 messy business of retention in merger integration projects
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 […]
Music training boosts IQ
Originally posted on BRAIN'S IDEA:
There are more and more brain training companies popping up which promise the same deal: improved intelligence. While there are doubts about their results, another sort of brain training has existed since the beginning of humanity: music. The evidence for its effectiveness is surprisingly strong. . Brain training in the 1930’s. . Over the years, researchers have noticed that people who have taken music…
The milestone or is it millstone of entering ones second half
Since my earliest days as a consultant, probably as some kind of unfulfilled legacy from my days as a headhunter, I have had certain types of ‘conversations’ with men and women of my age. Sometimes these are driven by an event such as redundancy or a cross road in terms of career, or a sense of lack of direction…which may be driving loss of productivity and motivation. I was struck […]
The cult of the heroic project manager
I’ve spent a lot of time with a particular client this week and was reminded of the extraordinary nature and power of the heroic project manager species. Let’s define them for a minute…they live and breathe projects, they turn a rather dull programme management reporting task into a real, living document which gives insight. When they engage with a stakeholder, they do an extraordinary thing…they operate at an incredible level […]
Why do we like sad Music?
Originally posted on BRAIN'S IDEA:
. But I’m a creep. I’m a weirdo. What the hell am I doing here? I don’t belong here. Why would anyone want to listen to this? Radiohead’s song Creep is not the exception in being a heartbreaking but nonetheless successful song. According to Wikipedia , of the ten best-selling music singles ever several are clearly sad songs: Elton John’s Candle in the…
Inarticulate ramblings of a management consultant 