Symptoms may include: Feeling out of control No idea where it could all end up Loss of control, as the world around you dictate your actions and responses Immersed in the suffocating detail of your business Lack of time to THINK, despite working 12 hour days 6 days a week “If it is to be – then It’s up to me”, syndrome Confusion as to your role of a Director, a shareholder, or an employee Failing to understand, or comply with, Directors legal responsibilities Getting the sam

I heard the term at a talk given by Tony Wilson, the acclaimed motivational speaker, and he described this word and what it meant to the point where I decided that I almost have to change my job title to that of Philip Webb – Chief Pebble Chucker. Quite simply, as the image in your mind will doubtless already have shown, the pebble chucker is the one who causes the splash, the ripples, the disruption and the little circular waves in an otherwise still pond. The noise as the p

SWOT has been around since the dawn of time, or so it seems. The basic audit tool that every business owner, director, manager and student uses to perform a “quick review” of any given situation or person. But where did it originate, and who actually owns it? It all started at the Stanford Research Institute, in California, in the early 1960s. A think tank had been set up to look at the problems associated with centralised planning functions, known then as the Corporate Plann

How is your strategy? It’s a word that has been in our business vocabulary for decades. As directors we are tasked to construct a...

Why Employee Surveys Leave You Dead in the Water Just think for a moment, how many surveys has your organisation carried out in the last...

I am constantly reminded of this question in many different ways in both business and social settings. From early fashion experimentation...

I’ve had the pleasure recently to meet with a number of CEOs to talk about their leadership styles and the things they do to manage and...

I see your point, but if I agree we will both be wrong… Have you ever been to a business meeting, to be faced with some difficult...

For the last decade we have been taken through the learning curve of various initiatives whose names begin with “six” – from Hats to...

If, as the politicians and newspapers would have us believe, we have emerged from the recession and that growth is finally back to give us good times again why is it that so many CEO’s I speak to, across all industries and sectors, are telling me different? They say that a modest recovery is here, that the green shoots are either very patchy or are, in fact, just weeds. They tell me that pricing is still under pressure, and large capital projects are being delayed or remain j

The Invisible Killer I need to alert you that in your organisation, right now, lurks an invisible killer. The killer lurks in your...

Need a new way to manage your Organisation? Benjamin Franklin (1706-90 in a letter to Jean-Baptiste Leroy, 1789, famously said; “‘In this...

Where Did “Management Jargon” Come From? Management jargon began to explode about the same time as the beginning of the Business School”....

You’ve engaged with Lean and maybe Six Sigma in an attempt to find and expose process issues and then to plan to fix them, thereby...

A report from the global management consulting firm, the Hay Group earlier this year revealed that businesses are being stunted by...

“Lean – Six Sigma is 30% systems, 70% people.” 1. What percent of the improvements from your Lean-Six Sigma projects last beyond six...

The Origins of the “Stakeholder” In the early 60’s a working party was assembled by Stanford Research Institute (SRI) in California. They...

The Invisible killer amongst us Are you adequately trained to manage constant change? It’s a simple question really, how much formal...

When “Six” is not enough For the last decade we have been taken through the learning curve of various initiatives whose names started...

Between a rock and a hard place?. #changemanagement #employeeengagement #performancepeople #structuredchange