We are all consultants, advisers, coaches, change people – but only a select few enter the tool shed!

What would you like to add to your consulting repertoire? When you help your kid work out how to motivate themselves for homework, or how to make more friends at school. When you help a friend work out a career move When you act as strategic adviser to a large technology-driven transformation programme 😉 You’re … Continue reading We are all consultants, advisers, coaches, change people – but only a select few enter the tool shed! →

Metaphors are both stages and cages for our thinking.

“Our business is a smoothly oiled machine.” “Life is a box of chocolates.” “We call the boss Darth Vader” “Kai has the heart of a lion.” We think by comparing one thing to another (analogy) or mapping one thing onto another (metaphor). They’re stages – platforms that boost our ideas – because they create: - … Continue reading Metaphors are both stages and cages for our thinking. →

#Recognition! It’s very nice, isn’t it?

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wxl7OfIHKbo I got two bits of nice news that made me stop and think. As a privileged person, able to get a lot of 'pats' of positive feedback, I'm not /short/ of recognition. But... actually... life's never all that easy, is it? We bid for work. We do well, but the losses outweigh the wins. … Continue reading #Recognition! It’s very nice, isn’t it? →

How do you feel when you realise how much you took after your parents?

My dad used to be a teacher, then a headteacher, then a 'super head' and adviser. It was a great career, and he was quite passionate about it. These days he keeps himself to himself but is still doing well. We just discovered a personal website he was working on, with articles for the Times … Continue reading How do you feel when you realise how much you took after your parents? →

the seven per cent rule

and business escape velocity It’s f*cking difficult to start a company and succeed – the stats prove it. And most new business people are artisan’s who’ve fired the boss, *not* entrepreneurs. But. If you are - decently presented, someone people can do business with - basically competent and capable - and you knuckle down to … Continue reading the seven per cent rule →

What I know about #systemsthinking

Watch the video - and pay attention to the sigils! https://youtu.be/p8IT-o_lpMg It's about #sensemaking hard until you know what is really going on, to get to the root cause of wicked problems and solve them Everything is connected, so everything is a #livingsystem - it's quite mystical, really You start from designing an idealised future … Continue reading What I know about #systemsthinking →

Pristine shelfware to working in the swamps

I thought it was essential – actually, the most important part of my work. But I gave it up and haven’t looked back. I used to work in policy – and we’d produce some brilliant policies. The problem is, nobody really followed them. Then, as a consultant, I produced enormous, beautiful slide-decks. Full of findings, … Continue reading Pristine shelfware to working in the swamps →

What do you reach for to get a quick overview of an organisation’s structure and key data?

How can you simplify analysis in way that doesn’t become meaningless? I used to look down my nose a bit at ‘the business model canvas’ and its many variants. Organisation and governance design is fascinating, and often involves challenging the ‘problem’ or changing the questions you are asking to get better results. Powerful approaches like … Continue reading What do you reach for to get a quick overview of an organisation’s structure and key data? →

Do systems exist?

to understand is to know what to do As soon as you really think about it, boundaries dissolve, connections appear. Everything is nebulous. ...sounds a bit woo-woo? *Of course* systems exist – we interact with them all the time, and we can model and understand them. Not always, not every time, but reliably and with … Continue reading Do systems exist? →

There are multiple ways of looking at organisations.

Here’s a baker’s dozen to get you going: 1- Empowerment — contributing to meeting purpose (or not) 2- Effectiveness in prevention — meeting needs early 3- In terms of dealing with demand ‘outside-in’ 4- Functional perspective — professional and statutory functions 5- A resource based view 6- An outcomes view 7- Evaluation 8- As purposive users of resource to achieve outcome … Continue reading There are multiple ways of looking at organisations. →