'Many are stubborn with regard to the once-chosen path, few with regard to the goal' -Nietzsche
New innovations add more and more layers of details. Those layers of details create new spaces, new possibilities, new ideas. It happens in ecologies, with evolution. In economies, with innovation. And in thoughtspace – every brilliant new meme, every time a critic gets *just* the right phrase to explain the dynamics of a new movie … Continue reading The universe is greebling.
#QualityImprovement can be dangerous. redquadrant-qi-considered-dangerousDownload Very popular in the NHS, and beyond. Very good, in context. Our clients are doing our systems-flavoured #LeadingTransformation programme, and asked me how it fits with #QI. This isn’t new, and I constantly say: ‘but *really good* QI people look outside the box at this stuff’. But QI should be considered dangerous. It's a … Continue reading Quality Improvement – considered dangerous?
RedQuadrant is looking for a 'hub' person, to lead our bid support and admin coordination, working directly to Managing Partner, Benjamin Taylor. It's an initial one-year contract, £28-32k with room to grow, remote for the foreseeable future, really at the heart of growing a business - ideally it would be someone with (1) bid management … Continue reading I’m hiring! Be at the heart of RedQuadrant
Threshold concepts, or gateway ideas, are ideas that, once you get them, change your way of thinking permanently. There’s no going back. And you’re stuck with it. Realising that ‘you’re not the child your parent had in mind’ (as Peter Block says) is a big one. Deep systems insights like power+systems dynamics or the Viable … Continue reading What idea changed the way you see the world?
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!
“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.
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?
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?
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
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
chosen path 