List

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October 29th, 2018

Have you seen that slide? The transformation thing, old power, new power and all those shifts

I have seen the same slide yet again. It keeps following me on Twitter, LinkedIn and Facebook. OK, not on […]
October 26th, 2018

The orphan trolley problem

At a recent conference, one of the speakers explained his recent experience in a building materials, large shop where he […]
October 25th, 2018

“Sometimes a majority simply means that all the fools are on the same side.”

As with many modern clever quotes, there is more than one author claiming this. Symptoms of potentially ‘all fools in […]
October 23rd, 2018

Corporate responsibility starts in the office

Multinational companies are values and behaviours schools. It may not be in their mission and vision, in the job descriptions […]
October 19th, 2018

The internal-external mismatch says a lot about companies

Some organizations that are very good at (external) marketing, are terrible at internal. Grand market(ing) plans, but can’t sell a […]
October 18th, 2018

There is really only one measure of the attractiveness of the organization you lead

If you love KPIs, here is one. The attractiveness of your (corporate) function is defined by the number of people […]
October 16th, 2018

The Irish Health Service silent culture revolution is driven by ‘if-not-us-who?’ employees

Two years  ago, starting in the Midwest of Ireland, a bottom up social movement, ‘Values in Action’, started to shape […]
October 15th, 2018

‘Act as if you were the owner’ (really?)

This has become a mantra used by many leaders to express the desire that people take seriously their commitments ‘as […]
October 11th, 2018

Sweating, pain, temperature. Organizations can show symptoms.

Some organizations are breathless. Frantic. It could be good or bad, usually not too good.  Other organizations are like funerary […]
October 9th, 2018

Some things that are not (a sort of inconvenience)

Malaria is not an increase of temperature in the thermometer Employee engagement is not a score in a Gallup scale […]
October 8th, 2018

The ‘cult of fun’ in the organization. The takeover of fulfilment by fun.

For many non-American, non-Anglo-saxon organizations the idea of fun is ‘that American thing’. It’s a bit unfair and reductionistic. I […]
October 3rd, 2018

10 rules for external or internal partners, for change or transformation.

These rules apply whether you are an external partner or an internal one. Rule number 1. Resistance is never universal. […]
October 2nd, 2018

Management conversation

Do you understand the strategy? Yes Can you see why we need to change, to do anything? Yes Do you […]
October 1st, 2018

Talk a lot, meet a lot, converse little. Time to call Socrates back

Semi connected reflections: [1] We talk a lot, email a lot, reply a lot, post a lot, say ‘I agree […]
September 27th, 2018

All the roads lead to Rome, but mind the axle of the car

A friend of mine Carlos Orozco  uses this analogy. If you are driving a car and you have a puncture, […]
September 26th, 2018

You are your calendar. Calendars don’t lie.

Airtime is finite. Initiatives, activities, tasks, ideas, attention to people, reaching the boss, innovation discussions, programmes, change programmes, leadership programmes, […]
September 25th, 2018

Change? Give us a break, we have just had organization plastic surgery

In the previous  Daily Thoughts I suggested: Readiness is a red herring and usually an alibi for not starting something […]
September 24th, 2018

Too busy getting ready, no time to go.

A  client, senior manager, mentioned to me recently that his company spent a disproportionate amount of time ‘getting ready’. He […]
September 20th, 2018

Quick Philosophy of Time in one page (Untapped applications for management)

[1] January starts around the 10th of the month. February is shorter and boring. Unless you go skiing, which half […]
September 18th, 2018

People with all the answers may be overqualified for their jobs

An American educator said that children entered school as a question mark and left school as a full stop. I […]