VUCA: What can the American military teach us about business?
Don’t worry, this isn’t another one of those articles suggesting that you need the camaraderie and grit of the marines as you lead your team through another gruelling week servicing the nation’s photocopiers or whatever it is you do for a living. This military lesson isn’t really about people at all. It’s about a way of thinking about situations. Developed by the US military, it’s called VUCA, which stands for: • Volatility • Uncertainty • Complexity • Ambiguity It’s easy to see how this would be useful to military strategists looking at complex, confusing and unstable situations such as in ...
What have I got myself into? 7 tips for handling a ‘poisoned chalice’ career opportunity
Have you ever been given a fabulous career opportunity that didn't turn out to be quite such an unalloyed joy after all? In the last month or so, I've worked with five different people - some in medium-sized businesses, some in multi-national corporations - whose exciting new jobs turned out to be something of a poisoned chalice. It seemed worth exploring what organisations are doing here and how you should handle it if you find yourself being handed such a cup. Here's how it happens There's a team, a department or a business unit that's coasting. Not actually failing, that ...
Need a NED? How to avoid the pitfalls when engaging a Non-Executive Director
A good non-exec director can do wonders for an SME, bringing experience and a different perspective, acting as a sounding board and challenging the exec team to ensure they focus on the right stuff: the important not the urgent, the long-term strategy, good corporate governance and so on. And yet companies don’t always seem to get non-exec appointments right. I want to explore some of the pitfalls, but first let’s go back to basics: What makes a good NED? Sometimes NEDs are recruited for their specialist skills and knowledge or their contacts and reputation in a particular market. Other times, companies ...
Life in the fish tank – Where are you in this picture?
Do you advise businesses or other organisations for a living? Maybe you're a lawyer or an accountant, a management consultant or a non-exec director. Then this blog is for you. I want you to imagine an organisation as a fish tank. It doesn’t matter whether it’s a very small tank with just a few fish in it or a huge aquarium with multitudes of sea creatures. When you first look at it, the fish's behaviour may seem random but then patterns start to emerge. Maybe you find yourself studying the biggest fish and the way others interact with it. Or ...
Maybe it’s personal – Real and imagined family dynamics at work
Is there someone at work who really drives you nuts? Not just the usual workplace niggles but someone who really gets under your skin? Someone with whom it feels personal? Well maybe it is. Perhaps it all started with your family. That person may remind you of some you grew up with and you just haven’t noticed. Many workplaces take on the characteristics of a family – the stern, demanding father, the clucky mother hen, who looks after her brood but takes no nonsense from anyone, the squabbling siblings, the ‘baby’ of the family who gets away with murder and ...
VUCA: What can the American military teach us about business?
Don’t worry, this isn’t another one of those articles suggesting that you need the camaraderie and grit of the marines as you lead your team through another gruelling week servicing the nation’s photocopiers or whatever it is you do for a living. This military lesson isn’t really about people at all. It’s about a way of thinking about situations. Developed by the US military, it’s called VUCA, which stands for: • Volatility • Uncertainty • Complexity • Ambiguity It’s easy to see how this would be useful to military strategists looking at complex, confusing and unstable situations such as in ...
What have I got myself into? 7 tips for handling a ‘poisoned chalice’ career opportunity
Have you ever been given a fabulous career opportunity that didn't turn out to be quite such an unalloyed joy after all? In the last month or so, I've worked with five different people - some in medium-sized businesses, some in multi-national corporations - whose exciting new jobs turned out to be something of a poisoned chalice. It seemed worth exploring what organisations are doing here and how you should handle it if you find yourself being handed such a cup. Here's how it happens There's a team, a department or a business unit that's coasting. Not actually failing, that ...
Need a NED? How to avoid the pitfalls when engaging a Non-Executive Director
A good non-exec director can do wonders for an SME, bringing experience and a different perspective, acting as a sounding board and challenging the exec team to ensure they focus on the right stuff: the important not the urgent, the long-term strategy, good corporate governance and so on. And yet companies don’t always seem to get non-exec appointments right. I want to explore some of the pitfalls, but first let’s go back to basics: What makes a good NED? Sometimes NEDs are recruited for their specialist skills and knowledge or their contacts and reputation in a particular market. Other times, companies ...
Life in the fish tank – Where are you in this picture?
Do you advise businesses or other organisations for a living? Maybe you're a lawyer or an accountant, a management consultant or a non-exec director. Then this blog is for you. I want you to imagine an organisation as a fish tank. It doesn’t matter whether it’s a very small tank with just a few fish in it or a huge aquarium with multitudes of sea creatures. When you first look at it, the fish's behaviour may seem random but then patterns start to emerge. Maybe you find yourself studying the biggest fish and the way others interact with it. Or ...
Maybe it’s personal – Real and imagined family dynamics at work
Is there someone at work who really drives you nuts? Not just the usual workplace niggles but someone who really gets under your skin? Someone with whom it feels personal? Well maybe it is. Perhaps it all started with your family. That person may remind you of some you grew up with and you just haven’t noticed. Many workplaces take on the characteristics of a family – the stern, demanding father, the clucky mother hen, who looks after her brood but takes no nonsense from anyone, the squabbling siblings, the ‘baby’ of the family who gets away with murder and ...
