There is an old adage that form follows function. In his book “The Leader’s Handbook: Making Things Happen, Getting Things Done” (which is great and you should buy it) Peter Scholtes builds on that idea. He shows how the different parts of an organisation interact, one level following and supporting the next: One level follows […]
Archives for February 2013
Gordon Ramsay, Darcey Bussell and Your Next Re-Org
When we are faced with a problem, maybe a new competitor, a cost challenge, a product launch or simply a new job, we marshal our forces to deal with it. We reform our departments Shuffle our management teams Hire the right talent Politely ask those who aren’t performing to the standard we expect to leave. […]
The Childish Games Managers Play
There is a game called Chinese Whispers, I am sure you have played it. All you do is line a group of people up and ask them to whisper a message from one to another along the chain. Each time it is repeated the message morphs; progressively degrading the further it gets from its source. […]
When Will You Die Daddy?
A charming question asked me by my 4-year-old daughter this weekend. I didn’t know the answer so I had a search in line for some statistics. In Ancient Rome life expectancy at birth was 28 years old. If you made it through your first 15 years (avoiding all the horrific causes of child mortality) you […]
It’s all About the System Stupid
I work for a large multi-national corporation. Like most large multi-national corporations we have wisely outsourced our IT. Part of it to a “technology provider” and part of it to a “service provider”. On paper this gives us a very cheap and flexible solution but the reality is that the overall experience is a little, […]