I am not a Luddite Technology is a good thing. As it evolves we find new solutions to problems: We invent new applications We write new algorithms We build new tools We develop new drugs Technology pushes us forward. Technology needs specialist knowledge All that new technology is difficult to get your mind around. People need […]
Archives for March 2016
SMART Goals, VAGUE Dreams
SMART goals: Specific, Measurable, Attainable, Realistic, Timely. Nothing apparently unreasonable there. And yet this whole approach jars. It feels very controlling, very blinkered, and very task-oriented. It is a method that allows managers to “objectively” assess their direct reports, and grade them accordingly, so finds great popularity with HR departments and the mindset prevalent in […]
Do You Know Where You Are Going?
Stating the bleeding obvious… When I was in my 20’s I went on a course. The instructor put up a slide. It looked like this: His point was simple. To be successful create alignment. Make sure everybody is pulling in the same direction. It was such an obvious point that I wondered why on earth […]
Layering Your Problems In
How to cook a leg of lamb When my wife cooks a leg of lamb she asks me to cut off the last 7 inches – the shank. Cutting the last few inches off a leg of lamb is not easy. It requires a hack saw and good deal of gusto. By the time the […]
When Does Real Learning Happen?
Learning… The real learning, happens when: You are driven by an intrinsic need to advance and not only by external rewards You ask more questions to get to the why of things — and then to what and how When you look for process and patterns in discrete situations And when you use your understanding to […]