Two employees: Employee 1: Jane When faced with an issue Jane will improvise and adapt her approach. She doesn’t bother her manager or others. If Jane notices that somebody else has made a mistake she fixes it. There is no noise or palaver, she keeps things moving. Jane never makes any mistakes herself, or at least never […]
Rule 18: Discuss the Work
There are two types of conversations about work: The first is a Friday evening conversation. It is best held at about 5pm in the pub just around the corner from the office in hushed tones. The first conversation discusses who: Who screwed up Who is on the way up Who is on the way out And […]
What are You Working On?
What are you working on right now? What is occupying your time? Is it revolutionary? Will it set you head and shoulders above your competition? Is it new, innovative, exciting and exhilarating? Is it brilliant? Does it matter? What are you working on that makes you proud? Something or nothing? If the answer is nothing… Why […]
Innovation Constraints and Lateral Thinking
In the third world, 4 million children die every year within a month of birth. It’s an avoidable tragedy If half of those children were simply kept warm and clean they would survive. In the developed world we have incubators that do exactly that. I spent the first week of my life in one. And […]
Shit Happens
It’s not nice, but it is a fact of life, a certainty. Things go wrong, events conspire against you, milk gets spilt, shit happens. Maybe you can mitigate it, but you certainly can’t avoid it. It will get you in the end. How are you going to deal with it? Option A: Cry Play the […]