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Organisational Mechanics

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Pride and Ignorance

29 June, 2016 by James Lawther 5 Comments

Scurvy isn’t nice If you are unfortunate enough to contract it you will start to feel tired. Then you will develop spots on your skin and your gums will turn spongy. A week or so later you will start to bleed from your mucous membranes and your skin will turn yellow.  Eventually sufferers develop open […]

Filed Under: Blog, Process Improvement Tagged With: command and control, gemba, group think, human nature, ignorance, innovation, no substitute for experience, nothing new under the sun, political will

What Do You Believe?

24 April, 2016 by James Lawther 4 Comments

Weltanschauung An interesting word.  It ranks alongside bier and keller in my grasp of the German language noun, German (plural Weltanschauungen /ˈvɛltˌanʃaʊ(ə)n/) A comprehensive conception or image of the universe and of humanity’s relation to it A perception of the world especially from a specific standpoint A particular philosophy or view of life; the world view of an individual […]

Filed Under: Blog, Wild Cards Tagged With: beliefs, group think, human nature, management style, weltanschauung

The Antimatter Principle

16 April, 2016 by Bob Marshall 7 Comments

Antimatter

A metaphor Antimatter is by far the most valuable substance, by weight, known to Man (around $25 billion per gram). It’s incredibly rare, amazingly expensive and difficult to produce, and yet is by far the most powerful energy source we presently know of. It’s also the very epitome of alienness. Seems like a good metaphor […]

Filed Under: Blog, Employee Engagement Tagged With: communication, human nature, listening, management style

Corporate Cancer

10 April, 2016 by James Lawther 2 Comments

anxiety

Fear and anxiety We have all heard of a “culture of fear”, but does fear really exist in our organisations? Fear Fear is a physical response danger, a reaction to an immediate issue that threatens your safety and security.  It is fear that overcomes you when you are walking home late at night, all by yourself […]

Filed Under: Blog, Employee Engagement Tagged With: blame, command and control, fear and anxiety, human nature, incentives, management style, performance management, systems thinking

SMART Goals, VAGUE Dreams

25 March, 2016 by Tobias Mayer 7 Comments

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 […]

Filed Under: Blog, Employee Engagement Tagged With: assumptions, human nature, management style, objective setting, SMART goals

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