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Culture Eats Strategy for Breakfast

25 June, 2017 by James Lawther 2 Comments

Culture eats strategy for breakfast

What does that mean? It sounds like management claptrap. Let me repeat it, and attribute it. Culture eats strategy for breakfast ~ Peter Drucker Anybody who has worked in a large organisation will know that we prize strategy above all else. It is an intellectual pursuit, highly valued in the boardroom. We hire consultants to […]

Filed Under: Blog, Employee Engagement Tagged With: accountability, culture, fear and anxiety, group think, management style, strategy

The Irresistible Force and the Immovable Object

15 March, 2017 by James Lawther Leave a Comment

Irresistible Force Immovable Object

A middle manager’s view of change As managers get older their chances of promotion shrink.  There are fewer senior jobs than junior jobs.  The sad truth is that if you haven’t “made it” by the time you are 40, you probably never will. There is little upside to being a middle-aged middle manager. But most middle-aged managers have plenty […]

Filed Under: Blog, Employee Engagement Tagged With: blame, empowerment, management style

Good Boss, Bad Boss

6 February, 2017 by James Lawther Leave a Comment

The boss

What makes a good boss? Julian Birkinshaw wanted to know. After pondering the question for a while, he came to the conclusion that the best way to find out was to ask some employees.  They are the people most capable of defining what a good or bad boss looks like — we have all worked for a nightmare or […]

Filed Under: Blog, Employee Engagement Tagged With: colleagues, culture, management style, mixed messages

The Clear Desk Policy

18 December, 2016 by James Lawther 6 Comments

Lean Office

Busting management myths I love social psychology, it fascinates me.  I particularly like experiments.  It is one thing to put forward a theory about why people behave the way that they do; it is another thing altogether to prove it with some data. Let me give you an example, how should you set up an office? […]

Filed Under: Blog, Employee Engagement Tagged With: beliefs, command and control, empowerment, five s, management style, office productivity

The Management Dilemma

6 November, 2016 by James Lawther 1 Comment

Fair and Just

Scientific management Some people think management is a science.  It has clear rights and wrongs, with best practices to follow and benchmarks to beat.  Success lies in targets, goals and objectives; building the right processes and having the right infrastructure.  Organisations are just machines.  By applying cold hard logic you will get results. Clarity is a good […]

Filed Under: Blog, Employee Engagement Tagged With: accountability, culture, management style, video

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