We like to think that our projects, habits, and teams are organised and orderly and move in ways that are under our control. We set off with a clear purpose, a defined goal, and a reasonable plan to get us there. And then … real life happens. People learn new things, contexts shift, and the tidy line of attack becomes more of a gentle curve....
Read MoreThere’s a pattern I've seen regularly in organisations; you may have seen it too. Something serious happens, perhaps a missed deadline, a customer complaint, or a system failure, and everyone dives into it with real urgency. Meetings are called. Charts appear. People engage. And we have one of those 'we can’t let this happen again'
Read MoreA situation that we have probably all experienced is when a problem lands on our desk and the immediate instinct is to fix it. Quickly. There’s a kind of felt need to act, to decide, to move. As someone once joked: “We’re paid to do, not to think” - and this is embedded in many or our workplace
Read MoreWe often talk about building culture as if it’s something you can design in a workshop and roll out like new software. But culture doesn’t emerge from what’s written on the wall (or your website), although it can be useful to share your values with the world. Building culture needs constant care, attention, and
Read MoreWe’ve all done it, arrived at the supermarket checkout, desperate to get out as fast as possible, only to be faced with the need to make a decision about which line to join. And, you have to decide quickly; hesitate too long and someone else jumps in, changing the whole dynamic. I don’t know about you, but almost without fail, I pick the wrong...
Read More“Never attribute to malice that which can be adequately explained by neglect, ignorance, or incompetence.” — Hanlon’s Razor
Read MoreFor as long as I’ve owned a house, I’ve had a ladder. They’re one of those things you don’t really think about - until you need one. Mine was the sort that could be used as a step-ladder or converted to a longer ladder, and in my little suburban house, it did everything I
Read MoreOver the last couple of weeks, quite coincidentally, I’ve had to contact a surprising number of customer service desks. This has included IT, hotels, airlines, banks, and stores etc. These required me to interact with FAQs, text bots, live chat, voice activated option bots (speaking/listening), and in most cases, I ended up 'communicating' in...
Read MoreTalk to any manager in companies these days and you will hear things like: Leaders know that success in today’s business environment depends on adaptability, responsiveness, and the ability to learn faster than the competition. And that, in turn, requires people 'to think' - not just follow instructions, and
Read MoreWhen I run Lean or Continuous Improvement sessions, I often explain that around 70% of our daily activity doesn’t add any real value to what we’re trying to achieve. That figure rarely surprises anyone. In fact, when I ask people to guess, they often land somewhere around that number
Read More/kcl-goes-green/HeaderLogo-60x300-ID-e065fb7a-094d-4fc6-d8c1-f4f88e7523f5.png)