Philip Smith Project Consulting

The truth no longer matters

Sat, 04 Sep 2021 00:00:00 +0000

I first posted this on 1 Dec 2016 - consider where we are today when you read this. Are we brave enough to make a difference? For years I have been silent on some of the issues I am about to raise, so forgive this bit of a rant but it is time for all of us to overcome our fear of retaliation and speak out. The underlying problem is the same whether it is in politics or in business. We would be in denial if we assume, the matters I am addressing here, do not or will not impact our business ...

What are we doing today?

Mon, 12 Jul 2021 05:00:00 +0000

A simple question we should post on our workstation.

Is what I am doing, or about to do getting us closer to our objectives?

It begs the question as to what those objectives are.

Smug-norance

Fri, 11 Jun 2021 02:00:00 +0000

Many experts, commentators, talking heads, presenters and academics on TV and other media, are full of self-importance and deliver opinions as statements of fact, that are often completely bereft of any real knowledge, truth or even a vestige of "fact". These "expert opinions" covers everything from economics to geopolitics, potentially making the expressed opinions very dangerous. ( also known as propaganda ) These are often the opinion leaders and social influencer...

What matters - Walls

Mon, 10 May 2021 07:00:00 +0000

Genius is in the detail. If we master the details, we win. If the details master us, we lose.

Walls are built to keep people out, or in some cases to keep people in. Our businesses have walls, internal and external. People carry ideas, but can they breach the walls with their ideas? Are we clear on the purpose of our walls and how they impact our business? ...

Where is the line in your oraganisation?

Sun, 11 Apr 2021 06:00:00 +0000

There is a cost to organisations for maintaining the "line"? Finding this invisible line can be hard at times, but if you have one in your organisation it is important to find it. Your future might depend on it. Look for signs of this line within the structure of power and control. One indicator is when blame is directed below the line, praise will always be allocated above the line. Should you encounter this, know that you are in trouble. If you occupy t...

Trust, Truth and Outcomes

Wed, 10 Mar 2021 09:00:00 +0000

Who and what do we believe, who do we trust and why ? We live in an interconnected world that is fast becoming impossible to navigate. North is now South and West is maybe South East, but only on alternate Tuesdays. The compass now runs to 699 degrees and point nowhere with any degree of accuracy. Competing authorities claim to be the bearers of "truth" and almost 20 years ago, Mr Bush broke it down to a simple binary decision "you are either with us or with them". I...

Why the monkey gets the bananas

Mon, 08 Feb 2021 14:00:00 +0000

People matter in Projects Several times every year I read articles describing why projects fail. The authors cover the spectrum from academics to project professionals, big name consulting firms and a host of other "experts". At this point I have to show my ignorance by simply stating that most of the time I have no idea what they are prattling on about. Somehow it appears that impressive sounding words strung together by "experts", even when lacking in any obj...

Resolve

Sun, 10 Jan 2021 11:00:00 +0000

Words of wisdom from an old friend. Many years ago I met and spent time with some very kind and interesting people. One of them drafted the following document that I am now sharing with you. When I am beset with fears and my hopes seem far removed, it brings to mind the great times that have surrendered to me . Often have I pondered what this kind of dwelling that takes me away from depression should be called, and it has presented itself to me under the mantle of &nb...

Meetings, Bloody meetings.

Fri, 11 Dec 2020 01:00:00 +0000

How acquiescence can make us stupid. For almost a year now we have been subjected to arbitrary rules and regulations. Today we can have 10 people at a funeral, 15 at a wedding but only the bride and groom may dance, 30,000 people at a footy game, cant order a drink at the bar unless you wear a mask, but you can sit down with 2 friends for dinner, providing they have red hair and are left handed. The QLD Chief medical officer admitted, on television, that the footy game, with 30,000 fans...

Little things

Tue, 10 Nov 2020 06:00:00 +0000

Many "experts" urge us to ignoring the small stuff, but maybe some of the "small stuff" really matters.

Last week somebody posted this It grates me the wrong way so hard when I call someone and their receptionist/gate keeper asks if that person was expecting my call. NO NO we do not schedule every brief phone call into our calendars, so at this EXACT moment in time, NO, she is not sitting by the phone waiting for me to call. That's WHY I am calling - to speak to ...

An interesting riddle in need of a good detective

Sun, 01 Nov 2020 04:00:00 +0000

My quest in writing this is to find a few "clever detectives" who might be able to cast some light on a riddle. As one gets older, it is easy to forget that happened a long time ago, no matter how strange the event might have been at the time. Here is a story and a mystery, looking for a solution. All suggestions would be hugely appreciated, even if it only shows the creative genius of all the clever people out there. How the mystery began - Way back in 1975 I...

Save yourself broke.

Sat, 10 Oct 2020 01:00:00 +0000

When "saving" becomes expensive. There are times when we have to work hard to conserve resources, but there are times when the savings are an illusion and the final cost will far outweigh and short term savings. Recently I observed this "savings" drive where the final outcome of these "savings" efforts might cost the owner his business. Early this year a new coffee shop opened not far from where I live. We went there ...

All words matter

Thu, 10 Sep 2020 04:00:00 +0000

Seeking clarity is easier than you think, but not without a bit of effort. We live in a world that appears to have lost its marbles, as every day reveals more layers of lies, deception, gigantic egos, corruption and an almost universal complete lack of accountability. We somehow accept that politicians lie and at the next election our choice is always to vote for the party that appears least ...

Rule regulations and ignorance

Fri, 07 Aug 2020 01:00:00 +0000

Are the lunatics running the asylum? We live in a world of rules and regulations both in Government and business. Do we ever stop and consider what these rules mean, who makes them and why? Were the rules and regulations created by a bunch of bureaucrats who had no idea of the real world, but instead found themselves in a position of influence and power. In their positions they are expected to do "something" and accordingly come up with ideas...

Einstein, William of Ockham, Claude-Frédéric Bastiat

Sun, 12 Jul 2020 04:00:00 +0000

Lessons from History "That men do not learn very much from the lessons of history is the most important of all the lessons that history has to teach." - Aldous Huxley I often wonder just what it will take for people, in general, to start paying attention to history. Any one of us can point at myriads of issues that are problematic, educational systems that do not educate, politicians who lie and cheat, corporations who rape and pillage, us and the environme...

Rocket scientists and charlatans

Mon, 08 Jun 2020 07:00:00 +0000

The veracity of our answers depends on the quality of our Questions. The difference between stupidity and genius is that genius has its limits.
Albert Einstein Keeping instructions simple is often not easy, but in addressing politicians and business leaders, the above diagram is a starting point as this appears to be their first obstacle. We live in a world that is getting progressively harder to understand, in that we are constantly trying to figure out what logic or rea...

What have we learnt?

Mon, 11 May 2020 02:00:00 +0000

Do not allow this to be a wasted opportunity. Part 1 - Mild During this period of downtime for some and frantic work for others, what are the chances that we will learn something useful from this virus "experience" we are living with now. For those not working, did you read anything of interest, did you maybe buy a book, did you maybe spend a bit of time to think or research any subject of interest? Sadly I hope in vain, as all the above is often a bridge...

Leadership and Followship

Mon, 06 Apr 2020 07:00:00 +0000

Solutions are available, courage is often not. What do you have in your organisation? There has always been a great deal said about leadership and we live in a time now, where good leadership will make a difference to the final outcome, when we have "tamed" this virus. I do not believe that "Good" leadership can be taught, despite the vast amounts of money spent on this pointless endeavour, but accept that I might be a lone voice in the w...

The Bookends of service

Wed, 04 Mar 2020 00:00:00 +0000

The norm is to have two bookends, one on either side of the books. Our task in running a successful enterprise is to ensure that everything between these bookends works as well as humanly possible. When however we screw up, it is normal to have some process in place to deal with this, providing another set of "bookends". Peter Drucker describes the first bookend as the point of interaction between a potential customer and your enterprise. The second bookend i...

Customer Experience is just like Big Data

Mon, 10 Feb 2020 07:00:00 +0000

Words matter Definition of Lexicon : a book containing an alphabetical arrangement of the words in a language and their definitions : DICTIONARY Dan Ariely Thanks - http://danariely.com/ The words we use, how we use them and how they are understood by others, can and do, frequently make the difference between success and failure. We live in a world of maximum communications where many people appear to be glued to one devise or another, yet all this co...

The New Year

Fri, 10 Jan 2020 08:00:00 +0000

So what will change ?

This time of year creates a loss in production when many people are working hard at their new years resolutions.

Might I be as bold as to suggest a different approach?

Instead of a list of new resolutions, figure out what the most important lesson is you learnt last year, then try to apply that learning to your activities this year.

Good luck

Silly Seasons and cycles

Mon, 09 Dec 2019 06:00:00 +0000

Opportunities abound, ready and waiting for us

Another year has gone at the speed of light and the silly season is upon us. For some strange reason some people believe that it is now time to slow down instead of doubling their efforts to hit the new year with a bang. Habits form over time and slowing down, at this time of the year, is the norm for many industries. Builders see it differently, but that is a subject on its own. Many will consider the outcomes ...

Questions, Questions and more Questions

Mon, 11 Nov 2019 05:00:00 +0000

Will the Answer matter?

For more years than I care to remember I have beaten this drum - If we pose the wrong question the answer is irrelevant and any action based on the answer, likely to be futile. Last month I wrote about how red tape is drowning not just the public service but private enterprise as well. - Link During this last month there has been a raft of incompetence revealed in the media and somehow, a day later, it is forgotten only for the next bit of lunacy to take...

A sting in the tail

Thu, 10 Oct 2019 06:00:00 +0000

Are we paying attention to our economy ? "The track record of economists in predicting events is monstrously bad. It is beyond simplification; it is like medieval medicine." - Nassim Nicholas Taleb During the last few months I have followed ongoing commentary regarding the state of the Australian economy. The clever people, economists, academics, think tanks ( oxymoron ), celebrities, the mainstream media, financial gurus, reporters and television "talking h...

Perceptions vs Reality

Tue, 10 Sep 2019 07:00:00 +0000

Our perception are often wrong. My eldest grandson, Jack, is 8 years old and very worried about the farmers, the drought and the fires. Last year he raised $ 25.50 for the farmers, all off his own volition, and this year he was determined to do better. Read how he raised the $ 25.50. Once more I watched this little man gear himself up for raising more money. We ( he ) decided that a garage sale would be a good idea, because we ( I ) had lots of stuff we could sell. He contribu...

Numbers matter

Fri, 09 Aug 2019 02:00:00 +0000

Until they don't. We live in an age of numbers. From quarterly results, production efficiencies to the good old KPI's ( aka KBSI ). The real question we have to ask is whether these numbers mean anything. Do they add value to our decisions or clarify a problem or provide better service to our customers or just what is the purpose of the numbers we seek. By way of example Toyota management has an interesting approach to numbers and I will quote a short section from "...

Fear & Habits

Sun, 07 Jul 2019 06:00:00 +0000

Are some of our habits driven by our fears or are our fears driven by some of our habits? A Harvard study "Do I dare say something" shows how people are often driven by fear of consequences, in determining whether they should or should not mention an idea or make a suggestion. Whether or not we make the effort to contact a new client, is often subject to this same set of conditions of Fear, Uncertainty and Doubt, the good old FUD factor. Fear can easily become a habit...

The Value of knowledge

Mon, 03 Jun 2019 02:00:00 +0000

It's never about what we know or think we know, it's what we do with what we know. Our assumptions and actions are always based on the "knowledge" we think we have or the "knowledge" we perceive others to have, but we should stay aware that there might be same major blind spots in this mix. Our assumptions are also often based on perceived wisdom or "truth" we have adopted from others ( experts ) and this is frequently wrong, if not...

Are organisations getting struck in fads, fantasies and popular opinions?

Mon, 08 Apr 2019 02:00:00 +0000

Are we prepared to learn ? Experience shows that asking the wrong question will always result in negative outcomes. It would be prudent to assume that we should spend enough time on formulating the correct questions before we take any action. This raises the question of where we get our information, how frequently we update our knowledge and what other factors influence our thinking. As a reader, I can think of no better way to continuously stimulate the imagination t...

Cost vs Value - again

Tue, 05 Mar 2019 07:00:00 +0000

I pity the man who wants a coat so cheap that the man or woman who produces the cloth, will starve in the process. - Benjamin Harrison It would be safe to assume that most people perceive their capacity to observe, analyse, reach reasonable conclusions and act accordingly, to be of a high order. No doubt much of that might be true, but I suspect a bit of caution might be warranted. For more years than I wish to recall, I have been beating the drum of Cost vs Value a...

Good questions

Sun, 03 Feb 2019 03:00:00 +0000

Good Answers There is no doubt, in my mind anyway, that any consultant who proclaim themselves to be good at what they do, should have as their number one priority the issue of good questions. Assisting clients to formulate the right question or questions, is the most valuable service one can provide to any venture or project. Any actions taken, based on the answer to a poor question, will result in a waste of time and be futile. Don't take my word for this, rea...

The Hidden Cost

Fri, 11 Jan 2019 07:00:00 +0000

Rules and regulations Processes and procedures As companies grow they acquire more rules and regulations to govern the processes and procedures implemented to achieve some defined state of efficiency. Large organisations and Governments are notorious for some truly silly outcomes as a result of this approach. A few years ago I read a report of some government department where they spent $ 100,000 or some such large number to dispose of a used pool table worth around $ 6,000.&...

Activity is not the same as progress

Wed, 07 Nov 2018 06:00:00 +0000

Leadership vs Management This is an ongoing debate with theories and consultants who want us to believe that an apple can become an orange, if only we attend their next Leadership workshop. It is a surprisingly simple matter to resolve once we agree on a few basics. Lets start with two reasonable definitions from the web as a starting point. Management is the administration of an organization, whether it is a business, a not-for-profit organization, or government body. Managem...

Discretionary Effort

Wed, 10 Oct 2018 10:00:00 +0000

Smart leaders ? It appears that some people are slow learners and just because something has been known for many years do not mean it has landed in some leaders brains yet, or ever will.

During the 1950's and 60's a clever man, Douglas McGregor, postulated a theory consisting of two parts. The two theories proposed by McGregor describe contrasting models of workforce motivation applied by managers in human resource management, organizational behaviour, organizational c...

Lessons from a 7 year old

Wed, 12 Sep 2018 03:00:00 +0000

We can learn from anybody, if we are paying attention There are thousands of books on almost any subject one can think of. Many books cover some specific subjects, providing examples and theories, encouraging us to improve ourselves or our businesses. These subjects would typically include: Purpose, Belief in outcomes, Focus, Action, Commitment, Confidence, Speaking out or doing a "Pitch", Marketing, Sales, Interaction with people and communications, Being Positive, Reasons fo...

Shopping Trolleys and Clarity

Fri, 10 Aug 2018 03:00:00 +0000

Brains in neutral? At regular intervals there will be an item in the news reporting on supermarket trolleys either in a stream or cluttering up the neighbourhood. There will be the inevitable demand that either the local council or the supermarkets should clear this up and behave more responsibly. Not to digress too far, the supermarkets spend a lot of money collecting these wayward trolleys, but it is simply impossible for ...

Change your mind

Tue, 10 Jul 2018 00:00:00 +0000

Be Smart - Half the year is gone and no doubt we have all achieved some of what we planned for the year. It would probably be fair to say we have some new challenges, as that tends to be the norm, but the solution to our challenges might require some radical rethinking. Never get trapped in the thinking of yesterday and never let your ego determine that just because you thought some direction was a good idea six months ago, you have to stick to it. Ditch it if its not...

Do you smile when you have a problem?

Wed, 13 Jun 2018 06:00:00 +0000

A smile will never hurt you. Lets face it we all have to deal with things that go wrong from time to time, but how do we react when this happens. Anger and frustration is the easy and wrong response, as is the hunt for the guilty and punishment for all transgressors. In my experience people never deliberately work to make things go wrong. It is normally as the result of a host of factors and if we are focused on revenge instead of clarity, the organisation pays the price....

Yes BUT, we are different

Mon, 07 May 2018 05:00:00 +0000

Truth or Fiction Last week I conducted my monthly workshop for a small group of people, on what really makes a difference. It was a lively debate with many reasons claimed to illustrate perceived differences.

Dressed in my Sherlock Holmes cloak, complete with magnifying glass, we drilled down into these claimed differences and the further we explored, the less relevant these differences became. In the end, we had to agree that many of these claims were perceptu...

The Lucky Country

Sun, 08 Apr 2018 01:00:00 +0000

The best path to happiness is to laugh at ourselves, so just for a moment, let us not be too serious. For a long time I have listened to people making the statement that we are "the Lucky Country" and for many years I have tried to get an answer as to why we are supposed to be the Lucky Country. Last week a friend explained it to me. He said "we are lucky that the politicians have not completely destroyed the country, yet". For many years all surveys into ...

Bookends of Service

Thu, 22 Mar 2018 06:00:00 +0000

Choices and consequences Peter Drucker describes a concept of service delivery which he calls "the bookends of service" where the first "bookend" is established at our first contact with a client. It would follow that the second "bookend" is placed at the conclusion of the supply of products or services. He relates an experience where a large organisation went to extreme lengths to provide amazing service and just as ...

Say Thanks to the big guys.

Thu, 08 Feb 2018 03:00:00 +0000

As we all know education is expensive and wisdom follows experience. When interacting with large organisations we are constantly provided with lessons in how not to treat customers, all we have to do is pay attention and think. It is up to us to take all the positives we can learn from such experiences and re-examine our own organisations. Alvin Toffler is often quoted as saying that the illiterate of the 21st century will not be those who cannot read and write but those who cannot le...

What happened to the Plan ?

Sun, 14 Jan 2018 05:00:00 +0000

We no longer need a plan, we need a Strategic Strategy to define our Strategic Strategy Initiative to achieve our Strategic Objectives !!!.....yadayadayada As can be seen in the sign below, who on earth would want a Development opportunity, when one could have a Strategic Development opportunity? There was a time when all we needed was a plan, a clear objective and some skilled people, to successfully complete projects. Nowadays we need a Strate...

Words on the wall

Fri, 01 Dec 2017 03:00:00 +0000

Do we believe our own PR. For many years I have studied the words companies display on their walls. These are in the form of beautifully presented slogans, quotes or inspirational messages. Recently I visited two government offices and to my surprise one had "words on the wall" and the other released a new strategy where they list "their words" no doubt soon to appear on a wall near you. Engage and Challenge were two of the words, neither of which this d...

What we believe

Wed, 08 Nov 2017 02:00:00 +0000

Why do we believe what we believe and could this be dangerous? As a starting point to this story I will defer to Mr. Tolstoy who said "The most difficult subjects can be explained to the most slow-witted man if he has not formed any idea of them already; but the simplest thing cannot be made clear to the most intelligent man if he is firmly persuaded that he knows already, without a shadow of doubt, what is laid before him." Having just con...

The end of the world - again

Wed, 04 Oct 2017 05:00:00 +0000

Artificial Intelligence will destroy our jobs ! - Really ? The AI ( artificial intelligence ) debate is reminiscent of the paperless office debate, where all manner of wild claims are made without any context and the eventual results are far removed from the predictions. No doubt there will be applications for AI into the future but it is worth a reminder that AI is not new. I did my first course in AI way back in 1986, so please tell me what the current angst is all about. Rec...

When objectives are lies

Sun, 03 Sep 2017 00:00:00 +0000

What we can learn from Governments about clarity of purpose. The government runs TV advertising campaigns proclaiming "Every K over is a killer" and for now let us assume they have the best intentions in the world. Clearly it has to be a good thing to reduce accidents and their human impact assuming this is in fact the objective. The simplest measure is to evaluate their actions and when we do that, it is clear that they have alternative objectives. To find the answe...

Who are we ?

Mon, 07 Aug 2017 02:00:00 +0000

Be Remarkable .....or Be the Same as everybody else... To be successful in business today, requires many skills and even though they are all important, we believe the most important single underlying element, to be Imagination. No Innovation is possible without imagination and it has been said that imagination is more important than knowledge. With Imagination, one can acquire knowledge, bu...

Time to Maybe say NO

Sun, 02 Jul 2017 03:00:00 +0000

Clarity contributes to Sanity, I think. A recent newspaper article had this headline " Female anger is on the rise as time-stretched women struggle to keep up with hectic schedules" Even allowing for some "artistic license", we have to acknowledge some truth in this headline and it raises the question as to what can be done to alleviate this challenge. Having cogitated, deliberated and ruminated on this problem I suspect I might have found one positive...

Ups and Downs

Mon, 12 Jun 2017 12:00:00 +0000

Level Flight As we work and grow, we learn. We learn many new things and in the process we tend to forget some of the lessons learnt and, at times, we have to learn the same lesson many times before it "sticks" in our mind. When our lives get busy and we are driving as hard as we can, we can miss some of the lessons in front of our noses. Recently I was reminiscing with some friends, about the many years I owned and flew hot air balloons, when one of them asked about ...

There was a time when we believed....

Wed, 17 May 2017 03:00:00 +0000

We believed that our dad was the biggest, strongest and smartest man in the world. Then as we grew up, we discovered that this was not totally true, but he is still the best bloke in the world. There was a time when we believed that schools would teach, but now we have some students who can't read or write, while the primary concern appears to be about the right of students to choose what bathroom they want to use. We are now ranked somewhere behind Vietnam on the OECD league t...

Complexity and Clarity

Mon, 01 May 2017 09:00:00 +0000

Keep it simple It is easy to add complexity, in fact it is probably the norm. This week I listened to a radio program where they were discussing the cost of living in Australia, where recent research indicated that consumer goods prices are currently the lowest it has been for some 30 years. However, the cost of our ever expanding layers of governance, at all levels, with associated fees, utilities, taxes, permits, licenses, stamp duty and a gazillion other taxes and charges, i...

How are your shoes holding out

Wed, 05 Apr 2017 02:00:00 +0000

My shoes are special Indeed they are, but not in any way you might think. They look good enough but are not a fashion item.
They are not made from some exotic material by pigmies in the Amazon rainforest, who only cobble during the full moon. They are not hugely expensive but are not cheap. So what on earth makes them special and why should you care? As a firm believer in always trying to learn from experience and interaction, I go around asking questions and sometimes irri...

Living with an open mind

Wed, 15 Mar 2017 02:00:00 +0000

Bubbles anybody? Most of us do not live in a bubble, or so we would like to think. Should one start paying particular attention to spotting the bubbles, one soon finds that some people do indeed live in a bubble, but clearly we don't, only "they" do. Politicians are the easiest to spot as their bubbles are hugely visible and on display in the media most days. Somehow we accept this from politicians and as an American bumper sticker recently proclaimed. &qu...

Are you a good detective.

Wed, 15 Feb 2017 00:00:00 +0000

Success and Failure, are the reasons clear ? It is still early in the year but already the usual topics are being raised on forums.
Several times every year we see the topics of project success and failure emerging as though this is something new. At the same time there is a steady stream of projects that fail, far outweighing those that succeed, but maybe that is just my perception based on reported issues. International research however tends to support my contention, speci...

Marketing and project management links

Tue, 31 Jan 2017 09:00:00 +0000

The importance of Project Management During the past few months I have had the good fortune to spend some time with clever people who operate businesses in the marketing space. One way or the other they cover every aspect of marketing in all forms including the ubiquitous "social media" component. Always eager to learn I asked many question and gained some valuable insights into the core of their activities. I was amazed at the complexity of the work they do and the numbe...

Simple solutions work

Wed, 04 Jan 2017 09:00:00 +0000

Why is this still a mystery Large project failures follow a depressingly repetitive narrative. Symptoms are used to cast blame and Causes are ignored to protect the incompetent and their oversized egos. There is a simple solution, change the management involved in the project. Albert Einstein said "The problems that exist in the world today cannot be solved by the level of thinking that created them." - the same is true for all projects that become problemat...

Project success

Sun, 18 Dec 2016 22:00:00 +0000

The difference

When we have a good team, projects succeed despite poor processes and systems.

With the best processes and systems, projects will fail when we have a dysfunctional team.

Why we are in trouble

Mon, 28 Nov 2016 12:00:00 +0000

We should be worried It has been some time since I learnt basic arithmetic but I suspect 2 Plus 2 still makes 4. Then again, maybe my ignorance is so great that I missed the bit where this changed to some other number. The media speculates endlessly on matters that are not as they should be, even when the report only tries to exploit the pathetic outcomes. They never explore the core reasons that underpin these failures, there is no time, no budget and mostly no interest, but I...

He who makes the rules

Thu, 24 Nov 2016 13:00:00 +0000

We should take our lessons from wherever we find them. Today while driving with my grandson in the back of the car, we played one of his favourite games. The game is called spotto, where should you see a yellow car, you shout Spotto and get one point. I claimed a "spotto" for a van that was yellow with a white roof. He immediately corrected me and stated that I could not do this as it was not all yellow. He followed this up by explaining to me that he could claim it a...

Learning from a 5 year old

Mon, 10 Oct 2016 13:00:00 +0000

Do we over complicate our lives for no good reason? People spend vast amounts of money on, books, seminars, special programs, workshops, conferences and more, in an effort to improve their skills and work towards positive progress in their lives. I would suggest you save your money and spend some time with a 5 year old. They have no PC view of the world and are not scared of asking questions. They do not infer meaning from whatever you say, they take it literally as stated. They force ...

Blind spots

Sun, 04 Sep 2016 13:00:00 +0000

What we notice. Habits tend to be the primary drivers in our lives. As we get smarter we might pay more attention to these habits, as changing habits is the first step to achieving better results in our lives. This might sound like a "motherhood" statement, but it is surprising how few people are prepared to leave their comfort zone. In business we face a similar problem where organizational habits can be every bit as destructive as any personal bad habit. ...

Clarity

Thu, 04 Aug 2016 10:00:00 +0000

Do we challenge ourselves and our organsations?

Here is a simple test. Imagine you are the editor of your local paper.

At the end of each week you have the opportunity to write your own headline to describe your achievements for that week.

Try it this Friday and good luck with that.

If you are really brave try it every Friday.

That little bit More

Mon, 04 Jul 2016 11:00:00 +0000

How do we do it? We watch as Olympic athletes appear to magically achieve results others can only dream of and would rarely consider ourselves capable of similar performance. This conclusion might blind us to an important lesson. Whatever we do for work or pleasure, provides us with the scope of doing just a little bit more. We do not have to read an extra book a day but only an extra page per day. Achieving great or extraordinary results requires the consistent application of ...

Knowledge

Wed, 25 May 2016 02:00:00 +0000

What kind of Surgeon are you? As a book collector I have an extensive library, with my oldest book dating back to 1652 but there are many books in my library that I have not yet read. For the past 30 years I have constantly encouraged my clients, friends and anybody who would listen, to read, learn and share information. My own reading habits are so strongly engraved in my mind that it is simply impossible for me to go to bed at night, unless I have done some reading. With the ...

Reflections

Sun, 24 Apr 2016 08:00:00 +0000

The end of a week is often a time for reflection. How much did I achieve and where on earth did I put that item, I intended to use this weekend? This reflection time must be what professional comedy writers use to plan their material for the next week and we might profit from reviewing our weeks with comedy in mind. Many years ago Lenny Bruce ( 1960's ) got all the authorities and moral guardians in an uproar because he named "unmentionable things" and he used ...

The lost art

Tue, 22 Mar 2016 05:00:00 +0000

On assignment in China. As one moves around the city it is clear that the phone addiction here is as bad as in Australia. Everybody appears to be constantly either talking on them or pounding away at the keyboard. In some instance people stop in mid stride in the middle of a walkway or part way up some stairs. This behaviour of a singular focus on a device, impacts the way people interact on a personal level and one only has to visit a coffee shop to observe people, at the sam...

Catch a Fad

Mon, 04 Jan 2016 04:00:00 +0000

Dictionary Definition
a temporary fashion, notion, manner of conduct, etc., especially one followed enthusiastically by a group. Recently I encountered two senior business leaders who sadly follow "fads". I could tell what books they had recently read and who they were following on the web by their enthusiastic descriptions of the direction they are heading in and the operational changes they intended to make. Don'...

Resolutions

Wed, 02 Dec 2015 05:00:00 +0000

Resolutions R US The year has once again disappeared rather rapidly and we are moving into the danger zone of New Year's resolutions. November did not really register on this side and simply became an extension of October, or to quote Dr. Seuss "How did it get late so soon?" In any event, we should be grateful when we are busy as it sure beats not being busy, providing we are being productive ( use your own definition ) and achieving our objectives. There I sp...

The paralysing effect of bureaucracy

Thu, 15 Oct 2015 01:00:00 +0000

We would never behave like this, would we? We have all become accustomed to dealing with the insanity relating to almost any interaction with bureaucracy and we all rail against this stupidity. Maybe we should not be so quick to point fingers, as I have recently encountered this same stupidity in dealing with a few local suppliers in the private sector. What would one consider a reasonable time for a company that makes, lets say doorknobs, to provide a quote to supply a number of a...

Customer Service

Thu, 10 Sep 2015 13:00:00 +0000

Service ? - Yea right ! Most people in business consider themselves to be really good at customer service, when the truth is that they often have no idea what good Customer Service is. Many businesses view their businesses from the inside out where internal procedures and processes are always more important than dealing with customers. You only have to wait at a supermarket service counter to see this in action. The other day I was waiting to pay for a newspaper, at one such &q...

Innovation

Sun, 09 Aug 2015 12:00:00 +0000

Innovation is just a word. Innovation is not a giant leap, it is a mindset that is enabled as the norm. With management actively participating - listening - engaging - encouraging and experimenting, the best results are achieved when this process is incremental and continuous. The battle is never to prove that something is wrong, but rather to encourage activities and habits that will improve outcomes and to redirect any disjointed behaviour, however, nothing can be achieved when ...

Why Change

Sun, 05 Jul 2015 12:00:00 +0000

Change In my experience people change for one of two reasons. Things are going very well or things are going very badly. While your business or personal life is running in the comfort zone, there is no pressure to consider change, without a damn good reason. Whenever one considers organisational change I would suggest to first answer two questions 1. What is the purpose of proposed change and what are the positive benefits we anticipate 2. Will the...

Do we have courage

Sun, 28 Jun 2015 11:00:00 +0000

Courage A word we tend to associate with David standing up to Goliath, where the power imbalance is extreme. I would suggest the word courage also reflects much smaller "battles" at every level of the community as well as in our working lives. Whenever there is a need to speak truth to power courage is required because experience often teach us how badly this can backfire on the poor sod who has the temerity to question what is sometimes the elephant in the room. ...

So many Buzzwords

Thu, 28 May 2015 04:00:00 +0000

So many buzzwords, with so little meaning. New fads and fancies abound and there is never a lack of some "new" ideas to distract and divert our focus, if we let it. Recently I discovered some old study notes on the subject of communications and spent some time reading this old material and when I say old I mean old. They were created before the days of the modern photocopier when pages were typed and duplicated on a machine called a stencil duplicator and a process ...

FUD

Tue, 28 Apr 2015 12:00:00 +0000

Fear Uncertainty and Doubt It is my experience that this well known acronym is in fact wrong and should be DUF, Doubt, Uncertainty and Fear. Fear is that corrosive component in our thinking that forms the basis of far too many decisions while Doubts and Uncertainty just happens to be part of the fuel that drives Fear. Not only can fear result in paralysis of action, it can be even more destructive as it often restrains honest communications. Banish fear from your life, the worst ...

Governance vs Outcomes

Wed, 25 Mar 2015 01:00:00 +0000

I hear the constant refrain, why do so many projects fail, and not for one minute would it make sense to try and ascribe one single reason for this. It is normally as a result of a range of issues, but on large projects there is one that drives me crazy, because it is avoidable. For some years there has been this heavy emphasis on Governance. Loads of red tape, procedures and processes to ensure the procedures and processes are adhered to. More often than not these are "feelgood...

Do we get it ?

Fri, 06 Mar 2015 07:00:00 +0000

The " Man" who would be God. Somebody once asked me the difference between a particular politician, Mr. X , and God. -
The answer was that God did not think that he was Mr. X. How often do we encounter this same mindset in business, and how do we counter it. It is easy to generalize and I am not attempting to do so now, but these are often the issues discussed around the water coole...

Excess Baggage

Thu, 12 Feb 2015 03:00:00 +0000

Garbage is not Good unless you are in the garbage removal business Recently I read an article on a leadership Forum, that posed an interesting observation, quoted below. Lessons for a Fatherr - Taking our trash out...regularly
Trash needs to be taken out from our house but also from within ourselves regularly. If we do not do it, our lives will stink. ( Piyoosh Rai posted this in Collaborative Leadership & Problem Solving ) Many people like to hang on to the...

Cost vs Value

Fri, 09 Jan 2015 13:00:00 +0000

How well do we manage cost vs value? Do most people even know the difference? We always notice cost and we even have a commonly used phrase "cost conscious", but have you ever heard anybody mention "value conscious"? Concentrating on Cost is a big mistake, whether relating to staff wages, contractor charges, the price of a car or a holiday. Without considering both value and cost we are making judgments based on only one side of an equation. This often results in ...