Three assumptions about work
I was listening to Andy Hines speaking the other day. He describes himself as an 'academic futurist' (great job title, I think). He's written an article 'A Dozen Surprises About the Future of Work'. In...
View ArticleRituals, relationships and restrictions
A while ago Rosa, my daughter, sent me a link to a powerful and moving talk by Taiye Selasi. Her (Taiye Selasi's) bio reads: born in london raised in boston lives in new york new delhi rome writes...
View ArticleThe customer label
I'm surrounded by people working on the customer experience, the customer journey, customer insight and analysis, high touch and low touch customers, customer service standards, customer relationship...
View ArticleManager as coach
I've just been reflecting on my running year as on December 6 I reached my target of running one 10k race per month. So that's 12 races. Unfortunately instead of achieving my related goal of improving...
View ArticlePurging avoidable costs
What stuff do you have to do every day that is not your actual job? I was talking with a colleague the other day who has the job of finding out what this stuff is and working out a way of fixing it...
View ArticleMeaningful work and/or job design?
A phrase in frequent use today is 'meaningful work'. See a 5 minute School of Life videoHow to Find Meaningful Work that gives a good take on the phrase. There's also a lot of talk about precarious...
View ArticleSmart Working: evolution or revolution?
A new Smart Working British Standards Institution document has just come out. It's called PAS 3000:2015 Smart working – Code of Practice. PAS – stands for Publicly Available Specification. Andy Lake of...
View ArticleIntelligent time wasting
Did you know that the BBC has a website called Intelligent Time Wasting? Someone told me about it. So in the middle of writing a paper (see below) I learned what the first office computer was like....
View ArticlePower and distance
I'm guessing that most people in the organisation theory world are somewhat familiar with Geert Hofstede's work on national culture. I've just facilitated a course on cultural change with a group of...
View ArticleDesign Q & A: The challenge of 'the need'
The retrospective show at London's Barbican is a go-to if you're in the neighbourhood. It showcases Charles and Ray Eames who 'are among the most influential designers of the 20th century. Enthusiastic...
View ArticleBig Bang Data: questions
What do you experience as 'data' in your organisational life? In mine it manifests through multi-channels: email, webinars, podcasts, SMS, What's App, Huddle, Chatter, Collaborate, Lync, intranet and...
View ArticleInformation, knowledge and paper cuts
Stefan Czerniawski sent me the links to two blogs he's written on what he calls 'information management'. His first discussion centres on the point that 'all too often, we organise information as if it...
View ArticleThe Sacred Tenet of Accountability
Ron Ashkenas points out in an HBR article'One of the most sacred tenets of management is the need for clear accountability. As such, organizations spend enormous amounts of time and energy defining...
View ArticleTime in Turin
We spent almost a whole meal laughing as we read our 1963 Collins Italian Phrase Book that we took to Turin this past weekend. It was so old fashioned. When was smoking cigarettes banned on flights we...
View ArticleHappiness at work
Out running on Sunday morning I saw two magpies. Remember 'one for sorrow, two for joy ...' the magpie rhyme? It came to mind then and also reminded me of the point that someone made at the Culturevist...
View ArticleThe territorial imperative
Years ago I read The Territorial Imperative in which author Robert Ardrey explores his 'central notion that territory - not food and not sex - is our strongest biological drive'. Rather than spend time...
View ArticleCan we design gender parity?
March 8 was International Women's Day and I'm writing this 5 days later now I've had a bit of a chance to think about it. Organisers asked that we 'Celebrate the social, economic, cultural and...
View ArticleDesigning strong communities
We have a cohort of new, young, management trainee joiners starting work with us in a month or so. They are with us for around six months before they move to their next placement. They won't be working...
View ArticleWhat colour is your culture?
Sitting on the London Underground the other day was a gloomy experience for me. Everyone on the platform and in my very crowded carriage was wearing a black coat or jacket (including me). These, paired...
View ArticleSystems thinking v org chart
I still haven't cracked the issue that when managers talk about organisation design or structure, for the most part, what they have in mind is a traditional organisation chart. They want to know who...
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