Bullshit Jobs, the Double Bind and Schizophrenia
Buried deep on p84 of David Graeber’s “Bullshit Jobs: the rise of pointless work and what we can do about it” are these phrases: “As early as 1901, the German … Read more
Grow
Mindset and Emotional Balance
You are invited. To indulge in a little mental exercise for the morning. Imagine a circle with Mindset followed by Observable Behaviour followed by Emotional Impact / State. It might … Read more
Career Change Context
John Kay, in his book “Obliquity” Makes the point That we rarely achieve what we set out to achieve Directly. In fact, most successes come about indirectly. Obliquely. So, too, … Read more
Career Development Planning in Corporate Services
Career development planning means different things to different people and there is a good chance you are thinking about moving into or out of Corporate Services. Counter-intuitive as it … Read more
Centrality of the Individual
Organisations are inhabited by individuals, it’s probably about time we recognised that in the way we set policies and procedures… Increasing organisational productivity and performance are laudable aims but when … Read more
Over-Sensitive to Influence
I was working with a manager who suffered an extreme case of recency bias. The only thing that was guaranteed was that the best idea was the last idea he … Read more
Despondency or Despair
With adults 45+ having the fastest growing suicide rate and the highest rates of hazardous drinking in most Western countries, this topic is difficult to write about. Despondency or despair … Read more
Do We Repair or Do We Build?
Repairing things: cars, motorcycle engines, people, organisations is very different from building something from scratch. The mechanic or doctor, consultant or manager “deals with failure every day whereas the builder … Read more
Coping and the Fibonacci Sequence
Today I want to talk about coping. Traditionally, the word has a slightly negative connotation, it suggests an underlying struggle that we perhaps not deal with. But I’d like to … Read more
Aloneness and Loneliness
There is a subtle difference between aloneness and loneliness. The first is healthy, it reflects a comfort with our own company and an inner calm. It comes from a position … Read more
Uncertainty and Productivity
A friend and I were talking about uncertainty and before it lurched to Heisenberg we discussed its relevance to management. Taleb’s “Antifragile” is a nice approach to uncertainty in “a … Read more
Productivity and Emotional Balance
Productivity in manufacturing is affected by Taiichi Ohno’s Seven Wastes: overproduction waiting transporting inappropriate processing unnecessary inventory unnecessary / excess motion defects The elimination of these wastes lies behind most … Read more