Organisation

Entrepreneurs, Executing, Investors, Management, Organisation

Everything’s going to be different in 2020

It was the sight of the old computer board that caught my eye and led me to watch a tv programme first aired over forty years ago. It was nostalgic to see Philip Hughes again, and those green screen word processors. It quite took me back to Logica’s Newman Street offices and gentleman farmer Hector…
Entrepreneurs, Executing, Investors, Management, Organisation

Why we make yesterday’s decisions tomorrow

Wasn’t it Sterling Moss who said: “If you think you’ve just about got things under control, you’re not going nearly fast enough”?  So too, today’s business leaders. There aren’t many sectors that have escaped disruptive change. Most areas of business seem like a mad scramble to stay ahead, get ahead, or merely survive. The rate…
Entrepreneurs, Executing, Investors, Management, Organisation

Pre-flight checks for business

Before you get airborne I used to fly helicopters, and we always used to say: “I’d rather be down here wishing I was up there, than up there wishing I was down here!”. Pre-flight checks are more important than flying: you could do one without the other, but never the other without the one. Those…
Entrepreneurs, Executing, Investors, Management, Organisation

Experience is not what it used to be

As parents, we’re delighted when our new infants finally manage to match the shape with the shaped hole in the learning toy. We show them pictures of fish, cats, dogs, lions, and play the same “what’s this?” game that’s been played by parents and grandparents for decades. Humans are good at this pattern matching and…
Management, Organisation

A rear view mirror is not enough

Decision makers in businesses on the move must look forward, and financial accounts and other traditional information tools tend to look at history. Useful, perhaps, but not sufficient. It was said that if you were in the same race as Ayrton Senna, your mirrors were vital, because if he was behind you, he was lapping…
Entrepreneurs, Management, Organisation, Strategy

Change before you have to

Management is all about being proactive and avoiding problems, not being good at coping. At the inquest into the London bombings, a security officer said that their workload with terrorists was so big that “…we only had time to deal with the crocodiles nearest the boat”. In fast growth companies, the CEO’s obsession must be…
Management, Organisation

Sales people are pushy and optimistic

It seems to be a common perception in Britain that sales people are pushy and over optimistic. Mind you, it’s also depressingly common in Britain to hear “Sales always march to the right”. These things just might be connected. So what characteristics are important for success in sales? I was sent a link this week…