2 min read
The grey area.
I talk a lot about the importance of brave public service – community-focused, impact-led policy and strategy decisions that change our world. This...
1 min read
Newspaper headlines.
“When I grow up, I want to answer emails.” (…said no-one ever.) “Here lies Alicia. She completed 455 tasks.” (…is a terrible gravestone inscription.)...
1 min read
Fear Breeds Complexity: Simplify The Public Sector
The Global Simplicity Index tells us that, in the private sector, simplicity pays. The majority of consumers will spend more, for an easy customer...
1 min read
Practice makes autopilot.
For three days every three months, I invest in my own professional development and head off to business school in Australia. Those three days are...
1 min read
Get Out of the Weeds You Love
Do you miss the "real work"? The 'paradox of leadership', according to Greg McKeown, is that as we advance in seniority, we can become so overwhelmed...
1 min read
Design and Delivery: Better Together
Collaboration that actually SAVES time and money?! Some years ago, I had a job writing tender responses for large construction and infrastructure...
1 min read
Take the handbrake off: systems change
Eating well sucks. I’m currently in training season for a marathon and doing my best to put the right fuel in for long Sunday Rundays. I’m also on a...
1 min read
Time to light some fires.
Firefighters have a demanding job. On the one hand, they do all the stuff that we expect in a crisis, like turning up and fighting a roaring blaze....
2 min read
Preparation beats prediction
One of my favourite strategy workshops to run is about strategic risk - preparing for the worst. I recognise that sounds dire, but I promise it...
2 min read
True Freedom is Making Your Own Rules
Have you ever opened your calendar, only to see nothing but other people’s priorities staring back at you? Take a look at it now and see what the...
3 min read
Creativity, strategy and magic.
I’ve spent my life in a quiet awe of musicians and creative people. People that seem to be able to create beauty out of nowhere. What an incredible...
2 min read
Focus - to have, to do, or to be.
I had a minor mutiny on my hands last week. I got so little “work” done in the last two weeks that my long-suffering Business Manager Diane revolted....
2 min read
Strike while the iron is hot.
I went to a blacksmiths festival recently. A bit out of the ordinary for my general weekend entertainment, to be honest, but talk about impressive....
2 min read
Let go of the good.
Are you a hoarder? A minimalist? Or something in between? I moved house recently, which is always a pain. On the bright side, every time I move I get...
3 min read
Only that which can change can continue.
Remember Pokemon Go? What a sensation! Blowing up from what felt like nowhere, Pokemon Go was the third most popular app download in 2016, behind...
2 min read
Internal functions are the strategy engine room.
Have you ever heard that cliché about the janitor at NASA? You know, the guy who knew his job was putting astronauts on the moon? Like most...
2 min read
Put your money where your mouth is.
It’s budget time again – how’s yours going? Do your budget conversations sound at all like your strategy conversations? In my experience, they don’t....
1 min read
Embrace awkwardness for better decisions
Good decisions need diversity. And I mean real diversity - age, background, gender, the whole lot. This is bad news for those who use the "diversity...
1 min read
Strategy is everyone’s job
Have you ever heard of Not My Job (NMJ) syndrome? There are some particularly hilarious examples on the internet. I like this one:
2 min read
Strategy is simple
If I met anyone from your senior leadership team in the lift, and asked what your strategy is – how many different answers would I get? It’s hard to...
2 min read
The future of work
ATMs and Strategy When ATMs were first rolled out, economists, politicians, and the media panicked. Automation was to rob bank tellers of their jobs!...
2 min read
Public Sector Strategy: Community, not competition
There’s a common cliché about working parents – we’re expected to perform our job as though we don’t have children, and parent as though we don’t...
1 min read
Earn Trust: Engaging for change
Imagine proposing at the first introduction. At the Magiq Conference dinner on Monday night, I had attendees do exactly that, by proposing marriage...
