No battle plan survives the first contact with the enemy… Sadly the news is filled with details of battle plans from Ukraine, and hopefully, failure of the Russian battleplans will soon lead to a negotiated peace. The plethora of news pouring out of Ukraine has reminded me of how much management best practice has been … Read more

When chaos and disorder abound, data is the way forward. All too often I find businesses stuck in a rut, they are trundling along, doing just OK, or sometimes, not even OK. They have challenges, the same or similar challenges they had last year, and the year before…. They are working hard, there are good … Read more

“Too early!” I hear you cry – well, not in the world of business… Happy New Years don’t just happen, they come from proper planning and flawless execution… And that process needs to start sooner rather than later. A large percentage of my time this month and last, has been spent helping companies develop their … Read more

…was something my Nan used to say to me all the time. I wasn’t even a teenager at the time, and I would always smile and nod at her. I didn’t really know what she meant, perhaps all those years working in the chain making factory during the war had taken its toll… Scroll forward … Read more

In recent weeks, I have been asked a few times…‘What is Business Transformation?’ This is a really good question, as I have had several discussions with people of late around this, mainly where they focus on a specific element of it (financial tools, HR processes and systems, digital etc.) whereas my scope is the entire … Read more

It’s been a busy weekend with several household chores being completed, but one of them really got me thinking… As I was splitting logs ready for winter, I had to dig into the memory bank to remind myself how, each year, I make this task quicker and easier – the joys of having lean thinking … Read more

The stats are well known and well documented. It’s quoted as costing 5 times more (Forbes.com) to attract a new customer than retain a current one, and a dissatisfied customer will tell 9-15 people (LinkedIn) about their poor customer experience. So why do so many companies not take note of this and develop their MOS … Read more

… is a reasonable working theory given no other information to contradict that premise. After all, even with a scientific brain, you know that water always finds a level, and the oceans don’t run away, they are fairly static (except the tide) so therefore the world must be flat? I can’t remember who first said … Read more

My early career was one full of education. I was taught exactly what my employer wanted me to learn (sheep dip style) and then had the opportunity to test out what I had learned in the real world. Being a keen learner, and one who always challenged what he was told, many of my training sessions … Read more

Growth is often perceived to be a very positive aspect to any business in any sector.  But as many who have been through it know, it’s not as straightforward as it may seem. I have heard from many business leaders of how, with hindsight, they would have done it differently. However, foresight is not so … Read more