Hold on to your undergarments. I’m going to explain an Abraham Lincoln quote through the lens of Mean Girls. Yes, you did read that right. Mean Girls, the 2004 American teenage comedy film. At last, I understand Mean Girls. Last night I was watching Mean Girls (with my wife, who provided running commentary) and it […]
Scaffolding: Temporary, Lightweight and a Utilitarian Metaphor.
I’m a bit of a sucker for metaphors. Which one of these descriptions works best for you? Option A. “To make this project something that will be a success for many years we need to put up the right sort of ‘scaffold’ to help it develop…” Option B. “To ensure the successful delivery of the […]
Customer Contact Centers After Covid. More Human, More Local, More Joyful?
It’s Down By There… I had two experiences of Customer Services this week. One was a terrible grind, the other left me feeling joyful. The terrible grind is what you might expect when trying to cancel a conscription* with a massive global company. You don’t actually get to speak to anyone human. It’s just a […]
Ray Cats. The Ultimate Wellbeing of Future Generations Job.
How do you send a message to someone 10,000 years in the future? It’s not a question I’d imagine most of us think about every day. Even the people who have Futurologist in their job title, or work on the Wellbeing of Future Generations Act (Wales) probably don’t stretch to 10,000 years in the future […]
Campbell’s Law and why Outcome Measurement is a Dead Cobra.
Target setting and ‘outcome measurement’ are part of a vast industry of checking and ‘holding to account’ but basically it doesn’t work, and probably causes more problems than if you didn’t bother in the first place. That’s a bit controversial…, particularly if you are in the game of; measurement, checking and ‘holding to account’. Let […]
Planting Oak Trees to Build Future Ships. Churchill Fellowship Post 6.
Here’s a quiz. What links these four things together? There are pictures to help you: A replica (under construction)of the Basque Galleon, San Juan, Some strangely shaped pieces of wood, The Wellbeing of Future Generations (Wales) Act 2015, and A template drawing of the ‘sections’ of a mature oak tree. * There’s a Mayflower II […]
Cool Story Bro… be cautious of Organisational Storytelling and Silver Bullets
Cool Story Bro. I’m feeling mildly guilty at the moment. I might have been a little bit over sceptical and grumpily dismissive of the heartwarming stories told at conference. I know, I sound like a cold-blooded reptile, but I’ll let you decide. For the after lunch slot two highly respected leaders took to the stage […]
Decision Fatigue. How to cope with 35,000 decisions a day by wearing the same clothes
Dyfrig Williams modelling the latest in Anti Decision Fatigue clothing -‘a strong look’ I’m scenario planning at the moment. Please reflect upon this situation. I walk into the office and someone says, “Chris, you filthy minger(*), that’s the same clothes you’ve been wearing for the last 5 days, you smell like a Pole Cat”. My […]
Cycling to Work, ‘it’s just what we do…’ could Social Practice Theory help?
Why don’t more people cycle? Here’s a small experiment you can try. Introduce ‘what can we do to encourage cycling to work’ into a conversation. Wait and see how long it takes before someone mentions, ‘The Dutch’. Less than 5 mins I’d wager. Depending on which bit of the internet you believe, 25% of all trips […]
Decision Making. Do you have, Inattentional Blindness, Search Satisfaction and miss the Gorilla?
A Question: In a typical workplace situation, what percentage of information available do you scan (use) to make decisions? Please use the scale below to indicate your answer: Your Answer? In the range 60-70% of available information? Up to 75%? (I’m a logical and rational person) MORE than 75%? (I deal in the evidence!) The […]
