“Panelfisa Coop, The important thing was not the screws” This post is about the transformation (a deliberately chosen word) of Panelfisa, a worker owned industrial manufacturing cooperative in the Basque Country. It’s not a ‘recipe book’ case study claiming… “follow these 5 easy steps and you too will transform your organisation”; life just isn’t like […]
What’s normal for the spider is chaos for the fly. Power shift and co-production. #ChurchillFellowship Post 8
Context is everything. Thanks to Beth Smith (@bethansmith93) for ‘what is normal to the spider is chaos to the fly’, which inspired the illustration above. The quote neatly describes how different experiences of a situation (the context), can massively influence your feelings and also the decisions you make about the situation. For the spider it’s […]
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 […]
GUREAK. A Basque Social Labour Inclusion Flagship, ‘Here with Ours’. Churchill Fellowship Post 5
I’ve visited 100’s of factories over the years, as part of previous jobs, and in my leisure time (ask my wife). Sometimes I’ve been accused of getting a bit over enthusiastic. I love seeing things being made. However, I’ve never been so greatly affected at an emotional level as I was when I visited GUREAK […]
Cooperative Entrepreneurs Boot Camp. Mondragon Team Academy. Churchill Fellowship Post 4
Yesterday I had a “I wish I was 18 again” experience… I was wishing I was 18 again so I could go to Bilbao and spend four years doing a degree in Entrepreneurial Leadership and Innovation at Mondragon University. I’m not kidding. This was all slightly unexpected, and I’ll cover that in the next post […]
Failure is Not an Option, and Neither is Blame, Most of the Time.
Here’s a quick quiz. Where did the phrase ‘Failure is not an option’ originate? Queen Boudicca AD 61, in her famous rallying call to the Iceni Tribe before taking on the occupation forces of the Roman Empire. Chief Engineer Isambard Kingdom Brunel 1835. In his brief memo to all Great Western Railway staff, stressing the importance […]
Its good to have a hobby. Currently mine is #TiL253
I’ve tried all sorts of hobbies over the years. Probably my worst has been building Airfix models. It’s the glue. And the painting. And don’t get me started on those transfer things that are supposed to ‘slide on with ease’ to complete your masterpiece. There are several boxes of ‘bodged’ attempts lurking in our attic. […]
Struggling with Learning from Failure? Just host a Cheese Fondue Party
Buried deeply in the recesses of our kitchen cupboards is a Le Creuset Cast Iron, Lifetime Guarantee, Fondue Set (somewhere near the automatic bread maker and the juice making thing). It was a wedding present and represented the height of 1980’s sophistication… apparently. It’s never been used as far as I can remember. All that boiling […]
Public Service Journalism Returns, version 2.0, back by courtesy of the BBC
I originally wrote this post as a Guest Editor on Comms2point0 . This is an updated version. As newsrooms shrink there has been concern over the poor standard of journalism to hold public institutions to account and inform the public. Under new plans from the BBC this may affect you. Public Service Journalism is Back. Realistically, […]
What is the First Rule of ‘Organisational Trust Building Club’?
Obviously the answer is… Rule 1. You do not talk about Organisational Trust Building Club. And, Rule 2. You DO NOT talk about Organisational Trust Building Club. Anyone who remembers the 1999 film, Fight Club, will hopefully understand the reference. If you are wondering what on earth a secret club for bare-chested blokes (having bare knuckle […]
