Email uses 19th Century technology and 20th Century management practices to undermine trust. I’m not mincing my words here and you’ll need to follow my logic. Trust is one of the strands that hold people, communities and society together. People need to be able to trust each other, at an individual and group level to […]
Idea Antibodies – Do some organisation have an autonomic immune response that kills ideas?
I’ve just met an old friend who told me they had moved jobs because the old organisation was ‘sucking the life out of them’. As an ‘ideas person’ they were fed up of constantly having their ideas; dismissed out of hand, ridiculed or worse, buried in bureaucracy. They were getting out before their spirit was […]
Facilitation Essentials #1. Why I upgraded from a clockwork cat timer to a countdown /stopwatch app
I’m feeling very modern this week. I’ve upgraded one of the basics in my facilitation box, the cherished kitchen timer. Yes it was a clockwork cat, although it’s previously been a mouse and the inevitable chicken shaped egg timer. For me the timing device has been a very helpful facilitation tool, let me explain. Much […]
Experts are great……. you just have to keep them in their box.
This is something a former boss of mine used to say. I realise it has the potential to upset a few people (particularly experts); please don’t get offended just yet. This post Is Best Practice the Enemy of Innovation generated a bit of discussion that got me digging deeper into the role of experts in […]
Purpose, Meaning & Happiness on the Camino. Also, why is there a bullet hole in this road sign?
At a recent conference (forgotten which one exactly) the speaker said something along the lines of; “having purpose and meaning are the main things that lead to long-term happiness in life”. He also added that “if you achieve this sort of happiness you can tolerate all sorts of hardships and frustrations”. These thoughts resurface during […]
Dysfunctional organisations can turn a good person bad.
You may have heard the proverb “if you sup with the devil you need a (very) long spoon”. The idea is that if you mix with bad people you should be careful not to be influenced by them and start behaving badly yourself. It’s a very old sentiment that was mentioned as far back as […]
Malicious Compliance Birthday Cards
Last week it was my birthday. The family now knows how I think. Malicious compliance is well understood round here. They got me these cards (twice). There is no hiding place. * Disclaimers…… 1. Not the best ever piece of verse written for a birthday card, but I’m having a go. 2. The drilling in […]
The Disconnected Jerk…. if I don’t like or trust you I’m not going to share knowledge.
Here are two explanations of the same point. The picture and the academic text, choose which ever one you prefer. Following the why is good practice such a bad traveller post last week I thought I’d better back it up with a bit of academic rigour. Where better to look than one of the Welsh […]
Why is good practice such a bad traveller?
A straightforward answer, good practice is a bad traveller, because that’s the way we like it. I’ve sat in a few conferences where there has been quite a lot of ‘hand wringing’ from the stage, about why this is such a difficult pastime. We all know that sharing knowledge and good practice is the right […]
In the face of petty officialdom sometimes you just have to pucker up and take the pain.
Here is an irritating situation. It’s 11.30pm on a Friday night in Cardiff Bus station. You have a 7am flight from Heathrow and the coach driver is getting all chesty about putting your carefully dismantled and beautifully bagged up bicycle into the luggage compartment. Apparently it’s in the small print rules of the online booking […]
