16
2015
What is The Ethical Firm?
The Ethical Firm is a theoretical, utopian construct that I have created to help us challenge the status quo. I intend to use this construct to explore new ways of thinking about employee engagement and leadership. I hope that this will...
Read More
13
2015
The Purpose of the Ethical Firm
This is the first article in a series on employee engagement, and how it is affected by the relationship between workers, managers, and shareholders. Its all rather experimental, so your reactions are welcome. Is the purpose of the firm to maximize shareholder value,...
Read More
30
2015
‘Bibbidi-Bobbidi-Boo’ Problem Solving
I was recently reminded that often the simplest techniques are often the most powerful. I was facilitating a problem-solving session which began to get into trouble when the group began to have trouble choosing between many different options. My simple technique...
Read More
15
2015
It’s Not True That 63% of Your Workforce are Actively Disengaged
Gallup reported in its October 2013 State of the Global Workplace that “Only 13% of employees worldwide are engaged at work.” They conclude that 63% are actively disengaged. Digging deeper Tracy Maylett and Paul Warner in their 2014 bookMAGIC: Five Keys to...
Read More
23
2015
3 TOC concepts that will instantly make you a better manager
Recently I was working with a group who are responsible for the installation of software and hardware, which they then train end-users to use. This work was being scheduled by a project manager. Unfortunately, there were many dependencies and uncertainties in the installation, which...
Read More
12
2015
The 7 Values Your Agile Team Can Do Without
Two concepts most new Agile teams get wrong are working agreements and values. If teams adopt values at all, they are most likely to follow the Scrum or XP values. These are a total of seven values that are mentioned in both Scrum...
Read More
11
2015
The number one reason why clever executives fail
Continuing my mini-series based on Stephen Bungay’s “The Art of Action.” I’ve just reached the point where Bungay is talking about the Center of Gravity (of an opposing army) or the Competitive Advantage (of a market). The point that Bungay (following von Molkte) makes...
Read More
12
2015
Four super powers that you wish you had
Image taken from the 2008 film “Hancock” (Colombia Pictures) starring Will Smith and Charlize Theron Extreme Programming Pairing One of the more controversial techniques that XP employs is Paired Programming. Paired programming is when two developers work on a single task,...
Read More
22
2014
Do organizations need psychotherapy?
The Drama Triangle You may have heard of the Drama Triangle (Stephen Karpman, 1968 ‘Fairy Tales and Script Drama Analysis’). The Drama Triangle is a social model used in Transactional Analysis (a branch of psychology). It describes a common ‘game’ that we all sometimes...
Read More
24
2014
5 Great Questions
I was introducing myself to a new client the other day, and had been given the great privilege of having unfettered access to their entire employee base of about 50. Developers, Sales, Operations, Marketing, Product and Customer Support were all...
Read More