It’s been a long time of reckoning and change for so many businesses around the questions of diversity, equity and inclusion. 2020 brought so many unjust social events that touched individuals and businesses: naming merely George Floyd’s murder understates and leaves out so many others. I guess now’s an interesting moment to look back at how organizations responded with D, E and I programs and ask: is it working ..read more

Let’s talk a bit about Zoom fatigue, supervision and measuring productivity. All questions that folk should be asking around this. Are we still trying to decide what direction we are going? What are we waiting for?  ..read more

Ah, remember the days when you had that person who was “in the know” at the office? That person who seemed to know not just who was sleeping with whom, but also how to get a conference room when no one else could? That type of office knowledge has gone the way of the telex and the rotary phone—the answer is probably “we’re virtual now and there’s an FAQ for that”. It doesn’t change the fact that there’s a vacuum now, where helpful people used to be. It’s well known that nature hates a vacuum—so what’s filling that space?   ..read more

East End gangster movies—I’m a huge fan. The way that things work as a team—it resembles no office I’ve ever worked in. Where’s the person taking over a meeting about a topic no one cares about? Or for that matter—gangster movies don’t seem to have any meetings at all, while my weeks are dominated by them. So I guess I’d like to know: does having a leader like one of the psychotic Kray brothers make meetings disappear and leadership run smoothly? Do you need an iron-like grip of an East End gangster to have actual leadership ..read more

Honest answers here: has anyone ever been motivated to go to work on Friday by the chance of having free pizza for lunch? Or that stale bagel for breakfast? If you happen to know who came up with that motivation plan, please submit your answers. Most folk agree that there’s a reason you’re paid to show up at work—and yet all the talk of work passion. If you talk to business leaders, they expect staff to see their work as the meaning of life. Can an excel spreadsheet be the meaning of life ..read more

We live in an old house—so old, that at one time we actually had a built-in ironing board as a “convenience”. Speaking as someone who hasn’t worn anything but a tshirt since the last time I was required to go to a funeral, it’s rather perplexing how that would be a convenience. I’ve become somewhat fascinated by these leftover things that change and time have left behind. I’m curious as to where our experts see this in organizations ..read more

In the chronicles of absurd parenting, my young daughter recently asked “dad, why do I click on that funny square thingy when I want to save my work on the computer?” I can only recommend: don’t discuss the details of data storage evolution with a nine year old—you have a vanishingly small chance of success. But it does make you ask: why are we still clicking on an icon image of a technology you probably can’t even buy anymore in our computer programs ..read more

God save the queen. Or, wait. I think we’re now at God save the king, aren’t we? Recent events in British monarchy make for an interesting distraction in these turbulent times. Elizabeth was indeed the only person in that role, in my lifetime, so the changing of the guard does make for interesting observations. Who knew we British had such a collection of funny hats. As rather an anti-monarchist, I’d be curious to know if our in-house experts can assign a value to any of all of this ..read more

About two years ago, in the wake of George Floyd’s murder, there was a wave of organizational engagement to build more equitable and diverse workplaces. As a small business owner I have to say—among my peers, that question seems to have fallen well behind other more existential questions such as fuel prices and climate change. So I’m curious—is this just where I sit? Are other organizations continuing down this path ..read more

As a non-athlete I’m really rather fascinated by that coach on the sidelines in sports—what do they actually do? Some of them do shout a lot, and jump up and down. Does that really make a team play better? If so, how? And how does business coaching work: is there a lot of excited yelling in that too? What role should a really good coach play, or shouldn’t play ..read more