Organisational health – the status of operating efficiently and effectively with a “happy team” of positive and focused employees – not only provides a seedbed for new ideas, innovation and creativity, but also establishes the necessary foundation for the development of brand reputation, product reach and sustainability in the long run. Company agility, when faced…
Whether you are a big corporation, an SME or an entrepreneurial start-up, having the right tools to keep you connected to your business and your clients can make all the difference. This does not only involve data security, accounting and productivity tools, but also requires focus on messages and information pieces that are sent to…
The human being is required to change through all stages of life – these changes are sometimes subtle in nature, but at other times, almost forced. The changes include adjustments in approach, refinement to character, panel-beating one’s attitude and reversing bad habits. As expectations rise and more responsibilities are conferred on one by people in…
Change is an essential dynamic in the growth process of healthy organisations. Without necessary change, companies would get out of touch and stagnate, their client base could dwindle and worse, they might become irrelevant within the market. Sam Keen and Ann Valley Fox in “Your Mythic Journey: Finding Meaning in your Life through Writing and…
You sense it when you walk in the door – either “this feels like a good place in which to work” or “something is happening here that is causing people to be unhappy and frustrated”. You sense it in body posture, you discover it from the way in which you are greeted and you observe…
To reach targets, drive a strategy with excellence and exceed shareholder demands, organisations need top talent. Gone are the days when employees could just follow process and be reasonably productive for their allotted eight hours – the competition is now too fierce. In the ever-changing and somewhat complex environment of a globalised economy, businesses are…
I’ve been a consultant to a couple of organisations where it’s hard to get to the truth: the facts about a situation, an opportunity or a problem that they are facing. They tell you what they require and their expected outcomes, but don’t really divulge the apparent complexities of the presenting issues – people problems,…
Focus on and persistence with the implementation of a strategy is often lost amongst other pressing issues – handling crises, problem-solving when things break down, protecting oneself in a sometimes politicised environment and dealing with the digital deluge. Frazzled managers and supervisors make sporadic attempts to get organised and to stay on top of things,…
For many decades, 3M’s executives have focused on a constant flow of terrific new products. In order to achieve this, in 1956, the company instituted a catalytic mechanism that is now widely known: design engineers and scientists are urged to spend 15% of their time experimenting and inventing in the area of their preference –…
I am frequently involved in strategic planning sessions with my clients. Based on a desirable future reality for the firm, company executives get together to plan the way ahead – develop a strategy to achieve their joint vision. Usually, enormous amounts of energy and time are expended in this necessary exercise, but many companies have…
I took my grandchildren to the park yesterday – a shaded playground, well-appointed with an appropriate slide, jungle-gym, see-saw, swings and the favourite merry-go-round or “round-about”. All of the activities represent one or another challenge for little ones – the swing (how high can I go?), the jungle-gym (how daring can I be?), the slide…
Organisations are not naturally fertile seedbeds for new learning, growth and doing things in better ways. Leaders who want to instil wide-spread change and improve their respective companies, in fact, need to recognise that they are attempting to change a seemingly unchangeable paradox: organisations thrive on routine and the status quo. Daniel Goleman, in his…
