“The purpose of pruning is to improve the quality of the roses, not to hurt the bush” (Florence Littauer) Pruning involves the selective removal of “diseased, damaged, dead, non-productive, structurally unsound or otherwise unwanted plant material from crop and landscape plants” (Wikipedia). Some horticulturalists call the categories “The 4 D’s: diseased, dead, damaged and deranged”….
“The future belongs to people who see possibilities before they become obvious” (Ted Levitt) A blueprint is a reproduction of a technical drawing or engineering drawing using a contact print process on light-sensitive sheets. Introduced by Sir John Herschel in 1842, the process allowed rapid and accurate production of an unlimited number of copies. It…
“How we walk with the broken speaks louder than how we sit with the great” (Bill Bennot) Force majeure is a common clause in contracts which essentially frees both parties from liability or obligation when an extraordinary event or circumstance beyond the control of the parties, such as a war, strike, riot, crime, epidemic or…
Businesses worry about new technologies, but customers are the ultimate disruptors (Suman Sarkar: “Customer-Driven Disruption”) The key to survival in this era of changing customer needs is to focus on and address them quickly so that customers don’t switch to the competition. Since a few bad reviews, social media posts or angry tweets from customers…
Organisational culture is self-reinforcing – it maintains itself by rewarding behaviour which is deemed to be appropriate and censures behaviour which rattles the status quo. In fact, as mentioned by Daniel Goleman in his book, “Primal Leadership”: “Leaders who wish to install widespread change need to first recognise that they’re working against a paradox –…
“The development of full artificial intelligence could spell the end of the human race. Once humans develop artificial intelligence, it will take off on its own and redesign itself at an ever-increasing rate. Humans, who are limited by slow biological evolution, couldn’t compete and would be superseded” (Stephen Hawking) Artificial Intelligence (AI) leverages computers and…
The worldwide rush to secure a suitable and effective vaccine to counter the COVID-19 pandemic’s reach has reached frenzied proportions. Governments are jockeying to be first in the queue – unfortunately, with some wealthy countries playing geo-political games to outmanoeuvre other less wealthy neighbours, probably to their own demise. Cross-border travellers carrying the virus will…
2020 has been a tough year for everyone – not just for us mere mortals on account of the COVID-19 pandemic and related financial stresses, but for Santa, too. His core business, the manufacture, production and delivery of toys and other goodies, has shrunk considerably. A general lack of disposable income is a worldwide phenomenon,…
2020 has been a year like no other – some are even saying: “It’s the end of the world as we know it”. People have endured hardships everywhere. The COVID-19 pandemic has been pervasive with virtually no-one left untouched. Lives and livelihoods have been lost. Economies are under huge strain. The prospects for any quick…
The coronavirus COVID-19 pandemic has impacted the lives of people worldwide in so many ways, not least of all by taking a serious toll on the emotional and financial well-being of its various population groups. In a recent online survey conducted by the South Africa Depression and Anxiety Group (SADAG), for example, the survey results…
Steve Goodier, Methodist minister and author of “One Minute Can Change a Life” (and a number of other books), tells the story of one of the greatest of USA story-tellers, Abraham Lincoln, related by the president during the American Civil War. A delegation of well-meaning patriots tried to impress upon the president the gravity of…
There seem to be two views on necessary business change within leadership teams: Step change (significant change in policy and attitude, especially one that results in an improvement and increase) is risky and implies disrupting repetitive processes that leaders have been rewarded for improving over time Change is something that can be delegated, like other…
