Why is Qantas different?
Yesterday's question time, a childish brawl over who knew what and when about the Qantas decision to ground its aircraft, lock out staff, and leave customers around the world stranded, got me thinking. Not just about the pointless squabbling amongst the pollies over a...
Disruptive view of the future
Gary Hamel is one of the leading management thinkers around. Every time he speaks, he is worth listening to, and whilst you may not always agree, there is always depth to his views. In this post he proposes that management as we know it will be destroyed by three...
Qantas wins the right for some to manage.
The Fair Work Australia decision overnight to order the termination of industrial disputation immediately, rejecting the unions request for a 120 day moratorium on action, is a win for managements right to manage for the long term health of a business at the expense...
Future Leadership skill requirement
The old axiom that there are two certainties in life, death and taxes, has been expanded by a third certainty: change. Should this third certainty have an impact on the nature of leadership in the future? My view, Absolutely!. In uncertain environments, a core skill...
The cost of quality
What a great phrase to start a debate around the board table, often heated, as most still see the two as a trade-off, the better the quality, the higher the cost. How much better to beat the bean counters at their own game by quantifying it: Quality cost = the number...
Momentum and Initiative.
A while ago, when Google+ was first launched, I questioned its value, and by extension, future. The reason for my skepticism, was that an initial look at Google+ led me to the conclusion that the inherent switching costs involved in moving the focus of on-line social...
Collaboration and Autonomy
Is there a paradox here, or are collaboration and autonomy complementary? On one hand we are seeking to encourage collaboration to engage everyone and maximise chances of optimum thinking to occur, whilst usually discounting the potential for "groupthink". On the...
SME’s and Quantitative easing.
It seems to me that the geniuses making economy wide financial decisions around the world, but particularly in the US and Europe are making the same mistake many of my SME clients make. They are failing to distinguish between the short term, tactical decision making...
What is, what it should be
Creating a sense of commitment to an outcome is the job of anyone who seeks to lead. Perhaps the most powerful way of achieving this is to build an understanding in an audience of what the current looks like, and articulating the shape of the future. This should be...
Brand building checklists
Building a brand takes time, resources, and determination, but more importantly, insight. Whilst it is impossible to break insight down into a checklist that is useful for all situations, picking the brains of experts is always useful, and provides if nothing else, a...