How much staff specialisation is best? People can become specialists in functions or project teams for a variety of reasons – it can be accidental or deliberate. A generalist may be seconded to do a ‘deep dive’ into a problem, for a prolonged period. They eventually emerge as a specialist – someone with current expertContinue Reading Staff Specialisation
The World is obsessed with actions. Stakeholders want them. Accountants value them. Politicians couldn’t survive without them. In Physics, potential energy matters as much as kinetic energy. Employers hire potential, recognising that strength comes not just from proven action, but from having versatility under uncertain conditions. Astute buyers bypass one deal, knowing others will follow.Continue Reading Options versus Actions
It’s been awhile since I last posted. Sorry about that- I put mainly it down to COVID! But speaking of COVID, I wanted to shout out to: the adapters, the researchers, the treaters, the carers and the social distancers. Little kids who struggle to get what the virus is. Teens trying to keep budding romancesContinue Reading Personal Flexibility shout out
As our lives become more VUCA (volatile, uncertain, complex and ambiguous), personal flexibility can be helpful as a coping mechanism. It gives us piece of mind and options. Eventually, many of us will encounter certain life events like; retirement, moving countries, or ‘empty nest’ down-sizing. Such events might help us shed cost and excess physicalContinue Reading Complexity and Personal Flexibility
Think-tank charities typically advocate for reform, to influence decision making at government level. Some nations (the US, France and the UK) appreciate the role independent think-tank charities have to play, both domestically and to help them evolve their foreign policies. Others including Japan, China and Germany seem to encourage such charities efforts where they’re alreadyContinue Reading The Power of One
Is photography a recipe and metaphor for living? Should we make similar decisions about shutter speed, depth of field, subject composition and photo vantage point in our life, as we do taking pictures? As photographers, we know that together, those four things add power and impact to the picture. We juggle them and toggle betweenContinue Reading Photographers of Life
A political party (or school) wants to change voter (or student) behaviour. They can attempt this by challenging the assumptions held (reality replacing perception, or perception replacing reality, witness fake news, propaganda and misinformation by governments) to improve the expectations (foster hope), to in turn improve aspirations (ambition). Ultimately it is voters’ aspirations (for fameContinue Reading Flexibility and Governance
History may be continuous, but continuous doesn’t always imply progress. Arguing or complaining needs something else for it to become constructive. Sometimes the slow progress of one approach is overtaken by someone else’s faster approach, using a different design entirely. Economic growth and human migration come in cycles. And not necessarily regular ones either. HumanContinue Reading Perception, Imagination and Focus
‘There is no sickness worse for me than words that to be kind must lie.’ Aeschylus ‘People never lie so much as after a hunt, during a war or before an election.’ Otto von Bismarck ‘People can choose between the sweet lie or the bitter truth. I say the bitter truth, but many people don’tContinue Reading Fake News and Personal Flexibility
‘A good director makes a playground and allows you to play.’ Martin Landau ‘People think that the director’s direct actors. No. Really, what the director’s doing is directing the audience’s eye through the film.’ Julianne Moore ‘Directing is very close to choreography; you deal with space, time, emotions, lighting, making beautiful images.’ Benjamin Millepied ‘IContinue Reading Design, Control, Film Directing and Personal Flexibility