Many leaders treat major transitions—like layoffs, mergers, or leadership departures—as purely operational hurdles to be solved with a new strategy or a restructuring plan. However, there is a credible and empirically validated phenomenon known as organisational grieving. It describes the complex emotional, cognitive, and physiological processes employees undergo in response to workplace loss or the […]
Is ‘organisational grieving’ a thing? Read More »
In a rare example of realism in project management, the NASA administration was critical of the estimated $10 billion suggested by the engineers for the Apollo programme (1961–72) to successfully land a man on the moon. The estimate was predicated on the assumption that everything would go according to plan. Recognising optimism bias (discussed in
How to be the catalyst for project success Read More »
Having listened in on several conference calls over the last couple of weeks with leaders wrestling with the challenge of keeping their business alive and their employees engaged I’ve learned a lot. I’ve learned of the pragmatic, practical things that really seem to be making a difference to employees. Communicate, communicate, communicate I cannot emphasise
Leading the way through this crisis Read More »
Virtual working – lessons from the past decade The coronavirus is forcing more and more of us to work virtually. We’ve been working this way for over a decade. Here are some of the lessons we have learned. In 2012 I nearly lost my business, it wasn’t through a lack of work – to the
In 1963, Porsche launched the 911 at the Frankfurt motor show. The 2.0 litre engine produced 130 BHP. The latest version produces 380 BHP. What I think is more impressive is the humble Ford Fiesta. The little 1.0 engine in its highest specification produces a staggering 197 BHP. That’s 50% more power than the original
All this talk of change is annoying me Read More »
Having interviewed 50 senior managers recently, the common theme that emerged was a daily struggle to find time to think and plan. They are so busy trying to keep on top of everything that they reported losing sight of what they were trying to achieve and the bigger picture of why these things needed to
How do you find the time? Read More »
The stress was really getting to me. I simply did not know what to do. Out of the blue, whilst grabbing a coffee together after a challenging business meeting one of my colleagues handed me her resignation letter. Her date of departure was right in the middle of the three weeks I had planned on
My personal cabinet Read More »
Becoming more resilient is about achieving higher levels of performance through managing the pressure of work better. Managing resilience is a positive, constructive aspect of performance. Resilience is the way you choose to respond to something that could be potentially traumatic and ensuring it is not. Resilience arises from self awareness, the right mindset and
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I’ve got to thinking that we may be missing a trick in the way we develop resilience in employees. It only took me 2,725 miles for me to have this epiphany, but I think I am onto something. I recently participated in the Tour Divide, the self-supported mountain bike race that goes between the border
Dreaming Resilience Read More »
“I’m just being practical, but I don’t see how we can make this work,” he said. The team had come up with an idea built on their workplace skills and interests outside of work. It was a novel idea that on the face of it sounded exciting, but took little effort to find flaws in
