Most Recent Blog Posts
Empathy in Business is Essential – But What if You Don’t Have It?
There is now little doubt that empathy - the ability to understand and share another person's experiences, emotions and feelings - is a vital talent in business. According to Entrepreneur.com, ‘Empathy in business dealings, especially for the entrepreneur,...
Talent Alignment Promises A Safer Route to Culture Change
First, for those who haven’t read around this site, a quick explanation of ‘talent alignment’. Our talents are abilities that are entirely natural, they lie within us. They are tied to our sense of purpose. Most of us have an urge to discover and put our...
How Culture Drives Growth. White Paper.
“Culture eats strategy for breakfast.” Peter Drucker "Maintaining an effective culture is so important that it trumps even strategy.” Howard H Stevenson - Harvard Business School’s 'Lion of Entrepreneurship'. Company Culture – Why It’s So...
One Group You Need On Board For Your Business Change Project To Succeed.
Everyone knows that most business change projects fail. Some fail outright and end with broken careers and the company returning to its old processes. A larger percentage achieve some of the goals they set out to score but barely cross the breakeven line...
Talent-alignment? Or culture change? A Gardening Productivity Metaphor For Anyone Growing A Business.
A garden had not been well tended. The surface was trampled down. The grass was patchy. Here and there a few bushes grew but there were a lot of weeds. Many plants were overshadowed by others, unable to grow. Parts of the garden were okay to look at and...
9 Reasons To Invest In People Before a Merger or Acquisition.
I'm betting some senior managers would quietly prefer to wait till after a merger before embarking on a talent improvement program. After all, why invest in people who may not be with you any longer after the dust has settled? But that's an unenlightened...
Does your organization’s culture respect your talent?
If it does, it's a great place to work. Employee recognition company Bonusly recently published a great article entitled 10 Dead Simple Ways to Improve Your Company Culture. I liked the article. A lot. But that's probably because I noticed that...
The valuable talent lying about the office.
The booming US stock market is hiding a problem that everyone knows is there but no-one knows how to fix. Most Western business leaders are inadvertently stifling the natural talent in their teams and departments. The complaint that 'I'm not valued' or...
Dear Chancellor. Productivity comes from people, stupid!
Leave the other countries behind. Break out of the downward productivity spiral by focusing on people! Yet again the UK Government tries to solve the productivity issue by using the failed policies of the past: more money desperately thrown at technology...
To attract new talent, give current talent what it wants.
Most people reading this don't keep bees. But if you were asked how to attract bees to your neighborhood I bet most of you would instinctively know the answer: grow flowers. Yet in recruitment, although most companies are also trying to attract busy...
The Win Win Win that’s old, new and still to come.
The talent revolution is the new business productivity wave that's taking over from the total quality programs of the 80s and the process re-engineering and IT waves of the 90s and noughties. The talent revolution delivers wins for people, teams and...
Talent, the Moon and the Deep Blue Sea.
How Talent Was Rediscovered. (Episode 3 in the Clare series.) 'How has talent lain hidden for so long?' Clare was settled in a chrome chair at one side of the long boardroom table. Her PC sat obediently in front of her. I sipped my water while she...
When Strategists Struggle For A Voice
'You're a strategist.' I watched Clare's face carefully to see if there was any reaction. I was recruiting for a city firm and this was her second interview with me. She returned my gaze evenly, like a cat regarding its owner. She knew I had given her...
The Talent Enlightenment
A new force has been discovered and unleashed upon the world. It is set to change the way that organizations are built and managed. It will allow companies to save money even while they double their output. It will also allow individuals, for the first...
Neuroscience: Talent is for whole brain thinkers. Skills reside in the mutinous left hemisphere.
Science has spoken and placed a massive question mark over the prominence given to skills in the career market. Psychiatrist Iain McGilchrist, in his widely-acclaimed 'The Master and his Emissary' discusses the roles of the two brain hemispheres and their...
Dinosaurs and Dreams: The truth about Skills and Talents
'I really want to use my skills', the interviewee said. You're heading for trouble, I thought. Clare was a freshly minted graduate in a smart black suit with the most sparkling résumé I had come across all year. She had achievements in sport and drama as well as a...
“We can’t build great organizations because we can’t see teams.” – business guru Marcus Buckingham.
Teams are where the work gets done In this 1 minute video Marcus Buckingham nails a big part of the productivity problem. Every company has its org charts and its hierarchical structures and its management trees. These are drawn up and set out neatly in...
The Post Authority Workplace. Do you believe in it?
What if there was no management staircase? Now I'm not talking about the organization that distributes the mail. I'm referring to the work environment that comes into play when authority (i.e. management) is no longer needed. So why am I even raising the 'end of...
Case Study. Shipping Company Cuts Salary Bill And Rescues Company Culture From Decline With Method Teaming©
Subject: Long established US Shipping Agency This leading American shipping company is an employer of thousands of people worldwide. The Challenge Headcount and salary bill had risen steeply over a period of 5 years, out of all proportion to the growth in revenue. At...
Case Study. Medical Company – Bad hires almost eliminated and a costly salary bill reduced.
Subject: Medical image systems manufacturer. Location: Birmingham, Alabama. The company's engineering expertise was second to none and it occupied a privileged position in its industry. Since it introduced Method Teaming it has been the subject of two acquisitions by...