Sustainability, AI and Digitalisation are three important strategic concerns for all businesses. Covid has accelerated this process of transformation. Some jobs will disappear, and new types of jobs will be created. What skills will keep us valuable? A recent McKinsey report looked at the human skills that will remain in high demand as organisations adapt … Read more
Ideas + Capital + Talent = enduring great business. Ideas are everywhere, nothing special about an idea. Capital is plentiful for those who have proven themselves. Today there is so much capital sloshing around looking for moderate returns. The Scarce Resource… Talent, true talent… is rare. Talent isn’t potential. Talent is systematic repeated high performance … Read more
You cannot win the marathon by sprinting. The winner of the 100m in the Olympics might also win the 200m, but will never be competitive in the 10K… or marathon …or rowing, or judo… Gold medal athletes focus on their strengths and work to amplify their strengths. Usain Bolt doesn’t spend training time trying to … Read more
Life 101: Develop competence. Build the discipline to finish small projects. Solve interesting problems. Help good clients succeed. Do lots of small good things for other people. Share the credit. Take the blame. Share your journey. Associate with good people. Help others realise they are capable of more than they think. Give them confidence. Lift … Read more
I’ve been reading about habits recently, and James Clear’s book Atomic Habits and his regular newsletter have been a great source of practical ideas. If you want a review of what I have learnt, yesterday’s livestream centred on the theme of Changing Habits. In a recent edition of James Clear’s newsletter, he shared 3 levels … Read more
If you are to build a great business, you need to know how to hire great people. There are 3 things you want to see in a person to know that they will make a lasting positive impact on the organisation. Can they do the job today Will they do the job long term Do … Read more
In the 1960s, while consulting for a British factory, Elliott Jaques had a controversial insight: Employees at different levels of the company had different time horizons. Line workers focused on tasks that could be completed in a single shift; managers devoted their energies to tasks requiring six months or more to complete; Senior leaders and … Read more
“You can take my life, but you cannot take my freedom” William Wallace (through the mouth of Mel Gibson) Freedom sounds like good stuff. Generations have fought and died to allow us the individual freedom that we enjoy today. Freedom is not the freedom from something, it is the freedom to choose to do or not … Read more
I wrote up a list of lessons that were shared by speakers during the HR Directors Summit last week. Your learning rate is your earning rate Uncertainty is always filled by negatives Catch people doing something right and recognise it immediately Let leaders do the leading (HR supports leaders in the business, it doesn’t replace … Read more
I had the privilege to deliver a keynote session at the European HR Director Summit yesterday. It was inspiring to be surrounded by 200 senior HR people thinking about making work engaging and meaningful for the people at their companies. AkzoNobel decorative paint division put 17,000 people through a 3 day reflection on who they … Read more