Bite Sized Business Tips
Quick reads for the values-led business leader about meeting our responsibilities to our team, customers, owners, communities and suppliers. We strongly believe that context is everything for high level leadership, so don't take these as dogma, but simply to stimulate thought.

The importance of having a priority system
A bad, or no, prioritisation system can kill your company. Having an effective way to prioritise is one of the best defences against shiny object syndrome (any other business founders suffer?), analysis paralysis, procrastination and untenable life balance. Reading is my personal killer. I’ve a ton of books, articles and ...
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Numbers aren’t always the answer
My background is in data analysis, so I do and love numbers. I'm all for KPIs / MBOs / OKRs / BRBs / ROFLs etc. Except when they don't work. Business leaders need to accept that there are many desirably outcomes for their companies and teams that can't be easily ...
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Supporting the next generation of female founders
Lovely to chat with Margaret-Ann Splawn today, sage and advisor on climate finance investment. One thing she raised that I hadn't considered was how climate change will also exacerbate the gender divide. For instance, much of the work that is done in developing countries, such as walking to wells for ...
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Great People or Great Processes?
Turn it into a process. Most businesses I work with are either doing this, or live in shame because they're not! But can be an unhealthy obsession. I enjoyed Sam Carpenter's Work the System. Along with The E-myth, it creates a compelling case for proceduralising what your business does. Rightly ...
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Dissent in the board / leadership room
Leaders should debate vigorously, then STFU and unify behind their decision. I've written elsewhere about what a company loses when its leaders shut down debate. This is more pronounced in those boards where dissent is viewed as treachery. People paid as decision-shapers effectively become an overpaid board of one. But ...
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Decisions – Delay some, speed others through
Being decisive is a values business asset, especially for leaders and founders of businesses. For good reason - indecisiveness can kill businesses, projects and sometimes people. It's the topic of much research and writing. I'm currently enjoying "The Little Black Book of Decision Making: Making Complex Decisions with Confidence in ...
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“Grow Grow Grow Sell” Isn’t the Only Path for your Company
It's interesting talking to founders of companies about where they'd like their companies to get to. There seems to be an implicit assumption that it should be grow, grow, grow, sell. Probably a result of the insane valuations and exits of those Silicon Valley companies, small in number, but large ...
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Does your team over-commit?
How often have you seen members of your team commit to something that they then don’t do? How often have you done it yourself? It's not because *they* (ahem) are bad people, or even that they didn't intend to do it. But simply that they'd only made only one commitment, ...
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