The journey is everything. For the last 15 or so years of my life, I’ve been realising more and more that everything we do is just a journey, and that we never get to the destination. And that this is a good thing. In all areas of our lives, including when we follow the business […]
Execution
Structure is not your goal
In our drive for structure, we should always remember that structure is there to support an outcome, and is not an end goal in its own right. Leaders and consultants alike are guilty of creating frameworks and matrices. McKinsey’s famous MECE (mutually exclusive, completely exhaustive) is a wonderful triumph of the intellect over the real […]
The best business decision is the one you’ll actually follow up on
Business decisions can be hard. When it gets too hard to decide, choose the one you’re most likely to do!
Help your teams be impactful, not busy
I’ve sat in leadership meetings where “the boss” feels a need to ensure that everyone has actions. Strategy sessions where they’ve visibly mentally scratched around to create something to do. Because that’s what a boss does, right? Always has something for their team to do. And so we create high volumes of pointless busyness. People […]
Motivation by KPI
One of the dangers of our increasingly digital and data-driven world is when managers are encouraged to overuse data. This is especially pernicious for new and upcoming managers, as data becomes a crutch for them to lean on. It robs them of the hard work and opportunity to manage through judgement, through critical thought, through […]