On climate, on social issues, on using business for good – are we all mini-Borises? Boris’s climate policies and plans (inasmuch as they exist) fall a long way short of Boris’s climate promises. If you’re generous, you may flatter him with a “road to hell paved with good intentions”. If you’re a cynic, you’ll see […]
Strategy
Not quite “Don’t Look Up” – but not unlike it either
I’ve often seen companies (and their teams) suffer unduly from something that was foreseen, planned for, but then not averted. So many “decisions” made but then not implemented. Captured eloquently in the readable and practical “Moments of Impact” by Chris Ertel and Lisa Kay Solomon. “Most of the time, not only do leaders of floundering organizations see the bullet […]
Guaranteed business failure
You can absolutely do things guaranteed to make your business fail. But unfortunately, there aren’t things you can do which are guaranteed to make your business succeed. It is the same asymmetry at play in Seneca’s sage quote that _”an age builds up cities: an hour destroys them. In a moment the ashes are made, […]
“There may have been guns involved” – Greg Lavery’s journey to founding a circular economy business
“If there was a moment that said something was wrong in this world to me…” With that opening, my ears perked up. Villagers forced off an island (“there may have been guns involved” !?!!?) to make way for a power station designed to last only for 7 years. I guess if you hear that violence […]
Great companies don’t prioritise size over mojo – Bo Burlingham
Bo Burlingham‘s excellent book, “Small Giants“, charts the stories of companies for whom being great is more important than being big. In each case, the founders or CEOs faced very real choices between following tried and tested growth paths or doing something different and keeping their mojo. Sometimes, that meant rejecting mouth-watering exits. But they […]