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Jul 13

The time to act
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In 1513, Niccolò Machiavelli wrote his best-known work, Il Principe (The Prince), as advice to any in the ruling classes who wanted to gain or maintain power and also attain glory.

He describes what he has seen in his political life as the necessary things a prince must do – in essence combining the guile of the fox with the force of the lion.

Subsequently, the use of his name has had very negative connotations. Most people would not relish being called “Machiavellian”. But his thinking has been very influential in shaping our history – and in many good ways. It helped stimulate liberal political philosophy to advocate positive change for the citizen, promoted the supremacy of civil rather than religious or monarchical power and stressed the ideals of honesty, hard work and people’s responsibility to their communities. Like Kafka and Freud, the adjective derived from his name paints just a narrow idea of what he had to say. So his reputation is rather ill-deserved.

While The Prince is not meant to be a moral guide for the day-to-day living of the average Joe Bloggs, it nonetheless has ideas in it which we can all learn from. So, for example, he tells us that Fortune is the force that can always crush you. “Extremima malignita” or pure misfortune can be just around the corner. The results of the current economic conditions might feel like that to some. What seemed certain is no longer so.

How can you defend yourself against what might happen? Machiavelli says that you should try to “master Fortune”. To paraphrase, as they might say in the US, you should try to “get lucky”. How do you do that? You have to take action: “It is better to have acted and regretted than not to have acted and regretted”. In doing so, “Fortes fortuna adiuvat” – fortune favours the brave (here he borrows from Levy the Roman historian).

Maybe now is the time to act. What steps can you take?

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Jul 1

How to be your own management consultant
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Consultants are much in the news at the moment – and it’s not a good press they are receiving.

We define a consultant as someone who provides guidance and advice, often at a strategic level – in contrast to trainers, researchers, lawyers, facilitators, accountants.

A few have mentioned this early article of ours from 2006.  In it, we share some lessons for a DIY approach to consulting. 

Enjoy!

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Jun 17

In praise of PowerPoint
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David Byrne of Talking Heads has become an unlikely advocate of PowerPoint as a creative tool for getting your ideas across.

Now established beyond the popular music world into writing, theatre and film, he also produces art with a .PPT file extension!

Having thought it a limited and ‘corporate’ tool to start with, experimentation has enabled him to create rich and interactive images.

So maybe it’s time to take a stand against the backlash on PowerPoint slideware (or Keynote or whatever) which has been going on for a couple of years at least.

Why do so many people rush to join the condemnation of an efficient tool for conveying complex ideas? Why not also have a backlash against the novel in book form? After all, that’s another highly formulaic medium where information is carried in a fundamentally limited way – using only the power of narrative – and it has many drawbacks.

There are rubbish novelists as well as great ones (try comparing Charles Dickens, Jackie Collins, Leo Tolstoy, Jody Picoult, Alasdair Gray, Tomas Hardy and Honore de Balzac).

As well as those who regularly bore or beffudle us with endless dreadful slides there are those who influence and inspire with pace and passion. TED.com and Pecha Kucha have plenty of examples and we all know people who are good (or even great) exponents of the medium.

Having the potential to use software (as with a pen or a paint brush) should be seen as a help not a hindrance. Like David Byrne, we should want to make the most of our chance to communicate with others and take the effort to produce great work.

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Jun 15

Weed it out or let it blossom?
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It’s that gardening time of year.  Depending on your level of expertise, it can be hard to distinguish a plant you want to keep from a weed you want to get rid of.

And depending on the garden design, cultural norms and personal preferences, it is possible to categorise a plant one way or the other.  The Rhododendron or Russian Vine can be loved or loathed in different parts of the world and different gardens.

Is this a prickly weed where it shouldn’t be? Or a prized species that will flower to delight all who see it?

Berkhaya

Before cutting something down or pulling it out, being clear on what is of value is important.

What creative ideas could you hold onto before casting them aside?  It took a while for the ineffectual glue that became essential for the Post-It Note to be appreciated.

PS it’s Berkheya purpurea, native of southern africa and growing happily in Cambridgeshire.

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May 27

A local point of view
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Having just come back from working in Borneo, I now see another side to the easy-to-knock palm oil industry.  There, people are concerned about development.  A palm oil plantation is regarded much like a cultivated valley in the west.  The impact on the orangutans is regretted and in some ways ameliorated with local support for sanctuaries. But it is not the primary concern when human material issues are at stake.

EU policies on bio-fuel from palm oil and for the oils used in cooking impact not just on the profits of trans-national corporations but also the livelihoods of peasant farmers (see article). 

 Palm oil

Complex stuff.  Not just about Nestle and Kit Kats.

In Kenya a couple of years ago, the local press also helped me see there are other points of view on:

1) using corn in the US for bio-fuel. Surely a good thing - but less grain available as food aid in areas where people are starving as a result of drought.

2) the pros as well as the cons of poor farmers flying green beans and flowers to Europe, including the low energy and pesticides required in their forms of agriculture.

All our points of view are local – so it’s worth travelling to find a different way of looking at things.

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May 13

The new leper’s bell
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The iconic image of people from the Far East wearing face masks at this time of colds and flu is made noticeable by the media and stands out on streets in the UK. 

But what is it about?  Having studied this in crowds in Hong Kong, it is clear that most are worn by people who are coughing and spluttering (as in this photo on Star Ferry). 

face mask

A bit like a modern leper’s bell.  Like a special badge to say “I will not shake your hand (or air kiss) – I have a cold!”

The lesson?  Beware of projecting assumptions from our neurosis onto others.  And take responsibility for our issues.

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May 11

Touch it, feel it
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People like to get their hands on things. It’s why you see so many “do not touch” signs in shops. It’s why my children walked up to an Andy Warhol exhibit in a New York museum, fingers ready to jab (until restrained by dad to the relief of wide-eyed curators).

elephants

We are tactile creatures. It’s a big part of how we understand our surroundings, how we sense the world, how we relate to things and to each other.

These elephants in Trafalgar Square are some of 250 in London at the moment. Each decorated by a different artist or celebrity, the aim is to raise money to safeguard elephant populations worldwide.

Everyone wants to stroke them, to make contact with them. The models bring the cause to life.

Maybe you have a project or an idea that you want people to understand, to connect with or get behind? Why not make a model of it, a sculpture or some sort of object?

Bring your cause to life and see how people react.

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Apr 29

Get help with the puzzle
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The clue for 16 down in the crossword was “Old man’s weapon that’s needed to get into base”. Eight letters.

I’d thought hard about this for quite a time but couldn’t get the answer.

Then my wife took a look and saw it straight away.

It helps to have someone else take a fresh look at your problems. They see things differently and bring their own ideas and possible solutions.

If you struggling with a challenge at work, why not ask a colleague today to have a look at it with you? It might help you solve the puzzle.

“Password”

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Apr 23

Rescue or rip off?
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The luxury cruise ship Celebrity Eclipse has cancelled its launch celebrations in Southampton to help rescue 2,000 people stranded in Spain by the flight disruption who want to get back to Britain. The launch of a £500m boat is a big deal, so it’s quite a gesture. It looks good. The Chairman of the Cruise company described it as “a fitting mission for a ship dedicated to the UK to mark her arrival.”

Of course, they are also getting a lot of coverage for this – all of it positive. Doing this is far better for the visibility of their brand than any launch, however fancy.  They deserve it for taking the right stance. By being seen to be generous when people are stuck.

Compare this with how certain airlines have reacted. Some have complained about having to reimburse passengers under long-standing EU regulations. Others have sought to hike prices to take advantage of those desperate to travel. A friend of ours was quoted 6,000 Euros for an economy ticket from Spain to Canada. In strict business case terms, the airlines have a case on both counts. But it doesn’t look good. Their brands and customer loyalty will suffer.

How we deal with ‘distressed’ customers tells us a lot about the organisation we run or work in. It reveals our values and ways of thinking.

Imagine customers in your market in the equivalent situation of the people stranded by volcanic ash. How would you want to act?

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Apr 7

Got the message?
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The election is on and the campaigning has started. All the parties are keen to get their message across in the hope that we’ll vote for them.

Are we listening? Do we really take in what they have to say? Is the steady stream of ‘communication’ having any effect on what we think? Or what we will do on May 6th?

This is the common challenge of persuasion – how do you know that people have heard you, that you’re changing minds, getting them to act on what you tell them?

There are four stages to go through:

- they have to take in the information you’re giving them
- they have to understand what that information means
- they have to work through how it applies to them
- they have to act as a result of that.

How do you test each stage?

- ask them to replay back what you’ve told them in their own words (receiving)
- get them to explain to others what it means (understanding)
- challenge them to say how things will be different (believing)
- hold the mirror up to their language/behaviours/work/voting/etc (acting)

Whatever your own campaign is, you can use these too.

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