Photo by Evan Dennis on Unsplash This article is updated from the version published earlier in 2018. Very likely, the following scene will be familiar to you. I was invited to facilitate a strategic workshop. I was told fairly early on, “We have 32 strategic objectives we need to meet.” “OK,” I replied. “Which one is the […]
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Some of the most influential people I know do more than empathise with me. Empathy is important. But when it comes down it, what truly separates world-class influencers from manipulators? One of the most acutely painful moments in my life made me quite vulnerable. I approached a man who was a leader. Len was also a […]
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One of the joys of being a parent and, in my case, a grandparent is that you can indulge in watching some really good kids’ movies. And way up there in my top 10 is Despicable Me. We watched it again over the holidays. I love the movie, the storyline, and … I love the […]
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The turn of the calendar year is traditionally a time where we review the past year and look forward to a fresh year, a fresh start. As you look back over your year, what do you feel? Disappointed at so little achieved? Surprised, because you achieved more than you perhaps realised? A mixture of both? For most […]
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I want to begin by thanking you.If you are a regular reader of this blog, you are an essential reason for my work. You bring out the best in me. I’m very grateful for that. So, thank you. I wish the very best for you and your loved ones this festive season.In my work on the […]
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“The customer community is very unreasonable,” my client told me. “They won’t listen to my ideas, and seem to reject them before I have finished explaining.”I’ve heard similar such statements from different clients more than once. There is pain in this. And also a little pride. Maybe it has a subtext of, “My customer doesn’t […]
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I was talking with a client last week who has a difficult relationship with a significant customer. What the customer is demanding my client to do would make him feel professionally compromised. He knows it is an inferior requirement. By a mile. We explored what would happen if he had a Plan B, a fall-back if he […]
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Failure is not an option. No, it’s inevitable. The issues is, first, will I accept that reality? Then can I act so that when I do fail, it is cheap and useful? When I do fail I do not do something worse: take failure as my identity. No, I am not a failure, but I do fail. […]
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One of my projects right now is helping the opening of a new local school for 5 to 11-year-olds. Since the government likes the idea, much of this will be publicly-funded, which means we need to evidence demand for the school by getting parents to sign up before it opens. So, I was with another volunteer, […]
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In my book, Practical People Engagement, I use this illustration of the modes of engagement. Far too often, I find classical approaches to engagement and communications planning almost always overlook the power and versatility of the ubiquitous conversation. We, as human beings, have had all of human history and pre-history to hone the practice of language and […]
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