Stack Ranking

A Foolish Idea There is a firmly held belief amongst managers and H.R. professionals that the way to get people to perform better is to pay them for it. It “stands to reason” that employees are “coin-operated”, and it is a primary tenant of our management practices. If you want people to work harder, you […] The post Stack Ranking appeared first on The Squawk Point.

Posted on: 1 April 2024 | 10:27 am

The Elephant in the Office

Silo Thinking In every business, the work flows around the organisation something like this… That is a little simplistic, as the work can ebb, flow and go back on itself. It may also be that your organisation employs underwriters, data specialists or doctors, but the principal points are the same. Work flows around the organisation […] The post The Elephant in the Office appeared first on The Squawk Point.

Posted on: 22 March 2024 | 10:22 am

Cameras, Pictures or Memories?

What Does Your Customer Need? “Your customer doesn’t want a drill. He wants a hole.” You have no doubt heard that one before. Working through customer requirements is difficult, particularly when customers don’t know what they want. Do Customers Want Cameras? I found a story in an old 1990s textbook (The Leader’s Handbook). It goes […] The post Cameras, Pictures or Memories? appeared first on The Squawk Point.

Posted on: 15 March 2024 | 12:03 pm

Can You See the Forest for the Trees?

A Broken System Waldsterben is a nasty word. It is a German noun that means “death of the forest.” Trees have been dying across swathes of Germany and central Europe since the 1970s. Leaves and needles fall, and the bark drops off, leaving great tracts of tall, dead stumps. It is a dismal sight and […] The post Can You See the Forest for the Trees? appeared first on The Squawk Point.

Posted on: 14 March 2024 | 4:06 am

The Great Post Office Scandal

A Case Study of a Dysfunctional Culture Nick Wallis writes a story that should be a work of science fiction. Like Jurassic Park, he takes a ridiculous premise but then plays the idea through in a totally believable way. Nobody could recreate the dinosaurs, but good fiction takes a bizarre proposition and makes the outcome […] The post The Great Post Office Scandal appeared first on The Squawk Point.

Posted on: 6 March 2024 | 12:55 pm

You Had One Job!

Design Error I’m in the doghouse. Mrs Lawther asked me to do the washing whilst she was out. As I am a modern man and expect to do my bit, I was happy to comply with the request. Unfortunately, there was a complication. The washing included my wife’s very chic and expensive dress. Ordinarily, this […] The post You Had One Job! appeared first on The Squawk Point.

Posted on: 8 February 2024 | 10:25 am

The Power of Cooperation

Koffie Met Slagroom Anyone? I went on holiday last month. No sun-soaked Caribbean beach for me. Instead, it was the joys of Northern Europe. It rained every single day and then the rain became stormy (you should experience the Rotterdam to Hull ferry in a force eight gale, it is a big boat but it […] The post The Power of Cooperation appeared first on The Squawk Point.

Posted on: 20 January 2024 | 12:08 pm

A Very Public Screw Up

Blame Culture, Isolate the Problem, Not the Person At the Portuguese Grand Prix in 1991, Formula One racing provided a textbook example of why organisations should avoid a blame culture. Nigel Mansell, driving for the Williams-Renault team, was in first place as he pulled in for a pit stop. What should have been a slick […] The post A Very Public Screw Up appeared first on The Squawk Point.

Posted on: 14 September 2023 | 8:08 am

Take Me To Your Leader!

Leadership Versus Management Fashions change, over the past twenty years we have stopped valuing management and started to value leadership. In an effort to promote leadership, businesses around the country have rechristend their “senior management teams” as “senior leadership teams”. I even worked for an organisation that insisted that all managers were called leaders, presumably […] The post Take Me To Your Leader! appeared first on The Squawk Point.

Posted on: 26 July 2023 | 8:33 am

Risk Compensation

Understanding Risk Compensation — Because Error Proofing Isn’t Enough Road safety is an excellent example of a system where many have tried to change the public’s behaviour and stop things from going wrong. Error proofing is a common approach, making things easy to get right and difficult to get wrong, but it isn’t without its […] The post Risk Compensation appeared first on The Squawk Point.

Posted on: 3 January 2023 | 1:01 pm