I have never played Dungeons and Dragons (an on-line fantasy game) but understand that it has a huge following. It’s a role-playing game where each participant is assigned a character which embarks upon imaginary adventures in a fantasy setting. Together, the characters solve dilemmas, engage in battles and gather treasure and knowledge. What’s really interesting …
We have supposedly seen some more “green shoots” of recovery over the last few weeks. It’s true that many companies have exceeded analysts’ expectations but their accounts reveal that, in most cases, this has been achieved by cutting costs rather than growing revenues. Microsoft, for example, announced its first ever sales drop this week, but …
It is easy for firms to become overwhelmed by recessionary doom and gloom at times like these. The reality is that most firms survive; it’s just that some survive better than others and emerge much stronger. This recession will almost certainly bite harder and deeper than the eighties or nineties recessions as a consequence of …
It is easy for firms to become overwhelmed by recessionary doom and gloom at times like these. The reality is that most firms survive; it’s just that some survive better than others and emerge much stronger. This recession will almost certainly bite harder and deeper than the eighties or nineties recessions as a consequence of …
“You can’t manage what you can’t measure” is a quote dubiously attributed to one of the wise men of management science, Dr W Edwards Deming. Putting the attribution to one side for the moment, the quote makes a good point because what gets measured tends to get done. But there is a problem with this in …
I like learning from others’ mistakes. It’s satisfying and it can save a lot of hassle. It’s true that mistakes are part of the learning process but there’s no point in making avoidable mistakes. Amusing examples of avoidable but tragic mistakes can be found in the Darwin Awards. Just in case you have not come across these ….
Thunderbirds are go! The world seems to have stepped back from the brink, for now, with an international rescue package designed to unlock the world’s financial markets. The cataclysmic meltdown did not happen as the IMF warned and the markets seem to be responding favourably. But a week is a long time in the financial …
Perhaps a better title for this blog would be making the case for change management in uncertain times. I cannot recall such uncertain times during the last 35 years. Sure, we’ve had market crashes, major conflicts and tragedies such as 911. But we’ve never experienced them on a daily basis before. Yesterday we saw the …
I remember the last recession in the early nineties; it kicked in shortly after I started Nova Connection. Just like this one, it followed a period of excess. It was not a pleasant time and the instinct was to batten down the hatches to weather it out. Inevitably, cost cutting was rife and the usual …
Rummaging through my in tray, I came across some interesting research by the Hay Group. It claimed that poor working climates are costing the UK financial services industry a staggering £8.5bn every year in lost profits. It went on to say that as much as a third of an organisation’s business performance is dependent on …