Blog

Every silver lining has a cloud Jun 14, 2022

No, I haven’t got that backwards.  Right now, the world is looking pretty grey.  There are clouds massing everywhere you look,...

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Risk Management – A Thinking Framework Jun 07, 2022

Last week I wrote about how quickly risks that we were not expecting could become destroyers of countries and corporations.  It’s a...

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Was that the sound of my risk shifting? #riskmanagement Jun 01, 2022

If a week is a long time in politics, then six months is a lifetime for business leaders.  As someone who aspires to be a #futurologist , I...

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Creativity should be fun Jun 01, 2022

Playing Bananagram's Cobra Paw is a lot of fun.  It's designed for 10 year olds but seems to bring out the child in all ages. At Defy...

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Optimising Productivity - The Difficult Art of Stopping #leadershipdevelopment performance May 25, 2022

As the business environment gets more and more difficult optimising productivity is increasingly important.  You cannot afford to waste any...

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The Dangerous World of Hope Apr 29, 2022

I live not far from the BMW plant in Oxford.  As you drove past the entrance a couple of years ago the road was lined with trucks from all...

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The future is not what we thought - the hard lessons of reality leadership Mar 30, 2022

Leaders are always being urged to think about the future.  What can disrupt your business, what new technology/competitors/market is coming to...

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Swimming in the smart lane – a sideways view of Account Management Mar 23, 2022

For the last few months my morning run has become rather hazardous because our local swimming pool is putting in a ground-source heat pump that...

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Caring for yourself is an act of generosity – 6 things that will help self care Mar 11, 2022

All through the pandemic I have been talking to people who are stressed and exhausted by the pressures of their job, their relationships, home...

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When will they ever learn? #defyexpectations leadership Mar 08, 2022

I used to laugh at my mother, who all her adult life stockpiled candles and tinned food and needles and thread, “because you couldn’t...

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Plan in earnest, and with pessimism Feb 23, 2022

At the beginning of the year, I wrote about the six skills that leaders would need for the future.  One of these is risk management. ...

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Sometimes it’s better to be a machine Feb 18, 2022

When things get bad at work, when there is no communication, when there is no let up in the pressure, you often hear the comment “we are just...

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