What’s really going on

As previously discussed in my blog  “Why do we struggle with change?”, “change readiness” is not a skill but a habit. So what can you, as an individual, do to increase your capacity for adaptation and transformation? Here are my top 3 tips: 1. Stop an old habit Adaptations work like this: chuck out DNA […]

The last decade was VUCA: volatile, uncertain, chaotic and ambiguous; moreover, the laws of nature dictate constant transformation and flux. Yet, according to countless academic statistics, many organisations are not ready for change, and some big consultancies even quantify “change readiness” through their research on organisational health. Thus, change readiness is mission critical, but what […]

&nbsp; What do multi-award winning comedian Tina Fey and serial innovation companies 3M or W.L. Gore have in common? They wholeheartedly say <strong>“Yes, and…”</strong>. “Yes, and…” is one of the most powerful and successful mental models and business practices I have ever come across. It is very different from “Yes, but…” and takes you to […]

LinkedIn Influencer Brian Solis uses the term Human Resistance for HR because this department often inundates employees with red tape. Why is it, that talented and well-meaning professionals feel the urge to create pointless policies? My hypothesis is that it’s systemic, and it links to our personal lives: My son and I had been at the […]

A few weeks ago I went hiking across a frozen lake in New England. It had snowed the day before. The absence of any footsteps indicated that no one else had done this, at least not in the last 24 hours. It was an exhilarating experience in itself, but when I returned to my starting […]

Ten years ago, I was sipping fine wine from Stellenbosch and eating even finer game in a restaurant in South African. It’s called a Boma and looked like the hut of a tribal chief. A colleague saluted “it doesn’t get better than this”. Yet, I felt I am in the wrong place, doing the wrong […]

Have you seen the movie Boyhood? It’s fantastic storytelling about choices and consequences. And it’s quality movie production on a mere $4 million budget. Were you disappointed it didn’t bag more Oscars? I was, but I quickly realised this was pretty predictable, and here is why: Of the 6,000 people who get to vote 70 […]

This article also shares three insights about organisation effectiveness. Last week Apple Inc. reported a quarterly profit of $18bn – the biggest in corporate history. Hat’s off – that’s a lot of oil companies to beat! At the same time Tim Cook got a lot of criticism again for Apple’s business practices. These articles and […]

Last week the archery video of Lars Andersen went viral. His bow & arrow skills look superhuman! Plus, it is a great example why ‘best practice’ is fundamentally flawed. Best practice and benchmarking are wide-spread phenomena in business. The do serve a purpose, but can also give the mediocre an excuse to justify why Level […]