Mar 30, 2021Lessons in leadership from ‘Call My Agent’I was recently left feeling bereft at the end of the final episode of Call My Agent on Netflix. And, appearing to lack a proper support network of people who might understand the scale of my predicament, I’m reverting to the now habitual behaviour I lean on equally in times…Leadership8 min readLeadership8 min read
Dec 10, 2020Covid-19: the ultimate ‘wicked problem’In 2020, Covid-19 turned our lives upside down. The way we live and the way we work may be forever changed as a result. If ever there was a ‘wicked problem’, Covid-19 is it. Wicked problems are so-called not because they are ethically suspect, but rather because they’re intractable, deceptive…Leadership8 min readLeadership8 min read
Nov 26, 2020What leaders can learn from making a vaccineThis week, Oxford University published a neat little video called How to Make a Vaccine in Record Time. It was produced, presumably, to answer the question on the sceptics’ minds: how could a vaccine, which normally takes 15 years to produce, be safely ready in a matter of months? I…Leadership6 min readLeadership6 min read
Nov 5, 2020More than a leadership legacyIt’s been quite a week in political leadership around the world. Among the tumult and the drama, and as we look to a still unknown future, I wonder what lessons we can take from it. In my strategic foresight work with executive leaders, when the future is uncertain and the…Leadership6 min readLeadership6 min read
Oct 22, 2020How to conspiracy-proof your leadershipIt seems that wherever you look these days, you’ll find more and more stories about the pervasive belief in conspiracies. Whether it is QAnon, shape-shifting reptiles, or Covid being the result of 5G, we live in a world of conspiracy theories as people try to account for what’s really going…Leadership9 min readLeadership9 min read
Oct 7, 2020How can your business history best assure your future?Young, high-tech billionaire CEOs… phenomenal and exponential growth…society-changing technologies… The chances are these are the things that come to mind when you think of Silicon Valley. The region is synonymous with high-tech innovation and entrepreneurship — and rightly so. After all, almost one third of the entire Fortune 100 list…Leadership5 min readLeadership5 min read
Sep 22, 2020Why your executive team needs a purposeHave you ever worked in an organisation where the people in the senior team were more competitive than collaborative? More importantly, are you working in one now? I feel sure you have. It’s not uncommon to see each functional area or business unit operating independently of the others. This isn’t…Leadership6 min readLeadership6 min read
Sep 8, 2020It’s not (just) rocket scienceAt the White House on March 23rd 2015, ferocious winds and sleet from the north-east battered the windows of the opulent first floor Red Room. But the people inside it that day were oblivious to it. Five girl scouts, wearing super-hero capes, were showing their science invention to President Obama…STEM6 min readSTEM6 min read
Aug 25, 2020What can algorithms teach us?If the last fortnight has taught us anything, it’s that while our formal schooling may be important, there are lessons for us to learn at every stage of our career. The big news story of this last couple of weeks has been the grading debacle in the UK’s schools, given…7 min read7 min read
Aug 18, 2020Is working from home REALLY that great?The way we work has changed radically since we were forced into lockdown in March 2020. Out went commuting, working from a busy office, and lunch from Pret. In came Zoom calls, working with the dog at our feet, and lunch in the garden. And now, as we progress through…Work From Home7 min readWork From Home7 min read
