Saturday 30 May 2015

I have been doing some training this week - on Change Management. Both the group I was with - and myself - exhibited all the signs of a comfortable regularity - staying at the same hotel we always stay at, dining in the same restaurant, eating (broadly) the same lunch - and so on.  Its very good when you can use yourself as the role model/case study..

Of course I think of myself as a flexible innovator - but 'behind the scenes' I am as resistant to change as anybody else.  This doesn't make me odd, or staid, or old-fashioned or curmudgeonly - though I might be those things as well.... it just makes me normal.  It is my little routines that make the day go more easily.  No need to think; just do what you've always done.

Of course (I keep saying that ... as if these things were obvious) recognising the fact that you are resistant to change is the first stage in overcoming that resistance ...

... and when needed, switching into 'change' mode - and becoming that flexible innovator.

Saturday 23 May 2015

Pay and performance

Some firms like to link pay explicitly to performance - with a direct link.(the 'carrot approach')
Some like to rely on post-poor-performance sanctions ( the 'stick' approach).
Those who think of themselves as enlightened pay good basic pay and expect good performance (the 'faith') approach).
Others pay poor wages but still expect good performance (the ' miserable fools' approach)
....  but the majority have never thought about it (the 'ignorant fools' approach)

Which one do you adopt?   Does it work?  How do you know? 

Saturday 16 May 2015

No coalition, thankyou

In the UK, we have a new government ... similar to the last one... but without the need for a coalition.  I make no political comment on the government we have ... only that I am glad we have a single-party government that should be capable of directing its own strategy.

Just imagine if, in your business, you had to form a policy-making alliance with someone that had quite different business views to your own.  It would be a disaster.

Most truly great businesses have truly great leaders who drive through their vision of what the company can  become.  They do not have to temper that vision with the views and concerns of 'minority parties'.

Saturday 9 May 2015

Get ready for a new workforce

I am a governor of a secondary school in the UK.  We are preparing our pupils for a world of work in which many of the jobs do not yet exist ... and even many of those that do now exist will have changed substantially.

Our pupils will go through 'portfolio careers' in which they will have several jobs - often multiple part-time jobs at the same time.

This means we are trying to instil flexibility and resilience into our pupils - alongside knowledge, understanding and core skills, of course.

What does all this mean for the future productivity of the UK?  Well, knowledgeable, flexible, resilient workers should form a good basis for a high productivity organisation - if you leaders of organisations are willing and ready to work with that flexibility, exploit it and allow it to underpin organisational flexibility and innovation.

Are you preparing for this new world?

EvanCarmichael.com