“Our people are our greatest asset” is a familiar statement that has escaped the lips of numerous CEOs and organisational leaders. It’s normally met with a sneering retort from said ‘greatest assets’ of “Oh yeah, like @*&! we are”. Sometimes, it is an insincere platitude and deserving of such scorn. Often, however, it is said […] Read More…
One of my first jobs was as a programmer for an Oil company. There were no computers, the title referred to the fact that we programmed the delivery of oil products to various depots around the country, where the road tankers would get filled to deliver to petrol stations and customer sites. I was responsible […] Read More…
Process. Can’t live with it, can’t live without it. When something goes wrong (I mean properly wrong, like Fukashima nuclear plant or the Deepwater Horizon oil rig), we are told it is due to processes being inadequate or missing altogether. But we’re also told there is too much process, too much red tape, and it’s […] Read More…
Have you ever lost a pitch for business to a company you consider inferior to you? A company that makes all the right noises, puts up the big guns, but you know is going to get juniors in and deliver mediocre work? Have you ever asked the client why they chose the competition and got […] Read More…
There seems to be two approaches to process. None, as expounded by the JFDI, action-focused, now-is-too-long entrepreneur. Or loads, as implemented by the risk-averse, detail-obsessed control-freak. I’d like to say I am exaggerating here but people really do seem to fall into these two camps. So which is right? Neither, obviously. Without process, a business […] Read More…