Mrs Doyle, from the hit TV comedy Father Ted, hits the nail on the head regarding resistance to change during one classic episode. For those of you who do not know the series, I’ve included a few YouTube clips below. In summary, Mrs Doyle is the loyal housekeeper of two priests in the irreverent series that has proved remarkably popular over the years. The point of this particular episode is that some bright spark has invented a super clever bit of technological wizardry that makes tea automatically, takes away the drudgery, the misery. In our world today, innovation, transformation, FinTech, you name it, things are changing with such pace, able to solve so many problems, and yes, take the frustration out of end of quarter accounts, of customer service processes. You name it, drudgery can be a thing of the past. Except, some people Read More

Two branches of science have always fascinated me because of the way they can be related to organisations, and how they can help us to think creatively about how to make them more successful, and ourselves in the process. They also lead to a fundamental question you need to ask yourself about the way you behave at work, and my reason for sharing this with you. Cybernetics is the science of communication and control systems found in biological organisms and machines. It is usually regarded as one of the many methodologies within the field of systems thinking (yes, systems thinking doesn’t just mean Lean!). What I find most interesting in Cybernetics is what you can learn about how biological organisms survive and thrive in a changing environment, and the systems the successful species have developed to do that. All of this can be mapped to a corporate structure to determine if it is likely to survive. Read More

Have you noticed how long it takes you to make a decision? Weighing up the options. The pros and cons. Have you ever though how much indecision is costing you? The stress, the worry, the time and the missed opportunities. Personally, I’m starting to think that if I had acted on the lesser or two options I’d be better off than having delayed the decision. Which led me to my new favourite, kick starting motto: Read More