By John Worne History isn't always a reliable guide to the future; plenty of great organisations have wrongly believed their history makes them 'too big to fall'. Still, connecting with the origins: the founding myths and great moments of an organisation, is the surest way to capture the 'hearts and minds' on any forward strategy … Continue reading HBR: To Guide Your Company’s Future, Look to Its Past
‘Monetising’ Problems
By John Worne Not everything can be counted in money, nor should it be - but paradoxically putting a price on a deeply human problem usually helps move things along. Why? Once something intractable is 'monetised' as a "£1m problem"; either in direct spend to fix it or in potential hidden losses and impacts, then … Continue reading ‘Monetising’ Problems
Why we don’t always need ‘Big Trousers’
By John Worne There are lots of different forms of leadership; what works is often situational and dependent on context. The stereotype - even the default expectation - is dominant, alpha, decisive and driving: 'big trousers' leadership. But today's world is often too complex for too much of that. The leadership that a Specialist-Generalist brings … Continue reading Why we don’t always need ‘Big Trousers’
It’s a Disaster… but it doesn’t have to be
By John Worne When something goes badly wrong, it often takes a COO or Specialist-Generalist to figure out how best to sort out the mess. All major incidents: fires, floods, IT outages, even violent attacks affect the same three things: people, places and services. So they automatically cut across Operations, Communications and HR - with … Continue reading It’s a Disaster… but it doesn’t have to be
Developing a Growth Mentality: ‘Lean in’ by Sheryl Sandberg
By John Worne An important insight for Specialist-Generalists from Facebook COO Sheryl Sandberg (among a great many others) is Eric Schmidt of Google's advice that only one criterion matters when picking a job - fast growth. Sandberg writes: 'When companies grow quickly, there are more things to do than people to do them. When companies … Continue reading Developing a Growth Mentality: ‘Lean in’ by Sheryl Sandberg
HBR – Before Confronting a Co-worker…
By John Worne Top tips, here, which I used this week to advise a senior person who was struggling with someone else... Specialist-Generalists often bridge organisational boundaries and manage many relationships and people - knowing what to tackle and what to leave is a tricky judgement call - but these simple tests aren't bad: Before … Continue reading HBR – Before Confronting a Co-worker…
Office politics
By John Worne politics: (pɒlɪtɪks/) noun: 1) the activities associated with the governance of a country or area, especially the debate between parties having power. 2) activities aimed at improving someone's status or increasing power within an organization. Most people complain about office politics. And the Specialist-Generalist should be 'purpose' first, invitable and unavoidable 'politics' very much second. … Continue reading Office politics
HBR – Mistakes to avoid when challenging the Status Quo
Top tips from the HBR on challenging the status quo - it's not being right that gets stuff moving; as President Bartlett famously said in the West Wing; "Leadership when nobody follows, is just taking a walk..." 3 Mistakes to Avoid When You’re Challenging the Status Quo You have a great idea that will improve … Continue reading HBR – Mistakes to avoid when challenging the Status Quo
HBR – Three Mindset Shifts to Help Avoid Burnout
An excellent short piece from the Harvard Business Review on managing yourself; Specialist-Generalists can get very stretched - here's how not to: February 10, 2017 Three Mindset Shifts That Will Help You Avoid Burnout Everyone faces stress at work, but some people are able to handle the onslaught of long hours, high pressure, and work … Continue reading HBR – Three Mindset Shifts to Help Avoid Burnout
HBR – What to consider before asking for new Analytics
When it comes to requesting new data or analytics from data scientists, a lot of managers don’t know the right questions to ask to get the information they need. But if you don’t frame the request correctly, you might leave your analyst uncertain about how to proceed. Here are three questions to think about: What … Continue reading HBR – What to consider before asking for new Analytics
The Specialist-Generalist 