Does Culture REALLY eat Strategy for breakfast?

August 24 2021

I originally published this piece on LinkedIn back in May 2018, including some ideas sparked by the 2018 Australian Leadership Summit. That was back when we used to attend actual events! Am re-posting it today as it’s worth a quick read if you ever wonder about the answer to this time-honoured question. Have added a couple of 2021 edits or notes… Culture has been said to eat Strategy for breakfast (or lunch!). But does it really? When around 75-80% of… Read more »

The four keys to a great post-Covid workplace reboot

August 17 2021

Even if it looks in doubt again this week, there really will eventually be some sort of ongoing return to the workplace! So, are there any keys to a successful reboot? Yes, and being a ‘resilient’ could describe some features you as an executive can take into your workplace. I’ve just read Return as a muscle: How lessons from COVID-19 can shape a robust operating model for hybrid and beyond, authored by four partners at McKinsey. It’s very consistent with… Read more »

Leading through 2021 – more pivoting!

January 27 2021

What, more pivoting?? Some colleagues felt ‘pivot’ was one of our over-used words in 2020. In fact, one named it their least favourite 2020 word (mine was ‘seeding’, awfully overdone by politicians in particular). But if 2020 was indeed the year to pivot, what is 2021 to be? Of course for a start, it depends on the circumstances for any person, business, organisation or nation. Consider: The volatility of operating environments. The susceptibility of changes to funding or income streams…. Read more »

What’s the strategy as COVID-19 changes things forever?

April 24 2020

How should we shift our thinking right now to position for the lasting impact of COVID-19 on how we live and work? 4-5 weeks into the massive time-out forced on the whole world, we already have the opportunity for insight into this. FastCompany asked leading executives, venture capitalists, and analysts for thoughts on the change they expect to see ahead. AGILITY and ADAPTABILITY are going to be key, for us personally, and for business and workplaces. If you’re not already,… Read more »

From ‘alternating monologues’ to a dialogue!

March 19 2020

At a time when the whole world seems to be under siege, good communication is perhaps more important than ever.   When in communication with colleagues / associates, the ideal scenario would be that BOTH parties are wanting to move towards a satisfactory outcome. As we know, it sadly isn’t always that way.   If you think of a recent discussion that didn’t reach a satisfactory (to both) conclusion, it could be that it wasn’t really a dialogue, but a… Read more »

Boards now seeing Culture as the big merger success factor.

August 22 2019

Boards now seeing Culture as the big merger success factor. We’ve noted for some time that Strategy is number 1, but Culture eats it for breakfast, and the good news is that the Director community is increasingly coming out and clearly identifying the importance of culture. While this may be partly in relation to directors responding to tighter regulation and the impact of royal commissions on directors’ duties, it also just makes good business sense. It was clear again at… Read more »

MBWA – a highly effective management hack, or a dud?

July 2 2019

What if there was ONE easy way to be a great manager?   MBWA, or ‘Management-By-Walking-Around’, has been put forward as one such method. It involves managers being out on the floor, directly engaging with team members, while also observing frontline workers in action. Sounds great huh – get out there with the team, show that you’re one of them, be a part of it… In support of this idea, there are some studies do suggest that managers who are… Read more »