Slothful Behaviour is Good If ever an animal captured the principle of "maximising work not done", it must surely be the sloth. A curiously slothful practitioner of business agility. Strangely endearing and charmingly enigmatic, sloths are surprisingly inspiring. There exists a Sloth-Club which was formed "to promote slothful behaviours" such as ecology, economy and vegetarianism […]
Malcolm Gladwell tells the story of David and Goliath as an unfair contest with odds stacked against the giant. Shepherd David with his simple but precise sling shot isn’t the bravest of King Saul’s men but the one who recognises the deadly disadvantage of an unwieldy, heavily armour-clad, sword-bearing infantryman in one-on-one combat. Gladwell is […]
The Shu Ha Ri Agile learning metaphor Agile learning is crucial to agile transformation. And, nobody tells the Shu Ha Ri learning metaphor better than Alistair Cockburn as I discovered listening to his Sushi-slicing version whilst in France last year. As I was in France, I was inspired to write a Chef version of Shu […]
Every organisation has a particular set of problems created by the thinking system employed by its managers.Humble leaders seek ways to improve themselves and their management teams. By opening themselves to learning and self-discovery, they see the flaws in their systems. This brings understanding, which makes what needs to change quite obvious.This is the normal […]
Contrary to popular belief, managers are not there to ‘make difficult decisions’. What makes a decision difficult usually, is a lack of information. What makes a decision dangerous is the lack of knowledge of how to use that information. If a manager selects one item from a list of choices or approves an initiative instead […]
