According to Martin Davidson, a professor of business administration at the University of Virginia, business culture can tend to weed out the weird! This can be a big mistake because it is ‘weird’ people or certain kinds of weird people that create potency and innovation which enable businesses to thrive. This can be expressed in a variety of ways, but the most obvious is perhaps in the need to avoid cloning people into the culture they join; a situation in which they have to adapt (and adopt to) the mores and social norms of what passes for normal or even acceptable behaviour. We are not talking here about table manners, but modes of thinking, aspects of deference (so readily leading into the dead-end called group-think), and business as usual, meaning ‘not invented here’ and ‘this is how we’ve always done it’. These ‘norms’ invariably cost businesses, and ultimately lead to their demise.
Category Archives: Weblogs
Valuing Yourself
My friend Howard told me a great story recently, and whilst I can’t vouch for its precise historical accuracy, I know this happens all the time. A man has a fridge in his house which he wants to replace, as he has bought a brand spanking new and better model. So he rationalises that theContinue reading “Valuing Yourself”
Nine Ways to Boost Staff Productivity
To do anything effectively usually requires hard work. But here are 9 simple ideas to help you increase people productivity. Idea number one: explain clearly what you want from them. One of the biggest problems that obstructs productivity is that people do not know what they're really trying to do, what they're trying to achieve,Continue reading “Nine Ways to Boost Staff Productivity”
Words Cannot Express It
There is so much bad press out there today for religions, believers, and generally people of faith (except of course for people believing that all beliefs are equal or equally absurd, which almost appears a consensus view) that it is important reasons why this is so, and examine whether it is justified. A primary causeContinue reading “Words Cannot Express It”
Emotional Intelligence and Educating People
Emotional intelligence is certainly a breakthrough concept of the last twenty years or so; it helps explain why so many high IQ or highly intelligent people make spectacularly bad decisions and crash. Further, it also gives us a new agenda and language that can be used to help all managers and teachers and coaches developContinue reading “Emotional Intelligence and Educating People”
The Real Purpose of Motivational Maps
My wife recently had a piece of her art work selected by Amnesty International for an exhibition in the wonderful Christchurch Priory – apparently the largest parish church in the country. Naturally, that led us to see all the other art work exhibited there and some of the remarkable stories surrounding them, including the horrorsContinue reading “The Real Purpose of Motivational Maps”
The Meaning of Life
We have this double problem, don’t we? The first is: what is the meaning of life? That’s pretty tricky to answer; and if that weren’t enough we have the compounded problem here in the West: we are not allowed to ask that question, or at most we are expected to skirt around it. Why isContinue reading “The Meaning of Life”
Being Able and Breaking Compulsions
It was Vivekenanda who said, "That man who has no faith in himself can never have faith in God." And as with faith, so with love: we cannot not love ourselves and yet think we can love another. Loving oneself is not a selfish act, but a healthy one; at root it is an affirmationContinue reading “Being Able and Breaking Compulsions”
Revenue Model for Coaches and Consultants
To be successful as a coach or consultant (or indeed as a trainer) in today’s competitive market is a tall order; the reality is there is so much competition, and so many ‘me-too’ coaches and consultants out there. The net effect of all the down-sizing, delayering, and simply the ‘I’ve had it with corporate life-itis’, means there are seemingly millions of coaches and consultants everywhere. Organisations that provide training and accreditation in this area have a field day: they are able to accurately state that this is one of the fastest growing sectors in the world, and yet ignore the implications of what this means when so many are scrambling to get on board the gravy train.
Maslow and Motivational Maps
My friend Ivo recently on a Maps training session asked me about the strange anomaly of the eight levels of the Maslow Hierarchy, according to the version that we refer to, and the way we fit the nine motivators into it. How does that work, he asked? A good question and he is the firstContinue reading “Maslow and Motivational Maps”
The Mapping Motivation Series 