I thought it was a good idea to to start a business blog to supplement the journal articles I write on change management.
(PDF Articles) I trust that some of the issues raised here may be of interest to you to pursue away from this blog of ideas and thoughts. The blogs run in date order with the most recent at the top of this page.
We still do not know whether the weather will allow our New Year celebrations and the street Party will go ahead in Edinburgh, but one thing we can be sure of is that many will be committing to New Year resolutions. As the wind whips around Princes Street at 90 mph, many revellers may be thinking it a better idea to retreat home early and consider the opportunities for 2007.
At this time of year, we traditionally make all variety of plans for the year ahead. I guess this year is not any different, whether it is starting a new business, starting that new diet, getting fit or building special relationships. What is important is that the 'planning exercise' is maximised by setting targets that conform to the SMART rule.
The SMART acronym focuses on:
S - Specific - as well as Simple to understand and Stretching
M - Measurable - so you have a means to assess progress
A - Achievable - setting goal just outside your comfort zone
R - Reviewable - staged mini goals showing your progress
T - Time bound - within a set time period
Usually, conforming to these simple characteristics of goal setting will enable most people to stay focused, to stay on the path to shape their life in any way they desire.
The 28th December was not a great day for my daughter's car to break down. At this time of year, it is impossible to get a mechanic to repair any vehicle. The Dealer that sold us the Mitsubishi Colt from new informed us that no one could look at the vehicle until the 11th January! What does that tell us about their great customer service? I am convinced these Dealerships exist solely to sell, not to provide a strong customer service relationship. Anyway enough of them -they will not sell me another car.
I sought help from our local Kwikfit in Dundee Street in Edinburgh. The service offered by their management team did not surprise me. They have been providing excellent customer service to the Atkinson family as long as I can remember. They even managed to source the defective component through the Mitsubishi network and install it in less than 24 hours and all on the 29th December! I was very impressed and I cannot praise this team too much for their efforts.
I think the key component that these people demonstrate, that the Car Dealer does not, is a commitment to 'one on one' relationship with their customer base. They are into the business of relationship building, not for the quick 'one off' sale but more the lifetime value of loyal customers. I think other businesses could learn much from the Kwikfit culture
Yesterday, I referred to SWOT analysis for personal goal setting and mentioned 'relationships' as being vital to creating opportunities for advancement. Personally, I do not think we spend enough time creating positive relationships in business or in life. Many of us shy away from building a set of positive relationships with key people in our lives, and yet that is the foundation, and often a reflection, of how much success we achieve.
I set myself a goal in the October Blog of meeting and talking to 100 new people in business. I just missed the goal but did pretty well by attending conferences, networking events and stretching beyond my usual social and business network. The results have created new opportunities and are already creating new avenues for exploration once work kicks off again in January. I am convinced we need to give more thought to reviewing our relationships in all aspects of our lives, and find ways of adding value first and then waiting to see what flows from positively shaping events.
At this time of year, it is hard not to reflect on what has gone well and not so well in the past year. I was talking with a close friend who is disorganised and had no strong focus in his business life. He requested a simple methodology that can be supportive in structuring one's life.
In order to make the exercise valuable I think it is always a good idea to reflect on the past year as well as plan for the next. I believe this business tool of SWOT analysis can be very successful for individual goal setting. With this in mind, I follow a simple structure and do this every year.
STRENGTHS - what particular strengths have I demonstrated over the last year and what additional strengths do I need to acquire to make the New Year satisfy all my dreams and ideals?
WEAKNESSES - what has limited me in achieving my goals, and how can I learn from these?
OPPORTUNITIES - what opportunities can I choose to create in the next year? What relationships do I have to work on and engender in order to achieve all my goals?
THREATS - what potential pitfalls can lie ahead? What action can I take to anticipate these occurring and prevent them hindering performance? Not surprisingly, once one has recognised potential threats by taking action, one can create new positive opportunities.
Balanced goal setting can affect all parts or aspects of life. Instead of wasting time watching TV on Christmas day, my son and I decided to challenge ourselves to a difficult mountain bike ride.
We have ridden this often over the last few years. It is a difficult route with sharp climbs and we exposed ourselves to high winds across the roof of the Pentland Hills.
We had not met the challenge for some time and decided that Christmas day was the day to reacquaint ourselves with the countryside. Climbing out of Edinburgh along the Water of Leith to Balerno, we circumnavigated three reservoirs and still managed to get home for dinner finally before the poor light of the day was extinguished.
The great thing about exercise is that after an exerting session it is difficult to overeat. So we achieved several goals - meeting the difficulties of the ride, and the weather, and eating less than usual on Christmas day!
Are your life goals compatible with those of your partner?
Yesterday we focused on how consistent our goals are within each area of our lives. Today, now you have clarified your goals you may want to consider sharing these with those important to you in your life. Ask your partner or significant friend about their goals. It is an interesting exercise to see where similarities and incompatibilities exist. This exercise may also highlight areas you need to work on together. Enjoy Christmas and the time to think over how you will BE, DO and HAVE next Christmas in 2007
If you did the exercise yesterday, you should have seven lists of goals that are important for you to achieve in the next year. Look at yesterday's Blog if you want to do the exercise now.
Now compare the lists of the goals you have set yourself and examine:
Which are complementary to each other?
Are there any goals which conflict?
The purpose of the exercise is to complete the goals setting process to take you through a special exercise on Christmas day.
Planning is something that may occupy our time as we approach 2007. Many people use this time of year to review what has gone on in their lives and make plans for creating a new future. Unfortunately, most of us spend more time planning our holidays or purchasing a new car than we do planning how we want our lives to turn out.
I think it is important to value all areas of our lives - not just our business and careers. Life planning to me includes the following:
Business and career
Material goods and possessions - wealth goals
Relationships with our family and friends
Health and diet
Fitness and exercise
Community
Spirituality
It is important to get balance and when we weigh up goal setting in each of the seven areas above, note that in some areas we focus more on our goals than others - thus creating an imbalance. So, if you want to take part in this exercise spend an hour or so writing down your goals and follow the Blog until the end of 2006 when we will start another thread.
Keeping a Blog up to date can be time consuming but of immense personal value. The discipline each day requires one to think originally about the thoughts that we have and aspirations for the future. I would encourage anyone who is serious about life planning to do two things.
Firstly, keep a Journal and keep it to yourself. Do not share it with anyone - you are not looking for approval. You are looking to understand what makes you tick and how you can improve in various areas of your life.
Secondly, write a letter to yourself and outline those things you want to achieve and the things you want to change in your life within the year. Be as detailed as possible. Now seal the letter, store it away and open it in a year's time. I guarantee you will be surprised by what you will have achieved in a year, if you commit seriously to the goal setting process we are discussing on these last days of December 2006.
It is at this time of year that people are crowded together in restaurants or bars and one overhears conversations that would not normally be in earshot. I was in a bar talking with a friend and overheard a conversation. One of the parties was pretty pessimistic and despondent. He was a man in his mid 40's who was talking to a trusted colleague about his frustration at work. Going by his manner, he was experiencing some anguish.
I overheard him say, "that things are not getting any better and he did not believe he can move onto another job because he is getting too be the wrong age….." He referred to "being too old to retrain and anyway he'd probably be made redundant when he hit 50". From these simple words, you can get the tone of the conversation. It was not the most optimistic debate in that bar that evening! I did not hear all he had to say but I could tell that he was going through a period of reflection and inner questioning about what he could do next and whether he had any power at all to shape his destiny.
I think this man reflects the thoughts of many others. At this time of year, we can make the time to reflect on our lives and think about the best way forward. Unfortunately, many reflect but take no action. Why is this? We know things are not going well yet we fail to decide and take action and shape our destiny rather than being willing victims of fate.
"The past does not equal the future" - is a phrase that has stayed with me for some time and originated from Tony Robbins, motivation speaker and author of 'Unlimited Power' and 'Awaken the Giant Within' It was some time ago when I attended his events but the same phrase he used repeatedly in his presentation all to get us to think differently about what we could do to change our circumstances. The words had a strong resonance with me because the words were in fact a strong belief system.
Just think if one could internalise this simple belief one could start living that new life today. Just think how many people want to change their lives and shape their lives they way they want to live them but in 365 days find themselves no further forward than they are today. Well, change only starts when we develop enough frustration with the way things are now that we leverage ourselves to take action. For many things will remain the same. Over the next week or so this Blog will be focused on how people can change and benefits that accrue to doing so. It may also interest readers to go back to the start of the Blog in October and review some of the thoughts on personal change and examine techniques that can work for you.
I was asked a simple question about only one thing we could do to make our organisations work more effectively. It is relatively easy to come out with a formula. My favourite is 'Focus' and 'Energy' - but my friend told me that was two words and also two different concepts. What one thing could we do to make our organisations more effective?
My choice was 'Matrix Organisation'. It is not a difficult concept - it is based on working smarter across functional silos or boundaries. As organisations grow in stature, size and complexity the problems in 'organising ourselves' grow exponentially. As we grow and our responsibilities increase and we become more specialised so new formal relationships between people develops.
'Managing the Matrix' can become the most important activity we as managers can achieve. Working within our functional areas is easy - working across borders is not. As we move from one area to other functions or departments, we confront new rules, new styles and cultures.
Most people do not realise how important managing the Matrix is but if you are interested in these ideas you may want to look at our Learning & Development site Learning Strategies Ltd. where if you register you can download articles specifically on this issue. You may also note a business game that may help you master the Matrix - entitled 'Managing Chaos'.
In fact, one large organisation has changed its whole focus with the concept of 'Cross Society Working'. This is a large charity which employs 1500 people has 16,000 volunteers and a turnover of £90m. By concentrating on uniting functions on key strategic projects this business is able to achieve its strategic goals. If readers are interested in finding out more about the principles that apply contact us.
I am picking up that not much is happening this week - the week before Christmas. I attended a dinner last night on behalf of the Chartered Institute of Marketing at the Royal Scots Club in Edinburgh. It was a great opportunity to do what I like doing best - meeting new people.
I like to think that I am good at listening to others talk about their experience - and as Ed, a Director of a financial services business said to me, "Listen intently at several levels because ideas come along very quietly." So, I asked what he meant by several levels. I was surprised at his answer because Ed was a very confident extrovert who always had something to say. His reply was - "There are three levels to listening. Level one, is listening to the words and the intent, level two is 'listen to what they are not saying, and level three, listen to what they cannot say without your help". Good advice and I have followed it for 20 years.
Last night was also an opportunity to listen to what others are saying and I like what I hear. Everyone is talking about opportunities in the New Year, and that 2007 is going to be magical. What's so unusual about that is most find something to grumble about. Now I am really optimistic.
I was talking with a friend who is Marketing Guru of the Performance Partnership in London and I was asking him how he was spending his last week before Christmas. He told me "Cold calling." To which my reply was "What's the point - everyone's in party mood, winding down for Christmas." His predictable response which sent me off to do my own cold calling was………"If everybody else thinks like that, I will be the only trainer phoning around trying to set up meetings - which is great! Long may people believe that everyone is too busy. I might just get to speak and set up sessions while everyone else has switched off.
Thanks Jonathan - I'm living on the phone this week!
I ran five miles today for the first time in twelve months. I used to run a great deal and found it a fantastic way to relax and reflect on moments of creative insight. I have missed it because of problems with my Achilles - but that has gone away now.
The run was exhausting and extremely slow - almost limping in places. I am surprised that the run was so hard because I have continued working out at the gym, rowing and cycling. I think I was getting to the stage when I was thinking I would never run again - but with practise and some dietary help I should be back to 15-20 miles per week.
I mentioned this earlier in the day to a colleague who had moved away from a managerial role to become a technical specialist in database management and then within nine months moved up the organisation to take charge of small marketing team. He experienced exactly the same problem as I had with my running.
It is true that if you do not use your physical or managerial muscle your competence will dip sharply and quickly. Fortunately, with the right mind set and a strong commitment to get back to our old standards. things will improve for both of us.
I guess the lesson for us both is that it is relatively easy to move back up the learning curve when we have the focus and the motivation to achieve.
I am determined to finalise all my business before the end of next week. VAT and wrapping things up for the New Year are on my mind as are a few social events in the evenings.
I find the social events of extreme value if you meet new people rather than adhere to the same group. I promised myself in the November Blog that I'd introduce myself to 100 new people before Christmas and have achieved half of that. I like the idea of Networking with like-minded people. It has always been of value to me because the whole 'change management process' is about forming relationships to mutual advantage.
I plan to use next week for planning for 2007. It will be an interesting year for Scotland with the Scottish Elections in May 2007. Who knows which way it will go and whom the big employers will be backing? It will be interesting to see how the City responds to possible changes in power in Edinburgh or a hung Parliament (Scottish). Perhaps I should set up a sweepstake, or has William Hill beaten me to it?
Behaviours: If you can't measure, it you can't manage it!
Could you ever fully commit to a weight reduction programme without measuring your current weight? Could you ever enter a fitness programme without measuring your gains? Would you ever agree to learning new skills without thoroughly appraising where you are currently and how you can move on to the next level? No, any meaningful change both personal and organisational is based on measuring the difference, or the gap, between 'current' and 'desired'. So if this is the case, why do companies commit to programmes of major change without measuring what it is they are trying to change?
It is interesting that people will commit to major change but fail to develop methods of measuring progress. This is even more pronounced in the corporate world. Insanity was once described as 'doing the same things day after day but expecting different results.' With that being the case this is where many change management programmes find themselves today - running around in circles.
Nothing Changes Until Behaviour Changes
The reality is that nothing changes until behaviours change. If you are driving a major change programme, you'll obviously be looking at the style of management, leadership and major team working skills. We all know that behaviour begets change, but you would be surprised how many change initiatives fail to address these issues. Sometimes this requires confronting those behaviours and styles that are less than helpful. Should we allow behaviours, which are taking us away from our goal to continue, or should we be encouraging others to review and reflect on their styles?
Take a Good Look in the Mirror & Reflect
To create real change requires a process whereby managers can take a good look in the mirror and to consider what it's like on a bad day to receive their behaviour. A programme that fails to confront behaviour that is counter to a new desired culture of work has to be dealt with rather than avoided.
Reality Dawns
To create real change starts at the top of any business. If we fail to deal with those issues, including styles and behaviours, which are counter to improvement then any investment is a waste of time and energy. Real successful change happens when we all review how we do things, how we work with others and how we can improve ourselves. That means we have to start measuring key behaviours. If you are interested, look at Bob Suttons BLOG He operates out of Stanford. I like his approach - he is tough on the hard issues and focuses on the key people in the news. His regular column focuses on 'Bullying' and how not to become a real 'Ass****' and draw on the writing and thoughts of Suzi and Jack Welch (Suzi is editor of the Harvard Business Review, and Jack is ex CEO, legend and miracle worker of change management of General Electric). The real issue of measuring and changing behaviours is evident reading through the themes here.
We have sick cat now and trying to look after it is difficult. He does not want to get into the Cat basket. He does not like the car. Given a choice he does not want to go to the Vet. Surprisingly, when we get to the Vet, we find the cat does not want to be examined. He does not like it at all. I tell the cat that everything is going to be fine. The cat is not convinced. The Vet takes charge. Luckily, I am requested to hold the front of the Cat (head and two gigantic paws with sharp claws!) while a thorough diagnosis is undertaken. Why does the Vet ask me control the biting end of the Cat?
Enough of Cats for the moment and more on Leadership. We often find ourselves in a similar situation when we manage change.
The top people all go off in different directions and at varying speeds and motivations. I think it's probably a good idea to give them a compass at any training event and coach them all to go in the same direction. Sometimes, "herding" the top team is the only task you need to perform. If you can do that, the change cascades down seamlessly.
Remove any blocks and the change flows through the organisation. It is simple really. You get the top team to focus in the right direction, build up enough emotional energy for wanting the change, live the benefits, see the tangible results and then align all in the same direction.
That's it then. Change is quite simple really - easier than my next trip to the Vets!
To continue from yesterday's Blog (11th December's). So our assembled group of fifteen managers have been handed a writing and thinking exercise - based on how well they know their staff. They have been asked to list the names of their key people and to recall the name of each of their partners, where they go on holiday, their greatest achievement, what these people do when they are not working in the business and their greatest passion.
It's not unreasonable for any manager or leader to have the bare bones and knowledge of each of their people. I mean, how else can one motivate staff. I take it as critical that we know at least the most basic information on each of our team. The results in the session where fascinating. About half the group had a fair grasp of some of their people - but not all! It was no surprise when I said that "unfortunately - you may not like to admit it, but we all have favourites in our teams and we have to counter this tendency". We may tend to gravitate towards some rather than others. We have to take strong measures to counter this tendency. What we have to do is to treat all our people well and to devote attention to those to motivate, inspire, coach and support them in the work they do.
In this exercise what was disappointing was the fact that some managers had real difficulty completing the grid. So to draw the session to an end I asked each manager would they be prepared to use the exercise as a mental construct and go away , find out more about what motivates and drive their people and then return in two weeks time and we could review "how well we understand the complexities, motivations and interests of our team".
The due date arrived. Participants were keen to demonstrate their successes claiming the exercise had been powerful in helping them shape their people skills. All was going well until Eric entered the room, opened his briefcase and extracted a roll of fax paper. He had circulated the matrix to his people and his PA had faxed the results to him for the session. That's how he ended up with the nickname of 'Eric the fax'. He had a long way to go to understand the process of finding out what makes your people tick is not mechanistic but human and based on simple people skills through talking and listening.
I was prompted to write this after reading Nick Price's Blog of the 8th December Bright Purple are Human. Nick refers to finding out more about his team and what makes then tcik. I think it imperative and a key aspect of leadership.
This takes me back to working with a client in Edinburgh some years ago. I was waxing lyrical about leadership to a large group of middle managers. I was sketching up some ideas on the flip chart and I asked all attendees to follow my example. "Does everyone in this room have direct reports?" "Good, now do this exercise. "Draw a matrix that allows you to write the names of all your direct reports in separate rows. Against these rows, I want you to draw 5 columns. If you have six direct-reports your matrix should be six rows and six columns. Now write down the forename of each direct report in the first column. Now I want you to write down the following the remaining five columns."
What are the name of the person's partner or immediate family?
Where they went on holiday last year and this year?
What is the person's greatest personal achievement?
What they do when they are not working for you?
What is their greatest passion?
What do you think was the result? In addition, more importantly what were the key learning points? More on this tomorrow.
Is it because the festive season and Christmas is just round the corner that I am avoiding over indulgence? A healthy mind is best created through a healthy body and although I do exercise I really need to focus my energies to get back to prime fitness of my late 20's. As in other areas of my life, I need to set targets and measure my progress. I am desperate to recover a really great formula for measuring fitness improvements week by week. It will be achieved!
Does anyone remember the running sensation in the 80's when Dr Kenneth Cooper started the movement towards us all as ordinary people taking up running and marathons?. I was one of his adherents and devoured his books - amongst them 'The New Aerobics.' I am getting back to fitness and wanting to shed some weight and thought that running was the best exercise for me, but I cannot access his Points System anywhere. He worked out a method to measure fitness through assessing one's maximal power output based on the ability to process VO2 - in other words, the capacity and the effectiveness of the lungs to process oxygen. The higher one's VO2 score in terms of litres of oxygen processed per minute the fitter and presumably the greater the athletic capability. For instance, Lane Armstrong, six times winner of the Tour de France had three times the VO2 capacity of the normal fit and healthy human being.
My local health club is trying to get everyone up to speed to burn calories and improve their fitness before Christmas. They say we can easily eat 7000 calories on Christmas day! My initial response was……….."is that all!" To aid the process of being fit for Christmas, I have also been asked to help develop a measurement tool so people can assess individual progress depending whether they run, swim, cycle, stair-climb, play squash, badminton or walk around a Golf course. I agreed to do it without accessing Google first. I need precise data that relates to the points allocated for rowing and stair climbing and it just does not seem to be available. I have shot some emails off to various organisations and Cooper himself - but on the off chance that readers have access to the system - please contact me.
I am always looking for good quality BusinessBlogs and came across Bob Sutton who operates out of Stanford. I like his approach - he hits the hard issues and focuses on the key people in the news. His regular column focuses on 'Bullying' and how not to become a real 'Ass****' and draw on the writing and thoughts of Suzi and Jack Welch (Jack is ex CEO, legend and miracle worker of change management of General Electric) in the process. Suzi and Jack draws a distinction between various types of Leaders. It takes me back to the days I worked with GE Crotonville (in Connecticut) - which is the 'hard knock' equivalent of Walt Disney University.
Bob deals with change management issues and has a good following and website. I suggest you bookmark his site.
When attending a business function at Tate Modern I talked with several people about the uninteresting aspects of 'email etiquette' and the degree to which email is used to avoid 'face to face' communication. Rod, who is the sales director of a financial services business, claimed that he forbade people from using email for a whole day and was surprised at the results. He is not the first person to recognise that email is often used as a 'CYA' measure, ("cover your ass") in terms of using the c.c. component to draw people's attention to issues, which may not be normally part of their work.
In this way it is used 'defensively' when the originator of the email wants to score points and claims "I copied you into the email, didn't you read it!" All these behaviours avoid face-to-face contact and are less than useful in terms of personal time management and team working. What concerns me is the overtly political use made of email when methods that are more candid exist to resolve conflicts.
A good friend and colleague has written a 20 page pdf document on Email Etiquette, which can be branded and then be distributed throughout the organisation. Contact me if you are interested and I'll pass on his email address.
I am extremely careful that I only attend business events where there will be the opportunity to discuss and debate issues serioulsy. I cannot abide poorly designed events, which are created purely for 'Networking' to generate a volume of introductions with multiple exchanges of business cards. I find these events of little value and shallow in the extreme. Power Networking is horrendous when you pay a small sum to be introduced to other suppliers who need to expand their network through a series of 20 x 3 minute exchanges (within the hour) with people we have never met before. Goodness knows what speed dating is like? The whole process of mass Networking makes me wince. It is so unnatural and false.
I much prefer to attend events with a genuine interest in finding out what others are doing in business and what strategies work for them. The heart of real networking is not trawling through anonymous business cards of people whose record of accomplishment and ethical behaviour is unknown.
Networking which adds value is creating and looking for genuine approaches to working with others in a win-win relationship. It is only based on trust. I could never recommend a person to others as a supplier of business services if I had no relationship with them in business at all. That's why the Tate experience yesterday was so powerful. White Clarke Group have developed the niche for creating, developing and nurturing 'win-win' relationships in the financial services sector, and we all benefit because they have invested diligently in this activity.
The event at the Tate Modern is over and we travel back to Milton Keynes by coach. This is the fastest I have ever travelled out of central London and along the M1 - but then, it is midnight!
After working in Milton Keynes, a long drive back to Edinburgh today culminated in opening several Birthday cards. But, again no Beaujolais Nouveau - I thought I had dropped enough hints over the last few days in my Blogs. - I must try to find what happened to the whole event this year. Did France finally give in and roll over to wines from the New World, or did the first pressing and bottling of Beaujolais just pass me by?
Business Expansion and Acquisitions starting at Tate Modern
White Clarke Group hosted used the Christmas Reception for the Finance and Leasing Association at the Tate Modern on the 5th December. Last year they sponsored the same event at the Gherkin in London. This year over 280 professionals from the Financial Services sector gleefully attended the event, which was a great opportunity for Woburn Consulting partners and directors to meet with and share our ideas with the top people in this sector.
As the Edinburgh City centre creates a powerful backdrop for the Festival Fireworks and Hogmanay, so London and the view of the Thames from the 7th floor of Tate Modern provides a fantastic vista of growth and optimism for the future. The drinks party lasted from 7-10pm and passed very quickly.
There were many new contacts and my co-directors, Peter de Roussett -Hall, Terry Dann, Ed White, Dara Clark and colleagues created a great forum for debate about systematic and measured change and improvement. What was interesting was the recognition of the importance of creating a strong business culture first, which in turn would soon generate the returns on growth and profitability.
The discussions on 'culture change' and 'process improvement' where not applicable just to the financial services sector but to all sectors and industries. I believe the interest generated at the Tate will echo around many Board Rooms over the new few months.
The real challenge for industry is twofold. First, business expansion into Europe and beyond and secondly, for those cash rich businesses, is the opportunity to invest in acquisitions, mergers and joint ventures. It still has to be the fastest and surest way to grow a business intelligently. Just now the City is awash with investors and cash just looking for high returns in new ventures by acquiring and merging with others.
Our role at Woburn is to provide the expertise, the due diligence, and the post acquisition services that are tailored and designed to ensure that the synergies for which new businesses are brought together are actualised immediately.
Woburn take seriously the issue of post acquisition integration - after all, about 70% of acquisitions fail to realise the results and performance for which they were originally designed.
We believe it best to start at stage one - that means working on due diligence issues that focus on culture and the management team, technology as well as strategic and market fit. There is no point acquiring a business to increase market penetration without dealing with the cultural barriers, which inhibit speedy integration. That is why we have a post acquisition strategy to assess areas which are most at risk to operate effectively. Woburn's purpose is to ensure from Day 1 after acquisition that the culture of the new entity unites and aligns people to achieve the strategic imperatives. So many mergers or acquisitions fail to deliver because of a failure to resolve cultural and behavioural issues in key areas of the businesses. (Woburn website becomes active NOW) WoburnConsulting.com
I do not know if time is going faster than normal - but the last time I looked at my watch it was early November! Where has the time gone, and more importantly where is the Beaujolais Nouveau?
I seem to remember being pleasantly surprised the third week in November when there was a race to get the first pressing of Beaujolais bottled and delivered to the UK. There used to be all manner of PR activity about flying in the first bottle to Scotland and then a host of tasting events.
Well, it may have happened this year but I do not recall any commotion, any fanfare, or any Beaujolais for that matter! Is it me or did others miss this also?
Welcome Back from India & Visiting the Tate Modern
My daughter returns from India today after her second eight-week spell as part of a quality improvement initiative working within a client's call centre in Delhi. She loved the work and the people. Likewise, she is glad to be home in time for Christmas. When I think about it, I wish I had experienced such international experience of such duration, and working on such fascinating issues at the young age of 24.
What is important about experience is that it is what forms our character. As someone once said, "Good or bad, it's not what happens to you that is important, but rather how you respond to what happens to you". So far, my daughter has grasped learning and opportunities with both hands. I wish everybody could do the same. I guess if we view every activity as learning and improvement, our resilience and our capabilities improve radically. I suspect that helps us create a very positive self-concept, which reinforces the message I mentioned yesterday on the work of the Centre for Confidence.
As we were moving from November into December I noted an unusual energy in the interest and the work coming towards our business. At this time of year, it is usual to start closing things off and getting ready for demands of the New Year. However, this year it is very different. There are some interesting opportunities evolving and I am sure to expect more surprises before we close for the break on the 24th December.
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