Category: 15. Projects

Management consultancy – ‘The Big Con’?

Economists Mariana Mazzucato and Rosie Collington are to publish a new book ‘The Big Con’ in which they argue that management consultants are ‘weakening businesses and warping economies’ –  I must declare an interest here, having once worked for a major management consultancy – I must also admit to having much sympathy with what they …

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Winners need stamina

A question managers often ask is “Why do so many big change projects fail?” It’s not so much the steps they take – all follow much the same basic steps when under way viz: Record facts Examine findings Develop solutions But where most go wrong is with other steps needed before, during and after the …

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What kills change?

Ken Blanchard, of ‘One Minute Manager’ fame, recently focused on why implementing change stumbles so much He listed 13 pitfalls that stop major change in its tracks without attaching relative weightings to each one so you are left to decide your own: Culture = The predominant attitudes, beliefs and behaviour patterns of the organisation: The …

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Wisdom of Groups

If you have a specific problem you need to solve, ask several people who have a vested interest and are not just picked randomly off the street In his splendid book, ‘Wisdom of Crowds’, subtitled ‘Why the many are smarter than the few, James Sorowiecki kicks off by telling the tale of Francis Galton, an English scientist …

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Unconventional meetings

Paul Sullivan of the New York Times, writing in The (Central Oregon) Bulletin, reveals surprising examples of new activities to increase productivity and retain employees Eric Tetuan runs an event and production company called ProductionGlue based in Midtown Manhattan, New York A few years ago, he saw staff morale was sinking and mistakes rising so …

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