The sign on the counter said: ”If you’re not satisfied with your stay, let us know and we’ll make it right.”I’m sure plenty of similar signs litter hotels worldwide. It’s a reassuring sign. A promise to fix things. Pity it was rubbish.In the grand scheme of things, our problem was...
Born at the turn of the last century, trailblazing American anthropologist Leslie White was a founding professor of the department of anthropology at the University of Michigan Ann Arbor. He was also the author of a controversial theory about how culture works, sometimes referred to as “White’s Law”.The theory says:“Culture...
What are the enemies of the brand result? The desire to fiddle, resistance, and the doldrums.The first one – the desire to fiddle – might feel counterintuitive. After all the things you do result in the brand. And while yes that’s true, for it to work you’ve got to do...
When everything in the world around you is in flux, how to find the one thing your organisation is ‘great’ at can seem an insurmountable quest. However, without it, achieving a brand result people want to stick with is what’s impossible.Because knowing that one thing will help you make and...
Here’s the idea. Don’t try and change the world.Heresy I know, because we live in the age of go big or go home. But I’m more than a bit exhausted by it all. Don’t get me wrong, I‘m not suggesting people give up, just that it might be time to change...
While taking a morning spin through a few email newsletters I get, a quote in an article about a fashion label taking private equity funding, grabbed my attention and got me thinking:“… founders…say they approached Alecon looking for a partner which could provide expertise on the operational and logistics side...
I’m always looking for ways different ways to make it easier for people to think about their promises.Last week listening to a recent Knowledge Project podcast, I stumbled on a conversation between host Shane Parrish and a guy called Jim Dethmer with a lively section on promises, except they don’t...
Unheroic work sustains a robust and resilient brand result. However, I have never seen one achieved if people in leadership aren’t also driving it.And when I say leadership, I include the chief executive, general manager, owner and founder, and also other people within the organisation who lead in various ways.So...
Take a look around at the broken promises you see. How did it happen? Was it neglect, poor planning, a deliberate act?My research side-project examines what wasn’t considered and leads to the downfall. So along with reading philosophical essays about promising and agreements, I’m an avid student of what’s missing...
People making demands of a company to act differently isn’t a new story. However, the nature of what they’re asking for is shifting.In a Bloomberg article sent to me by Nancy Hellmrich (@getnance), people working for furniture maker Wayfair had walked off the job because their company is doing business...
