Early in his career, actor Tom Hanks was interning for a repertory company when the director gifted him 3 rules. He recounts how during morning rehearsal some of the professional cast were missing their cues, slurring their lines and generally messing up, after over-celebrating opening night. Reaching the limits of his patience,...
Ambling towards the faculty club at Stanford University, Jim Stockdale paused to answer Jim Collins’ question, “Who didn’t make it out?” He answered, “The optimists”, continuing, “they were the ones who said, ‘We’re going to be out by Christmas.’ And Christmas would come and Christmas would go. Then they’d say, ‘We’re...
When did values become divorced from character? In his book “The Algebra of Wealth”, professor and entrepreneur Scott Galloway suggests a timeline. While commenting on a shift in literature between pre-and post-WWII he notes, “older works encouraged readers to build success based on virtues like temperance, industriousness and patience. The...
Commonly recommended practices for how to 'do' culture often include the idea of champions. I’m not a fan. Because it suggests there's a special set of people responsible for it. So now, I don’t have to do anything. Instead, I advocate that everyone should champion the culture. And the distinction is...
The benefits of remote work for individuals are dissected, costed and covered as almost fait accompli. So much, you’d be forgiven for thinking it’s a privilege afforded to everyone. But it’s not. And not because the organisation doesn’t offer the choice. If you’re on the frontlines of teaching children, fixing roads,...
First used in Bruce Schneier’s book Beyond Fear, “security theatre” means implementing measures that provide a veneer of security but do little or nothing to deliver it. Enter culture theatre. An activity that makes a splash or delivers a high while doing nothing meaningful to change how people do things. Genuine values are how...
As value accumulates or erodes in a brand, what and how you do things change. Is value building nicely? Do more of those things. That’s change. Eroding like the beach at high tide, stop or switch things around. Also change. Those changes with a small c happen endlessly and usually unnoticed....
Habits and rituals can look similar. They’re not, and I’ve focused on the habit side of things for too long. That changed when I read The Ritual Effect by Professor Michael Norton. Norton says, “One automates, the other animates”. Elaborating that “Habit is the what. It’s something we do. … We...
The Gallup organisation recently released its annual State of the Global Workforce survey results. The news is mixed. What they call engagement is up slightly to 23%, but that small shift doesn’t offset the massive deficit of those disengaged. But what is engagement anyway? The theory began its march to prominence in a...
Once you know what your values mean, you can begin the climb to mastery. Still, the gap between the bottom two layers of the pyramid and the top three is akin to calling the Grand Canyon a ditch. The chasm is so rarely bridged because it takes concerted discipline and consistent effort. These...