Monthly Archives: September 2014

My Scottish knee isn’t working!

It worked really well in my 20s. A few decades later it is a bit creaky.

The consultant tells me I will have lasting damage and arthritis if I don’t have surgery. The stats are compelling. 95% chance of improvement, 2% chance nothing will change, 3% chance it will be made worse.

It’s a no brainer. I sign the consent form.

It is a Scottish knee living in England, missing out on the big vote up north.

Lots of people making a historic Independence decision from different perspectives and motivations. Drawing in different measures on their heads, hearts, and souls.

Knees and Scottish Independence. A reminder that decisions are different for different people; and that people who agree with you might be doing it for a whole load of different reasons.

Worth remembering this, and the value of continued engagement, when you get into implementation. Consent forms protect consultant surgeons. They don’t work in organisational or national life.

 

Dave Stewart

The Fresh Air Learning Company

 

It worked really well in my 20s. A few decades later it is a bit creaky. The …

Build resilience by letting go!

You have built a successful business from scratch. It has been your drive, your capacity for problem solving, and your ability to put your arms around the whole enterprise that has got it to where it is now.

And you know that performance improvement is not sustainable, and you know you are the single point of failure. You are in a place of risk. Performance improvement, innovation and resilience risks.

And as you have brought people on board, and maybe established an executive board of directors, how have the conversations changed? Are you still directing what people need to do? Are you impatient with their grasp of the detail? Do you doubt their sureness of step?

How much trust is there in the room? How much trust-based challenge is allowed? How many fresh insights are generated together? How collective are the decisions? What then gets done with purpose and energy? How much freedom of action is there?

Performance improvement, innovation and resilience often start with the quality of conversations in the boardroom. What are yours like? What would a shift from “me and them” to “us” do for you and your business? How possible is this “letting go” for you?

Dave Stewart

The Fresh Air Learning Company

You have built a successful business from scratch. It has been your drive, your capacity for problem …