Archive
objecting to objectives
We achieve our strategic goals by setting objectives and using them to motivate our teams to succeed; who would argue with that? Well me for a start. Read more…
on lift etiquette
I wrote recently in my diary column about lift etiquette in other countries and one or two people have asked me what I meant. Read more…
when in Rome…
Adapting to local customs is one of the joys of travel and I have always tried to get under the skin of places whenever I have been somewhere new.
I have been very lucky in that the vast majority of my travel over the last forty odd years has been on business and working somewhere does tend to open up things that might get missed as a tourist. The downside is that, when working, you often miss the tourist highlights but, on balance, I wouldn’t swap.
Much of my early travel was within the UK and I have been to most of it along the way by train, ‘plane and car (or truck). During my time as a salaried man I did get to see some foreign trips to France, The Netherlands and Germany it was not until more recently as a freelance that I’ve got to go further afield and in the last couple of years I have worked in Columbia, Libya, China (twice) and Thailand; a lucky bloke really.
The one thing that links all of the places I have been to is the hospitality and courtesy of the people that I have met. Sure there have been a few folks that I haven’t got on with, but the overwhelming marority have been a joy despite the language barriers. I am naturally curious and like to take an interest and that is a big help; in Thailand I found a market next to my hotel and asked the ladies in the office what they would recommend I should try in the way of local fruit. Within the hour I had four plates of assorted fruit on my desk to sample.
Even in some of the more troubled places life has to go on and, for example, whilst Belfast in the eighties was somewhere that many of my colleagues would not go near I loved the place and the people and have been delighted to go back ever since. Libya was also a wonderful experience and everything that I had read about Arab courtesy and hospitality was confirmed on my trip there. It is a shame that the situation there has precluded me going back on a follow up visit and to see more of the country, but I will be back if the chance comes.
Fitting in with other people’s customs and ways of behaving and fitting in helps to understand and gives you a sense of perspective. From Bogota to Belfast to Bangkok to Beijing there are people getting on with life. They might have different forms of government, worship (or not) diffrent Gods, use different languages and eat different foods, but if you treat them with respect and take an interest in their lives they will pay you back many times over.
people only see what they want to see
I often talk about the difference between perception and reality, especially in terms of customer service, but it is true in so many ways; people do see, or believe, things even when there is evidence to the contrary. Read more…
So what if Big Brother is watching?
There is little doubt that we are all under surveillance, whether from CCTV, people prying into our social media and e-mail utterings or tracking where we have been and what we have bought through our use of plastic in various forms. This seems to get a lot of people hot under the collar, but if we are being watched at every turn so what? Read more…
“I had no choice; it was me or him”
The quote was on a news item, but it could have been from anywhere in any number of business situations that I have been in over the years. Many of us will have said it too, but it is nonsense because there is a clear choice in the statement; “me or him”. What we really mean is that we took the selfish choice. Read more…
empowerment is not a panacea
“Empower your people” is a commonly heard cry and has been for a few years now, but is it really what you want to do? Read more…
tools only work if you use them well, so let’s stop using annual appraisals
There is no doubt that tools are useful things to have for they can make our lives so much easier, but they have two major drawbacks: Read more…
Are we nearly there yet?
“Are we nearly there yet?”, that familiar cry from the back seat, and sometimes from the front. The answer may be yes, maybe no, but how do we know? These days when we are on a day out we probably know where we are from our SatNav system and, if you have that set up to do so, it will also tell you whether you are going to arrive on time or not. At work we don’t have SatNav though, so whether we are looking at the day’s work or a project we need to have something else to keep track of where we are. Read more…
right and wrong, democracy or dictatorship?
When you are young you begin to learn from the people and the world around you. At first you are naturally trusting about what you are told, and then with a bit of curiosity you start to verify things; “Don’t touch that; it’s hot.” Ok, you think, then you put your hand out and “Ouch, that hurt.” Read more…
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the Monday Musings column from that consultant bloke 