QUICK FIX PLUS GOOD FIX
Summary: With ever increasing pressures on managers and leaders to cope with all there is to be done in limited time, identifying both quick and effective approaches to problem situations becomes very necessary. We all know that it is unwise to “react” and there is a need to be more “proactive” in our thinking and
PROBLEM ANALYSIS – A TOOL TO CHANGE MIND SETS
SUMMARY: I sometimes get the comment “Analysis can lead to paralysis”…or “We need more imagination and creativity rather than analysis” …or “Analysing situations into detail neglects the broader context and broader issues and runs the risk of reductionism”. All these statements are true and need to be taken seriously. Yet, at the same time, without
POWER AND INFLUENCE
Summary: The subject of “power” in joint problem solving and other approaches to change is often associated strongly with political manipulation which is aimed at serving the interests of only one person or one party. But there are other dimensions of power and influence which can also play a major role in tackling
PEOPLE AND PROFITS
Summary: South Africa cannot remain economically viable without profitable return on investment. No one is going to put money into a bank, a country or a business without a return on their investment in capital gain or proceeds from interest, or added value from the investment. And without a profitable State of South Africa, there
ARE YOU AN OPERATIONAL or STRATEGIC LEADER?
SUMMARY: In a previous update I defined strategic leadership as planning and acting to influence our environment through resolving the conflicts[1] over different needs and expectations between ourselves and an environment over which we have limited control. Operational leadership can be defined as planning and acting to get the front-line work done in
MEETINGS versus TEAMS
Summary: Nancy Kline’s [1] statement “If you want people to say of your meetings that ‘they just don’t get any better than this’, chair them as a Thinking Environment. As team leader or manager or chair of a meeting, consider following these nine simple guidelines”……. She then goes on to outline these nine guidelines
MANAGING TIME
Summary: Time is the one resource we can’t save and store for later use. It comes, goes and is gone forever. It can’t be stored away for later use (like money in the bank). It is a myth to believe that we ‘can make time to get something done’. Time can’t be manufactured
MANAGING DIVERSITY
Summary: We live in a world of diversity of age, culture, language, gender, wealth, authority, personality and power. This is a tough reality. How can we manage such diversity to avoid constantly having to deal with energy-sapping and unproductive conflict? This brief paper will offer a strategy for managing diversity. Every situation
MANAGING AND LEADING
Summary: In many people’s minds there is a clear distinction between managing and leading – managing focussing on the task or the job and leading focussing on the people involved in the task. While this is a useful distinction, in practice, it doesn’t happen like this. Managing and leading are in partnership. This
LEVELS OF LEARNING TO CHANGE
Summary: So much of our learning is formalized through books, lectures, libraries, schools, colleges and universities that we can easily stay rooted in concepts with more and more words to describe these concepts. We write tests and exams and what we test is mostly what is in our heads and may not be what
