Don’t get Burnt by the Burning Platform
The ‘burning platform’ is a well-known metaphor for igniting personal or institutional change. It’s based on the idea that change needs a spark – a very big one – to ignite the process. Without a burning platform, the change process flames out. Burning [...]
Shifting the Paradigm Shift Faster
Besides the many ideas and innovations Kurt Levin advanced as one of the most influential social scientists of the 20th Century, he once commented “there is nothing so practical as a good theory”. Shifting the paradigm from teacher centred to student [...]
Humanising Organisations: Ideal to Reality
I’ve long believed – and research consistently shows - that adopting humanistic management principles and practices such as empowerment and treating people with dignity and respect generates positive economic value for organisations. Mental Health and [...]
Employee happiness depends on the boss
I’ve long been interested in the relationship between employee job satisfaction and work-related performance ever since I read about the famous Hawthorne studies conducted by Elton Mayo, a Harvard professor and generally regarded as the founder of the [...]
Cutthroat Cooperation or Friendly Competition?
Conventional wisdom dictates that competition - regardless of whether it’s in the classroom, on the playing field or between business rivals – is good because it builds character, boosts productivity and delivers better outcomes. The degree to which the [...]
Throw out the Carrots, Burn the Sticks … and Watch Employee Motivation Blossom
I’m often asked how to motivate employees. Indeed it’s a ‘perennial’ question with added urgency for managers wondering how to motivate a ‘Millennial’ generation where old school tactics such as rewards, recognition and fear are no longer producing [...]
Re-training for Life…and a Life of Re-training
In the good old days, high school students wanting to train for a job/career had a choice – go to college to learn a trade or similar vocational qualification or head to university and gain a tertiary education. These days, it’s not that simple. Instead of [...]
Employee wellbeing starts with job control not yoga classes
Many of us have taken up some form of mindfulness or movement practice to help manage our stress and ageing bodies. I love going to yoga a couple of times a week for both the mental benefits that help soothe the week’s stress as well as the physical benefits [...]
Short-term focus on “pay” leads to long-term “payn”
Unless they’ve been living in a cave, everyone in Australia will be familiar with the results of the recent Royal Commission into the state of the financial services sector in Australia. The Commission’s senior counsel assisting, Rowena Orr highlighted the [...]
All Stakeholders – Not Just Shareholders Matter
The past year has been a roller coaster for Facebook SHAREHOLDERS. Initially, it appeared Facebook had weathered the storm of Cambridge Analytics, Senate Inquiries and the threat of EU fines for data breaches. However, it all went pear shaped when they [...]