Managing people is a skill I’ve been a manager for over twenty years now, managing teams ranging in size from 2 to 263. One thing that I have learned is that if you want to do anything big then you need to work through other people to achieve at scale. And managing through other people to achieve goals is one of the biggest challenges when … Continue reading Critical conversations at work
Spoke at a women in technology conference recently on the topic of how to future proof your career. It might seem strange that I hardly mentioned technology at all in this talk. But the essentials for a long career are mostly outside of technology. Any intelligent person can pick up technology skills, but other essential skills include: Self analysis and self understanding NO to office … Continue reading Future proof your career – some tips for women
Hosted a panel at the UNSW Michael Crouch Innovation Centre last week with Selena Griffith on Digital Citizens and the Future of Government with Dominic Campbell, Penny Webb-Smart, and Amelia Loye. You can view the video here Panel members Dominic Campbell is a digital government entrepreneur with a background in government policy and technology-led change. He is an experienced in organisation design and has senior management experience in … Continue reading Digital citizens and the future of government
Mobile and social media have created a new business landscape If you’re not already working out how to disrupt your business and your industry then you will be disrupted… Who succeeds at amazon? “Explorers and pioneers”. Who fails? Those who focus on killing our competitors. -Bezos — Spencer Rascoff (@spencerrascoff) May 9, 2014 The web 2.0 revolution and social media changed the game for business. At … Continue reading Mobile and social media – what it means for business
I used to think of LinkedIn as a boring but worthy social network for business contacts. But I was wrong. Over the years it has become a critical B2B social network, with multi-million dollar deals often being done via the platform. LinkedIn has also disrupted the recruitment business and reshaped the way people find jobs. It changed the power dynamic in recruitment by enabling the jobs to … Continue reading LinkedIn and the power of networks
“We measure a leader, not by the absence of problems, but how he or she confronts those problems and takes action.” – Rosabeth Moss Kanter There has been a long and largely unprofitable debate in management circles about the difference between management and leadership. Over the years I have come to a realisation that management and leadership are inextricably linked and that they are defined … Continue reading Leaders, problems, and action
The annual Harvey Nash CIO Survey launched in Sydney in early December 2014. This is a long running CIO survey with responses from more than 3,200 CIOs and technology leaders globally. It was interesting to join the panel at this event for a lively discussion of technology and business related matters. My fellow panelists were: David Hackshall – CIO, Wesfarmers Insurance Theresa Eyssens – CEO, … Continue reading Annual Global CIO Survey 2014
The debate about the internet of things often centres on privacy, but here is why privacy on the internet of things doesn’t scare me as much as digital rights management. I tend to suspect that issues relating to privacy on the internet of things will be sorted out as a result of consumer and government expectations enshrined in privacy regulations. A key capability that is enabled … Continue reading Why privacy on the internet of things doesn’t scare me
There is an enormous amount of information and advice about creating a business plan for one’s startup. The advice ranges from the necessity to prepare a traditional narrative form business plan document, to preparing a business model canvas, or using a business planning tool or app. There are even notions like the idea-less startup, where the team is formed before the startup idea comes together. No business plan … Continue reading Business plan – ultimate waste of time or absolute necessity? #startups
“The only major personality trait that consistently leads to success is conscientiousness.” via Business Insider In large companies personality tests and similar instruments are often deployed to provide people with better insight into their own and team performance. Over the years I have participated in many of these – for example, Myers Briggs, DISC, Belbin Team Roles, Hermann Brain Dominance, 16PF, Big Five Inventory, etc. Many people debate the … Continue reading Predicting success #startups
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