Author Archives: Max

September 27

What you could learn from ‘Leadership BS’ by Jerry Pfeffer (2015, 220 pages)

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While leadership is difficult to define (see here), good leadership is hard to miss.  Like beauty, good leadership is subjective, depending as much on the observer and context, as much as it depends on the leader. In the book, Jeffrey takes on the five pillars of current leadership: modesty, authenticity, telling the truth, trust and […]

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September 22

Leadership hack – 010 beware the pendulum of leadership

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Most organisations act to magnify the intent of their leaders.  The corporations of the last century, with clear hierarchies and control mechanisms, were designed to ensure that direction issued from the CEO and the board was understood and executed.    While the recent trends of decentralisation and empowerment have gone some way to reduce the role of leaders […]

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September 15

Leadership hack 009 – running a good meeting

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Meetings are the bane of the modern world.  They are unsexy, and often very, very dull.  Many of us have so many meetings that we struggle to get any ‘real’ work done. One way to claw back time is to get rid of meetings.  While this nuclear option has its advocates (see here and here), unless […]

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September 12

What you could learn from Frugal Innovation: How to do better with less by Navi Radjou & Jaideep Prabhu (2016, 220 pages)

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Everyone wants to be seen as innovative.  Innovation has been one of the top business buzz words over the last few years.  Once the preserve of multination corporations and their huge Research & Development (R&D) Labs, innovation has been transformed by technology firms and startups who are able  to innovate faster, and with fewer resources. […]

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September 09

Leadership hack 008 – there are only ever three business problems

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You face a huge variety of problems every day.  Understanding the type of problem you face helps you determine the best way approach and solve it. Most problems can be distilled down to: Diagnosis – not knowing what to do Alignment – not being aligned on what to do Execution – not being able to do […]

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September 03

What you can learn from ‘BCG On Strategy’ by Carl Stern and Michael Deimler (2006, 403pages)

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Strategy, like leadership, is a contested topic.  The Boston Consulting Group (BCG) has a long history of innovation in strategy consulting, having been the powerhouse behind the growth share matrix, the experience curve, time-based competition and the rule of three and four. Perspectives, BCG’s publication, seeks to expose their latest thinking both within the company […]

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September 02

Leadership hack 006 – alignment is not agreement

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Aligning people when everyone agrees is easy.  However, you will often disagree with others on what you are trying to achieve and how best to achieve it.  Disagreement is not harmful, most of the time it is beneficial to have our ideas and assumptions tested – two minds are better than one.  However, if a […]

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August 26

Leadership hack – 005 giving clear direction

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Why are we surprised when a piece of work comes back and it was not what we were expecting?  There are two possible reasons.  The first is that the person you asked to do the work did not understand what was expected of them.  The second is that the person you asked lacked the skill […]

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August 19

Leadership hack 004 – controlling the monkey

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We all do it.  Someone questions the work that you have just completed or your thoughts on a topic or problem, and you feel the threatened.  You roll our eyes, become defensive or even worse, passive-aggressive.  Deep inside you know that your response is unhelpful, and does nothing to solve the problems you face or […]

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July 29

What you can learn from ‘The Phoenix Project’ by Gene Kim,Kevin Behr & George Spafford (2014, 338 pages)

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How do you ensure that IT supports the business? How does your business transform in the digital age? In the book ‘The Phoenix Project, the authors argue that closer integration of development, operations and risk provide a competitive advantage by enabling the other business functions to succeed.  The authors argue that the ‘Three Ways’ are […]

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July 29

Leadership hack 002 – Leadership – it is not about you

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“People spend 99% of the time thinking about themselves. Actually, that’s probably a little low,” Liam Scott, speechwriter Could this statistic be correct?  While the evidence base for behind this particular claim is questionable, there is some research that does support the view that people spend the majority of the time thinking about themselves (see Scientific American). […]

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July 23

Leadership hack 003 – the key to negotiation is understanding why someone wants something

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Imagine you are a parent with two children.  They are arguing over who has the last orange.  You have been asked to intervene, which of the follow options would you choose? Don’t let either child have the orange King of Solomon style, divide the orange in two and give each of the children half an orange Decide […]

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