In the third century A.D., King Ts’ao sent his son, Prince T’ai, to the temple to study under the great spiritual leader, Pan Ku. Because Prince T’ai was to succeed his father as king, Pan Ku was to teach the boy the basics tenets of good leadership. When the prince arrived at the temple, the…
One of the greatest statesmen who ever lived, Nelson Rolihlahla Mandela, passed away last week at the grand age of 95 years, many of them extremely meaningful ones. This “Father of the South African nation” was a guiding light that illuminated the path ahead and became a beacon of hope for all South Africans to…
A delegate, this past week, shared his love for computer games with the rest of the group – over the years, having spent well over US$ 7 000 on Play Station 3 (PS3) and associated games. He explained to all of us that some people enjoy hiking, others surfing, some watching movies – his “thing”, however,…
Technological advancement is part of everyday life. The acceleration of development in this area is overwhelming and astounding. The computing ability of some of the smaller gadgets and devices takes your breath away and the instruments become sought-after and very desirable “must-have” accessories for ease of access to online information, business and social media connection….
Gillian Barbara Lynne (CBE) was born on the 20th February 1926 in Bromley, Kent, England and was recognised as a dance talent at a young age. Teaming up with her childhood friend, Beryl Grey, while still at school, she danced to blot out the tragedy of the violent death of her mother in a car…
Gerrit Cloete, former colleague and now owner of Productivity Pitstop, told me about one of his weekend adventures – he often walks among the beautiful mountains of Cape Town, both for exercise and relaxation and also for the opportunity presented for reflection. On this particular occasion, Gerrit decided to park near Signal Hill and climb…
“The most important, and indeed the truly unique, contribution of management in the 20th Century was the fifty-fold increase in the productivity of the manual worker in manufacturing. The most important contribution management needs to make in the 21st Century is similarly to increase the productivity of knowledge work and the knowledge worker” (Peter Drucker,…
A senior manager in a large corporation in downtown Manhattan was hosting a lunchtime business meeting in the boardroom of the company. At about 10:00 on the day of the meeting, he took the elevator to the penthouse floor, the same of which housed both the boardroom and the CEO’s office. He had gone up…
A beautiful evergreen tree graces the area outside my bedroom window – commonly called “Yesterday-Today-Tomorrow”, the endemic Brazilian brunfelsia pauciflora, with its mauve, lavender and white sweet-smelling flowers, provides a perfect picture for the onlooker and lovely aroma for one to drift off to sleep at night. Apparently, the tree gets its common name from…
The 20th century will probably be remembered for many things – two world wars, the hippy (peace) movement, democracy, the establishment of human rights, the space age, global financial crises, exploration and the subsequent growth in knowledge. Perhaps, however, it will most be remembered for amazing advances in science and technology. In fact, Time Magazine…
Professor Reginald Revans developed the concept of action learning. It originated with his experience training as a physicist at the University of Cambridge. In his interactions with this bright group of scientists, several of whom won Nobel prizes at a later stage, he observed the importance of each scientist describing his/her own ignorance, sharing experiences…
After a particularly busy period, having spent weeks on end in other countries in Africa, I was emotionally and physically exhausted. The stress of facilitating culture change processes in large corporations, having to deal with the “sometimes hidden” agendas of others and sorting through the quagmire of the politics that seem to characterise the upper…
