As a frequent traveller, visiting different countries, staying in many different hotels and eating in many different restaurants, I occasionally got spoilt with fine service or product offerings that “blew me away” and left me smiling: A warm wet towel upon arrival at a restaurant to mop brow and hands A pair of swans (made…
For the past thirty to forty years, much research has proven the superiority of group decision-making over that of even the brightest individuals in the group (Alan B Krueger, Economic Scene, NYT, 7 December 2000). There is one exception to this rule: if the group lacks harmony or the ability to cooperate, decision-making quality and…
“Nothing great and durable has ever been produced with ease. Labour is the parent of all the lasting monuments of the world, whether in verse or in stone, in poetry or in pyramids” (Thomas Moore) Quality has an appealing feel, whether it comes in the form of a well-built car, a delicious meal, a tailored…
“Almost all conflict is a result of violated expectations” (Blaine Lee, The Power Principle) To avoid relational frustrations and mistrust, expectations between people need to be clarified. This is true at home as well as in business or dealings within other organisations. “Clean up your room and the bathroom before going out” sounds pretty straightforward…
“The quality of a man’s life is in direct proportion to his commitment to excellence, regardless of his chosen field of endeavour” (Vince Lombardi) Quality starts with attitude – it ends with attention to detail. Famed artist, Norman Rockwell, put passion into capturing details. In his book, My Adventures of an Illustrator, he describes his…
In a very competitive market, nothing is more valuable than reputation. With companies across different sectors rising and falling overnight, the responsibility of shareholders, employees and other stakeholders, in partnership with customers, to sustain and grow value for the long term is more important than ever. Co-creating value should be everyone’s priority, especially when a…
I use coloured flipchart markers frequently during my consulting sessions and workshop facilitation for companies, not only to record ideas and other thoughts for the groups, but also to depict concepts graphically and illustrate themes. I was recently introduced to the Neuland suite of products, a range of markers and related products of which is…
Executives and their governing boards, within the current financial turbulence that most companies are experiencing, are being forced to re-evaluate strategies, cut costs and re-deploy employees and other resources to provide some return for shareholders. These leaders seem to be seriously challenged with growing revenue organically and are finding it hard to demonstrate value and…
“The best reformers the world has ever seen are those who begin on themselves”. George Bernard Shaw Total Quality Management (TQM) is a philosophy introduced to corporations by W Edwards Deming in the 1950’s. The principles have resulted in many training interventions in companies across the world and have had possibly the greatest impact on…
I have had the privilege of doing people development work for a number of hospitals in Southern Africa. On one such occasion, I took a tour through a large hospital in order to find out more about the hospital environment, partly to understand it and also partly to assist me in customising the workshop materials…
