I once hired someone who, in many ways, was a nightmare employee. He turned up late, forgot meetings, and struggled with even the simplest administrative tasks. But here’s the thing—I knew that might happen before he ever stepped through the door. He’d just been granted a presidential pardon after twenty-two years in prison for a crime he didn’t commit. Yet during those years, from a death-row cell, he built a feeding programme that reached across several countries during one

On Risk, Courage, and Saying “Be Careful” Recently we were asked to speak to a large corporate organisation about  risk —specifically, how to build a healthy approach to risk into their culture. They invited us because they’d noticed something troubling: people across the organisation had become paralysed at the very thought of taking any kind of risk. The opening line was simple: ' we’ve villainised the word “risk.”  We’ve turned it into a weapon in the hands of those who fe

On my travels I’ve collected a little gallery of absurd signs. One barked, “SIGN NOT IN USE.” Another warned, “OPEN THE DOOR BEFORE ENTERING.” Helpful, I suppose, for anyone prone to head butting wood. A friend sent me a gem from an airport lounge: “95% of our coffee is fairly sourced.” Which begs the obvious—what dark corner did the other 5% come from? Children’s hands? A smuggler’s basement? This is the myth of neutrality. We celebrate  not being bad  as if it’s the same as

Have you noticed the trends in offices interiors that is taking the world by storm? It may even be in your office. Seemingly lots and lots of organisations are taking a retro look at decorating and are wallpapering everywhere with some flimsy sheets of paper that have written on the top 'our values’. Sadly that is where for so many the values stop. On the wall. And if they do, stop, don’t bother with them. When I collaborate with organisations looking at their values the work

When your children can track a cheetah in the wild but not cross a road safely, you know they have the wrong skill set for living in a UK town. Our eldest was 8 and had lived largely outdoors but had never really had to live in a city or encounter a culture like that.  And in a moment where some of the world’s needs feel more enormous and beyond our reach than ever, and where we need innovative and creative answers, it seems strange that large swathes of our society are being

I hope my wife doesn't read this blog post. We fundamentally disagree on one simple element of parenting. When I get home I run through the door, drop my bags, kick off my shoes en-route, throw down my coat, go straight to the family and say 'right what are we playing or doing and can I join in?' My wife on the other hand walks in, hangs up her coat, straightens the rug, closes the bin lid, puts away some washing and organises the recycling, before she has made it to where. w

We all have words or phrases we don’t like or are not allowed, the one in our house is this ‘be careful’. It is the highest sign of disrespect and profanity to use these words. So my wife and I never say it to our kids. And essentially I spend about half of my professional career teaching people not to say it to their teams either.  And it gets me into trouble all the time.  Especially when I am around a climbing frame or when my kids are up trees, or they are exploring somet

Why is the culture such a mess? In a previous post I talked about cultures being made up of 'code', 'climate' and 'character' and if one of these goes wrong we get a really distorted sense of what healthy organisations look like. Nomadic wanderer: We are on the road to nowhere . This is about a lack of ‘code’. There may be a healthy emotional climate and leaders with good strengths but it doesn’t point anywhere. This can be the case when really competent people are put toge

What makes up organisational culture? How do we break it down and get our head under the bonnet?