Interesting insight from the Economist’s Babbage blog: “OIL tycoons, mining giants and airlines make for such perfect villains in the global-warming debate that it is easy to forget the environmental impact of a humble household. But a report published this week by the OECD, a rich-country think tank, notes that households use up to 30% […]

Last week, the Office of Tax Simplification published its interim report on Small Business Tax Simplification. The report includes an analysis of the problems caused by an over-complex and inefficient tax system which is well worth a read.  It highlights a complexity, and attendant uncertainty, arising from regulations which have a different concept of employment […]

I have just written a piece which explores the “people” aspects of moving to a partially virtual, or hybrid, organisational model.  It opens with an overview of the confluence of factors which are leading firms to consider such a move and then explores what can be learnt from existing research on remote working.  Essentially, it […]

The BBC has a well-balanced article here which explores all aspects of creating a virtual or hybrid organisation: the pros & cons of being 100% dispersed versus having a small core office and the benefits & risks associated with using internationally based freelance staff. Increasing numbers of organisations will go this way to an increasing […]

Life as a sovereign professional is enriching in so many ways but, without due care, it can also be inadvertently narrowing.  Thus it was that I spent three days last week in the company of Mark Law, sharpening the saw by attending one of his Management Consulting courses.  Mark’s firm, Advanced Management Skills, is a […]

The Harvard Business Review site posted this video of Peter Guber (Chairman and CEO of Mandalay Entertainment Group; ex CEO of Sony Pictures) on The Art of Purposeful Storytelling.  In a punchy 6 minute interview, Guber gets to the essence of using narrative, or storytelling, in all aspects of business life and summarises five essential […]

The Harvard Business Review site posted this video of Peter Guber (Chairman and CEO of Mandalay Entertainment Group; ex CEO of Sony Pictures) on The Art of Purposeful Storytelling.  In a punchy 6 minute interview, Guber gets to the essence of using narrative, or storytelling, in all aspects of business life and summarises five essential […]

I confess, I’ve never been a huge fan of Robert Burns and too often I find him associated with the worst excesses of rabid nationalism.  However, I love this. BBC Scotland, along with the University of Glasgow and 66 of the most successful Scots in performing arts, have recorded all 717 of Robert Burns works […]

I confess, I’ve never been a huge fan of Robert Burns and too often I find him associated with the worst excesses of rabid nationalism.  However, I love this. BBC Scotland, along with the University of Glasgow and 66 of the most successful Scots in performing arts, have recorded all 717 of Robert Burns works […]

  Lest the blog become too serious… I took the picture for a project which I’ve been involved in for the last year and which is close to coming to fruition (more when it’s live).  It’s my current favourite guitar. The guitars were famously controversial when they came out.  Not only were they outstanding instruments […]