Category: Change

Going home?

As I sit here writing this one the apartment is a hive of activity. Boxes piling up all around and the sound of tape and cardboard filling the air. It’s the time that many expats in Hong Kong have experienced many times over – the sounds of relocation. And accompanying the noise are those questions, fears, concerns and the sense of dislocation. We are relocating back to the UK. My fault as my very long suffering wife remind me regularly.

But is it going home?

Out of all the questions that come up when you move back to where you come from this is probably the one that I come back to more and more and with less and less of an answer. I really don’t know how I feel about going back to the UK. Quite honestly it doesn’t feel like a country that I recognise. Gone seems to be the tolerant hard working but somewhat smug nation that I grew up in, replaced by a nation that seems to think the world owes it a living and that all foreigners are in some way bad – just for being foreign. A country where the Daily Mail has gone from being a comic for the distinctly odd to a sad reflection of broad swathes of society. A country that is currently in the throws of debating whether to remain as part of a multinational and multi cultural world or descend into being a small island that can somehow stand out and above the rest based on a distinctly rosy view of our position in the world.

We’re starting in Greenwich, somewhere I know very little about but it looks good on the tourism site and GoogleMaps.

Image courtesy of Robert Bradford at FreeDigitalPhotos.net

While there must be something good about the place I am struggling to see it and while you might then ask why on earth relocate back there the simple answer to that one is the alternative was Switzerland. As someone once said to me its a great place for the morning but you’ve done it by lunchtime.

This is the third time I’ve moved countries and possibly the most daunting. Not knowing anything about the culture of the country your moving to is part of the fun. Coming out of our front door and not having any idea of what to do, where to go and how things work is all part of the experience. I’m not sure this applies to coming back to the UK.

We will see

Tags change, Experience, Hong Kong, London, Relocation, Travel

Change Communication

24/7 Leadership and the Burning Platforms Index

Post author By The Burble....
Post date October 24, 2015
No Comments on 24/7 Leadership and the Burning Platforms Index

illustration of fire extinguisher — Use in case of burning platform – turn this on the leader

Leaders don’t set things on fire.

I am struggling. I have been looking at so much research about leadership and leaders and so much news and information about the topic that I find it remarkable that there still doesn’t seem to be a definition of leadership or what a leader actually is.

What I do know is that there is a fervour amongst leadership devotees that their particular brand of leadership is the best (for which read) the only one. And anyone who has an alternative view of leadership is simply wrong. I have seen friendlier debates between the US and Iran.

Tags Business, change, Communication, Leader, Leadership, organisation, People

Change People Risk Service

Why should you be talking about Driverless Cars?

Post author By The Burble....
Post date September 19, 2015
No Comments on Why should you be talking about Driverless Cars?

Back to a theme of mine that I have blogged about before – Self Driving Cars. I am fascinated by the fact that people can see a time when you won’t need a steering wheel in a car and you’ll be able to get into a car and sit back and do anything you want. I can see a revolution coming in how people get around, work and interact with each other. With society relying so much on the car any change in how it works is going to have a profound affect.

In a small way Hanoi represents the future of the car. Last weekend found me and my family in a taxi trying to get from the airport to the hotel in the French Quarter of Hanoi. My son cheerfully described Hanoi as like Milton Keynes until we got into the center of the town which he then described as mayhem. In two years Hanoi has gone from a city that is all motorbikes to one that is being overrun with cars. And unlike bikes cars in Hanoi don’t swerve around you. And the point here is that cars being driven by computer, or robot depending on your view point, are much more likely to stop or steer round you than crash making towns and cities a much better place in the future.

Autonomous cars are coming and while there will be a long period of time before they come into their own there is one question we need to ask. Will they work?

Tags auto, autonomous, Business, car, change, Daimler, driverless car, future, Google, Google Maps, Hanoi, society, Tesla, vehicles

Change Communication People

When to be More or Less Diplomatic

Post author By The Burble....
Post date September 16, 2015
No Comments on When to be More or Less Diplomatic

Hopefully he title has piqued your interest and so I would like to introduce an old colleague and friend of mine Colin Gautrey. Colin has been one of those individuals who I probably talk to less than once a year and yet who’s advice and support I value a huge amount. His focus is on Influence a topic that is one of the most important for anyone to understand. Being able to influence others, in a business or personal environment is one of the key skills that we all need to learn.

So please read on and see what you think. I spend almost all my days influencing people in 8 countries in Asia to do different things in different ways. Its probably the only way to really make things happen in any organization of more than 2 people. As Colin says

‘When you have to engage with someone, and you have a difficult message to deliver, a decision needs to be made about how direct and assertive you can be. Put another way, you need to decide how tactful and diplomatic you have to be to avoid causing offense.

Source: When to be More or Less Diplomatic‘

Tags Business, change, Colin Gautrey, Communication, People, Risk

Change Communication Customers People

I guess we have a way to go…

Post author By The Burble....
Post date February 27, 2015
No Comments on I guess we have a way to go…

Hong Kong

There are more men on corporate boards named John, Robert, William or James than there are women on boards altogether – The Washington Post

As you will have seen from a previous post – Let’s take a stand – I am a strong supporter of inclusion. Articles like this one reinforce the need to keep trying to make a difference.

And there are many reasons why it makes sense to do so for any business. Apart from fairness alone (50% of the population are women) results improve for more balanced companies and decision-making becomes more rounded. Groupthink is avoided.

And with more women running businesses its possible they will want to deal with companies who recognize this fact. According to research undertaken across East Asia in 2013 between 38% and 47% of all SME’s businesses are owned by women. With SME’s accounting for the majority of economic output in most countries women will have an ever growing impact.

Probably sensible to be prepared then.

Change will take time but let’s keep going.

Tags Business, change, company, corporate boards, Customers, Experience, human rights, People, women

Change Customers People Risk

Oh no, the foreigners are ruining our chances again

Post author By The Burble....
Post date February 25, 2015
2 Comments on Oh no, the foreigners are ruining our chances again

As a child that grew up in the UK in the 70s I saw much of the industrial strife driven by Red Robbo and his band of merry men (motto; If it works once make sure that never happens again). And of course they would be very merry men (no women allowed anywhere near the factory floor) because they never worked for more than one or two hours a day. And they never worked more than one or two hours because they would then need to go on strike.

And what were they striking about?

Change Customers People Risk

These CEOs make more than their companies pay in corporate taxes – maybe its time for a vote?

Post author By The Burble....
Post date January 28, 2015
No Comments on These CEOs make more than their companies pay in corporate taxes – maybe its time for a vote?

The corporate tax rate in the US legally ranges from 15 to 35%. Many companies end up paying far, far less. In a report released today, the Institute for Policy Studies found (pdf) that seven of the country’s 30 largest companies by revenue paid out more to their chief executives than they did in corporate taxes in 2013, despite the […] http://qz.com/298543/these-ceos-make-more-than-their-companies-pay-in-corporate-taxes/ I repost this article with one intention in mind – to get people talking and discussing the issues raised. Whatever the situation, and companies pay taxes in a myriad of ways that are often overlooked in articles such as this it, the headline alone should be enough to prompt questions on why this should ever get published. Why should a CEO be accused of being paid more than the tax bill of the company. What’s it to you and me? I’m sure the CEO works very hard for their money (I almost wrote his money but that would been unfair – pretty accurate but unfair) . So what is it to you and me? Well actually its a lot and it highlights the growing disconnect between those with an appearance of being ‘At the Top’ and the rest. And unless that gap is narrowed or some sense of fairness rebuilt the inevitable will happen. People will vote for change or simply no longer support companies who do not appear to be being fair. And this pressure for change is growing. Back in 1993 the Royal Society for the encouragement of Arts, Manufacturers and Commerce (RSA) ‘initiated a business-led inquiry into ‘the role of business in a changing world’. The objective was to develop a shared vision of the company of tomorrow. The findings of the Inquiry, published in 1995, introduce the concept of an inclusive approach to business success in which a company:

defines and communicates its purpose and values
develops a unique success model
places a positive value on each of its relationships
works in partnership with stakeholders
maintains a healthy reputation.’

For many of us in business today the idea of values and purpose, stakeholder relationships and maintaining a healthy reputation are all concepts we would understand. But so many of our companies today have clearly turned these into a set of words on the wall. Ignored by most people except in the corridors of the CEO where it makes sense to be an acolyte if you want to keep your job, but in most cases meaningless; possibly as witnessed by the fact that CEO’s allow their companies to be in a position where they pay themselves more than they apparently pay in tax. The Tomorrows Company research, based on the above findings advised companies that they would need a license to operate – that license being ‘granted’ by the buyers of goods and services from he company. It seems to me that, unless some businesses begin to change how they go about doing things, they will find their license to operate being taken away. People will begin to vote with their wallets – the ultimate weapon of mass destruction for any business. And quite frankly many of these businesses will deserve it. People have seen the global financial crises impacts on their daily lives and have aright to question whether it could happen again. And at the same time they see articles published like the one above that might suggest nothing, at least in the corporate world has changed much. People will vote – the question is only, when

Tags change, company, corporate tax, corporate taxation, Finance, financial engineering, financial management, tax avoidance, tax havens, taxes, tomorrow, vote

Background Change Communication People

Let’s take a stand

One of the issues that business in general struggles with, as do many other areas of society, is the issue of equality. It’s something that we all know needs to be dealt with and there is a lot research that will tell you that business performs best when the company is truly representative of the society in which it operates.

Doing something about it seems to be beyond many people and businesses. But even small steps can help.

So I am going to take a stand on this issue. I’ve signed up for the HeforShe campaign being run by the UN; a campaign that seeks to involve both men and women in making the issue of equality one for the history books.

I’d like to encourage everyone to join in.

And if you need some more background on why this issue is important please watch the video. An obviously nervous Emma Watson gives some background on why the issue is important and why its an issue for all of us.

Take a look. Take a stand.

Tags Business, Communication, human rights, People, Risk, women

Change Communication Customers

I thought you said this was about business?

Post author By The Burble....
Post date August 24, 2014
No Comments on I thought you said this was about business?

Well yes I did but you’ll have to forgive me if I take a look at some other things. I will try and be a good business person and focus a bit more. And todays posting is all about communication. Communication and how to design a business that people want to work in.

Communication is extremely important in the world in which we live and work today. This is even more important if you’re looking to do business in another country.

Image courtesy of porbital / FreeDigitalPhotos.net

As an Englishman in New York I was, even after over 3 years, still surprised about how differently the British and Americans use the English language. Sometimes even though I try and speak the same language I’m afraid my version of English sometimes means I don’t always communicate as clearly as I could.

Obviously I’d prefer it if I could have encouraged my American friends and colleagues to speak the right version of English but after 36 months of trying I am close to admitting defeat.

Tags Business, business person, Communication, Customers, Englishman in New York, Language, New Zealand, United States

Change Risk

Experience or trust – which will count most in the future?

Post author By The Burble....
Post date August 11, 2014
1 Comment on Experience or trust – which will count most in the future?

In a recent blog on Instructions I made the point that experience counts for very little when the world around you changes. Cars used to be easy because experience teaches you how a car should look and how to drive it. But when something about that changes all your experience can actually end up being a bad thing. You get stuck.

So what’s it going to be like in the future when ‘they’ will do it all for you. How will your experience be of use when you have no idea how things work anymore?

Tags driverless car, Experience, Google, Google Maps