Category: Books

Strictly for English Grammar Nerds

An Oxford comma walks into a bar where it spends the evening watching the television, getting drunk, and smoking cigars. A dangling participle walks into a bar. Enjoying a cocktail and chatting with the bartender, the evening passes pleasantly. A bar was walked into by the passive voice. An oxymoron walked into a bar, and the silence was deafening. Two quotation marks walk into a “bar.” A malapropism... Read More--

Five Foundations for a Culture of Innovation

If you are trying to transform an organisation which is sluggish and risk averse into one which is innovative and entrepreneurial then you have taken on a massive task. One approach is to use the Prosci ADKAR Change Management methodology as advocated by Jeffrey Hiatt and Tim Creasey. It consists of five key stages. 1. Awareness.  It is critical for the leader to communicate the need for change and... Read More--

The Limits of Positive Thinking

The magical potency of positive thinking has been a common theme among motivational speakers for a long time.  In 1952 Norman Vincent Peale published his seminal book, The Power of Positive Thinking.  He advocated that you should always be optimistic.  You should build a mental picture of yourself succeeding.  And at the same time you should drive out negative thoughts, doubts and self-criticism. ... Read More--

Deliberately Look in a Different Direction

Until 1954 there was only one television channel in the UK.  It was the publicly owned BBC.  In that year the government auctioned licences for commercial TV stations.  These would be regional operations which could offer advertising on TV for the first time.  Various companies were interested in this opportunity and they naturally focussed on the regions with the best demographics – it seemed... Read More--

Innovation Insights from the Founder of Sony

Akio Morita was born in Nagoya, Japan in 1921.  His father owned a business brewing sake.  It had been in the family for 14 generations and it was expected that Akio, the oldest son, would step into the business but the boy was more interested in electronics than in brewing. Morita studied Physics at Osaka Imperial University and served as a naval lieutenant during World War II.  While in the Japanese... Read More--

For Innovators Rejection comes with the Territory

Joanne K Rowling is the British author of the Harry Potter series of fantasy novels which have become the best-selling book series in history with over 400 million copies sold.  She acted as screenwriter and producer on the Harry Potter movies which is the second highest-grossing film series ever.  Rowling was born in Gloucestershire in England in 1965.  She worked as a researcher and secretary... Read More--

Why do we Underestimate the Power of Progress?

How well-informed are you about the state of the world?  Please try this short quiz. How did you get on?  Most well-educated people do badly in this little test.  The average person gets only two or three questions right out of 13.  This is because we generally hold a distorted view of the world – we see the world as much poorer and less developed than it really is.  We seem unaware of the... Read More--

Messy beats Tidy

Review of ‘Messy’ by Tim Harford   In this book economist Tim Harford argues cogently that we are wrong to strive for order and tidiness because openness, adaptability and creativity are inherently messy.  We should appreciate the benefits of untidiness. This provocative work contains many intriguing stories supported with references to academic research.  Some of the insights and examples... Read More--

Eight Tips for Better Conversations

Photo by Isakarakus on Pixabay   You probably know some people who are unremittingly dull company. You may be fortunate enough to know some brilliant conversationalists who can enliven any discussion. In which category would other people place you? How can you improve your conversational skills to become a welcome sight at every social event? Here are some tips.   Ask Questions Most people like... Read More--