» Hints, Tips & Techniques

Post the Snowden affair we discovered just how much our governments were spying on us.  We have heard about the iCloud leaks and various big companies who have had their databases hacked, so security is very much in the news.  People are talking about using Tor to surf the net, and phones are being sold […][...] read more » Big Brother and why we should care

I listened to an interesting article today talking about the British government’s decision to spend £35m to help counter Female Genital Mutilation.  They were interviewing Lynne Featherstone, Minister for International Development and a woman called Nimco Ali who suffered this. They were talking about a campaign that is attempting to change the culture in Africa, […][...] read more » Change lessons from the campaign to prevent FGM

I wrote a month ago about my new regime.  I was reflecting on it today; I began when I came back from holiday in May and saw my photos.  I thought, “I don’t want to see any more pictures where I sport a Buddha-like belly!” and, thanks to my daughter started to use a bit […][...] read more » Changing times, changing me

We tend to forget that one change begets another and once you start this process you can’t necessarily either predict or control what results.  I watched a fascinating video about the impact of reintroducing wolves in to Yellowstone Park in 1995, as a result they changed the course of the rivers!  Watch this… Businesses, communities, […][...] read more » Unforeseen consequences

Regular readers may have noticed that I’m quite keen on rugby and these days follow things reasonably closely.  I wasn’t there to witness out first home game; one which was always going to be both tough and telling if we want to challenge for the title this year.  It turned out to be a total […][...] read more » Lies. Damn lies and Statistics…

I was running a workshop yesterday and one of the topics up for discussion was the importance of forming strong customer relationships.  One global company has succeeded more than almost any other in turning its customers into raging fans, despite the fact that not all of their offerings are anything like as trouble free as […][...] read more » Getting close to your customers

This another of our occasional guest blogs.  This one is penned by my brother Quentin, a 7th dan black belt in Aikido.  He is addressing one of the key questions in Change. Most of us have been on a course at one time or another and learnt some really important things, only to find that […][...] read more » Making Change Permanent

Yesterday, a friend and colleague reminded me of something that I always advise others to do, thus reinforcing the observation that just ‘cos you know something doesn’t mean that you actually do it!  I had written a business letter about something that had got under my skin.  It had been on my mind for sometime […][...] read more » Clean communication

Recently Facebook ‘fessed’ up to to manipulating some 689,000 users emotions in the name of science.  Facebook’s data scientists manipulated the news feeds of 689,003 users, removing either all of the positive posts or all of the negative posts to see how it affected their moods.  They wanted to see what effect the presence or […][...] read more » Good news not only works but is required…

The beach was regularly ‘patrolled’ by locals who were plying their wares, Cuban cigars, dresses and bangles, cruises, drinks and time-shares.  You might have found it annoying but one had to admire their enterprise.  One thing that was very interesting to observe, was they seldom came up and said “Do you want to buy…” which […][...] read more » Lessons from the Bahamas – part 2