Systems thinking in scaling business
I’ve spent a lot of time over the past nine years exploring leadership in growing businesses. One area I’ve been delving into more has been … Read More
Founder to CEO?
Growing a business means getting comfortable with transitions everywhere, all at once. The notion of a steady state is a mirage. Something is always changing … Read More
Escape from firefighting
Firefighting. Fire drills. Chaos. Pulled from pillar to post. Overwhelmed. I hear those words a lot in my conversations with founder CEOs in growth businesses. … Read More
Feeling the mountain
Recently I was talking with Lesley – a ski instructor – about her work helping people improve their skiing. She talked about the importance of … Read More
Deciding on deciding
Businesses run on decisions. Every working day is a torrent of situations to understand, options to evaluate and decisions to make. Decision-making spans the entire organisation. … Read More
Process isn’t boring
Working with process gets a bad press in many creative businesses. Process work is stereotyped as stifling creativity and restricting individual autonomy. Laying out processes … Read More
Mise en place
Chefs know a lot goes into making consistently good restaurant food. Each dish is a detailed, time-critical project with high quality thresholds. Dishes need to … Read More
Lenses and mirrors in decision making
A colleague recently told me I was obsessed with lenses. Apparently I say a lot of things like: Ignoring my clumsy verbal constructs, I realised … Read More
Scaling leadership
A conversation with Joel got me thinking last week. We talked about the need for leaders to grow professionally faster than their business grows. But that’s easier … Read More
Building accountability
A lot’s talked in business about accountability, yet few people think about what it means. And plenty of people tie themselves in metaphorical knots. They … Read More
