I love this statue. It is in Qatar, in Katara which was designed as the ‘cultural village’ of Doha and is the venue for many local arts and crafts festivals as well as being the location of many arts related local organisations. The sculpture is called “Force of Nature 2”, and was created by the […]
Remote working? Tips from the last century
I have worked remotely most of my working life, starting in late 1980’s, yes, even back in the last century there was such a thing as ‘virtual teams’ (although I am sure we did not refer to ourselves as such). When I started working from home, I was an employee working for a consultancy with […]
Multiple Stakeholders – Herding Cats?
We often hear exasperated managers talk about the activity of managing team members as ‘herding cats’, and we smile and nod, sympathetic with the cat herder trying to align the interests and the attention of their team, are there any ways of making this task easier? All of us who lead or manage projects will […]
Mentoring To Be or Not To Be
Over the next few posts I will be looking at the whole area of mentoring – and by way of introduction: As I mention in this short video, my absence from this site has been mostly to do with busyness, busy initially immersing my self in further training and development (that’s the structural dynamics I […]
Have we got it right? Why hasn’t entrepreneurship really taken off in UK?
Take a look at my short video reflections on the recent launch the GEM Report on Entrepreneurial Activity in the UK during 2018. Three main things struck me from the report and the discussion: Why do we still find that only half as many women as men become entrepreneurs? Why is is still hard for […]
It’s Summer – Let’s Play!
Last week I was sitting by the side of a marina in Brittany watching the boats, people loading and unloading cabins, children playing and plenty of small dogs getting tetchy in the heat. I was quite content to sit and watch for over an hour each day, I had a book with me, but the […]
Startups don’t have to be about tech
I recently was invited back for the second year running to participate in the judging panel of a regional startup competition. What struck me this year was the high percentage of startups which were not technology based, but based on new ways of delivering a service, or enhancing skills using that old form of technology, […]
Where’s the collaboration between Startups and the Third Sector?
Recently I was invited to participate in a round table discussion hosted by Nesta and facilitated by Nesta and Impact Shakers, on why there seems to be little happening in terms of collaboration between startups and the third sector for the purpose of innovation. The hesitation of the development world to engage with the startup […]
Gordon Brown (who co-launched GEW in 2008) speaks on need for global cooperation
I was privileged this week to attend the launch of Christian Aid where Gordon Brown spoke passionately about the choices facing the UK in terms of isolationism v collaboration. Of course, Gordon Brown’s main focus was on the great work @ChristianAid has achieved and the current crisis in worldwide poverty, Christian Aid Week is focusing […]
GEC 2019 – Bahrain – Day 2
Tuesday morning in the convention centre #GEC2019 saw the main opening session with a flurry of local press, media and security. Following the formal welcoming, the keynote speech this year was from Jonas Kjellberg, co-founder of Skype, author and investor. Jonas gave a provoking, humorous and self-deprecating talk about his successes but mostly his failures. […]