All Topics

Achilles heels and body armour

by Tony Quinlan on Nov 3, 2006 4:30:00 PM

Earlier this week, I facilitated a conference session at which I’d also coached one of the in-house speakers. The speaker in question took one major step out of his comfort zone in finishing his speech on a different note.

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Bit part or starring role?

by Tony Quinlan on Oct 30, 2006 7:36:00 PM

I’m in Geneva today running a communications workshop and looking foolish as I struggle to get the hang of buses: how to pay, how to open bus doors and so on.

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Taking responsibility for mistakes

by Tony Quinlan on Oct 25, 2006 10:46:00 AM

I’ve talked about the need to take ownership and responsibility before, but it’s worth mentioning again. I recently received an email from a newsletter provider admitting to a problem.

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Unintentional Design

by Tony Quinlan on Oct 24, 2006 4:00:00 PM

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The Change Angels’ Share of Performance

by Tony Quinlan on Oct 13, 2006 10:09:00 AM

Whisky makers have a concept of “the Angels’ Share” – it’s the 2% of whisky that evaporates each year as the whisky matures and mellows in the cask. Thankfully, they also understand that there’s little point in trying to improve efficiency and retain that 2% – it’s part of the process …

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Employee surveys don’t provide answers

by Tony Quinlan on Oct 7, 2006 10:45:00 AM

Yesterday’s post on the FT article threw up some questions for me, in particular relating to the use of employee surveys and other tools that, in the words of the article, "take your staff’s pulse." Most of the tools we use, are sensible, rational questions in surveys, with a little s …

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The Benefits of Commuting

by Tony Quinlan on Oct 4, 2006 10:01:00 AM

Last year when David Tebbutt and I ran our workshop on New Media in Amsterdam last year, one of the places we disagreed was around podcasts. Tebbo thought they were a problem - too time-intensive and demanding your attention, as opposed to skim-able blogs.

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If we're talking about change, why is it the same old, same old?

by Tony Quinlan on Oct 3, 2006 9:28:00 AM

If there's one great flaw in most of the stories that organisations tell about change it's this:

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Name your customer

by Tony Quinlan on Oct 2, 2006 9:47:00 AM

One of the major problems with change programmes is that those involved focus on the organisation. There are good reasons, but it makes it an exercise in navel-gazing and group-think.

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Endings

by Tony Quinlan on Sep 12, 2006 10:36:00 AM

I recently posted on the need for putting endings on organisational stories. It's prompted some interesting responses and I'd like to throw some more fuel on the fire to illuminate some elements of this.

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