The dangers of facilitation

by Tony Quinlan on Mar 3, 2008 2:45:00 PM

An interesting experience last week in one of my other identities as a school governor. There’s a debate going on regarding whether or not a Trust is formed in Mid-Beds under Samuel Whitbread Upper School and whether we join it or not. So, mindful of wanting to understand different pe …

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Boxing up complex concepts

by Tony Quinlan on Jan 7, 2008 1:15:00 PM

Narratives and story in organisations Tomorrow should see the publication of Melcrum’s Practitioner’s Guide to Employee Engagement – in which I’ve contributed the chapter on using stories and narrative. It’s been an interesting experience – having abandoned the attempt to fit a gallon …

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My (ineffective) life as a categoriser

by Tony Quinlan on Nov 28, 2007 11:15:00 AM

I realised a couple of years ago that, although I love the concepts of working more with relationships rather than objects and categories, my natural instinct is still to categorise and try to put things in boxes. (Reading Fritjof Capra’s “The Web of Life” opened my eyes to the possib …

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The challenge of communications?

by Tony Quinlan on Mar 7, 2007 11:00:00 AM

In the recent Euroblog 2007 survey, the following question/response combination was included:

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Blinded by the lights

by Tony Quinlan on Feb 6, 2007 1:30:00 PM

Yesterday’s post on Malcolm Gladwell’s article on puzzles and mysteries prompted me to write about measurement. I recently chaired a Media Trust conference/seminar on public relations and one of the speakers talked at length on measuring PR results. [In fairness, he worked for a measu …

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Who’s the bad guy?

by Tony Quinlan on Feb 5, 2007 7:30:00 PM

Another interesting piece from Malcolm Gladwell in the New Yorker. "Open Secrets" uses the Enron story to talk about the difference between puzzles and mysteries, which fit beautifully into the Cognitive Edge complexity framework neatly. But there’s a further angle to the article that …

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Metaphor as indicator

by Tony Quinlan on Jan 11, 2007 9:00:00 PM

Catching up on some podcasts, I’m listening to SciPod – the New Scientist podcast from 20060908 last year. There’s a piece on the Macbeth effect – research around how physical cleanliness is related to morality. It’s from the University of Toronto’s Rotman School of Management. The st …

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Cowboys make Indians out of customers

by Tony Quinlan on Nov 15, 2006 8:03:00 AM

Two comments from people I respect have illuminated a pattern I’ve seen in many places.

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Data doesn’t do it

by Tony Quinlan on Nov 9, 2006 9:15:00 AM

I was asked recently for a peer-reviewed piece that demonstrates why stories are better at communicating than data.

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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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