Champion of better capitalism
How is it possible for an organisation to be ignorant of something it has repeatedly been told? Margaret Heffernan, author of ‘Wilful Blindness’ describes stresses felt by ex-Amoco middle managers after BP’s acquisition of the Texas City oil refinery. Their warnings about safety risks were ignored. … Continue readingDirectors – is your organisation capable of empathy?
Last week I met up with Sheila, an old friend who had recently returned back to the private sector after some years in the NHS. During the pandemic she had started volunteering at her local hospital. By the end of the pandemic she had been … Continue readingA New Era of Value – the quickest route to better public services?
Do schools look for talent in the wrong places? That was the question with which Tomorrow’s Company embarked on its session at Anthropy 2023. Apart from our own Jon Maguire all those speakers invited to answer this question were under 30. Their answer echoed conclusions from other … Continue readingWe need a curriculum for life – here’s how the next generation might shape it
SUMMARY 1. Do you understand the ways in which your business future depends on nature and nature-based solutions? If not, how will you educate yourself? 2. As the climate emergency unfolds, do you feel that our current political governance is fit for purpose? If not, … Continue readingWake up and smell the 21st century coffee – three post Anthropy challenges for boards
What is corporate responsibility? Try answering this question and you enter an Alice-through-the-Looking-Glass world where nothing is what is seems. A few years ago – BAE Systems was criticised because it said it was working on ‘environmentally friendly’ munitions, including lead free bullets. Its spokesman … Continue readingWhat is corporate responsibility and how can I identify it?
Last week I heard our Prime Minister, Rishi Sunak, say ‘We need to change our politics’ and ‘I am going to change Britain’. Sunak is not the first political leader to suggest that we need to change our politics. His words took me back to … Continue readingWe need change that will stick. That’s what business should be telling government
Let me take you back in time. The year is 1983. For four years I have been working as a manager in one of Europe’s largest paper manufacturing plants. I have done a stint running the site’s hardboard mill and have now been promoted to … Continue readingInstead of compelling people to work in the office ask: is this office a compelling place to work?
Standing at a lectern embellished with the words ‘LONG-TERM DECISIONS FOR A BRIGHTER FUTURE’ our Prime Minister announced, without irony, that he was pushing back by five years his government’s commitment to stop the sale of diesel and petrol cars by 2030. He was also relaxing the … Continue readingLong term decisions for a brighter future? Yes Prime Minister, here are 12 suggestions to start with.
The front cover of the most recent edition of Private Eye has an infant school pupil saying to the Prime Minister ’Everything is collapsing and we aren’t learning any lessons’. Democratic political systems have many merits. Learning – and then applying – lessons from experience … Continue readingEverything is collapsing and we aren’t learning any lessons
I landed in Barcelona at around 10.30 in the morning. Half an hour later the ground under my feet suddenly seemed uneven. Why such a rough floor in such a modern airport? It turned out that the roughness was not in the floor I was … Continue readingAre you connected with the soul of your company?