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Yearly Archives: 2010
Is the singular image obsolete?
Filmmaker Simon Kreitem’s take on the art and science of film-making explained the convergence of still photography and videography. In doing so, he raised the problem of the singular image – something that is so eternal appears now to have a social history. After more than a month of mulling his talk, I share my thoughts. Continue reading
When I heard Simon speak last month (thanks to the hospitality of SAS's Kevin Keohane and his Verb Publishing co-founder Dan Gray), I found my unwavering faith in the singular image shaken - and quite rightly so.
Simon came along to address a mix ...MORE >
The Elements of Culture: Grant McCracken and Hofstede’s Onion
Following on from my post about why tracking the evolution of culture is important, I make an attempt at a synthesis between Grant McCracken’s “Fast and Slow Culture” concept and Geert Hofstede’s Onion Diagram of the elements of culture, searching for some clues on how culture evolves. Continue reading
In my previous post, I outlined why it's important to track emergent changes in culture. Ever since I heard Grant McCracken speak in London at the end of May 2010, I've been thinking about how his definition of "fast" and "slow" culture fit with ...MORE >
Singing from the same hymn sheet?
How does organisational culture actually work? Do value statements actually describe behaviour and day-to-day practices? Or is there a gap? A story about singing, and a song…. Continue reading
Here's comic Tim Minchin on the dilemma he faces because he can't walk the talk.
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In his book Unmanaging: Opening up the organisation to its own unspoken knowledge, McKinsey veteran Theodore Taptikilis tells an entertaining story that prefigures the organisational culture movement in the ...MORE >
Why do we need to track emergent culture change?
“Emergent” culture change is becoming a pressing issue at both corporate and national levels. It’s time to start tracking it, so the changes don’t catch you off guard. Continue reading
"Emergent" culture change - or how cultures quietly evolve - is an issue that has received relatively little attention. In part this is because the main bodies of measurements of culture are those of the values of national cultures begun by Hofstede and ...MORE >
Athletic != Fitness
Grant McCracken writes a post about how Skechers stole a march on Nike in the new “Toning Shoe” segment. I built on this with a note about the history of Nike and how their cultural blindspot to the women’s fitness market has bitten them before. Continue reading
Grant McCracken interprets culture for commercial folk. His blog, he writes, "sits at the intersection of anthropology and economics." Recently Grant picked up on an MSNBC piece detailing the rise of so-called Toning Shoes which sees Nike's market lead eroded by Skechers. Grant's ...MORE >
Why have the Dutch produced so many interculturalists?
Why are so many of the leaders in the cross-cultural field from the Netherlands? – I discuss 4 factors: (1) Path Dependency; (2) Industry and Economics; (3) History; (4) Culture Continue reading
I'm in the process of writing a book drawing on my experiences working with culture and communication. As Dan Gray scanned the first draft of the "recommended reading list" he asked "Why are so many of the leaders in the cross-cultural field from ...MORE >
If you think like hammer, does everything start to look like a nail?
Tool bound thinking is the topic for a group discussion about internal communications that I’ve been part of over at the Commscrum blog. Continue reading
Commscrum is a group blog founded to bring interdisciplinary thinking to business communications. Founders Dan Gray, Kevin Keohane, Mike Klein and Lindsay Uittenbogaard kindly invited me to join the second wave of posters - so here is my first post in collaboration with ...MORE >
Managing the future workplace? Start here.
We distil the essence of Wall Street Journal online editor Alan Murray’s advice to managers… Continue reading
Stay flexible. (Essential for agility in the face of uncertainty.)
Devour data. (Not just bits and bytes - keep an "ear to the ground" and actually get out into the field and talk to the ordinary folk using your products.
Be (somewhat) humble. (Recognise ...MORE >
Employees first, customers second
“Upside down engagement – transparency or smoke and mirrors?” asks Cricket Development Director Louise Barfield… Continue reading
Louise was reflecting on the Wall Street Journal Europe review of Vineet Nayar's book. She asks: Is this the way forward? How do you see this working in practice in your sectors?
Indy's reply: I certainly believe something like this is the future of ...MORE >
A lesson from the boards
A hit comedy on London’s West End called La Bête, pitched as a contest between populist and elitist culture, is also about the problem of innovation within organisations. Continue reading
Set in 1650 in France, the plot concerns a street clown thrust upon the Court-appointed playwright by an autocratic princess. Her reason: the playwright’s troupe is growing stale. In the clown’s performances in the public square, and the non-sensical accounts he gives ...MORE >
Mobile digital movie-making
No computer needed. Thanks to the new iPhone, movies can go straight from an iPhone 4 handset to YouTube. Click to view… Continue reading
Proof positive: digital movies can now be shot, edited, and uploaded from a phone. (See below, courtesy of Will Head, writer for MacUser.)
Was it WC Fields who said: "Never act with children or dogs. They will always upstage ...MORE >
Acquisitions: a health warning
Acquiring companies is a common way to drive growth into new markets, buttress market share and generally achieve a strategic vision. But does it actually work? And if not, why not? Continue reading
In 1987, Harvard professor Michael Porter observed that between 50 and 60% of acquisitions were failures. There have been several other studies since then, and the results have continued to support his conclusions.
In 1995, for example, Mercer Management Consulting noted that between 1984 ...MORE >