Insights

75% of change programs fail. Most organisations do not need another centrally designed change program. They need a system that makes it normal to evolve practices, learn fast, and remove constraints, until better work becomes the default. That failure number is so high for a simple reason: many established change methods still treat change as a move from the current culture to an “ideal” future culture, in a deterministic way. Diagnose through centrally designed surveys, desi

A practical way to regain control, increase autonomy, and improve performance. Ten points, one message: budgets give you comfort, not control.  This is not a 10-step program. It’s the argument, plus a few starter moves if you want adaptability without chaos. Introduction CFOs (and everyone pulled into the budget cycle), budget season is either here or just ending. With costs under pressure, it has been more draining than ever. And the core frustration is predictable: we lock

Weak performance is often treated as a strategy problem, a leadership problem, or an execution problem. In reality, it is often a tension problem. Organisations face decisive dilemmas, speed versus quality, autonomy versus coherence, innovation versus discipline, and either hold them well or they do not. When they do by asking "how can we improve one, through the other", virtuous learning loops form, accelerating performance. When they do not, vicious cycles emerge, control i

Most mergers do not fail because the strategy was wrong. They fail because the behavioral assumptions behind the value creation plan were never tested, and one-sided dominance or polite compromise quietly erodes the expected synergies. If your strategy is your value creation plan, then culture determines whether that plan lives or dies. Creating value therefore requires a structured, fact-driven diagnostic that makes cultural tensions explicit, reconciles the best of both wor

Most companies have a purpose statement. Far fewer have a purpose that truly works. As Peter Drucker warned, insufficient thought given to purpose is one of the main causes of business frustration. In this article, I give people dealing with purpose projects a clear outline to first align with management alignment on what it is, what it does, and the five characteristics of a strong purpose.

For more than fifty years, the Würth Group has delivered double-digit growth  selling screws, fasteners, and related installation materials. The secret is deciphered Wachsen wie Würth (Grow like Würth) by Bernd Venohr, I finally got the chance to read and apply it. Its performance is not luck. It is the result of a highly disciplined management system  built over decades, one that treats organizational tensions not as problems but as sources of energy. Instead of choosing be

Every major consultancy and leadership book lists the same reasons why culture change fails:   No real leadership commitment or organization-wide involvement despite the usual employee survey. No clear link to performance. Change-makers tripping over the real taboos “fools rush in where angels fear to tread.” We’ve known these for decades. And yet, culture change programs keep failing. I’ve tried to change culture myself and failed more than once.   That experience made me qu

My good friend, Marketing Director at a global consumer brand asks me casually. A simple question, which begs for a solid answer. Because it is so fundamental if you want to build a truly progressive company. Customer-centricity, I reflect, is similar to Big Data and the other buzz words and teenage sex (everybody talks about it, few really know how to do it, etc etc).  I know the answer is in Clayton Christensen’s 'Competing Against Luck', the book about what  causes  growt

A former colleague once lightened up the arduous appraisal meeting presenting a critical 'up or out' evaluation as a criminal case: Did that person have the means motive and the opportunity to do what we expect? Bigger, more disruptive ideas are expected these days. Finding new sources of growth is a must, to close the growth gap for shareholder value, or, to survive. Depending on the life stage one is in. However , in conversation with clients we hear that their organization