Many situations seem to require being focused and broad at the same time; being specialist as well as generalist. That appears to be a contradiction, a dichotomy—one that needs very careful handling …
Setting and defending boundaries
Flexibility is a good thing. However... Sometimes—and about some things—we need to be inflexible: We need to have boundaries. We need to decide what we are going to accept and what we are not going …
Separating learning and evaluating
Learning something isn't the same as accepting it, necessarily. We don’t have to commit to agreeing with something before, or even as, we learn it. And often we can't evaluate some new piece of …
We want a thriller not a thesis
Like it or not, we find it hard to engage with dry, factual, objective communication. We need the information, of course, but nevertheless we find a “thesis” hard to access and to …
To be a critical friend you need to start by being a friend
The phrase “critical friend” is sometimes used to describe the role of a trusted adviser and, in particular, one who is prepared to tell you something you might not really want to hear—but do need to …
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Does delegation go up or down?
Does delegation mostly go up or down your organisation? Seriously. The art of effective delegation is perhaps the poor relation of management and leadership practice—not very exciting to study—but …