by Phil Jones | Updated 10 Oct, 2017 | Culture of performance, Decision Making & Decision Taking
Let me tell you the story of the curious case of missing financial control. In one organisation we worked with, the objective was to develop the autonomy and capability of various business units, located in separate properties around the country. The company ran...
by Phil Jones | Updated 4 Jan, 2018 | A Modern System of Management, Culture of performance
As I talked, I noticed that the Chief Executive was no longer listening. She had gone into that state of deep thought, staring up and away into the distance; thinking intensely: thinking about something – I had no idea what. I decided not to disturb those...
by Phil Jones | Updated 4 Jan, 2018 | Culture of performance, Organisations are Social systems, Thought provokers
OK, I can hear the squeals of anguish and dissent. “Of course organisational structures exist” I hear people say. We have organisations and we create structures and we do organisational design to place people within those structures. We spend time and...
by Phil Jones | Updated 27 Oct, 2017 | 4G Balanced Scorecard, Behavioural & cultural change, Culture of performance, Paradigm shifts, Quality of conversation
Most of what we see in “Balanced scorecards” are technical tools. Many of the questions we see and hear on balanced scorecard forums are technical questions. Many balanced scorecard projects are seen as, primarily, technical projects. This applies to of...
by Phil Jones | Updated 29 Oct, 2018 | Behavioural & cultural change, Culture of performance
This is a phrase I keep coming across, “You can’t sack people in the public sector”. Here is the catch: When you want to bring about cultural and behavioural change there will be some people who cannot, or will not, change their behaviour. They...
by Phil Jones | Updated 19 Dec, 2013 | Behavioural & cultural change, Culture of performance
Insight 6: If you want proper leadership, draw your organisational chart upside down This insight is part is a series of six insights into strategy, people and performance, derived from working with my clients in 2013. Creating the space for others to perform If you...
by Phil Jones | Updated 23 Oct, 2013 | Culture of performance, Examples & case studies, How we make & take decisions
There is a running joke between economists and psychologists: Economists, have a model of a rational decision maker. Psychologists are used to people being emotional and less rational and try to understand that irrationality. So Psychologists say that Economists...
by Phil Jones | Updated 19 Dec, 2018 | Behavioural & cultural change, Culture of performance, Thought provokers
I was working with a client who, like many organisations, was getting tangled up in definitions of purpose and mission. What it revelaed was the importance of ‘Meaning’ at work, and meaningful work, today. This article untangles purpose and mission, but...
by Phil Jones | Updated 7 Jul, 2017 | Behavioural & cultural change, Culture of performance, Strategy
Someone suggested to me that culture precedes strategy. Should culture preceed strategy? I understand why think that, but I am not at all convinced. First however we need to dispel the myth that “Culture eats strategy for breakfast”. Culture only eats...
