‘Where is the life we have lost in living’, asked TSElliot in The Rock. It is extraordinary how the frenetic pace of life seems to leave so little room for thinking. Leadership, both at work and as a parent, can seem an endless cycle of tasks to be completed and things to be done. Doing has become synonymous with living; and ...
Last night my eldest daughter, home from University, persuaded me to watch the latest Harry Potter movie that's just out on DVD. Having never read the books and only seen one of the previous movies I was, of course, hopelessly lost. For those of us for whom the little wizard is not an essential part of our lives, it is impossible...
I’ve recently started hitting golf balls again after a gap of ten years. Reading Bounce by Matthew Syed helped convince me that talent is a misnomer and that it’s practice that counts. So when I was asked whether I played golf I said, despite all the evidence, that I did. And so I now find myself less than a month away from a c...
I’ve been a PR man longer than I’ve been a PR. Electoral reform is in my blood: my Great-Grandfather probably knew Lloyd George. I learnt my alternative systems at the knees of the masters, having been part of the King Crewe at Essex University in the early 80’s. I may be a Reformer (indeed, I’m a member of the Reform Cl...
After two weeks of hitting balls at the driving range, it became very clear that all was not well. Short irons were pretty good but long irons were frankly rubbish. And as for the big woods? Well, I simply couldn't hit them for toffee. So I signed up for a lesson. What became clear was that my grip, and consequently my swin...
Well, I've done it. I managed to get around a prestigious golf course in one piece. Only a few weeks after picking up a club following a 10-year absence, I played 18 holes without disgracing myself. The overall result was, as is often the case, a mixture of the good, the bad, and the ugly. But I thoroughly enjoyed the occasio...
The twitterisation of society continues apace. US covert action and super-injunctions have found themselves outed on the ubiquitous chatter blog. There seems no escape from it. Indeed, many of you will have come to this blog via that channel. It all seems very new, as if the foundations of traditional communications are being...
This was the headline to a recent story in Forbes.com. A reader followed up by asking: "If this is really going to happen, how will it affect the practice of change management /organizational development?" Here's what I replied: Whereas it is true that nothing lasts for ever, it is also the case that rumours of the death of any ...
Most people would agree that something has gone wrong with the levels of pay enjoyed by senior executives. Certainly, it would seem that the remuneration for top people is not in line with public sentiment. Anyone who has ever been to the annual shareholders meeting of a large business will know just how vexed an issue it is. The...
At the church in the village where I live is a plaque which commemorates Thomas Howard Esquire, son of the Honourable Sir Robert Howard, and grandson of the Right Honourable Thomas, Earl of Berkshire, who died on the fourth day of April, 1701. I’ve often wondered why Thomas Howard (assuming that it was him who chose his ow...
