The Blogworld of Poppyfish People Development

In 1969 the American astronaut Neil Armstrong became the first human to walk on the moon. Yesterday, he died. Few things epitomise the power of human aspiration more symbolically than our attempts to explore our galaxy. Driven by a quest for knowledge and to further the development of the human race, achievements such as those that enabled Armstrong to achieve the dream of millions know few parallels. His famous phase " One small step for man, one giant leap for mankind " reflected the age in which he lived. When asked about the purpose of the Apollo 11 mission ahead of the launch from Florida and the subsequent touchdown in the Sea of Tranquility Armstrong said " I think we're going to the moon because it's in the nature of the human being to face challenges...it's in the nature of his deep inner soul ". His passing provokes me to pause for thought amidst a hectic weekend, and reflect on the value of lived experience and personal narrativ...

Howzat for a problem? Sometimes managing larger than life characters is just not cricket. Just ask Andrew Strauss. Amongst the England cricket Captain's latest headaches is how to deal with one of his star players who appears to have taken things a step too far . The man causing Strauss problems is a cricketing superstar. Kevin Pietersen's performances on the pitch can be breathtaking, with an astonishing ability to turn on the style and take the game out of the reach of the opponent with some destructive hitting. As a cricketer he is simply awesome. But when it comes to team management Pietersen is a headache , especially over the past two weeks, when it is alleged he sent some less than flattering text messages to his opponents about Strauss, his own captain. That's just not cricket. Many organisations have their own Kevin Pietersen (or 'KP' as he is known to England fans). Managing difficult people is...well....difficult. Larger than life ...

Decision making is at the heart of management and leadership. Typically it is a process about closing the gap between where we are and where we want to be.   The process can be simplified as follows: Once we decide , we   act . After acting, we monitor the results of our actions. Finally, we evaluate the results we’ve monitored. This can be presented as a Decision Execution Cycle (DEC) shown below: Decision Execution Cycle There is nothing complicated about this. The DEC is a common sense approach that few would argue against and many of us will recognise this as being valid for most organisations. Its simplicity is central to its success, but to throw a different light on this I want to introduce the concept of a similar but subtly different model for understanding decision making in action – the wonderfully titled "OODA loop".   The OODA Loop One of the most interesting and fascinatingly simple models in the study of how people actua...

We are coming towards the end of a memorable two weeks in London. From all over the country, people have been flocking to the Olympic venues to cheer on Team GB. The success of the home team, in jubilee year, has raised fervour of support across the Shires. Euphoria has a lot to answer for. The celebrations have been openly emotional.  The normally reserved British have suspended the stiff upper lip in preference to tears, hugs and emotional outbursts. Even the Queen let her hair down, kicking off the happiness by staging a parachute arrival at the Opening ceremony. The achievements of the competitors have been stunning. You can feel the passion swelling within the chests of athletes and medal winners alike. You can see the emotion in the tear filled eyes of commentators and coaches. You can see it in the faces of those Union Flag clad supporters making their way to London. And you can see it in other places too. Just look at your facebook  feeds and you’ll see how ...

 The benefits of business wargames, simulations and decision making exercises  We left the last blog entry on a cliff hanger : How can simulations, red teams, decision making exercises and business wargames benefit organisations? Our experience of such simulations at Poppyfish  is that there are eight basic ways that this happens: 1. Stimulating innovative and creative thinking in a low risk environment. A realistic scenario allows learners to experience the type of decision making challenge that they will only face in moments of crisis – moments that they do not come across in their day to day working lives. Such activities provide opportunities to stimulate innovative and creative thinking in a low risk environment. The process of being involved in a closed door session serves to focus the mind of managers and leaders on the scenario and allows focussed discussion in a way that the normal day-to-day activities do not allow. 2. Challenging ...