Posts by Tim Shaw
Food for Thought 1/3
For the second time this century our lives changed dramatically in March 2020. That followed the significant impact 9/11 had on us all almost 20 years before. The pandemic brought us new axioms such as “we’re all in this together”, “follow the science”, and “the new normal”. A certain portion of the public seized the…
Read MoreFood for Thought 2/3
Have we been too quick to try to cancel history and numerous axioms which served us well over the past 100 or more years? Have we not derived some benefit and satisfaction from believing and practicing such axioms as “have a stiff upper lip”, abide by “a strong work ethic”, “dot the I’s and cross…
Read MoreFood for Thought 3/3
The recent past has brought us tremendous advances in technology, AI, great steps forward in dealing with mental health and an impressive coming together of the Western World in uniting around Ukraine. The world of tomorrow needs to combine the best of the tried but true axioms and the exciting new advances and thinking of…
Read MoreThe Next Major Challenge for Management: To Re-establish Its Value 1/3
The pandemic has caused people and organizations to reflect on a myriad of long held beliefs and constructs…
Read MoreThe Next Major Challenge for Management: To Re-establish Its Value 2/3
As we are all aware, working from home and self-management are widely held and widely promoted positions by many employees…
Read MoreThe Next Major Challenge for Management: To Re-establish Its Value 3/3
If that position ultimately holds sway, it could be argued that the past value of senior management and a tight, cohesive corporate culture could be open to second guessing…
Read MoreThoughts from the Pandemic Era 1/3
March 17 to June 17, 2020 – The longest quarter in my 49 year business and professional career. For 40 of those years I have been fascinated by and have built my career around helping client organizations to establish their definition of success (objectives, goals, willed future) and helping them to achieve their aspirations (key…
Read MoreThoughts from the Pandemic Era 2/3
In early June I read a thought-provoking quote from Connor Brown of the Ottawa Senators hockey club. He stated “It’s hard to do planning if you don’t know what you’re planning for”. It’s hard to argue with this observation. It seems to sum up what I’ve been feeling for 14 weeks now. In the absence…
Read MoreThoughts from the Pandemic Era 3/3
Connor Brown’s quote got me thinking. In these times of uncertainty and ambiguity, it’s more important than ever for organizations to define future success and to articulate various possible scenarios. In the short term should we be striving for significantly lesser financial objectives or greater financial objectives (e.g. the grocery chains)? Should we be setting…
Read MoreToday’s Challenge – Separating the Wheat from the Chaff 1/3
In today’s complex, confusing, confounding and fast-paced world, it is more important than ever to be able to distinguish real overall business performance from intermediate measures and “noise” We are inundated on a daily basis with talk of AI, Analytics, Key Performance Indicators and new paradigms to judge business success (such as “hits on…
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