The wars of talent and control

It will become more and more visible ... organisations and leaders who talk flexibility and agility but the reality is still command and control. 

As employees return to the office - or not - the power dynamic is shifting on topics like flexibility and engagement. 

Questions come to mind like: 

➡️ If a company needs particular skills, does it matter where those skills live? 

➡️ Can people work remotely? All the time? 

➡️ Why should people come into the office? What will the true benefit be to them if they do? 

➡️ If people don’t get the flexibility they’re seeking, who else is offering it?

There is an equaling of the balance or see-saw occurring. 

From times when the organisation and its leaders had the power and control, now, towards times when people who have a greater freedom of choice in front of them are exercising that choice. 

Why should people work with your organisation? Or with you as a leader? 

This article from Newsweek by Yuri Kruman, explores the topic more.

‘I love your posts and pictures!’, they said

‘Oh, thank you,’ I said. ‘Now theres a heap of them together ... in the one place.’ 

I’ve curated a collection of ideas, posts and imagery from the last year or so and published them in ‘Better Ways of Thinking and Working’. 

In this era of change, uncertainty and complexity, how are you adopting better ways of thinking and working? 

What are these better ways, anyway … and how do you get started?

In this 180 page full colour collection of practical and mind-shifting essays, you’ll find inspiration, insights and a path to better.

It also features the practical, creative and inspiring hand-drawn visuals that accompany many of my ideas. 

When you need a shot of insight, a change of perspective or a reframing about how you could do things, possibilities are on every page. 


‘Better Ways of Thinking and Working: How Changing The Way You Do Things, Changes What You Can Do’. 

Get it here

To use now ...or saving it for ‘best’

I bought a new notebook three months ago. And there it sits on the shelf. All new and unused. Just like the outfits in my childhood wardrobe, waiting for ‘Sunday best’. 

Similarly, when people buy my book ‘Visual Mojo’ I tell them it’s been designed for them to write in it. It’s a true work-book. 

But many people don’t write in it. They want to save it, for best. 

We save the best cutlery for special guests. 
We hold the best crockery back for the most notable occasions. 
And we save our best tools for the perfect job. 

But as we work on a rough draft or a first cut of something, it’s ok to use the good tools, the special equipment, the best that you’ve got. 

It builds our confidence when we use the good stuff. 

We become less fearful, less hesitant and we worry less about going for perfect. We learn to trust ourselves more. 

But most of all, if we can’t use the best stuff today ... when will we use it? 

In times like these, every day is a day for using the best!

Is it really a pivot or just catching up

As we adapt to new ways of thinking, working and living, the word ‘pivot’ has gained ’traction’ 😩 cliché alert - urgh!

Is it really a pivot or are we just catching up on what needed to be done some time ago? Did we see the need, test the tech and talk about it, only to have initial hopes swamped by "too hard, too complicated, too busy - don’t have time”?

To pivot is indeed to change, rotate, shift direction.

To catch up is to work quicker, to increase your pace so you are ...at pace.

If it’s a big shift, then it is. If it’s doing what we could have started a while ago, we’re catching up. Nothing wrong with that.

In catching up we learn, experiment, gain insight and feedback. We can accelerate, speed up, adapt rapidly. As Madeline Kahn‘s ‘Eunice’ in the classic film ‘What’s up Doc?’ says, ‘Don’t over-dramatise’. There’s no benefit in making what we’re doing even more dramatic than it already is.

Overwhelm, worry, and ‘I need to do better’ live there and the dangers of perfectionism can become painfully visible. We can still do meaningful, purposeful and impactful work without the added panic that we’re also in a dramatic pivot.

How might change ...change

For change leaders in organisations it’s a curious time, looking at the pace and scale of change in the world.

All of those times change leaders struggled to get changes approved, adopted or implemented as they were met with objections and resistance, denial or disagreement.

Now look at what we humans can do. There is evidence now, a kind of precedent that vast change can be made. And swiftly. Resources can be deployed, people can be coordinated and focus can be shifted to new ways of doing things.

Ok yes, some things are required via compliance or directives, but there is still much to see here. There are people to observe, new processes being implemented, new ways of doing things that were ‘too hard to’ previously. Look out for the adjustment, adaptation and the willingness to let go of perfect. There is collaboration and consensus in times when it’s needed ... and it’s happening swiftly.

If we can change like this, how then might change ... change?

How will change be led in the future? Now we’ve been stretched, will we be more willing to change ... or less? Do you lead change: How might change ... change?