I am a great believer in the value of a company being in touch with its values. And I am greatly saddened when I see those values distilled into a mere list of words that are written on walls and published in websites. And you know some of the words I'm talking about: Communication, Respect, Integrity and Excellence are a few of the common ones...
Read MoreMy name is Graham Birkenhead and I am a procrastinator. I'm not alone, I'm not even in the minority. It is estimated that 15 to 25% of adults are chronically affected by procrastination, and up to 75% of adults procrastinate on a regular basis. Not only does it mean that you put off doing tasks and activities that need to be done, but the knowled...
Read MoreEach year I mentor a student in the Telfer School of Business at the University of Ottawa. This year the woman I am mentoring has been asked to participate in their Equity, Diversity and Inclusion Committee. A truly noble cause. But… I am reminded of the great experiment underway at the moment to encourage the vaccine hesitant to rethink their opp...
Read MoreOne of my favourite movies is A Knight’s Tale. It’s its 20th anniversary, so I watched it once again to mark the occasion. Without giving too much of the plot away, there is a point in the story where Geoffrey Chaucer (yes, THE Geoffrey Chaucer) is invited to join the small protagonist group; this group had grown to know each other very well, wi...
Read MoreThere really is nothing quite like a good bowl of soup; warming, nutritious and tasty. The thing about soup is that there is almost an infinite variety of possibilities of what you can make – whether it is using a different combination of ingredients or a slight variation of the same ingredients. Adjustments to the cooking time or temperature, or...
Read MoreJelena asked me to provide a picture of myself, in a suit, to update my LinkedIn profile. It occurred to me that I haven’t worn a suit in at least a year. Working from home and meeting people from the waist up sort of negates the whole suit idea. This “going to work” is an interesting concept that has become normal over the last year. That physica...
Read MoreOver the Holiday break, for a little light relief, I was simultaneously reading a couple of books: one about neuro-plasticity and another about memory. Both books about the brain; one from a physiological perspective and the other from a more psychological perspective. Both books were ultimately about learning.
Read MoreFirst, let me tell you how grateful I am for the good fortune Kingsford has experienced during this crazy year of 2020. While many have suffered difficult times, we have been lucky to have an expanding roster of great clients who are thriving in this weird economy and are seizing the emerging opportunities.
Read MoreFor as long as I can remember, I have been interested in why people do some things and why they don't do other things. Why some people achieve a little or a lot – seemingly regardless of how big or small they think. The nature of luck - is there such a thing or do you make your own luck? And, the roles of motivation, challenge, power and fear, cul...
Read MoreBy the late 40s, the US Air Force was experiencing an unacceptable increase in the rate of air incidents and crashes. This was the era of the introduction of jet aircraft. Apart from appearing to be pilot error, there didn't seem to be a common underlying cause. But there was. Back in 1926, the Air Force realised that pilots came in all differ...
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