• SERVICES
  • ABOUT US
  • PROJECTS
  • PEOPLE
  • RESOURCES
  • CONTACT

Graham Birkenhead

Leadership & Management

Another Year Over

The Kingsford Team, December 17 2024

We are fast approaching the end of the year, and this will be our final Tuesday Tune-up for 2024.  And what a year it's been.  And as we take a quick look at 2024, this is an indication of the world of challenge and more importantly, opportunity that awaits us for 2025. Over the last year we’ve

Read More
Leadership & Management

Forewarned is Forearmed

Graham, December 3 2024

The most common model for managing risk is what's known as the Ostrich Approach.  This appears to work reasonably well in many situations, and is based on 3 concepts fortuitously working together:

Read More
Leadership & Management

Interesting Times

Graham Birkenhead, November 12 2024

not 1605 As has been the case throughout history, whenever times get interesting - there is opportunity as well as threat; we need to be on the lookout for those opportunities so we can seize them, and we need to be prepared to mitigate any threats. Strategy is an ongoing process of achieving your goals using resources available to you while...

Read More
Leadership & Management

Beowulf in the Boardroom

Graham Birkenhead, October 29 2024

Hwæt! We Gar-Dena in gear-dagum, þeod-cyninga, þrym gefrunon, hu ða æþelingas ellen fremedon! We all remember inspirational teachers - those that in some way reached deeper into our minds and sparked wonder, creativity, imagination, and fun.  For me, one such teacher - from my UK equivalent of Grade 3 - would tell us a classic story of adventure...

Read More
Leadership & Management

To Shift or not to Shift

Graham Birkenhead, October 15 2024

Mental models are rather ingenious - they form as a result of us being exposed to new or different situations as we progress through life (aka learning); very many are formed during our formative years and are influenced by things such as culture, faith, or whatever is going on in the world around us at the time.  We use what we already know...

Read More
Leadership & Management

Are you part of the 1% ?

Graham Birkenhead, October 1 2024

It is often cited that 90% of businesses don't have any form of strategic plan, and 90% of those that do, don't actually follow it.  That means that only one percent of businesses actually have some sort of strategic plan that guides the business.  While these figures may be open to some debate, the general principle behind this is widely...

Read More
Leadership & Management

Looking for Inspiration?  Look Somewhere Else!

Graham Birkenhead, August 27 2024

But what if the issue isn’t just what’s in, or not in your head, but where your head happens to be? Sometimes, the best way to kickstart creativity isn’t to push harder, but to step away and change your surroundings. There’s Psychology Behind ItWe’re all aware that our environment can affect our mood and how we feel; architects (some of them...

Read More
Leadership & Management

Help!  I Need to Make a Decision

Graham Birkenhead, August 20 2024

I seem to be surrounded by people who have some big decisions to make - some about their lives, some about their business - some early in their careers - and some later.  To varying degrees, some of these people have a history of making hasty decisions that at times worked out well, and other times not - and some of these people struggle to make...

Read More
Market Strategy

All Models are Wrong, but Some are Useful

Graham Birkenhead, August 13 2024

In my ongoing quest to explore coffee shops, I recently came across another of note in one of the small towns near me.  From the street, it wasn't too obvious, and on closer inspection, it had an eclectic mix of tables and chairs, curious décor, and other bits of furniture placed around the edges of the room - and so looked interesting.  It was...

Read More
Lean & Agile

There was an old woman who swallowed a fly

Graham Birkenhead, July 30 2024

As I listened to this story, I was reminded of the children's nonsense song about the old woman who swallowed a fly - she then successively swallowed a spider, a bird, a cat, a dog, a goat, a cow and finally a horse, each to catch the previous one and solve the problems created by the previous creature - and then she died - of course!  It's easy...

Read More
Next