Graham Birkenhead

Leadership & Management

There's no Ghost in the Machine

Graham Birkenhead, March 25 2025

The phrase 'the Ghost in the Machine' has long fascinated me, and occasionally has me exploring philosophical rabbit holes as I try to make sense of it - and test it against real world situations. In short, the phrase ‘ghost in the machine’ was coined  by Gilbert Ryle - a British philosopher - in 1949. He was responding to the ideas of René...

Read More
Communication

Marketing without Trust is Just Noise

Graham Birkenhead, March 11 2025

For as long as humans have been around, the ability to decide who to trust  - and who not to trust - has been a crucial part of our survival tool box.  Individually, we human beings are relatively weak creatures, but our strength comes from forming social groups, to work, problem solve, and live together.  And that requires communication and the...

Read More
Leadership & Management

The Fine Art of Not Saying Nothing

Graham Birkenhead, February 18 2025

Feedback is a crucial element in engineering and science, ensuring that systems function optimally within known boundaries. Thermostats regulate temperature by adjusting heating output. Vehicle cruise control maintains speed but adapts to other traffic. Biological feedback loops—such as homeostasis and insulin regulation—help the body stay in...

Read More
Leadership & Management

Trust under Pressure

Graham, January 28 2025

It's that time of year for the release of the latest version of one of the most insightful annual studies; a study that really helps make sense of what we see happening around the world, and which should be part of any company's PESTLE consideration. Each year, the Edelman Trust Barometer surveys thousands of people across the globe (this year,...

Read More
Leadership & Management

Yesterday's Logic

Graham Birkenhead, January 14 2025

5 Common Practices you should definitely move on from Peter Drucker said: “The greatest danger in times of turbulence is not the turbulence—it is to act with yesterday’s logic”. Well, we are in a time of turbulence - as per normal - although this quote feels particularly poignant just now. We see so many companies trying to operate today with...

Read More
Leadership & Management

How 2025 will be the same as any – and all – other years

The Kingsford Team, January 7 2025

If your inbox is anything like ours, you will already be experiencing the annual deluge of trend predictions and forecasts for 2025 - all very interesting, but it can feel a bit like reading your horoscope.  Sure, things are always changing — the economy shifts, technology evolves, new buzzwords emerge — but you can’t grow a business based on...

Read More
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
Next