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Graham Birkenhead

Leadership & Management

The Edge of Chaos

Graham Birkenhead, January 16 2024

You don't build a business – you build people – and then people build the business. Zig Ziglar I was recently running a workshop for a client to address the way they worked (their processes and organisational structures) and they way they worked together (communications and culture). During the energised conversation, I was reminded once again...

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Leadership & Management

Are You Thinking Big Enough?

Graham Birkenhead, November 14 2023

One of the first things I ask of an audience when running my Strategic Thinking workshops is "raise your hand if you think you are a strategic thinker".    I am always amazed at how few people raise their hands straight away - probably about a fifth if that, and then a few do the slight raising lowering thing which implies they think they maybe,...

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Leadership & Management

Every Link in a Chain is Critical

Graham Birkenhead, October 31 2023

Small and medium-sized businesses constitute the backbone of the North American economy. They make up a staggering 98% of all businesses and generate approximately 40% of total business revenue. Of those, around 60 to 70% are supplying other businesses (B2B) - as opposed to serving an end customer directly (B2C).  Therefore, most businesses are...

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Customer Sales

Kano Coffee Shop

Graham Birkenhead, October 24 2023

I spend a lot of time in coffee shops.  I enjoy a good cup of coffee, fresh baking, ambiance, meeting people, and the opportunity to be somewhere different while trying to work.   Many coffee shops meet my needs, but I don't particularly have one that I always go to, I am indifferent to their differences. That was until recently. I found a new...

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Market Strategy

Making Circles Pay

Graham Birkenhead, September 5 2023

Last week, we talked about the circular economy, which is an alternative approach to the more linear ‘take-make-consume-dispose’ value chain.  We try to minimise the take and dispose elements, and repeat the ‘make’ element through things like reuse, recycle, and repurpose, while extending the ‘consume value’ element.  It creates a more continuous...

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Leadership & Management

Joining the Circular Economy

Graham Birkenhead, August 29 2023

The circular economy is an economic model designed to minimize waste and maximize the efficient use of resources. Within the Triple Bottom Line (Planet-People-Prosperity) model, this approach can make a significant contribution to the Planet consideration while ensuring the company's ongoing viability and Prosperity; it also can help People feel...

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Leadership & Management

The Power of Purpose

Graham Birkenhead, August 1 2023

A sense of purpose is a crucial element of the well-being of any individual. Similarly, a sense of purpose can be a crucial aspect of any company’s culture and health. We like to think of a company’s purpose as being something much bigger than the company itself, something the company maybe couldn't achieve alone, something that they would...

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Communication

What's a little Greenwashing between friends?

Graham Birkenhead, July 25 2023

Greenwashing is the environmental evolution of whitewashing. Its outcome or impact is potentially devastating - in our ESG/PPP ecological balance consideration, the balance is way off as it emphasises a company's profitability (probably shorter term) at the expense of the environment and the trust of

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Leadership & Management

How do I have an environmental impact? Let me count the ways

Graham Birkenhead, July 18 2023

Most businesses do not have ESG reporting requirements; but there is increasing societal expectation that businesses will do the ‘right thing’.  Considering the environmental aspect of ESG, as the impact of climate change becomes more felt and real to larger proportions of the population (rather than abstract and something people elsewhere...

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Leadership & Management

E, S & G - Separate but Inseparable

Graham Birkenhead, July 11 2023

Environment / Planet, Social / People, and Governance / Prosperity can be, and often are, considered separately: Each of these is in itself a massive area; it's no wonder that we try to break it down into manageable chunks. But these 3 elements are actually inseparable. They form 3 key components of an ecological 'complex system'; achieving and...

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