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

Management

Leadership & Management

Objective Perspectives

Andrew Penny, August 6 2024

But here’s the thing. There’s something about seeing a city from the open cockpit of an ancient biplane that gives you a completely different perspective; seeing how extensive the urban forest is, noting the two dog-legs in the Ottawa River (I knew it curved – but dog-legs?) and seeing a number of suspicious large structures... These are only...

Read More
Leadership & Management

My Monthly Game Plan

Andrew Penny, May 7 2024

My Monthly Game Plan includes key types of activity that I need to address each month to keep the business moving forward. Some examples of Monthly Game Plan activities could be: At 10AM on the first Monday of each month I put an hour aside for 'Monthly Game Plan-ning'. During this time I review all the important types of activity, and quantity...

Read More
Leadership & Management

Thriving in a time of Complexity

Graham Birkenhead, March 19 2024

In today's rapidly evolving business landscape, complexity seems to be a persistent constant. As business owners and CEOs, the challenge is not just to navigate this complexity but to thrive within it. We humans have been running businesses for a long time (several thousand years), so you'd think we would have a good handle on how to do that....

Read More
Leadership & Management

Kick Start 2024: Wisdom from the St. James Computer Dating Society

Andrew Penny, January 9 2024

Way back in the swinging '60s, Jane Ball pioneered the first digital dating enterprise in London, England. Her secret sauce? Unconventionally successful. Instead of probing about desires, she asked what people decidedly ‘did not want’. It turns out that individuals had a foggy view of their wants, but a crystal-clear vision of what they did not...

Read More
Leadership & Management

ESG - Questions your Bank will Ask

Andrew Penny, May 2 2023

Last week I participated in the ACG  event – a forum for people who fund the ‘middle market’. Attendees are typically VCs, banks, investment agencies, family offices, private equity – in short anyone who has a few million to give, lend, or invest in mid-sized firms. One of the most interesting sessions was on ESG (environmental, social and...

Read More
Leadership & Management

To Promote or Hire - that is the question!

Graham Birkenhead, April 11 2023

There are good reasons why you should do both, and actually, for a fast-growing company, you should try to do both. There are advantages to each option, but there are also reasons why you should take care. Let’s go back to first principles and consider what we are really trying to achieve. In an earlier blog, I said that people are not your most...

Read More
Leadership & Management

Ready for the 4-day Week?

Graham Birkenhead, February 28 2023

The UK has recently carried out a trial-based study into the practicalities and impacts of a 4-day week - and the results are just in. The idea of a 4-day week has been around for quite a long time - with much anecdotal evidence suggesting that there could be considerable benefit.   This latest trial involved over 70 companies of all sorts and...

Read More
Market Strategy

Questions 8

Andrew Penny, February 21 2023

While the Bridge Keeper in the movie The Holy Grail only asked ‘questions three’, I will ask you ‘questions eight’. Eight questions that as a business owner you can ask yourself, and the answers to which could help you cross the bridge to greater success. We talk a lot about being ‘Best in World’ - executing on the above is the path to get...

Read More
Leadership & Management

How About Them There Apples

Graham Birkenhead, January 31 2023

Our client was experiencing significant turnover amongst the new hires they needed to expand their production. They told us, ‘No one wants to work anymore’. Digging deeper it became evident that a small number of senior employees had created an environment that worked well for them but made it difficult for any new-comers to fit in. And worse, it...

Read More
Market Strategy

Your business is definitely not Average

Andrew Penny, January 10 2023

I am reminded of the truism that the average person has less than one leg. Looming recessions, stock markets down, bond values up, interest rates up, inflation up, market contractions, etc. It would seem that there will be lots of turmoil. These changes will impact you to some extent if you are highly leveraged. But when you think about the...

Read More
Next