Entries with tag management .

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Blair McPherson
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30 Sep 2015 - 12:08

null Leadership is about asking the right questions

Institutional cheating, how does it happen?   "Make sure our cars pass the emissions test" and they did and no one at the top asked how. "We don't know how you're doing it but keep it up ". Senior managers at the bank didn't enquirer too deeply into the financial methods as long as the  result was they got their bonuses. (HSBC) "The staffing budget must be brought... See more
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Blair McPherson
wrote a new blog post
24 Sep 2015 - 11:42

null The Good Psycho

The Good Psycho   Dexter was a serial killer but he only killed other serial killers. As a blood splatter expert he was based at police HQ, working alongside detectives he knew their methods and the way they thought, he was also very good at disposing of the bodies so his victims simply disappeared. These two factors explained how he was able to get away with being a... See more
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Blair McPherson
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23 Sep 2015 - 11:12

null The battering ram of change

Change needs to be forced through, senior managers need to ram home the message, opposition needs to be battered into submission. Resistance will not be tolerated. Why the aggressive language? Could it be that change with decreasing merits has to be increasingly imposed, that where the arguments for change are weak the intolerance of dissent is strong. As all sides weary of the fight does... See more
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Blair McPherson
wrote a new blog post
17 Sep 2015 - 18:29

null Cheeky Monkey

Today's ideal senior manager is not a strong, fierce and dominant leader.Today's senior manager needs to be agile,to be able to move quickly and easily from one area of business to another, to be able to manage a diverse range of services ,to be able to keep up with an ever changing business environment , to be able to quickly get to grips with complex issues and deliver efficiency savings. The... See more
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Blair McPherson
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18 Aug 2015 - 09:26

null The last 30 years as seen through the eyes of a public professional

  This could be the story of an local government professional, a librarian, a housing officer, a policy officer ,a finance officer, a personnel officer or an admin officer.   Tim trained as a social worker in the 80s. He went on marches in support of the miners. You wouldn't catch Tim selling the Socialist Worker in town on a Saturday. He wasn't that type of radical social... See more
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Blair McPherson
wrote a new blog post
11 Aug 2015 - 10:58

null "Same circus different clowns"

Change fatigue leaves staff exhausted, burnt out, cynical and ineffective and makes it less likely that the organisation will successfully implement changes.   Organisation change fatigue is where a significant proportion of staff within an organisation are feeling exhausted by continual change. Organisation change fatigue or OC Fatigue is not the same as staff resistance to change,... See more
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Blair McPherson
wrote a new blog post
06 Aug 2015 - 09:50

null He who pays the piper

  How much say should a Local Authority have in how a voluntary organisation is run? In the case of Kids Company the government thinks it is reasonable to tell a voluntary organisation to remove its charismatic and outspoken chief executive if it wants to continue receiving government funds. This is such a high profile organisation, one that in the past senior politicians have been happy... See more
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Blair McPherson
wrote a new blog post
28 Jul 2015 - 14:08

null Just like True Detective

There has been a lot of comment on social media about the second TV. series of highly praised True Detective. Five episodes in and it couldn't be more confusing. With several back stories to untangle, a complicated plot and difficulty in working out which characters are important let alone who are the baddies. It reminded me of far too many inter departmental and multiagency meetings. What on... See more
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Blair McPherson
wrote a new blog post
22 Jul 2015 - 11:52

null How do you get to be a Director

I worked for one director who became a director by dishing the dirt on his boss. As the deputy director he told the leader of the council that the director was having an affair with one of his assistant directors causing resentment and tension within the senior management team which was being picked up by people outside the department. His first act on being appointed director was to remove the... See more
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Blair McPherson
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16 Jul 2015 - 14:08

null How the game is played

The brilliant fictional detective has no time for the higher ups and their preoccupation with budgets, performance targets and the media. They get the job done despite the system, they have no career ambitions, they hate the politics and they think the service isn't what it use to be. They don't play the game, they don't get the promotions their experience  and ability warrant, they end... See more
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Blair McPherson
wrote a new blog post
01 Jul 2015 - 11:19

null Muddle through Management

The muddling through model of management has a more negative sound than its popularity would indicate. It's proponents tend to refer to this way of managing as common sense, pragmatic management or the "lets not get carried away here and keep it simple", alternatively the approach is described as a quick fix.  The method is to respond to all problems without any deep thought or to use the... See more
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Blair McPherson
wrote a new blog post
26 Jun 2015 - 14:34

null Recruiting,Retaining and Rewarding Talent

Managing talent was about recruiting, retaining and rewarding now it's about redeployment,redundancy and retirement. Prolonged austerity has challenged traditional ways of recruiting, retaining, managing and rewarding talent. Public sector organisations have been shrunk. Early retirements, redundancies and management culls have been the key feature in workforce strategies. Experienced staff... See more
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Blair McPherson
wrote a new blog post
23 Jun 2015 - 10:33

null Shirkers v Workers

Some people defiantly work harder than others. Some just give the impression they do. Some managers think they can identify the shirker from the worker unfortunately for them it's not that easy and getting it  wrong could cost them their job. How much of your work involves telling people what you are doing- at meetings, in updates for the boss or reports to the Senior Management... See more
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Blair McPherson
wrote a new blog post
15 Jun 2015 - 09:59

null It starts when you're always afraid

My dog has bad dreams I hear him crying in the night. He is not alone. Sometimes when he is asleep,lying on his side, I see his legs moving I hope he is chasing a squirrel  not running for his life. I wonder after such energetic dreams does he wake up tired, I know that feeling. I had this recurring dream. I would be awake but too afraid to open my eyes. Alone in bed but not alone. To... See more
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Blair McPherson
wrote a new blog post
06 Jun 2015 - 13:30

null Put on the sunnies and don't let the seagulls steal your chips

  As we neared are destination the sat nav helpfully suggested we, "Put on the sunnies, wind up the window and watch the seagulls don't steal your chips". The sat nav came with an Australian accent. Helpful Australians are every where at the moment. The sunny disposition of our colonial cousins from down under is a welcome intrusion into the post election depression with in the... See more
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Blair McPherson
wrote a new blog post
03 Jun 2015 - 14:28

null Who's the Boss?

There are two types of boss, idiots and tyrants. Obviously there are few who are competent and supportive but then they have a boss who isn't. Either your line manager is impossible or senior management don't know what they are doing. There are lots of reasons for this, over promoted, lacking relevant experience, too concerned with keeping the politicians happy, obsessed with performance and... See more
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Blair McPherson
wrote a new blog post
02 Jun 2015 - 15:05

null How many managers have you got?

It's a typically challenging question from the new leader of the council. The underlying implication is too many whatever the answer is. The honest answer is I don't know but that is an unacceptable answer and makes me look foolish. The correct answer is it depends how you count them but that just sounds like I am trying to be cleaver and risks antagonising my new boss. I could say 500 because... See more
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Blair McPherson
wrote a new blog post
01 Jun 2015 - 12:24

null You don't like me and I don't care

I have heard this said a few times, by a leader of the council convinced that further management post could be cut from the organisation, by a chief executive determined to bring about a "culture change”, by a director insisting he wouldn't be dissuaded from imposing a restructuring and by a team manager who just wanted the team to know who was boss. In all cases it came from some who thought... See more
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Blair McPherson
wrote a new blog post
20 Apr 2015 - 15:19

null The Thinning

The public sector is being thinned, local government is being thinned, thinning creates anxiety and uncertainty, distrust and suspicion,  a constant threat of decline, alongside a sense of loss and a feeling that all is not right with the world. There is yet no end in sight of the thinning but the impact of 5 years of savage budgets cuts, redundancies, outsourcing and management... See more
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Blair McPherson
wrote a new blog post
24 Mar 2015 - 11:16

null DIY Management

When it comes to DIY my ambition and confidence don't match my skill! Newly married and in our first home we had little money. The house was classic 1930's, the bathroom very dated. My wife thought some new bath taps, a new shower curtain and a bright colour on the walls would be the kind of makeover that would see us through till we could afford a new bathroom. I was confident I could fit... See more
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