Posted by Jean Matthews

Have just read about this in TimesOnline….what do you think?………advice from businessmen not caught up in the rational management paradigm of the Western world

Singing and dancing Masai warriors may not be everyone's idea of canny businessmen, but the wisdom and leadership skills of the Masai offer valuable advice for businesses operating in increasingly difficult economic times and hostile environments.

One of the key aspects of their culture is a sense of community. It keeps them together; it makes them stronger – and everyone has a say. Young or old, all members of the tribe are given high levels of responsibility and they take pride in themselves and the part they play in the community. At a recent event when asked by a member of the audience what qualities the Masai look for in their leaders, Emmanuel, one of the Masai elders said: "patience, courage and the ability to ask questions".

The Masai say that the same philosophy can be applied to business. "One head is not so wise" is a saying at the core of their culture and they believe that businessmen and women shouldn’t be too proud to seek advice from other members of their organisations, no matter how junior. Companies should also think nomadically by clarifying their cattle (that’s customers and capital), defining their green pastures (marketing opportunities), and focusing on getting the two together.

Their advice is

1. Don't get into a fair fight - you might lose. Find out what you're good at, where you can beat the competition, and focus on that. Play to win.

2. Take the lead. Luck is not a strategy. Leadership in tribal terms is about courage. Have the courage to take difficult decisions.

3. A formula for survival and success does not exist in a book.

4. Change or die.

For further information link to ….

 

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Breaking News....

The DNA Team (over 25 people there yesterday from academia and industry) yesterday successfully achieved the impossible. An MSc in Complexity & Leadership aimed at high-level managers, CEO's, Directors. The MSc Complexity and Leadership Programme will comprise of the following awards;

o    MSc Complexity and Leadership
o    MSc Complexity and Leadership (Manufacturing)
o    MSc Complexity and Leadership (Public Service)
o    MSc Complexity and Leadership (Retail/Service)

This MSc Complexity and Leadership will introduce current practitioners to concepts and thinking concerned with the sustainable leadership of organisations in both public services, retail and manufacturing.

The speed of change and the associated complexity facing organisations in the 21st Century has meant that leaders are increasingly having to develop thinking and solutions which would have been considered unthinkable a few years before. This MSC deals with that change and indeed may even lead it....

For the challenge is to develop methods, thinking, structures, systems and cultures/climates which enable organisations to succeed in achieving (their) interpretation of organisational ‘effectiveness’ and ‘competitive advantage’.  This MSc based in the sponsoring organisation and will address current problems and use theory in practice.

Do you want to have 30 senior managers in your organisation, accompanied by world leading academics who are helping you achieve success, solve issues and suggest ways forward? Interested then contact us now....

Paul

Hello Everyone,

Not sure who reads these blog-things any more but having started the week with a talk to the NHS, then J W Morris, and J T Morgan, in the same day with the BBC and on Thursday gave a workshop/debate with the Chartered Management Institute I'm now very, very hot. Not in the wanted, brilliant sense, but temperature. I'm in USA, Washington to be precise and its blinking hot, 104 F.

We tried to work today in a room without air con....nope, impossible. I've drunk loads, perspired more and feel awful. However, I was given a gem of information from a CEO who wanted to explain why she understood what DNA was about but just couldn't see how she could do it..... it goes somewhat like this;

"I lost my house keys and was searching for them on my hands and knees in the road when a young man came over and asked 'what you doing miss'. I replied I'm looking for my keys. He then asked 'where did you loose them in the road'. I replied that I hadn't lost them in the road but in the field over there. He looked at me strangely and asked 'why are you looking for them there then?' I said because there is a street light here and not over there"

What she was trying to tell me was that whilst most CEO's understood that the tools, methods and systems they use where 'wrong' they gave 'short-term' results. Research and management schools seem to also concentrate on the lighted areas and fail to search in the dark. She went on to explain that it just  gave more 'disappointments' to people in the long term.

Paul....very hot.....

We are looking to provide a new Masters award "The MSc Complexity and Leadership Programme" which will comprise of the following awards;

o    MSc Complexity and Leadership
o    MSc Complexity and Leadership (Manufacturing)
o    MSc Complexity and Leadership (Public Service)
o    MSc Complexity and Leadership (Service)

This MSc Complexity and Leadership Programme aims to introduce current practitioners to concepts and thinking concerned with the sustainable leadership of organisations in both public services and manaufacturing. The speed of change and the associated complexity facing organisations in the late 20th and early 21st Centuries has meant that leaders are increasingly having to develop thinking and solutions which would have been considered unthinkable a few years before. In other words leaders have more than ever before to come up with creative ideas that can be developed into successful innovations provided by advanced organisations. While clearly this imperative can be related to new products and services, a crucial dimension is the harnessing of the creative abilities of employees such that the tacit knowledge they possess can be utilized to best affect. The challenge is then to develop strategies, structures, systems and cultures/climates which enable organisations to succeed in achieving (their) interpretation of organisational ‘effectiveness’ and ‘competitive advantage’.

We want to take ideas, your ideas about this programme. Do you agree? Should it be in-company or at Glamorgan?

Let us know...
Paul

“Not invented here” and “we only do tools” are just two of the many syndromes which regularly undermine efforts to create a sustainable organisation. Attempts to benchmark performance, measure input, control output and create performance league tables often drives open, honest and trusting communication further underground, as departments and management defend their positions and compete with each other over power, money and status. There must be another way.....

What about letting go and giving your employees run the company? What about Democratic Leadership in Wales - Can we do it?  Why or Why Not? What's holding us back?

Ricardo Semler and his company SMECO are an excellent example that it can be done. Below is an interview with Ricardo Semler conducted by the Australian Broadcasting Corporation (ABC), where Ricardo releases some insight into democratic leadership at SEMCO. Watch the interview and post your comments to ths blog.

Can we in Wales adopt democratic leadership as possible alternative for businesses as opposed to measurement, command and control? I think we can!

Posted: Dr. Paul T. Thomas.