Emptying the Cup “The mind is not a vessel to be filled, but a fire to be kindled” — Plutarch A young acolyte, eager to gain wisdom, visits a sage. He bombards the sage with questions, his mind teeming with ideas, theories, and beliefs. Recognising the acolyte’s thirst for knowledge yet his inability to absorb any more, the […]

“It is better to be a warrior in a garden, than a gardener in a war.” — Miyamoto Musashi “It is better to be a warrior in a garden, than a gardener in a war.” — Miyamoto Musashi In my journey to author “Undisruptable”, I considered areas of my life that were languishing at the top of the first curve. Inspired

“The opportunity is often lost by deliberating.” — Publilius Syrus, 43BC “The most difficult thing is the decision to act, the rest is merely tenacity. “ — Amelia Earhart In the world of startups and scaleups, the absence of strict decision-making processes fosters agility and rapid progress. Founders revel in the freedom to act swiftly, unencumbered by bureaucratic chains of command.

“After the arrival of the Internet, we realised that under this triangular hierarchical structure, people had a difficult time adapting. So we reorganised ourselves as an entrepreneurial platform.” Zhang Ruimin, CEO, Haier In the wake of the digital revolution, businesses worldwide are confronting the limitations of traditional hierarchical structures. Zhang Ruimin, CEO of Haier, encapsulated this

DALL E “The alignment, or congruence, between strategy and four organisational building blocks: critical tasks and workflows, formal organisational arrangements, people, and culture drive today’s success. Incongruence, a lack of alignment, or inconsistencies among these elements is almost always at the root of today’s performance gaps.” — Michael Tushman and Charles O’Reilly Several years post-retirement from rugby, I

“If the rate of change on the outside exceeds the rate of change on the inside, the end is near.” — Jack Welch I grew up in the Irish countryside. My grandmother lived a field away from us in an old cottage. I remember how happy she was when she got running water, and we no longer had

“The more constraints one imposes, the more one frees one’s self.” — Igor Stravinsky The Feline Frontier A cat recently “claimed” my garden as his kitty litter. I eventually upset “his” territory by scattering peppermint oil and citrus peels. I learned a lot about cats’ territories in the process. While my curiosity killed that cat (‘s territory), it

“7s Hire 5s, 9’s hire 10s”. — Jeffrey J. Fox The most certain path to infuse an organisation with mediocrity, incompetence, or indifference is to bring in managers who are weak, defensive, or average. Jeffrey Fox, a previous guest on The Innovation Show, coined the idea that “7s hire 5s, and 9s hire 10s”. This concept highlights the

“If you are always trying to be normal, you will never know how amazing you can be.” — Maya Angelou Picture the scene. An employee who doesn’t fit the mould eventually finds a role and a manager who understands him. The culture, the boss, and the work provide an ideal environment for him to flourish. Eventually, his boss

“We cannot rest and sit down lest we rust and decay. Health is maintained only through work. And as it is with all life so it is with science. We are always struggling from the relative to the absolute.” — Max Planck A study focusing on the health of individuals over 65 found that those who regularly opted