As we’re keeping it practical this week, I thought it might be worth looking at a couple of tools that are useful when you’re working through the Double Diamond process. One approach you might not have come across before – the Charrette. The other is probably very familiar – traditional brainstorming. Something we all know…
Another great question from our UK Theatre /SoLT webinars. Given the push on cashflow during the lockdown period, it’s likely we’re not going to have the cash pile to burn like a well-funded start-up. I’m concerned that there might be an underlying assumption of having cash. Does this work if you don’t have the cash…
One of the participants at our UK Theatre/SoLT webinars asked Any thoughts on how we support our teams to go on the journey of the Double Diamond? We have written before briefly about the importance of Design Thinking and the Double Diamond Model so thought we would take the opportunity to share some more thoughts…
Responding to COVID-19: Social capital and the social sector in the 21st century from Andy Haldane FAcSS What better time than now, with social capital propping up our economies and societies, to recognise its role when keeping score on success. We should use this opportunity to broaden our measurement horizons, perhaps putting well-being and broader…
Not to be missed! If you work in a museum in London and are interested in learning more about planning for alternative futures Susan will be delivering a short, two session online course for Supporting London Museums – Museum of London on 3rd and 4th June. For further details and how to apply – follow…
A person who never made a mistake never tried anything new. Albert EinsteinOrganisations that have a habit of ‘shooting the messenger’ will discourage the process of seeking out failures. (Cannon and Edmondson, 2005) The final question we are picking up this week is a really good one and we think very much relates to those we…
We have already shared some thoughts about the power of imagining alternatives but looking at the questions people raised at the UK Theatre/SoLT seminars last week we thought that a deeper dive might be helpful. In this blog we have tried to offer some practical help in the context of working from home rather than…
This the second in our Q&A series and focuses more on planning, particularly for small organisations or where teams are smaller than they have been and are no longer co-located. As with yesterday we both offer our different insights. Dawn I want to start by being clear there is a big difference between imagining alternative…
Susan and I had the privilege of working with UK Theatre/SOLT last week to deliver two webinars, snappily entitle ‘How to plan when planning is hard: living with unpredictability.’ Mindful of video conferencing fatigue we decided to deliver them in two bitesize 30-minute slots, it meant we packed quite a lot in but hopefully it…
Thinking about how to get back to work A serious look at how to think about re-opening a business after lockdown. For most executives, the task at hand will be less like restarting a business than like starting a business. How to face an existential crisis Fascinating and insightful interview with Paul Stanway, co-founder of…
Human beings are designed to pulse between spending and renewing energy. (Tony Schwartz) The week before last I noticed a real slump in my energy, I felt constantly tired and knew my patience was running thin. I was intrigued about why that was happening then and what might be going on. When I’m coaching, I…
A while back I was packing up after a fairly complex and involved Board awayday. I had my usual overflowing kit of materials, flowers, pens etc that are all stuffed into a flight case, plus a mobile whiteboard and my rucksack. I collected all my belongings and we waited as a group by the lift…
Budgeting is always more art than science; all that precision to the nearest pound or often pence is a misleading if comforting fiction of control. The future is always unknowable and uncontrollable but we have to have budgets to work to so we create them and hope that others: staff, suppliers, partners and customers behave…