Watching children makes one think so much about human nature. I see my granddaughter at eighteen months and find her an astonishing observer. She notices what gets a positive response and what does not, whose feelings matter and whose displeasure changes the mood around her. Like all children, she needs love, safety and belonging. So […]
When Survival Becomes the Strategy
Over the past few years, I have watched businesses in Pakistan respond to extraordinary inflationary pressure. The responses have been understandable. Sometimes prices were increased and sometimes there was sharp focus on costs. Hiring slowed and investment was postponed as organisations found ways to do more with less. In my advisory work, I have increasingly […]
Ready For The Future ?
We often respond to disruption by adopting new technology, changing structures or launching transformation programmes. I believe the more fundamental question is whether our organisations have developed the capability to learn and adapt. In my latest op ed for Dawn, I explore why technology alone cannot transform an organisation and why people, judgement, learning and […]
What Can I Do About It?
I recently came across an interesting article in The Economist that asked a simple question. If you could give your children one quality, what would it be? Intelligence? Empathy? Confidence? The article suggested something else; an internal locus of control – the belief that your actions can influence what happens to you. The idea stayed […]
Missing foundation of AI readiness
Over the years I have had the opportunity to discuss with many leadership teams their thoughts about digital transformation, automation and, increasingly, AI. Almost every organisation is excited about what these technologies can do. But when the conversation goes a little deeper, a different picture often emerges. Many organisations are eager to adopt AI, but […]
Talent Doesn’t Disappear. It Gets Suppressed.
Staying with the theme of capability in organizations from my last post, I recall having worked with a woman who was very good at what she did. In one team, she was confident, decisive and always willing to challenge the way things were being done. Later, I saw her working in a different team. Same […]
The difference between Nigeria and Norway is not oil. It is institutions!
A recent case involving a large oil multinational’s operations in Nigeria offers a timely reminder. Internal company documents reportedly show senior executives discussing environmental risks and the likelihood of further pollution while production continued. Decades later, communities are still seeking remediation, while questions of responsibility remain unresolved. Yet the real lesson is bigger than one […]
AI Is Not the Next Internet. It May Be the Next Electricity?
I have been trying to educate myself about AI and, like many non-technical people, I sometimes struggle to separate the hype from the reality. At first, I thought of AI as the next Internet. For my generation, the Internet was the defining technology of our time. It transformed access to information, enabled global communication, and […]
A Life of Consequence
I recently watched Michael, the biopic about the life and times of Michael Jackson. Having been in school and college through much of the 1980s, Michael Jackson’s rise from a gifted young performer to one of the most iconic entertainers in history was very much part of my generation’s collective memory. We witnessed not just […]
How Great Teams Win
How do teams win? I have always been fascinated by football and have long supported a certain London club that, until this week, had not won anything meaningful in a very long time. The last time Arsenal won the league, I had a full head of hair and could not imagine myself becoming a grandfather! […]
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