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Blair McPherson
wrote a new blog post
19 Aug 2021 - 14:57

null How a no blame culture works

Whether it’s penalty misses or bad decisions there should be no scapegoats, no coverups, just a willingness to talk openly about mistakes  Sweden halved the number of avoidable birth injuries in hospitals after it introduced a no blame compensation scheme for injuries sustained as a result of medical treatment. The result was hospital  staff felt able to speak openly when things went... See more
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Blair McPherson
wrote a new blog post
14 Aug 2021 - 15:36

null Never say No 

As a grandparent I never say no, as a parent I said it a lot, apparently. As a manager I didn’t like people saying no to me so I tended to ask for forgiveness rather than permission. As an experienced manager I liked to be asked for my suggestions. By the time I was a senior manager yes and no we’re replaced by how and how come.  Some organisation like some managers have a no... See more
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Blair McPherson
wrote a new blog post
03 Aug 2021 - 08:16

null Corruption  and Crime in Local Government 

I worked as a Director in an LA where the leader and chief executive are still on police bail accused of corruption and intimidation of witnesses. Just how many senior local authority figures are under investigation for criminal activity/corruption and whether this represents an increasing problem I don’t know . But what I do know is there is a reluctance to talk about corruption in... See more
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Blair McPherson
wrote a new blog post
02 Aug 2021 - 18:35

null The more things change the more they stay the same 

Many employees would recognise this as a description of their organisation. They have survived numerous reorganisations, frequent changes of leadership, the adoption of different working practises , the imposition of new terms and conditions of employment , the introduction of the latest technology, the outsourcing of production and the bringing it back in-house and yet they feel... See more
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Blair McPherson
wrote a new blog post
21 Jul 2021 - 11:56

null The Hulk

I once worked for a Director who stormed out of the office when I said something he didn’t like. Thing was it was his office! Organisations like people have personalities which shape the way they operate.  Organisations are like individuals. A personality profile of an organisation will include strength and weaknesses, values, the work environment, behavior under stress, ideal... See more
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Blair McPherson
wrote a new blog post
21 Jul 2021 - 11:43

null Success is all about who is on your team

Some times you meet the person at the top of the organisation and you’re  surprised, surprised at how ordinary they are. From the reputation for being a top performing organisation you were expecting something special in its leader. You imagined a charismatic figure, someone inspiring and challenging or at least a little taller with better questions than , “ did you work out who H... See more
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Blair McPherson
wrote a new blog post
19 Jul 2021 - 10:28

null Does your organisation have trust issues?

Research shows that managers who cannot “ see” their direct reports sometimes struggle to trust that their employees are in fact working.   As a trainee, before mobile phones, my team manager liked to ring establishment I was visiting and ask them to pass on a message to return to the office as he wanted to speak to me. It was a control thing checking up I was where I said I was going... See more
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Blair McPherson
wrote a new blog post
18 Jul 2021 - 12:19

null Will cows become extinct?

If we can grow meat in the laboratory. Will vegetarians eat it? Will cows become extinct ? If cows could express a choice would they prefer to exist to be eaten, like the talking cow brought to the dinners table at the Restaurant at the end of the universe who takes pride in recommending their best cuts. 
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Blair McPherson
wrote a new blog post
15 Jul 2021 - 14:15

null  Is this a safe place ?

  How safe is your work place ? No I’m not taking about working with dangerous machinery or hazardous chemicals.  I’ m not referring to the risk of falling objects, flying objects or sharp objects. I’m not thinking about the risk of being shot, run over, attacked, falling from a great height, being electrocuted  or drowning. I’m asking if you feel that your team or organisation is a... See more
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Blair McPherson
wrote a new blog post
15 Jul 2021 - 14:07

null We know there is life on Mars

“We know there is life on Mars because we sent it there” , NASA’s former chief scientist. 
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Blair McPherson
wrote a new blog post
07 Jul 2021 - 10:41

null Are organisations inevitably hypocritical?  

 Writing in defence  of hypocrisy would be like  expressing sympathy for the devil, you’re not going to convince anyone that it’s anything other than despicable. And yet hypocrisy exists in every organisation for a very good reason. It occurs whenever decisions and actions are inconsistent or conflict with previously stated ideals, values or performance measures. This... See more
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Blair McPherson
wrote a new blog post
28 Jun 2021 - 11:13

null Stress and Burn out 

Looking back it’s clear I didn’t cope well with stress. I didn’t even recognised I was stressed. I don’t know to what I attributed the frequent headaches  so sever I came home from work and went straight to bed, or the development of a pronounced  stutter, something I had not experienced before or since. When I changed job the headaches and stutter went away. But I still ended up... See more
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Blair McPherson
wrote a new blog post
25 Jun 2021 - 10:44

null Giving work Purpose and Meaning

The worst job I ever had was working in the social security office, before computerisation, matching post to case files. Every morning I was given a long list of names to locate their files. The problem was that the filing cabinets were bursting so files were piled on top of cabinets in wobbly towers. Files could also be “ out” meaning on someone’s desk . There was no guarantee the... See more
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Blair McPherson
wrote a new blog post
23 Jun 2021 - 13:14

null So you think you are good at recruitment 

You know the argument about whether drivers should have to retake their driving test at regular intervals well the same reasoning applies to recruitment interviews. The roads have got a lot busier since you passed your test and over time all of us pick up some bad driving habits. Well some managers never had any recruitment training they have just done it ever since they became a... See more
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Blair McPherson
wrote a new blog post
23 Jun 2021 - 13:04

null The unfairness at the heart of the recruitment process. 

There is an unfairness at the heart of the recruitment process which rewards those who are good at interviews above those who are good at the job. The surprise is not that the traditional interview results in some bad appointments it’s that it ever results in some good ones! HR have tried to shift the emphases away from the focus on the interview by introducing an Assessment Centre... See more
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Blair McPherson
wrote a new blog post
09 Jun 2021 - 15:30

null 360 degree feedback 

“ Don’t ask what I think of you I might not give the answer you want me to. “  Oh Well- Fleetwood Mac. 
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Blair McPherson
wrote a new blog post
03 Jun 2021 - 12:49

null On Boarding getting employees on board and keeping them on board 

On Boarding is management jargon for getting new employees familiar with the way we do things round here. It’s not just about the routines, tasks and knowledge it’s learning about the organisation’s culture. It can also mean learning about the organisation’s unofficial culture the way we really do things round here.  On Boarding is more than just induction. Induction is what ... See more
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Blair McPherson
wrote a new blog post
01 Jun 2021 - 14:43

null The chaos theory of leadership

Do you assume the motivation behind the ambitious manager is the desire to make a difference or the craving  for power , status and rewards that go with it? Maybe it’s always a mixture of both but for those who adopt the chaos theory of leadership it’s defiantly the latter. For the overconfident, extremely ambitious the aim is to get the top job and to keep it as long as possible. To... See more
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Blair McPherson
wrote a new blog post
28 May 2021 - 18:21

null It’s editing Jim but not as we know it. 

I wrote - Captain Kirk of the starship Enterprise is 90 or the original actor to play him is.  But that’s not what appeared in print.    https://www.thehrdirector.com/features/leadership/leaders-can-learn-captain-james-t-kirk/   I write occasional articles for several professional journals. One in particular runs 2 or 3 new articles on its web site every day. That requires a lot... See more
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Blair McPherson
wrote a new blog post
21 May 2021 - 15:27

null Funny names list

It started harmlessly enough just a casual observation to a colleague about some clients names that got turned into a list, circulated and added to. The list was titled Funny Names. As the Funny Names list became more widely circulated there were growing concerns from some employees that the names were predominantly of Asian and non Anglo Saxon origin. This sparked a  fierce internal... See more
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