“The most valuable of all talents is that of never using two words when one will do.” Thomas Jefferson. We have a tendency to ‘communicate’ too much. Too many fillers when we speak – circumlocution which we think displays erudition, but in fact avoids getting to the point as we talk round the core issue but evade making the proposition or asking a direct question. Similarly, too many extraneous phrases when we write - ‘in the event of’, ‘on the occasion of’, ‘the July time

“There’s a lot worse out there.” E – a long-standing friend – was wondering whether he had one more career move in him. “Coming up to 20 years with the company, albeit under four different owners. “A lot of change, and there’s more to come. I wonder if I should get out before the new owners make that decision for me? “But while it isn’t perfect, there’s a lot worse out there.” E’s comments sent me on a flashback, to my first full-time job after graduation. The company owner g

Sometime when you're feeling important When your ego is fully in bloom. Sometime when you take it for granted You're the best qualified in the room. Sometime when you feel that your exit Will leave an unfillable space. Sometime when you cannot imagine How others will continue with grace. Take a bucket and fill it with water. Put your hand in it, up to the wrist. Pull it out - and the hole that's remaining Is the scope of how much you'll be missed. For Rutherposts direct to y

(It was early 1980s: I had my marketing degree, and a new job at an agency. Not long after my first day, I met Larry - a new client who was adding a security hardware business to his growing portfolio. I asked him how he started…) Larry’s first venture was selling carpets. His office was a back bedroom at home, his logistics operation was a white van. He gave the impression that he ran a big company because his wife answered calls by saying “this is reception”, and he had t

This series of ‘TGJTC’ blogposts was originally prompted by an email signed by the Chief Deputy Auditor. Not Deputy Chief (the second in line) but Chief Deputy. I imagine that there were more than one ‘Chief’ at that level too, just to keep everyone on their toes. TGJTC #1 started with my General Manager role, which was a misnomer at best. I’ll come back to that in a moment. Subsequent postings about VP, CMO, Director and Partner tried to give each some context, definition an

It's that time of year, when that level of stress is felt on both sides of the sales counter. Trudging from shop to shop, the only thing that keeps me sane is reflecting on interpersonal behaviour - mine, the Shop Assistants', and everyone else. Hence I've been testing Mehrabian's theory about verbal and non-verbal communication. Scene 1 - The Bookshop. The Assistant stands in front of doors, opened under the stairs. It might be the entrance to Narnia. I've been a customer h

At the start of this week I noticed this bar graph (below). It had been reposted by a LinkedIn 'Strategic Advisor' and subsequently 'Liked' by several LinkedIn members. Suitably inspired, I posted an observation: "So what? Data without meaning." then sat back, like an angler waiting for a bite. It didn't take long. The next post appeared from C, who described himself a student intern at a large corporation. "In my view, the data shows that the world's most performance orienta

A venture fund investor asked me to look into a small company that had attracted him a couple of years before, now he wasn’t so sure. “Either the proposition is falling behind a fast moving market, or it’s the way the Founder addresses the market. Take up the drains and let me know what you find.” He was right about both. Founder wasn’t a bad person, just someone who was in love with the technology and had no interest in his customers. Of course, he wanted to sell his sol

The elderly lady was the Piaf-sparrow type, head and shoulders shorter than the smartphoned, ear-plugged, texting commuters who hadn’t reall

As I walked through a shopping mall earlier this week, a young woman sitting at her sales display called me across the concourse: "Do you know what we're doing here today?" Such a bizzare enquiry. Even now, I have no idea what she was pitching; I can remember a display of Victorian-style pharmaceutical drawers, and bottles set on the top, I think. As I close my eyes and try to recall, the display is a blur. Her question is more vivid. "Do you know what we're doing here today?

40 Books in 2018 Tim Harford MESSY 328pp Abacus 2016 The argument: that we often succumb to the temptation of a tidy-minded approach when we'd be better served by embracing a degree of mess. Harford weaves dozens of vignettes to illustrate his case. Here’s one from each chapter: COURAGE! (Chapter 4 - Improvising) When Martin Luther King Jr. started giving sermons as a young boy, he also began his lifetime habit of practicing. Before each Sunday sermon, he’d spend as much a