Picture credit: nikilok

I have an engraved plaque on my desk which warns the reader: “Those who claim to predict the future are all lying, even if by chance they are later proved right.”

A useful caution for any strategic adviser, which we should all heed, especially at this time of year, when all and sundry feel compelled to share their predictions for the year to come. That is not to say that we should not prepare for contingent situations, just that we should not get carried away by an enticing guess.

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 Picture credit: Jude

I am wondering when someone will take the UK Cabinet behind the bikesheds and tell them the truth about the Internet. Andy Burnham, Culture Secretary, is the latest member of the UK Government to demonstrate ignorance about the way the world-wide-web works.  It’s no surprise that the Government wants to extend the Nanny State but they are acting more like a Ninny State, by not thinking of the practical consequences of their policies.  

In an interview in the Daily Telegraph, Burnham sets out a raft of his plans to censor the web and admits that the measures may appear heavy-handed. Here is a key quote from Mr Burnham:

“There is content that should just not be available to be viewed. That is my view. Absolutely categorical. This is not a campaign against free speech, far from it; it is simply there is a wider public interest at stake when it involves harm to other people. We have got to get better at defining where the public interest lies and being clear about it.”

Of course, Burnham claims that his motivation is to protect children from unsuitable material. But we know from bitter experience that the ostensible reasons given for legislation are too often later extended for other political purposes. 

Parents need to accept responsibility for their own children, by ensuring that appropriate safeguards and [parental] standards are  practised in the home. Software and sensitive personal supervision of their kid’s web activity is a far more sensible solution than espousing undeliverable policies of censorship and state intervention.

Here are a few questions for Andy Burnham:

• Who will rate websites?
• Will it be opt-in, or opt-out?
• Who will pay for it?
• Who will police the policy?
• How will trans-national cultural sensitivities be accommodated?

I don’t suppose any of these questions were considered before these brave new policies were espoused. Which is a pity, because they are so obviously needing answers. We deserve better thinking from our elected leaders.

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   Picture credit: fdecomite

It’s been another hard year for the business community and I don’t know anybody that feels relaxed about their prospects for the forthcoming year.

We need to think seriously about how we sustain staff morale not only for the Christmas partying but also for the difficult times ahead.

In my experience, staff morale is one of the greatest unmeasured performance indicators – and yet it is one of the most influential success factors in any business. Show me a thriving company and I’ll bet that strong morale plays a leading part in their success.

Strangely though, nobody has ever asked me to report regularly on the morale within my department. Is it because we think that we can gauge morale simply by tracking the numbers of monthly “Leavers and Joiners,” rather than by asking the straightforward question “how is the team spirit of the department?”

a new key performance indicator

Perhaps I’ve identified a new objective for our management scorecard: to facilitate a happy workforce. Now that would be a really interesting Key Performance Indicator. And a serious challenge.

three suggestions for sustaining morale in difficult times

• mutual support - this is a two-way street and we all need to do our part
• extra sensitivity for others - we will all be under extra pressures, within and beyond the workplace
• have more fun 

having more fun

In the present economic climate we need all of the laughs we can get. So let’s start by putting a bit of sparkle back into our everyday work, wherever we can. It’s quite easy when you start to think about it - there are all sorts of opportunities for “tweaking” things slightly to put people in a better mood - and not just for the holiday season.

Whatever you do, I hope that you thoroughly enjoy yourselves and  don’t forget to include the shift workers, the field workers and the home-workers – these are three very important groups that are easily overlooked when arrangements are being made.

From a purely business management perspective, I can’t think of a more cost-effective way to spend our time –  in the cause of team-building.

Have a great Christmas everybody. We’ve earned it…

Do you think that we pay enough attention to staff morale throughout the year?

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