The Bumble Bee

High performance leadership/decisions: business game findings

Sat, 25 May 2013 16:59:38 +0000

Over the part few years I have been running in-house business games with a number of major enterprises who form executive teams for a global enterprise for a three year period over a single (intensive) day. So far 15 teams, of different levels of seniority, have fully completed the game. Based on their performance I believe I have uncovered 5 very important differences between top performers and the rest in the areas of leadership and decision-making.

C3: a new approach to Collaborative Project Management

Fri, 10 May 2013 15:10:25 +0000

Most approaches to project management concentrate on the tasks which need to be successfully completed to achieve the project goal. Important as this is, it is at most only half of the story of successful project management. The C3 approach addresses the hidden side of project management - the people-collaboration-end-result perspective and is also a powerful tool for conducting a quick project healthcheck.

Instant guide to LinkedIn

Tue, 09 Apr 2013 13:46:32 +0000

Previously Nadia Thompson had put together a short guide to LinkedIn for small businesses and independent consultants which has been very popular and we thought it would be useful to re-publish it here. As an added-bonus also included is a similar guide to Facebook for the same audience!

New interview with Ken Thompson on bioteams and games

Fri, 05 Apr 2013 10:31:15 +0000

I had a fascinating conversation with Rini Das, CEO of Pakra Games, where we discussed my work on business games and how it related to the theories and practices of bioteams which Rini subsequently published here.

The 10 Key Principles of Change Management

Sat, 23 Feb 2013 13:28:18 +0000

Over the last 6 months I have been designing, testing and piloting an exciting new Change Management Game for leaders and teams which lets them experience what it is like to lead a complete 9-month change management project over the course of a single day. The development process forced me to think through what I really believe to be the key principles of change management in a sufficiently clear and concrete way to be able to design an online/offline game round them. Here is what I ended up with:

Behavioural Economics can predict irrational human behaviour

Mon, 31 Dec 2012 14:10:15 +0000

I have been reading about Behavioural Economics (and Behavioural Finance) through the excellent 8-minute summaries from iminds.com. BE explains why we are systemically and predictably irrational in our economic decisions and introduces 2 terms "Bounded Rationality" and "Bounded Willpower" as limits to rationality within which we all operate.

How the way we talk can change the way we work ... and think

Sat, 29 Dec 2012 09:38:00 +0000

I am working through an intriguing book How the way we talk can change the way we work written by two psychologists of adult learning at the Harvard Graduate School of Education. The authors contend that we are naturally immune to any form of change (with our systems quickly rejecting casual changes) and to make change in ourselves and others we must learn 7 new languages (ways) to think and talk about change.

Bioteams: Learning from Nature to improve Project Management

Fri, 28 Dec 2012 11:06:17 +0000

Fabio Padilla from Brazil has written a very interesting review of Bioteams for his MBA thesis at the Universidade Católica de Brasilia - Universa. Fabio has very kindly allowed me to republish a summary of his conclusions which he has translated from the original Portuguese.

What's the difference between a promise and a responsibility?

Tue, 25 Dec 2012 19:57:45 +0000

In the recent UK floods we heard a lot about defences failing and phrases being bandied about by engineers and managers such as "a once in a hundred years" event and "could never have been envisaged." However when I hear these types of explanations it always makes me think instead of the crucial differences between a promise, a responsibility and a guarantee.

The 5 Myths of business: How they invisibly drive our thinking

Wed, 19 Dec 2012 13:17:36 +0000

Strategy and Business Magazine has just published an excellent in-depth article "The Dueling Myths of Business" based on the work of scenario planning expert Betty Sue Flowers who worked with Royal Dutch Shell PLC and the world of big government where she helped draft many influential scenario planning reports.

The Art and Science of Resilience and Survival: 12 Rules Of Life

Mon, 17 Dec 2012 10:29:57 +0000

In "Surviving Survival" Laurence Gonzales looks deeply into the mental processes that enable us to cope with the trauma that often sets in during and after a challenge to our survival. In the final chapter of the book, The Rules of Life, Gonzales outlines 12 key principles of resilience and survival:

New Case Studies published on Bioteams Business Games

Thu, 13 Dec 2012 09:49:15 +0000

ISEE Systems, a leading developer of business simulation tools, have published reviews of two of the new Bioteams online/offline collaboration games developed using the ithink platform. These team games enable companies to share their own best practice (learn from others) in a way that really sticks and to put staff into difficult but realistic decision-making situations where if they make a mistake it does not cost the business!

Convert excel spreadsheets into online simulations and dashboards

Sun, 09 Dec 2012 19:30:59 +0000

There are two neat tools you can use to quickly turn excel spreadsheets into online simulations, what-if models and dashboards. They are Simulate from Forio and Crystal Presentation Design (formerly known as xcelsius) from SAP. Here's the lowdown.

How to be Resilient - Face Reality, Find Meaning, Creatively Improvise.

Sun, 25 Nov 2012 14:10:19 +0000

Diane Koutu, writing for Harvard Business Review, suggests 3 very useful distinctions around being resilient. I like them because they addresses some of the weaknesses of otherwise excellent schools of thought such as Martin Seligman's Learned Optimism - namely that it encourages people just to soldier on and put a brave face on things and not ask for help which can be seen as failure.

White Label Online Change Management Game (cohort) from Bioteams Design

Sun, 25 Nov 2012 13:08:46 +0000

Bioteams readers might be interested to know that I have just launched Cohort - an Online Change Management Game which challenges players to explore different strategies to gain the support of a group of senior executives for a major change initiative. The game is designed to be used in leadership development workshops with up to 20 participants playing competitively in teams.

From a systems perspective the UK Public Sector is totally broken!

Sat, 24 Nov 2012 23:20:35 +0000

John Seddon, in his ground breaking book Systems Thinking in the Public Sector, provides a harrowing view of the "value destroying and non-customer centric system" the UK Public Sector has become locked into in the last 10 years.

The five major theories of how people "learn": a synopsis

Mon, 05 Nov 2012 08:30:40 +0000

Carlton Reeve has written an excellent series of five articles in Play with Learning which compares and contrasts the 5 main theories of learning (Behaviourism, Cognitivism, Constructivist, Experientialism and Social Learning) which underpin personal learning. Carlton also identifies different computer games founded on each theory. I have produced a short synopsis here with links to the 5 original articles which are well worth studying.

How to assess Power and Influence: a simple but effective method

Sun, 21 Oct 2012 22:23:19 +0000

When we are dealing with change we need to be able to make quick but robust assessments of the power/influence of the different players. My colleague, Andrew Constable, has developed a concise but comprehensive approach to assessing power which he calls the 8P's of Power.

Behavioural game design: A Review of popular Gamification Techniques

Mon, 01 Oct 2012 13:53:12 +0000

Gamification, the use of game play mechanics for non-game applications, is a very topical area with many enterprises exploring how they might use it to generate new levels of engagement with their staff or customers (current and prospective). In this article I review some popular gamification approaches/techniques and provide a reading list for further study. I cover 4 key aspects of Gamification: Objectives, Frameworks, Building Blocks and Implementation Risks/Mitigations.

A practical framework for change - head, hearts, hands & feet

Thu, 13 Sep 2012 13:59:03 +0000

The late Stephen Covey always reminded us that "the main thing was to keep the main thing the main thing !" However when you think about "Change Management" you could be excused for thinking its all about detailed road maps and large tomes of procedures and checklists. These are all important but sometimes they can also sadly distract from the whole point of the exercise. To stop you falling into this trap I offer you my easy to remember 4 point mental checklist based on the human body to help you constantly check that you have not been "detail distracted"!

Bioteams develops unique Social Media Impact Forecasting Simulator

Fri, 31 Aug 2012 22:32:27 +0000

I am pleased to announce the development of a unique Business Social Media Impact Forecasting Simulator which provides a simple but scientific approach to developing clear and credible forecasts of the impact including financial benefits of social media campaigns before they are undertaken.

Microsoft Powerpoint: The Bumblebee's 3 most useful PPT add-ins

Mon, 27 Aug 2012 17:55:11 +0000

In an earlier article, The Bumblebee's 7 most useful Excel add-ins, I shared my 7 most useful excel add-ins. Here I share my 3 most useful Powerpoint add-ins - Acoolsoft PPT to Video, iSpring and PPT2HTML. Like excel add-ins once you install them they become available within the powerpoint menus. Unfortunately none of these are free but sometimes you get what you pay for.

Microsoft Excel: The Bumblebee's seven most useful Excel add-ins

Fri, 24 Aug 2012 17:03:05 +0000

There are a plethora of excel add-Ins out there, many of which aim to improve or extend a feature which excel already performs. I am not much interested in these but what I am interested in is add-ins which enable you to do something really useful which you cannot currently do in excel. In this article I introduce seven excel add-ins which meet this criterion - NodeXL, Solver, Rainbow, Spreadsheet Converter, Crystal Ball, Fractal Maps and XCell Compiler.

Persona Management Software destroys internet authenticity

Mon, 20 Aug 2012 15:31:18 +0000

The Guardian reports on the growth in "Persona Management Software" which individuals use to engage in web conversations using multiple identities on forums and social sites. The aim is to create the perception of a (fake) upswell in sentiment on a given topic (a practice is known as astroturfing). The most disturbing revelation is that the US Air Force have tendered for such software.

Consistently resolving 5 or 6 Meta Dilemmas marks top leaders

Thu, 28 Jun 2012 10:20:03 +0000

There are about half a dozen basic dilemma stereotypes which underpin almost all of the operational and strategic issues which challenge leaders today. These are so prevalent and pervasive I call them the META DILEMMAS because they are present in virtually every leadership situation.

15 Principles of Business Game Design for team-based learning

Sat, 23 Jun 2012 09:48:49 +0000

I develop custom business games for team-based experiential learning workshops which usually have a significant computer element. This whole area is strewn with pitfalls, good intentions and misconceptions and there is a huge risk that the game becomes too complex or an end in itself or the graphical aspect of the user interface becomes all consuming at the expense of the learning.

Why you should apply Living Systems Theory to Social Network Design

Thu, 14 Jun 2012 17:12:58 +0000

With the explosion in social software and the recognition that these types of systems need to reach critical mass to survive and prosper it is amazing that so few people are applying the well-established philosophical principles of living systems (autopoiesis) to design for sustainability.

Collaborative thinking: four key roles you need in your team

Sat, 02 Jun 2012 08:57:23 +0000

In his unique book "Dialogue and the art of thinking together" William Issacs introduces the Four-Player System originally developed by David Kantor. This is a very important technique for supporting real collaborative thinking in teams.

TakeTen: Elite Sports Performance techniques for everyone

Mon, 14 May 2012 16:54:28 +0000

Elite sportsmen and women use advanced breathing and focalising techniques to get themselves "into the zone" where exceptional performance becomes the norm. TakeTen a small Belfast company have invented an innovative system to bring these techniques into our classrooms and workplaces in a fun and affordable way.

The secret to building simple verifiable business models

Mon, 14 May 2012 14:17:07 +0000

Many business models used by enterprises have never been calibrated using the organisation's own historical data which seriously undermines their usefulness. This is generally not due to the lack of historical data but because of the way the models have been designed. So can you build business models which do not suffer from this fatal flaw? Absolutely!