Insurers' journeys to build a mastery in the IoT usage
22 FROM 22.pptx
1. 22 FROM 22
THE BEST BUSINESS BOOKS OF 2022
greatesthitsblog.com
2. A library of over 480 books
A blog
A series of printed books
One-page summaries
One-sentence summaries
Training programmes
Motivational speeches
A fertile source of new ideas
greatesthitsblog.com
4. 1. In an era of global contagion, we urgently need to cultivate a mindset of
empathy for strangers and value diversity.
2. A key principle of anthropology is that listening to someone’s else’s view,
however “strange”, does not just teach empathy for others, but it also makes it
easier to see yourself. Author Horace Miner said: “Anthropology alone among the
sciences strives to make the strange familiar and the familiar strange.” The aim is
to increase our understanding of both.
3. Embracing the strange-familiar concept enables us to see blind spots in others
and ourselves.
Echoing these principles, the book covers:
1. Making the strange familiar: all humans instinctively shy away from and scorn
cultures that seem strange, but it pays to embrace “strange” and culture shock by
using participant observation or ethnography.
2. Making the familiar strange: it is human nature to assume that the way we live is
“normal” and everything else is weird, but that’s wrong. There are multiple ways to
live, and when we look at the world through someone else’s eyes, we see
ourselves more objectively – particularly risks and opportunities. When people feel
they are dealing with “others” they often get things wrong.
3. Listening to social silence: we live in a world of constant noise, but much is
hidden in plain sight. Ethnographic tools such as habitus, reciprocity, and sense-
making can help.
All of this can be crystalized in the phrase: “That may be your worldview, but it is
not everybody’s.” Simple to say, but not easy to remember.
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5. You can build good habits and
break bad ones with hundreds
of small decisions.
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6. People think that when you want to change your life, you need to think
big. In fact, it comes from the compound effect of hundreds of miniscule
changes, which the author calls atomic habits – tiny changes that are
easy to do that build into something much bigger.
If you can get 1% better each day, you’ll end up with results 37% better
after one year.
We expect success to be linear but results are delayed so instead you
face a valley of disappointment first.
Goals are not as effective as systems because:
– 1. Winners and losers have the same goals
– 2. Achieving a goal is only a momentary change
– 3. Goals restrict your happiness
– 4. Goals are at odds with long-term progress
You do not rise to the level of your goals. You fall to the level of your
systems.
Changing habits is challenging because (1) we try to change the wrong
thing and (2) we try to change our habits in the wrong way. Identity-
based habits are the most powerful because they focus on who you
wish to become. Progress requires unlearning.
The word identity comes from the latin essentitas (being) and identidem
(repeatedly) – literally, your ‘repeated beingness.’
All habits proceed through 4 stages:
1. Cue. 2. Craving. 3. Response. 4. Reward.
How to create a good habit: Make it obvious, attractive, easy, satisfying.
How to break a bad habit: Make it invisible, unattractive, difficult,
unsatisfying.
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7. BELIEVING BULLSHIT
Our cultural landscape is
riddled with intellectual black
holes, but by understanding the
techniques that people use in
order to create them we can
avoid being sucked into these
intellectual flytraps.
greatesthitsblog.com
8. BELIEVING BULLSHIT
In order to immunize ourselves against the proponents of crackpot theories, we
need to understand 8 mechanisms that they use.
1. Playing the mystery card. This involves making unjustified appeals to mystery,
such as suggesting that this is “beyond the ability of science to decide.” However,
few scientists believe in scientism – the idea that science can explain every
legitimate question.
2. “But it fits!” This is coming up with ways of making evidence and theory ‘fit’ after
all. Any theory, no matter how absurd, can be made consistent with the evidence.
It is often combined with an approach the author calls the blunderbuss - firing off
endless salvos of apparent problems with the other theory.
3. Going nuclear. This is exploding a sceptical philosophical argument that appears
to bring all beliefs down to the same level. This forces a draw in any debate.
4. Moving the semantic goalposts. This dodges possible refutations by switching
back and forth between meanings to confuse the issue.
5. “I just know!” This suggests that the truth of someone’s belief has somehow been
revealed to them, for example by some sort of psychic or god-sensing faculty.
6. Pseudoprofundity. This is the art of making the trite, false or nonsensical appear
both true and deep. These are often word plays or statements that create the
illusion of a profound insight into the human condition.
7. Piling up the anecdotes. Anecdotes are in most cases almost entirely worthless as
evidence but they can be highly persuasive when offered in great quantity.
8. Pressing your buttons. This relies on certain kinds of non-truth-sensitive
techniques for shaping belief, including isolation, control, uncertainty, repetition,
and emotional manipulation. greatesthitsblog.com
9. It is
Racism arose as a means of
rationalising an exploitative
economic programme and
was only abolished when it
ceased to become financially
viable.
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10. It is a myth that abolishing slavery and emancipation was a mark of Britain’s
moral progress. In fact, slavery played a critical role at the heart of the Industrial
Revolution in Britain and only stopped when it was no longer viable.
The economist Adam Smith said that the prosperity of a new colony depends on
one simple economic factor: plenty of good land. But there are two types of
land: a self-sufficient and diversified economy of small farmers (so-called ‘earth
scratchers’) and large-scale facilities for the production of staples for the export
market. Although an ‘odious resource,’ slavery was an economic institution of
the first importance.
Slavery in the Caribbean has been too narrowly defined with the Negro (the
author’s choice of word). In fact, unfree labour was brown, white, black, and
yellow. The Indians were the first but were found to be weaker than the blacks
and were replaced with poor whites before blacks. Many slavers felt that whites
were more troublesome because they would have greater aspirations to
freedom.
It sounds contradictory but many of the leading slave traders in the UK were
humanitarians, and there were many in the church.
The whole system was based on what the author calls the Triangular Trade –
England, France and Colonial America provided the exports and the ships,
Africa the human merchandise, and the plantations the colonial raw materials.
Bristol, Liverpool, and Glasgow were constant rivals in conducting the most
trade, and regularly changed the cargo they were handling in order to stay
ahead and earn more - wool, cotton, sugar, rum, tobacco, metals, and pacotille
(glass and beads for decorative trinkets much loved on the African slave coast). greatesthitsblog.com
11. If you play the game right, you
can move up the corporate
ladder and stay there.
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12. 1. The leadership mindset is BOO – Blind Overconfident Oblivion is an important prerequisite for
every corporate leader, so you first need to firmly believe in your own greatness if you want
others to believe in you.
2. Communicate like a leader – the current gold standard in leadership communication is the
“platitude-bullshit-lie” model. HOW you communicate beats WHAT.
3. Play the status game – it is your status that really defines what you can achieve. As a high-
status leader, you are expected to persistently ignore individuals’ ideas, thoughts, or emotions
because people respect assholes.
4. Attract the praise – leverage praise for your personal advancement and develop the forgotten
art of skilfully blaming others when things go wrong.
5. Always seem busy – use the time-management matrix to have other guys “stretch
themselves”. Use techniques to demonstrate that you’re buzzing with activity when accepting
phone calls or attending meetings. True leaders are actually not that busy but are experts in
keeping others busy.
6. Mix with the right people – belonging to the right tribe is a key ingredient of a very successful
career. Join the right tribe because ingratiation is an important driver.
7. Bond with the company values – company values are irrelevant to driving the business but can
be crucial to boosting your career, so do everything you can to make others think you care
about company values.
8. Focus on the short term – long-term thinking is bullshit. You need to passionately TALK about
strategy and long-term visions, but keep your energy focused on short-term objectives.
9. Avoid breakthrough – great leaders must stay away from any non-mainstream project but need
to TALK about breakthrough as often as possible. Always claim personal victory if someone
else’s breakthrough project turns out well.
10. Tell a great story – it pays for senior leaders to invent UBAs (Useless Bullshit Acronyms) like
BHAG (Big Hairy Audacious Goals). Storytelling leadership is known as strategic planning.
11. Silence critics – it is never your work that is being criticized; it is YOU as a person. Win/win
does not work because there is no way you can compromise on status and egos so you need
to sell win/lose in a convincing way. greatesthitsblog.com
13. Managing an increasingly
fragile planet requires new
thinking on markets,
institutions and governance -
we need to phase out
environmentally harmful
subsidies, impose taxes,
regulations and market-based
incentives to reduce damage,
and use the revenues to
support green innovation,
investment and conservation.
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14. This new thinking should be based on five principles: ending the underpricing of
nature, fostering collective action, accepting absolute limits, attaining
sustainability and promoting inclusivity. It requires decoupling wealth creation
from environmental degradation through business, policy and financial actions
aimed at better stewardship of the biosphere.
The book analyses the scientific evidence in relation to planetary fragility,
climate change, land use and biodiversity, freshwater, and oceans and coasts.
It defines 5 eras that define our relationship with nature: the rise of agriculture
from 10,000 years ago; the emergence of global trade and the world economy
1000–1500 AD; the period of global frontiers 1500–1750; the fossil fuel age
1750–1970; and The Great Acceleration 1970–present.
We don’t know exactly what happens when Earth system thresholds are
crossed, but one possibility is that The Great Acceleration will lead to a
catastrophic Anthropocene.
We need to address 3 critical questions:
1. How do we reduce impacts to ensure a safe Anthropocene?
2. How do we design and run our economies to avoid and environmental risks?
3. What policies are required to decouple wealth creation and economic
prosperity from environmental degradation?
At the heart of the concept of sustainability is intergenerational equity – to
ensure that future generations have the same levels of economic opportunities
and wellbeing that we currently enjoy.
A green economy results in improved human wellbeing and social equity, while
significantly reducing environmental risks and ecological scarcities.
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15. It is possible to have
productive conversations
even with people with
entrenched views if you foster
a climate of civility,
connection and empathy.
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16. Heated debates often lead to insults and shaming, blocking productive
discourse. But if you develop practical conversation techniques you can learn
the subtle art of instilling doubts and opening minds. The fundamentals are:
• 1. Goals. Why are you engaged in this conversation?
• 2. Partnerships. Be partners, not adversaries.
• 3. Rapport. Develop and maintain a good connection.
• 4. Listen. Listen more, talk less.
• 5. Shoot the messenger. Don’t deliver your truth – it’s not your job to convert
people.
• 6. Intentions. People have better intentions than you think.
• 7. Walk away. Don’t push your conversation partner beyond their comfort zone.
If you want to start changing people’s minds, try these techniques:
• 1. Modeling. Model the behaviour you want to see in others.
• 2. Words. Define terms up front (people use words like faith, belief etc.
differently)
• 3. Ask questions. Focus on a specific question.
• 4. Acknowledge extremists. Point out bad things that people on your side of the
argument do.
• 5. Navigate social media. Do not vent on it.
• 6. Don’t blame, do discuss contributions. Shift from blame to contribution.
• 7. Focus on epistemology (the investigation of what distinguishes justified belief
from opinion). Figure out how people know what they claim to know.
• 8. Learn. Learn what makes someone close-minded.
• 9. What not to do: be discourteous, display anger, raise your voice, talk over
someone, ridicule or blame, accuse someone of being stupid, etc.
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17. There are seven vital areas that
go towards creating the
world’s most enduring
employee-focused
organizations.
greatesthitsblog.com
18. 1. Teams, not hierarchy: A team is defined as a highly interdependent group of
people that comes together in a physical or virtual setting to plan work, solve
problems, make decisions, and review progress toward a specific goal.
2. Work, not jobs: Hierarchies engage in replacement management, often
called succession planning. The span of control in management (number of
employees per manager) ranges between 6 and 10, so competition is fierce.
3. Coach, not boss: Leaders are all flawed people, the right leader for a given
time may be wrong for another, and leaders have an enormous, outsized
impact on culture, engagement and productivity.
4. Culture, not rules: Culture is the shared values, attitudes, standards, and
beliefs that characterize an organization. Many executives believe that
redesigning the physical office will suddenly increase productivity, promote
collaboration, and increase engagement. This is only partially true.
5. Growth, not promotion: The “growth, not promotion” management principle
means optimizing growth in everything a company does.
6. Purpose, not profits: While profits fuel a company’s growth, irresistible
companies are essentially institutions that garner loyalty, commitment, and
energy from their employees.
7. Employee experience, not output: Employee experience is the idea that we
can’t just design jobs and work practices; we have to look at employees’ total
experience at work.
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19. If you are a native English
speaker, you need to adjust the
way you speak to those for
whom English is not their first
language.
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20. This short book explains how to practice effective communication in a multilingual world. Many
native English speakers think that because English is the global language of communication
they are fine because everyone understands them, but often they don’t.
In fact, people whose first language is not English often find the English used every day hard
to understand.
Non-native speakers now outnumber native speakers by 4 to 1. They are likely to have learned
by formal training, and that is not the way native speakers speak.
Native speakers are often not good at adjusting their English to the manner and level used.
E1 refers to a native speaker. E2 refers to those for whom English is not their first language. It
may even be their third or fourth.
If you are E1, then you can help by taking a number of steps to adapt your language
o Pause. You are likely to speed up once you get going, but you need to slow down and try
to avoid unnatural and exaggerated language. Pause between sections to allow bite-size
chunks that others can process.
o Cut down on unnecessary filler words such as ‘as it were’, ‘sort of/kind of’, ‘well basically’
and so on.
o Understand that the meaning of many phrases is not obvious. Try to make the meaning
of idioms clear by using shorter, simpler phrases.
o Small talk is linguistically demanding and tiring - so keep it to a minimum.
o Be careful with vague questions. Keep them short and prevent them sounding rude by
adopting the right tone and making sure you sound polite.
o Beware disappearing sounds. Words that merge with others or disappear are confusing
(such as ‘D’ya wanna’ go or ‘I shud’ve dunnit’)
o Be aware that politeness can be a barrier to communication. It is often full of
unnecessary language and idioms and can even hide the real message. Keep it simple.
greatesthitsblog.com
21. There are always jerks at work
but you can deal with them
effectively by recognising their
archetypes, understanding how
they tick, and using tactics to
expose their weak points and
restore your emotional
wellbeing.
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22. This is a practical and often amusing book by a New York University
Professor of Psychology. She identifies seven types of toxic co-worker:
1. Kiss up/kick downer: belittles you in front of those they want to impress
2. The Credit Stealer: opportunistically takes credit for the work of others
3. The Bulldozer: asserts power early on, finds teams that can’t function
without their expertise, bullies bosses into submission
4. The Free Rider: works on teams where it’s hard to establish who did what,
takes on work that has the veneer of importance but requires little effort
5. The Micromanager: always provides unreasonable deadlines, assigns mind-
numbing useless tasks, then disappears completely for long periods
6. The Neglectful Boss: ignores you for long periods, then sweeps in to exert
control, usually at an inappropriate stage of a project
7. The Gaslighter: isolates you by making you feel part of something special,
destroys your sense of self-worth, starts with small lies then moves on to big
ones
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23. Liberalism has become
divisive in modern times,
but the original moderate
version of it remains the
best hope for twenty-first
century democracy.
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24. Liberalism was originally the comparatively mild-mannered sibling to the
more ardent camps of nationalism and socialism but is has come under
attack from conservatives and progressives on either side and is now
dismissed by many as an obsolete doctrine.
Its principles have been pushed to their limits by both sides – neoliberals
have made a cult of economic freedom and leftists focus exclusively on
identity over human universality.
The classical premises of liberalism are observing the rule of law,
independence of judges, and equality of respect. The book defines this, along
with how it evolved into the more extreme form of neoliberalism, how the
basic liberal principle of personal autonomy was absolutized and turned into
a critique of individualism, and how modern technology has challenged the
liberal principle of free speech.
In essence, classical liberalism is an institutional solution to the problem of
governing over diversity, or peacefully managing diversity in pluralistic
societies.
At the extremes, protection of individual autonomy has been pushed to create
gross inequalities, remove tolerance, and encourage identity politics (such as
focusing on a fixed characteristic like race, ethnicity or gender).
Groups are defined not simply by their victimization, but by the deep cultural
traditions that bind them together.
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25. We can stop causing climate
change if we adopt a clear
unilateral plan and get on with
it fast.
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26. We have wasted the last 30 years, so the goal of net zero carbon emissions
needs a rethink. If we enact this plan, we make no further contribution to
global warming, but there isn’t much time left.
Far more fossil fuels have been burnt in the past 30 years than in the entire
19th century. Everyone wants what the first carbon economies have got. If you
think we are kicking the fossil fuel habit, think again.
Global emissions are still going up because of burning ever more fossil fuels,
the irrelevance of renewables so far, and the destruction of the natural
environment’s ability to sequestrate carbon. The golden age of the fossil fuels
is based on burgeoning demand, notably from China, the coming of gas and
new technologies (notably shale), and the absence of any effective climate
change policies. In the UK, the public now believes that we are making good
progress and it is not going to cost them much. Cakeism suggests that you
can have it all without making any sacrifices, but it’s not true.
If the UK wants to make no further unilateral contribution to global warming,
then it is the altogether harder net zero carbon consumption that matters, not
just the easier bit of net zero carbon production.
There are 3 critical principles to designing a sustainable economy:
1. The polluter pays: pollution has to be costed and everyone must pay. That
means everything will be more expensive - carbon border taxes are essential.
2. The provision of public goods: these are non-rival and non-excludable, and
governments must create them
3. Net environmental gain principle: any damage done must be compensated
for by more than the expected damage (the precautionary principle) greatesthitsblog.com
27. It is possible to build a world-
class business by doing the
right thing.
greatesthitsblog.com
28. It isn’t possible to summarise 100 points, but here are some that stand out:
Nice is not patting people on the head. It’s every person respecting every other
person. Do that and you create a great business. It’s a credo for life.
Find a trustworthy single source of advice and stick with it
Take a risk but be sure to pick the right people
If you hire small minds you will end up with a small company
Beware of success – egos can be destructive
Don’t be greedy
Be careful what you wish for – the price can be high
If you don’t believe in it, how can I?
The objectivity of ignorance means you should think like a customer for as long
as you can before you know too much about an issue
Value what you do
Old product development is just as important as new product development –
review your existing assets
Get to the people who can say ‘yes’ and avoid those who can only say ‘no’
Learn how to take ‘yes’ for an answer
Be gracious in defeat
Cherish your foot soldiers as much as your high-flyers
Understand how important it is to listen
Little things mean a lot
People are more important than machines
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29. This is a global action plan
for solving our climate crisis
now.
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30. The author is an engineer, philanthropist and venture capital backer who has
drawn together a plan based on specific objectives and key results (OKRs).
Speed & scale has aligned its targets with the most ambitious target, a warming of
no more than 1.5°C. The 6 action areas (with their required gigaton reductions)
are:
1. Electrify transportation: switch from gasoline and diesel engines to fleets of plug-
in bikes, cars, trucks and buses. 6Gt
2. Decarbonize the grid: replace fossil fuels with solar, wind and other zero-
emissions sources. 21 Gt
3. Fix food: restore carbon-rich topsoil, adopt better fertilization practices, motivate
people to eat more proteins and less beef, and reduce food waste. 7 Gt
4. Protect nature: interventions for forests, soil and oceans. 7 Gt
5. Clean up industry: all manufacturing, particularly cement and steel, must sharply
lower their carbon emissions. 8 Gt
6. Remove carbon: remove CO2 and store it for the long term, using natural and
engineered solutions. 10 Gt
There are four areas that can accelerate the transition: Policy & politics,
Movements, Innovation, and Investment.
The plan is geared to the timelines of two other initiatives: E. O. Wilson’s Half-
Earth challenge to commit 50% of the planet to nature (50x50) and the Campaign
for Nature’s call to protect 30% of the planet by 2030 (30x30).
greatesthitsblog.com
31. John Adair
Judgment is often
misperceived as an
unchangeable, elusive element
of character but in fact it is an
art - one that can be honed,
developed and mastered.
greatesthitsblog.com
32. John Adair
The author outlines 10 principles:
1. Thinking to some purpose – you need a purpose to make sound judgment –
purposive thinking
2. Decision-making – listen, think, act
3. Experience – the seedbed
4. Truth - the leading star
5. Clear thinking – see below
6. Your first vocation – is to be an engineer, soldier, doctor (domain experience)
7. Leadership – your second vocation is to be a leader and rise above your
domain experience
8. How to share decisions – the more people share in them, the more committed
they are to carrying them out
9. The role of values
10. Practical wisdom
Clear thinking links 4 things together:
1. Purpose: the ultimate end within a given context
2. Aims and goals: more specific and refined. Aims are directional but open-
ended. Goals are aims that have a closed end.
3. Objectives: specific and time bound. Target is an alternative name.
4. Steps: very definite things you can do in the present to achieve objectives,
usually in a sequence.
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33. We need to think
radically about work
now and in the future to
address problems such
as endemic stagnant
productivity and high
stress levels – both of
which were present
before the pandemic.
greatesthitsblog.com
34. Work as the professional class knew it stopped in early 2022 and the Nowhere
Office officially came into existence. We don’t know how long this new phase will
last but we do know that in the here and now (now-here?) it just relocated, largely
because of the internet.
Since the war, there have been 4 phases of work:
1. The Optimism years (1945-1977): faith in institutions and government high
2. The Mezzanine years (1978-2006): office work feels less glamorous and
technology arrives pretty much everywhere
3. The Co-working years (2007-2019): the great acceleration continues and no one
has time to stop and think
4. The Nowhere office years (2020-): in which 6 shifts are happening:
Shift 1: Placeless, timeless: large amounts of work can be done anywhere, anytime
Shift 2: Worker beings: flexibility everywhere, with people not being defined by what
they do
Shift 3: The productivity puzzle: there is a tension between those who believe that
being physically present aids productivity and those who don’t
Shift 4: New networks: diversity works, elitism doesn’t
Shift 5: Marzipan management: there is no need for multiple layers of management
anymore, if ever there was
Shift 6: Social health and well-being: both are critical to the modern business
greatesthitsblog.com
35. It is our differences and
how we combine them
that creates true diversity
and generates innovation
and fresh thinking.
greatesthitsblog.com
36. This is written by one of the original founders of Stonewall.
Good intentions are not enough – they can only get you so far, so real diversity
is about change.
The complexities of diversity and inclusion need to meet practical solutions by
creating alliances through difference.
Conflict is valuable when it is turned into something positive. We need to do
something more than make gestures.
Diversity is the right thing to do, the representative thing to do, and the smart
business thing to do.
Inclusion is not just about being nice to people. We need to celebrate
difference, not similarity.
The essence of inclusion is that it must embrace reasonable disagreement.
It is a mistake to identify the goal in conflict as prevention, containment or
resolution.
Diversity is not a minority sport – we need to be differently different.
Norms too often aren’t norms at all. Diversity has a contradictory problem with
minorities because labels set up traps.
Unconscious bias is an excuse. Training in it lets everyone off.
Bias is damaging but it’s not a character flaw – it’s history. We have to design
out the bias because it won’t happen on its own.
‘Safe spaces’ damage diversity.
We need to do the work, not beat ourselves up. Employees need to be
engaged to listen to each other and find solutions.
Complexity needs diversity and creating diversity doesn’t happen accidentally.
Diversity isn’t harder to manage – you only think it is. greatesthitsblog.com
37. Having ‘no regrets’ is
nonsense and even dangerous,
because looking backward
moves us forward.
greatesthitsblog.com
38. Everybody has regrets. They’re a fundamental part of our lives. If we reckon with
them in fresh and imaginative ways, we can enlist our regrets to make smarter
decisions, perform better, and deepen our sense of meaning and purpose.
The author set up his own World Regret Survey – the largest sampling of
attitudes about regret ever conducted, covering more than 16,000 people in 105
countries.
He identifies four core regrets. These operate as a ‘photographic negative’ of the
good life. By understanding what people regret the most, we can understand
what they value the most.
Regret is not dangerous or abnormal. It is an integral part of being human. It
clarifies and instructs. Don’t dodge emotions or ignore feelings but don’t wallow in
them either. Confront them and use them as a catalyst for future behaviour.
Feeling is for thinking.
The four core regrets are:
1. Foundation regrets: failure to be responsible, conscientious or prudent. (“If only
I’d done the work.”) Need: stability.
2. Boldness regrets: we are much more likely to regret the chances we didn’t take
than the ones we did. (“If only I’d taken the risk.”) Need: growth.
3. Moral regrets: morally dubious decisions can gnaw at us for ages, usually
involving harm, cheating, disloyalty, subversion or desecration. (“If only I’d done
the right thing.”) Need : goodness.
4. Connection regrets: failure to start or keep up relationships (rifts and drifts). (“If
only I’d made contact.”) Need: love.
greatesthitsblog.com
39. There are many tools that help
with brainstorming, problem
solving and decision making.
greatesthitsblog.com
40. Feeling (feel good)
Fluency (be recognisable)
This book contains 68 tools for brainstorming, problem solving and decision
making. As working life becomes more complex, we are increasingly faced with
problems that may at first seem insoluble. But whatever their size, there are a lot
of techniques you can use to solve them.
The book explains each technique, when and how to use them, and their
strengths and limitations. Some are quick fixes which can be used when working
alone. Others are large scale and can be used with groups of 100 people or
more. You can use them separately or in combination with each other. They are
especially useful to help you:
Frame problems so they can be solved
Find a solution to even the most intractable problem
Enjoy the process of problem solving, whether alone or in collaboration with
others
Become more creative in your thinking so that, over time, solutions begin to
present themselves
It also explains how to overcome barriers to problem solving, preparation needs,
and then each technique in turn.
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41. Thinking before you plan
is vital. Strategists who
don’t take time to think
are just planners.
greatesthitsblog.com
42. Feeling (feel good)
Fluency (be recognisable)
This is a handbook explaining how to generate powerful strategies, and what
the strategy tools are that you can use.
Strategy is all about shaping the future, and that requires a combination of
thinking, planning and reacting to events that emerge along the way.
The crucial questions are:
What do we want to do?
What do we think is possible?
What do we need to do to achieve our goals?
When should we react to new opportunities and adapt plans?
Thinking before you plan is vital. Strategists who don’t take time to think are
just planners.
Imaginative, open, playful, passionate thinking is required before the serious
work of planning begins. This involves knowing where the grass really is
greener.
Inspiration and insight can be drawn from looking forward, backwards, and
outwards, which often means blending smart prediction with past experience
and astute observation of what’s happening outside the company and the
category.
Strategists need to know what stage their organisation, industry, products and
services have reached. What crises have they survived? What will be next?
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43. In a world where climate
change affects supply
chains and customer
expectations require
businesses to take
action, organisations
can no longer ignore the
issue of business
sustainability because it
drives innovation, brand
value and profit.
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44. Feeling (feel good)
Fluency (be recognisable)
To make the most of purpose, companies need to review corporate assets and
history, engage with stakeholders, craft the purpose statement, ensure that the
core business strategy is aligned to it, socialize and communicate it, and
measure impact.
The term materiality comes from the accounting industry, relating to the
disclosure or omission of information that could have important consequences
for the financial value of the company. In this context, it refers to the process of
identifying, defining and prioritizing sustainability or ESG issues for a business.
A materiality matrix maps impact on society and the environment alongside
impact on enterprise value, enabling a company to determine its most
pressing ESG/sustainability issues. (The rise of the ESG agenda leads the
authors to regard the term as a synonym for sustainability.)
Sustainability or ESG governance is defined as: the formal process
established by the board of a company to ensure oversight of the company’s
responsibilities for its social, environmental and economic impacts and to
guarantee that a company’s specific sustainability commitments are met.
Building a business case involves applying existing, external data and
evidence, examining company-specific evidence and benchmarking with
peers, and creating cross-functional teams to provide relevant case data to
different stakeholders.
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45. You do have to mine to
produce minerals for a
clean energy world, but
you don’t need to do it
anywhere near as much
as in a fossil fuel world -
the total mining burden
would drop by 80%.
greatesthitsblog.com
46. Feeling (feel good)
Fluency (be recognisable)
We depend on a handful of metals and rare earths to power our phones and
computers and, increasingly, our cars and our homes. Whoever controls these
finite commodities will become rich beyond imagining.
The book looks at the troubled history of the electric vehicle, the lithium-ion
revolution, the Chinese lithium rush, the cobalt problem (including blood
cobalt), dirty nickel, green copper, and even mining the deep sea (technically
‘dredging nodules’, because it does not involve extraction).
The battery age depends on a small group of metals – lithium, cobalt, copper
and nickel. A range of characters and companies are scrambling for these
resources, from remote mines in the Congo and Chile’s Atacama Desert to
giant Chinese battery factories through to shadowy commodity traders and
secret billionaires who control mining rights.
But it is the new generation of scientists attempting to solve the dilemma of a
greener world that hold out the best prospects.
Even if the worst abuses of the mining world were 10 times more frequent than
alleged, they would not come close to matching the damage from fossil fuels
that batteries, solar panels and wind turbines could replace.
8.7 million people a year, most of them poor, die from breathing the particulates
and other by-products of coal, oil and gas – one death in five on the planet,
more than HIV/Aids, malaria, tuberculosis, war and terrorism combined.
The price of renewables has come inexorably down over the years because, as
much as minerals, they depend on intelligence.
40% of ship traffic on our planet at present is simply shipping coal, oil and gas
eternally back and forth. greatesthitsblog.com
47. • Be inquisitive
• Make the time
• Understand the lines of argument
• Have a point of view
• Inform your work
• Enjoy the debate
• Ask Kevin to speak or train
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