Inspirations

There was an Old Woman who swallowed a fly ....

Graham Birkenhead • Jul 30, 2024

A friend was telling me of an unfolding story that was happing in his neighbourhood over the last 2 years. His neighbour had kept chickens, but because they didn't control or store the chickenfeed properly, they started to get large numbers of rats and mice. In order to deal with the rats and mice, they got a couple of female cats - but they...

Not all Squeaky Wheels can be heard

Graham Birkenhead • Jul 16, 2024

We all know the old adage 'the squeaky wheel gets the oil (or grease)' which means that often, the loudest or most noticeable voices or complaints are the ones that get addressed. And while we think we are attuned to this particular effect, when we are immersed in the day-to-day operational reality with a need to keep things moving, our natural,...

Lessons from a Marketing Pioneer

Graham Birkenhead • Jul 9, 2024

I recently visited Fulford Place in Brockville, Ontario. Fulford Place was built in the early 1900s by George Fulford as his rather grand family residence, and was situated in 10 acres on the shores of the St Lawrence River. It is now a museum - and very much worth a visit if you are in the

The Elephant in the Echo Chamber

Graham Birkenhead • Jun 25, 2024

Consider the story of the blind men and the elephant. Each man touches a different part of the elephant and describes it based on his limited experience. One feels the trunk and thinks it’s a snake, another touches the leg and believes it’s a tree, while another feels the side and describes it as a wall, the fourth holds its tail and thinks it's...

The Tao of Mosquitoes

Graham Birkenhead • Jun 4, 2024

This reminded me of the way we deal with many issues or problems in business. Issues such as market fluctuations, regulatory changes, customer complaints, operational inefficiencies, competitor actions, or overlooked details are inevitable to some degree, and often they are individually slight. It is often easier to 'tolerate' them and push...

The Peril of Weak Values

Graham Birkenhead • Apr 30, 2024

There have been several cases recently where companies have truly demonstrated the strength - or weakness - of their values; 2 in particular provide an interesting contrast: In general, a majority of consumers buy or advocate for brands that stand up for what they believe in. The specific values your company holds are less important than how...

So, you think you are a Strategic Thinker?

Graham Birkenhead • Mar 26, 2024

you'd be right Strategy can be considered the process of achieving your goals (like the vision of dinner) using available resources (what I have in the cupboard) and within constraints (guests arrive in a few hours). Of course, I could go and increase my available resources by buying more ingredients. So, while we all can and do think...

The Answers are out there ...

Graham Birkenhead • Feb 27, 2024

And while we can look at the legacy of human endeavour for many answers to today's questions, there is a much richer and older source of inspiration and ideas that could help us solve many of our more tactical and systemic challenges. And that is the natural world around us. Over millions or billions of years of evolution, living organisms...