John Potter
Quality
LinkedInMore years than I care to remember in the IT industry working for multi-year periods with Logica, the NHS, ICL in the UK and Portugal, Software One/One Meaning, Oracle in the UK and USA, and latterly Footdown/Tensense. During these decades I tried many disciplines – analyst programming, systems programming, design, project management, product management and quality assurance – and was highly productive in most. Now extremely fortunate, due to the generosity of Tensense leaders, to be involved in a very part-time way working in an area that I find fascinating and which I view as crucial for all organisations.
Revolution in company culture
In her meticulous annual review of workplace trends, Jeanne Meister identifies mostly positive changes for employees in 2023 including more inclusive caring behaviour by companies and provision of schemes to support hybrid working, from collaboration to learning. On hybrid learning, Meister quotes Vincent Maurin, e-Academy lead at Arcelor Mittal, who says, “We are envisioning pop-up […]
Coping with the stagflation blues
The outlook in 2023 for the British economy and hence many British companies is grim. Stagflation, the combination of high inflation and persistent low growth, has returned to the UK. As Tony Danker, director-general of the CBI. puts it – “Britain is in stagflation—with rocketing inflation, negative growth, falling productivity and business investment.” Ian Stewart, […]
Dealing with the shrink
Every so often the Telegraph lets non-subscribers like me peek inside its paywall and see a fascinating article such as this one from Jeremy Warner on why companies are reticent about investing in Britain. Sadly, they’ve locked it away again so here’s a synopsis of the message. Warner offers a number of reasons behind this reticence with […]
Avoiding the threat of moral burnout
London Fire Brigade and the Metropolitan Police have been in the news recently for the wrong reasons . LFB has been identified as “institutionally misogynist(ic) and racist” by an independent review, but cases of discrimination, harassment and bullying are not unique to high pressure jobs such as Fire and Police. Nazir Afzal, former Chief Crown […]
The customer experience (CX) challenge
In the current state of double digit inflation and looming tax hikes for companies and their customers, it is even more important that companies retain a competitive edge. Having good products may not be enough when customers are being ever more cautious with their buying decisions. When 70% of consumers say a company is only […]
Unseen Data is the Most Valuable
It is not surprising that life altering and, in some cases life threatening, events such as the pandemic, global inflation and the new war in Europe are having profound effects on people in and out of work. What is surprising is the size of the gap in the understanding of these effects on well-being between […]
Changing role of the COO
Companies, whether in very competitive markets or in a leadership position in a new market, want to achieve operational excellence. The Institute for Operational Excellence defines it as “Each and every employee can see the flow of value to the customer, and fix that flow before it breaks down.” Implicit in this definition is the […]
Improving the sales culture
We are in an inflationary period and it’s not surprising to see the economy heading for a recession. Higher prices and more cautious customers, coupled with an increasingly competitive market, makes the job of selling much more challenging. And as the world continues to change at a fast pace, it is critical for any business […]
Leaders don’t need to be likeable
Most of us will know people who are likeable and often will view them more favourably than the people we know who are less easy to get along with. This human tendency to favour people who are likeable extends to workplace situations such as recruitment. As Tomas Chamorro-Premuzic, CIO at ManpowerGroup, points out in his […]