What are the Characteristics of Innovative Companies?

What are the Characteristics of Innovative Companies?

In an earlier blog, I warned about thoughtlessly following the practices of successful companies, hoping the magic would rub off on you. Buying in to the latest management fad. What I called “cargo cult management”. But human nature is human ...

The Joy of the 2x2 Matrix

The Joy of the 2×2 Matrix

We have all heard variations of the joke “A consultant is someone who borrows your watch to tell you the time, and then keeps the watch”. They get a lot of flak; some of it richly deserved. Their methods and ...

Let's Make our Homes More Energy-Efficient and Desirable

Let’s Make our Homes More Energy-Efficient and Desirable

Photo by Bethany Opler on Unsplash The challenge of energy-efficient retrofit In the UK, our homes account for about 30% of total energy consumption and about 20% of total carbon emissions. To have any hope of reaching the 2050 net-zero target, we must drastically cut ...

There’s More Than One Way to Solve the Climate Crisis

There’s More Than One Way to Solve the Climate Crisis

When I first started working in industry, I was lucky to have a great manager. One aphorism he drummed into me was: “don’t let best be the enemy of better”. It is easy to keep looking for the optimum; to ...

Coronavirus is Pushing Remote Working - Make It a Success

Coronavirus is Pushing Remote Working – Make It a Success

In the current coronavirus epidemic, one recommendation from health authorities is for people to work from home. There are lots of jobs where this is impossible. It is hard to be a taxi driver, or a nurse, or a professional ...

Smart Building Technology CAN Produce Great Buildings

Smart Building Technology CAN Produce Great Buildings

We need to create buildings that don’t contribute to increasing climate change and can adapt to the climate change that is happening. Buildings that are energy efficient and resilient. Many people point to ‘smart buildings’ as a solution; a technological ...

It's Not Just The Forests That Are Burning - It's Our Cities

It’s Not Just The Forests That Are Burning – It’s Our Cities

Like many people I have watched the TV footage of the wildfires in Australia with shock. So much damage done so quickly, and over such a wide area. I also thought back to last year’s California wildfires and asked myself, ...

SMART Objectives Can Be So Dumb

SMART Objectives Can Be So Dumb

We have all heard the famous Peter Drucker phrase from his 1954 book the Practice of Management – “what gets measured, gets managed”. It is a cliché of management practice, and like all clichés it contains a truth. If you ...

Will  Your Automobile be Part of the National Grid?

Will Your Automobile be Part of the National Grid?

Using the electricity stored in an Electric Vehicle battery to smooth and manage demand on the electricity grid was a big topic at this year’s Low Carbon Vehicles exhibition and conference in September at the Millbrook proving ground. This Vehicle to ...

Batteries Included, But They Need To Be Better

Batteries Included, But They Need To Be Better

Wonderful Lithium-Ion Batteries A few weeks ago, John Goodenough, Akira Yoshino and Stanley Whittingham won the 2019 Chemistry Nobel Prize for their work on Lithium-ion batteries (Li-ion). Lithium-ion batteries have made our portable, cable-free, mobile world. From our mobile phones to cordless ...