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My Video Entries
Category Archives: Business Advice
Focus is the new cool
It must be indisputable by now that the world of work we accepted as normal just a few years ago, has gone forever. The talk when the world’s economies began to dissolve in 2008 into the thin air of which they were largely made was that we’d ride out the bad times to a recovery. [...]
Posted in Best Advice, Building a Happy Sandpit, Business Advice, Observations, The Laws of Colinism
Tagged as: 2008, change, economy, employee, entrepreneur, Focus, innovation, work, workday
You can’t lead if you don’t know your own mind
I’ve been having a blast lately. Interviews and research for Building a Happy Sandpit are well underway and as I dig deeper into South African business culture, I am discovering more-or-less equal amounts of what I might call over- and under-thinking on the subject. What is apparent is that nobody is specifically just zen about [...]
Posted in Building a Happy Sandpit, Business Advice, The Laws of Colinism
Tagged as: building a happy sandpit, business, businesses, companies, company, Culture, happy sandpit, leader, leaders, Leadership, sandpit, South Africa, vision
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Why networks have the power to kill hierarchies
This is a world where networks defeat hierarchies. There are any number of people who depend on their position in a hierarchy for status. It’s a natural thing; even wild animals are ordered by their place on the food chain. And for many people, especially in some of the more traditional cultures, social and professional [...]
Posted in Best Advice, Business Advice, Observations, The Laws of Colinism
Tagged as: America, Arab Spring, food chain, France, hierarchies, hierarchy, network, networks, revolution
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It’s just a matter of people until I make it
In the past month, as I have reconciled myself with a revised game plan which demands that I leave London and return to make Johannesburg my permanent base, I’ve been struck by a recurring observation. We often say that things are just ‘a matter of time’ as if time has anything to do with real [...]
Posted in Best Advice, Business Advice, Observations, The Laws of Colinism
Tagged as: 2013, Bloomsbury, Harry Potter, people, Philosopher's Stone, projects, support, time
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Why we need more small towns
I’ve always been a capitalist. And I’ve often fancied myself as something of a big city sophisticate, though that was probably only ever in my head. As a result, I’ve occasionally rued the fact that I never found a way to live in New York City in my twenties. Certainly with my mindset at the [...]
Posted in Best Advice, Business Advice, Observations, The Laws of Colinism
Tagged as: Banks, contemptuous, crooked, small town, sociopath, sociopathic, UK
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Why positive people will always win in the end
I’ve found myself in an environment of late where I am surrounded by people that I can believe in. Naturally positive people. It’s a really good place to be for someone like me and I thought I’d share a few specific observations: 1) Positive people don’t only make negativity uncomfortably out of place, they have [...]
Posted in Business Advice, Culture Heroes, Observations, The Laws of Colinism, Uncategorized
Tagged as: Balance, High Standard, McFlurry, Negativity, Positive, Positivity, Productivity, Telling the truth
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A fleet in being: the secret to perpetual awesomeness
Firstly, let me apologise for the length of time between posts here. I realise this blog has lost a little momentum lately, but I assure you I haven’t gone anywhere and have not lost the passion for it one little bit. There are other projects underway that require some of my time, and I’m allocating [...]
Posted in Business Advice, Observations, The Laws of Colinism
Tagged as: Apple, awesomeness, fleet in being, Naval History, Navy, Navy Battles, Sea War, Tirpitz, World War Two
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An open letter to Keith Williams, CEO of British Airways: You have a Happiness Problem
Hey Keith, I hope you’re well and that 2012 has started on a positive note. I don’t suppose it’s getting any easier to run an airline with the economy we’re in right now, and I’m guessing it might even be a little harder than ever. I wouldn’t want your job, mate, and I salute you [...]
Posted in Business Advice, Open Letter, The Laws of Colinism
Tagged as: British Airways, CEO, Culture, Happiness, Johannesburg, Keith Williams, London, Richard Branson, To Fly, To Fly To Serve, To Serve
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Culture Hero: Daryn Basson, founder of Del Fuego Designs. ‘I just do sh*t the way it’s intended.’
Disclaimer: this time I’m writing about a friend, but I’m doing so unprompted and without remuneration; just with a sincere sense of appreciation for the way he’s innovating customer service based on what can only be described as engulfing engagement. His name’s Daryn Basson and his company is the up-and-coming Del Fuego Designs; a South [...]
Nothing prevents astronomical achievement quite like marginal success
I love this comment by Missing Link‘s Rich Mulholland in his comment on a recent blogpost: Nothing prevents astronomical achievement quite like marginal success. I love it because it’s a simple statement that contains a very deep truth. We all aim to be successful and those dreams we dream when we start out tend to [...]
