Negotiation is the process of trading something of value for something you value more. Deadlock is where there is no movement. It happens when creating a contract, during delivery, around change proposals. It happens within organisations – particularly where groups must work together but have different agendas or outcomes. Sometimes deadlock is real – there…
After decades as a military officer, followed by decades in industry, I have often pondered the incongruity of clearly physically brave individuals who always lean towards safe choices in business and bureaucracies, seemingly lacking the courage to make the tough decisions. Worthy of a read is “Cultivating Everyday Courage” (James R Detert, Harvard Business Review,…
*Warning, it’s unsafe Any conversations that suggest alternative contracting models can engage companies to deliver social outcomes, acting in the public interest over their own, are based on a false premise that industry will subjugate their own interest in favour of their clients’ interests. Businesses do not exist for the public good. They may do…
Some years ago I did a Harvard program called “strategic deal-making for business”. I followed on with a master’s unit in strategy at Edinburgh Business School that focused on strategic deals. I started to talk about it with our, mostly, public sector clients. Almost all of them said they “don’t do deals” because they are…
It’s what you deliver. I recently participated in a Government project review. I really liked the project manager – young, dynamic, articulate, driven – absolutely brilliant until asked what she thought her job was. To which she replied, “…to make sure this process works”. She had been captured by the process, not the project. Projects…
As published in the Mandarin by Kiah MD John Glenn With over 50 Defence Reviews in the last 50 years, have they achieved a fundamentally better outcome or simply fiddled with the alignment of the deck chairs? There have been at least 50 Defence reviews in 50 years. The 2015 First Principles review listed 48…
As published in the Mandarin 23 May, 2022 Talking about building strategic partnering relationships is the flavour of the month, especially in Defence where there always seems to be a search for a model that works better than what is happening now. I don’t think that is a bad goal, by the way, but we…
As published in the Mandarin March 11, 2022 There is an often-unspoken contributor to blowouts in government projects, costs and timelines (which often leads to further time and costs in disputes) and that is the public and private sectors general misunderstanding of each other’s view. The actual monetary impact of this struggle is unknown, but…
As published in the Mandarin May 28, 2021 by Kiah MD John Glenn I hear the pent-up demand echoing frequently: “Tell me the secret to good contract management!” There are plenty of courses out there. Unfortunately, the majority seem to be run by lawyers. Sad really, because lawyers are really good at many things –…
We are seeing a plethora of “Program Offices” being established – if you haven’t got a “Program” you’re not in the game. But a Program is not without cost. You only want one if it adds real value, and if you do want one you had better know what it is that you want. Caveat…
