SOUTH WEST LONDON — They say it’s broken.  But I am not convinced it ever really worked.  The company cascade is like the Lost City of Atlantis… or the missing Beach Boys album.  Many people think it’s out there, but disappointment is the most likely outcome.

Here’s how the theory goes:
• You start at the top with a message.
• You give it to a few people.
• They give it to a few people.
• And soon enough the whole business has heard.

Not only have they heard, but they’ve received a compelling, first-hand account of something important.

It can’t fail.  And what a compelling idea.  So simple, so… unlikely to deliver the results you are seeking.

The problem with cascades is that, in spite of some great theory and massive stores of ‘best practice’, they rarely do what people want them to do.

There are two problems: Expectations and implementation.

The expectations for cascades tend to assume that a message will make it through the business.  And that the message will arrive in one piece.  And that people will know what to do with it.  And — perhaps most wildly optimistic of all — that it will change people’s behaviour.

Those expectations are not bad things.  It would be great to have any system that could do that.  But they are simply unrealistic.

The same often happens with the implementation.  We tend to believe that a compelling bit of prose, or an arresting headline will ensure that a message arrives at its intended location.  An unfortunately that’s unrealistic too.  Cascades tend to focus on reporting facts, to avoid misinterpretation.  And facts, unfortunately, are not what drive people to change their behaviour.  Behaviour is driven by understanding and appreciation of information.

To get that you need to explain information, provide context and ensure understanding.  Few cascades can do that.

It’s a shame really.  Because an employee cascade is a very enticing prospect. 

Unfortunately what we want the cascade to do it simply more than it can.

/df

CHELSEA — The problem with change is that you cannot always foresee what might happen next.  So you create an anticipated direction of travel and risks, issues, dependencies etc. along the way.

That’s how it’s done.  In a nutshell.

The problem with Britain’s big banks though is not that they don’t know what might happen next.  They do, but they’re determined to fight against it.

It is clear when you compare the banking systems of, say, Canada, what the problems of the UK and US systems were.  You can’t really argue it.

As the Chancellor George Osborne has said:

Take the financial sector out of the equation and economic growth in the rest of the economy during recovery has actually been above its average rate of the last two decades.

In fact, the Office of National Statistics says that Britain’s banks are responsible for 1/3 of our national fall in output since 2008.

That’s not really all that funny.

According to many of the banks the recovery is too unclear for action to be taken now.  However, for all the lack of clarity they see around the recovery, the implications of further regulation do seem clear to them.

And they know that that change wouldn’t be good.

Which, of course, is total rubbish.

Change is good.

When it comes to further regulation… and ring-fencing of retail banking, for example… there can really be little argument.

Let’s get on with managing the change.

/df

KINGHTSBRIDGE — Years ago when Johnny Carson was the host of America’s long-running Tonight Show, NBC got a call from a distressed lady…

Through the dark window behind Carson that looked out onto a sleeping LA, she could see her errant husband stuck on the freeway… And there was ANOTHER WOMAN in the car with him!

Well the show is pre-recorded in the afternoon.  And the set was actually not a window but poorly painted, twinkly press board.

But it does tell you something about how people’s brains work.

Tuesday the website justspotted.com is set to launch.  It will be a searchable, indexed globe, on which you can spot and track the 7,000 celebrities in their database. (There’s an interesting debate going on about it.)

All of that information is aggregated from other sources — Twitter, Facebook, people’s own blogs etc. Which leads me to wonder why stop at 7,000 people?

With Facebook Places and Foursquare and other apps almost anyone is easy to track these days.  We had an experience at an old employer where someone went off sick and was said to have been fired after posting beach-side snaps on Facebook.

It wasn’t true, but it does suggest where the future might be.

Employers should think about it.  Employees should worry about it.

/df

TOTTENHAM COURT ROAD — Twenty years ago I was trying to decide what to do with my life, and had set up a meeting with Joan Donaldson.  This modest woman of the Canadian Broadcasting Company (CBC) was just about to go live with CBC Newsworld – the broadcaster’s national ‘all-news’ network.

I was excited to see her.  I had even re-tuned and steam-ironed my CV.  I bought a crisp brown envelope to put it in.

Then suddenly and mysteriously she was hit by a cyclist on a cycle path outside the CBC offices in Montreal harbour.  She suffered brain injuries and never recovered.  That was 1990.  She died 4 years ago.

This week there’s been a Tube strike in London.  It coincides with the arrival of London’s Barclays Cycle Hire.  The bikes are famously modeled on Montreal’s Bixi programme.

So this week London is slowly filling up with people taking to the bikes.  And it begs a simple question:

“What are London’s cycling the rules?”

I am sure they are published somewhere, but they’re not enforced, or coherent. 

• How many people need to be found under a bus?
• What happens when people come off the bikes?
• How do you stop them being the drunken mode of transport du jour? (Oh, yea, I’ve seen it.)

Bicycle rules in the city are already a shambles.  Bike paths take you down one way streets.  Cyclists berate each other over jumping lights, riding on the pavement or wearing helmets.

• Have you ever seen a head hit pavement?  Even from 3/4 feet up?  (I have and it’s not nice.)
• Who’s liable when bike meets pedestrian?
• Is ignorance an excuse?

And then, once you’ve decided, how will you let people know?  The lovely maps and cash-taking machines are silent on the issue.  Will Barclays, the Mayor of London and TFL be happy when the accidents become the story?

I know what Joan Donaldson would think.  And I know how much I would have like to have met her.

/df

OLD BOND STREET — It still doesn’t feel like business is in any great position to be lecturing politicians. There’s never been much patience for it. And I think if more bankers has made it to civics class we wouldn’t be in this mess.

But business certainly knows more about M&A (mergers and acquisitions) than the political classes do.

We’ve been communicating M&A over two centuries now (did you see what I did there?) and businesses do not dare say things that our politicians seem happy to say.

Like:

• Our approach is sound the other guy’s is not
• There’s nothing we can learn from our future colleagues
• No need to explain anything, people will understand when it happens
• If this doesn’t work out we can just try something else
• Etc.

There is a lot of work that goes into making partnerships succeed. Regardless of how many people may want them to fail, or be resistant to them, sometimes partnerships are the only way to move forward and grow. Sometimes we don’t get to choose. Sometimes we have to just get on with it.

/df

LONDON — It’s an interesting question. Are we already? Could we be more so?

Clearly the UK is a desirable place to work, because people come here and stay. It is a sought-after spot for foreign postings. But in spite of much talk from various parties about the importance of highly skilled workers, I think that questions remain about how much we have created a country that is a great place to work.

What are the factors?

1. Tax
2. Administration
3. Public transport and other aspects of ‘quality of life’
4. Education and access to skills
5. Immigration and renewing our workforce
6. Workplace regulations and laws
7. Working hours
8. Culture of work
9. Ability to manage change
10. Business leadership and involvement

The first 5 of these are often in the political discourse. The other 5 are not.

They are all well within the control of governments. And all would contribute greatly to the success and prosperity of the country.

So why are we not talking about them all?

/df

VICTORIA STATION — I am seriously proud of our friends at Nissan. We have known for a while that they were working on something big. But today’s stories on the new Nissan Leaf are exciting.

“100% emission-free” (excluding electricity generation emissions).

How cool is that?

Faced with petrol at £5+ a gallon it’s going to fly off the shelves, I would have thought. And London Mayor Boris Johnson says he’ll get 25,000 charging points in the city by 2015.

It’s going to move fast.

I am also counting on people like the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation to push these kind of vehicles into the developing world. Better 200 hundred of them in the sub-continent that one in your driveway in Seattle.

The bit that I am really excited about though is… the quiet!

Delivery vans, motorcycles, rust-buckets, buses… how quiet can they get? How fast?

Imagine hearing… natural sounds! Like your child crying or the neighbour’s cat!? Amazing.

We like to talk about how good we are at change. “Computers! Look how fast we learned to use them!” But nothing like this, at this speed.

Bring on the new innovation and changes to transportation and fuel consumption.

/df

PICCADILLY LINE — Sometimes you have to wonder if they say these things just to wind up the Brits. UEFA and FIFA officials that is.

Sepp Blatter, the president of the Fédération Internationale de Football Association (FIFA) has commented on the England football captain John Terry losing his job. Terry, who is married with twin babies, was found to have been having an affair with his fellow defenseman’s fiance.

Blatter said that in some countries his behaviour would have been applauded. Citing Latin countries like France, Italy and Spain.

Is that true?

No.

But it does raise an interesting question: what level of responsibility does an organisation have in the so-called personal lives of it’s employees?

I have worked in a business where there were liaison’s between bosses and people who reported to them. A bit like the David Letterman business that America was overwhelmed with in 2009. And many businesses do not see that as a problem.

What do you think?

/df

MY HOUSE — Last week the BBC got lots of press for scrapping the last remnants of the company Christmas parties. As you might imagine, no one really complained. Except the staff.

“It’s OUR money!” You can hear the average punter saying. “What are they doing going out and spending it on puddings and party hats!?”

And yet, how do you reconcile that with today’s report that the demand for ‘edible gold’ is up… a very high end catering option… while estimates are that almost 1/3 of the annual spend on holiday events has been eliminated. The FPB who represent chefs, caterers and florists say that one in five company parties have been cancelled.

And it doesn’t sound like it’s the poshest parties that have been cancelled.

Instead businesses like the BBC, the Royal Mail and British Airways, who are all under the kosh from the public and their customers have probably all gone scrooge-like. No question that the Royal Mail is under a strike action and BA has one pending — just in time for Christmas. And I don’t actually know their party plans.

What I do know is that Christmas parties are a heck of a lot cheaper than pay rises. They’re also cheaper than bonus pools, or stock options, or benefits programmes.

All of these things have been hit by poor trading conditions, rising investor demands, and management teams that do not know what is happening, so they are cutting people, programmes, pay, working hours and… Christmas parties.

As far as benefits go however, the company Christmas party has got to be one of the cheapest ways of showing appreciation, building camaraderie and letting off some steam. No employee would really appreciate it as much if you gave them £50 and said “Thanks for all your hard work this year, Wilson.”

Let us have some puddings and party hats. And let’s hope that bonuses, benefits, pay rises and full-time work won’t be far behind.

/df

LONDON — There’s no sense bring timid about it: Let’s save the world.

Everyone seems to agree that the planet is in dire shape. And we are making it worse father than better. Al Gore and now John Prescott (sic) are evangelising about the need for action.

But there’s one important thing that’s missing…

…And I believe that we can provide it: (I know I’ll get some rude emails for this… But bring them on!)

No one knows what to do.

Seriously. No one knows what to do. Do we fly less? Do we eat less meat? Do we all buy electric cars? What?

I am convinced that people can and would do it. It’s called “engagement” and “behaviour change” and that’s what we specialise in. The problem with telling people what to do more of or less of is that commercial interests get in the way:

- stop driving petrol cars? What would Vauxhall do!
- stop eating meat? What about our farmers!
- stop burning fuel? Are you a closet nuke!?

There are things that can be done… And there can be willingness to do it. But people need to know what and where.

In Canada this summer I was astounded by the lengths to which people go, every day, to do the right thing for the environment. Unfortunately Canada is not the problem!

So, this is what we need:

- a programme that can make decisions that are clear of national and business interests
- support to pay for the research, the information and the national campaigns
- the skills to do it (our hands are up!)

Easy, right.

You bet.

/df