Biologize

The principles of success - hear Professor Patrick Jordan on the 17th September

Phil Richardson — Mon, 19 Jul 2010 15:27:05 +0000

Hear Thoughtcrew friend Patrick Jordan share the principles of success at a seminar in the South West. He will cover:-

Take Responsibility. Understand that we, and nobody else, are ultimately responsible for our actions, thoughts and attitudes. How our lives turn out is up to us and no-one else.

Set Goals. Goals provide us with a direction in life. They help us to focus our energy on what is important to us. We need to make decisions about what we want from life and to set clear goals that reflect this.

Be Positive. Having a positive optimistic outlook makes life more enjoyable for us and for those around us. It also gives us energy and drive, making us far more likely to be successful.

Persevere Intelligently. Getting the most from life requires determination and perseverance. It also requires a flexible and intelligent approach to life. If a course of action doesn’t work we must be able to find effective alternatives.

Connect with People. None of us live in isolation. To be successful we need to have effective relationships with other people in all areas of our professional and personal lives.

for more details see here

Biology is the inspiration for leadership development, innovation and growth

Phil Richardson — Thu, 15 Jul 2010 21:41:19 +0000

business biomimetics expert

Phil Richardson, Consulting Director of Thoughtcrew, a Bath based leadership consultancy was awarded his PhD in biomimetics at the University of Bath this week. Phil has been researching the application of biology to leadership and strategy as a part time student at the University. Initial applications of the research have helped leadership teams think ‘outside-the-box’ developing new ideas for products, services and business development. “We have had a positive response from a range of our clients including Mars, Guide Dogs, Northern Rail and the MoD” says Richardson.
Because the approach is based on the study of biological systems, it works particularly well in developing approaches to sustainability, corporate social responsibility and innovation. By understanding how ‘alive’ a team, department or business is it is possible to build a robust growth strategy, set a strong governance for change programmes and building high value partnerships.

Richardson’s research shows that when business biomimetics is combined with conventional management techniques it is possible to create more ideas and that these ideas have a greater impact on the brand value and the longer term survival of the business. He is in great demand as a speaker at conferences and leadership development away days. Anyone interested can make contact via

crew@thoughtcrew.net

Thoughtcrew launches three new business biomimetic services

Phil Richardson — Sun, 04 Jul 2010 16:02:47 +0000

Business biomimetic solutions

Thoughtcrew has developed three business biomimetic offers for leadership, change management and innovation. The following summary provides an overview of the offers and shows how these could work for your business.

Business biomimetics and introduction

This is a range of education and introduction to business biomimetics talks and workshops. Lasting from a one hour talk to a three day workshop the audience is introduced to the subject of biomimetics, the application to business issues and a number of the business biomimetic models and tools. In the workshops there is an opportunity to apply the models against a defined business issues and to compare this with the audiences current experiences.

Biologize your Business

The ‘Biologize your Business’ offer takes the application of business biomimetics further by applying it to a business issue that is pertinent to the current organisation’s challenges. A bespoke project is defined which then uses the business biomimetic models and the Infinity Context Free Process (ICFP) to innovate around the issue and then to evaluate the ideas generated against agreed KPI’s and alternative approaches. At this stage there is an optional implementation offer which covers the design and implementation of the generated ideas. This option uses the Thoughtcrew Transformation Architecture approach.

Embedding business biomimetics

Here the ICFP process is embedded into the existing companies processes. This is augmented with an appropriate set of business biomimetic tools and techniques. The embedding includes all the training and support to allow the organisation to carry out the process and to develop and evaluate its own idea generation against a defined problem or issue. Once implemented ongoing support includes the provision of biology expertise, new business biomimetic models, ad-hoc consulting and the production of biological data flash cards.

The support could also include specific research around emerging issues or in the hybridisation of other techniques to create an integrated approach. This would be then implemented across a blended learning platform.

www.thoughtcrew.net

The fish rots from the head analogy is wrong

Phil Richardson — Thu, 01 Jul 2010 12:24:32 +0000

It is true that a dead fish rots from the head due to the massive amount of water content compared to the muscular tail. However there is a serious flaw in the analogy. The analogy assumes that senior management are in the head of the fish and that they do such a bad job the business begins to rot and this eventually affects the rest of the business. As we all know the management are not in the head at all. They are in the tail steering the fish. The rest of us are in the head looking out through the eyes at the next disaster that the head is going to hit. We send back urgent messages hoping to get some reaction. Unfortunately the tail pushes on in yet another unfortunate direction until eventually there is not head left. But that’s not the end of the story. The head, with us in it, is cast aside and the tail goes on to an enjoyable lunch……….

Self healing membranes

Phil Richardson — Wed, 09 Jun 2010 10:02:56 +0000

Plants have been used as the biomimetic inspiration of self healing membranes for tyres. Work done by Dr Olga Speck at the University of Freiburg shows that a new self healing membrane can quickly and effectively repair pneumatic structures such as tyres. For more

Horseshoe fungus biologized in Bath City Guide

Phil Richardson — Fri, 04 Jun 2010 12:53:14 +0000

Just had one of the biologize photo’s published in the City of Bath Guide.

Pictures from the Guide Dogs Paw Trek

Phil Richardson — Fri, 04 Jun 2010 12:47:53 +0000

I have just uploaded pictures from the Paw Trek at Longleat. There is one of Tessa with her bandanna after being awarded the Guide Dogs medal for fundraising. It was a really well organised day and very calm considering all the dogs that were there. Thanks to all the friends and customers of Thoughtcrew that raised over £600. As a local Bath based consultancy we are pleased to be able to offer our support to this great cause.

When selecting a consultancy how important is their method?

Phil Richardson — Fri, 28 May 2010 15:44:22 +0000

Having worked for a number of consultancies (Deloitte, Druid, IBM and now Thoughtcrew) I have had mixed messages from clients about the importance of the consulting method in the buying decision. Those consultancies that slavishly promote and then implement using a ‘proven’ method seems to appeal to some whereas others prefer the ‘framework’ approach. A brand is often associated with the method and many current websites for consultancies lead with the importance of a method.

How important is this in the buying decision?

Phil Richardson joins the PSL at The Lords for the launch of The Partner

Phil Richardson — Thu, 13 May 2010 21:09:14 +0000

Lord David Evans of Watford hosted the 20th anniversay of PSL at the House of Lords this week. Over 180 business leaders joined together to launch the latest edition of The Partner magazine. Phil Richardson, Thoughtcrew, authored the thought leadership chapter “Fit for the Future” exploring the use of evolution as a model for innovation. With increasing pressures on businesses emerging from the recession, innovation will play a key role in successful business growth.

Also announced at the launch were the five companies that have successfully completed the PAS11000 certification on partnering. Soon to become the new British Standard further information on this exciting development in collaboration and the importance for the future can be found at www.pslcbi.com where you can obtian copies of The Partner. For further information on the use of biology in innovation contact Thoughtcrew on www.thoughtcrew.net

Organising meetings across different teams

Phil Richardson — Wed, 05 May 2010 12:35:53 +0000

If, like me, you need to organise meetings with teams that span different organisations it can be hard work. The IoD in the South West has used www.doodle.com to good effect where you can set up a pole of possible dates and times and then send this out.

People tick when they are available then a decision can be made by the meeting leader. If you are suffering from meeting overload you can always check the dates that nobody can make……
Either way you can improve personal effectiveness and leadership performance.