Experience is important, but it takes a long time to collect, and if we relied only on experience we’d be dead before we’d stored up enough to deal with everything that comes our way.

Finally, the project leader blurted out that there was no way the project would be complete by the deadline. Silence fell. This was definitely not the party line …

The taps didn’t work. We asked the wrong questions. Stress and hassle multiplied.

Joint ventures are tough. When you get two or more groups thrown together, often with barely an introduction, confidence and trust drain away fast. Here’s a 7-step exercise to unfreeze the team.

Look at the environment they create.

When you set a courageous goal and begin enlisting help to achieve it, excitement takes hold. This is a powerful force, but watch out, because there is a dynamic working against goal excitement all the time.

It’s the wrong question. Listen to this conversation, which takes place at kitchen tables, in cars and pubs across the land …

“I’d love to learn to play the piano, but if I can’t play like Mozart in six months, what’s the point?” A lot of people think like that. The yearning for perfection is a major reason why so little progress gets made.

Just because a goal seems courageous doesn’t mean it’s the right goal. Pick the ones that matter. Here’s an example.

In business we use jargony, corporate-speak because it sounds “proper”. We should stop because we’re missing the chance to use the natural power of language to fire imaginations. Here’s an example.

As we get older, our confidence takes a knock. But confidence isn’t an organ that withers with age. There are things we can do to nurture and protect it.

You gave Lucy a big job: looking after client outreach. It means you don’t have to manage the client hospitality day any more, which was a hassle. Was it a good idea? I’ll tell you why it may not be.