I’ve said before that the annual appraisal is useless. Do you want one that works? Here’s a simple alternative …

It feels like we’re heading for meltdown, with the country and the world bitterly divided. I don’t have a solution, but I do have a serious suggestion: let’s stop hunting for solutions.

For at least two years I’ve been worried about my laptop. I dropped it when it was about six months old and I don’t think it’s ever been quite right since, though I’ve put up with it to avoid the hassle of replacing it. I see now that was a mistake.

Do company websites still have “Our values” sections? It must be the least visited bit of any website, because everyone knows it’s nonsense: just somebody’s idea of what sounds good. I wonder what Carillion’s “Our values” section said.

In the Old Testament, God’s people are forever straying into sinfulness and meeting disaster as a result. We don’t talk about “sin” in our rational age, but what if it’s a concept that needs reviving?

When you’re in your zone of mastery, 1) people admire you because the results are stunning; 2) you love what you’re doing and time flies; 3) it gives you energy rather than sapping it; and 4) you get better at it all the time.

I mean Carillion. It went bust a year ago today. Can you help me assemble a list of warning signs? Think of it as a crowd-sourced exercise that we all might find it useful. I’ll tell you why.

I learned this from an inspiring, truly professional boss I had years ago. It could an offhand remark about a customer, a glance at your phone, or not bothering to acknowledge someone in the corridor.

The time has come to rise up against wasted money, conflict, and crappy outcomes!

Okay, so, yes, I’m reading Jordan Peterson’s “12 Rules for Life”. Forget about lobsters, though: right now I’m taken by his ideas about faith.

If you’re in charge of a team, a department or a company, you’re captain of the ship, and your job isn’t to be down with the crew, immersed in their processes, but up on the bridge working out where the ship should be heading.

Holidays are a chance to step off the treadmill, take a breath, and look around. A chance to assess priorities, ask different questions, connect with people, even if it’s all outside our comfort zone of busyness.