Blog | The Squawk Point

The Childish Games Managers Play

15 February, 2013 by James Lawther 4 Comments

There is a game called Chinese Whispers, I am sure you have played it. All you do is line a group of people up and ask them to whisper a message from one to another along the chain. Each time it is repeated the message morphs; progressively degrading the further it gets from its source. […]

When Will You Die Daddy?

12 February, 2013 by James Lawther 2 Comments

A charming question asked me by my 4-year-old daughter this weekend. I didn’t know the answer so I had a search in line for some statistics. In Ancient Rome life expectancy at birth was 28 years old. If you made it through your first 15 years (avoiding all the horrific causes of child mortality) you […]

It’s all About the System Stupid

9 February, 2013 by James Lawther 13 Comments

I work for a large multi-national corporation. Like most large multi-national corporations we have wisely outsourced our IT. Part of it to a “technology provider” and part of it to a “service provider”. On paper this gives us a very cheap and flexible solution but the reality is that the overall experience is a little, […]

Caution: Management by Hippopotamus

6 February, 2013 by James Lawther 2 Comments

There is a HiPPO in the room. It is big, loud, ugly and everybody is doing what it wants. The HiPPO is the Highest Paid Persons Opinion. You can spot HiPPO’s quite easily, they are expressed forcefully, everybody nods and agrees with them and they are always the last thing said. A HiPPO is a […]

Zombies will do Wonders for Your Motivation

2 February, 2013 by James Lawther 10 Comments

I have just wasted 2 weeks of my life playing “Plants versus Zombies”, the worlds most foolish computer game. The premise is at best dubious, I grow plants in my garden and these protect my house from an onslaught of brain eating zombies, yet I am totally addicted. I’m 44 years old, I should know […]