The earthquake in Haiti has lead to the cutting of red tape allowing orphans to be adopted in both Holland and the USA. They are not being forced to go through all the bureaucratic hurdles associated with visas, passports and adoption papers. I am not qualified to say if this is ethically the right thing […]
A Wood Full of Bears
Do you ever feel that you are sinking? You are bombarded with e-mails, phone calls, and meetings, all of which are calling for your attention NOW! Then to top it off your boss tells you that your problem is that you can’t see the wood for the trees? Well, you are not alone. The human […]
Off Target
If you were given a target and then had your bonus (or job security) tied to it what would you do? Sort out your processes so that it was possible to meet the target? What if it wasn’t within your control to meet the target? Would you cheat? How much effort would you expend fudging […]
Nothing Hurt But My Ego
It is a truism that you learn by failing. I recently bought a pair of clip in shoes for my bicycle. Everybody told me I would fall over once, they were right, it happened when I came to a stop at some traffic lights at the head of a queue of cars (very embarrassing). At […]
Spies Like Us
I have reached that age when for Christmas I am given socks, chocolates and paperbacks. I am half way through this year’s crop of paperbacks and found this quote in a John le Carre novel. “A desk is a dangerous place from which to watch the world” I learnt the same lesson working in a […]