Déjà vu – again
David Rawlings reflects on what happens when you try to make sense of something that you can’t understand. We’ve heard quite a bit of witness testimony lately. If there’s no available footage…
Behaviour
Today the UK is in a state of consistency
In the week leading up to delivery of the Brexit divorce letter, public opinion in the UK appeared to be a strange mix of short-term pragmatism and long-term pessimism, writes John Egan….
I like the way I map things out
When you think somebody is being irrational, cruel or stupid it’s useful to ask yourself a simple question, David Rawlings says. ‘What must the world look like from inside that person’s head for…
When the worm turns How we reinforce past choices
David Rawlings poses the question: if the reality of “control” turns out to be different from the promise will people change their minds? Left-wing or right-wing. Socialist or capitalist. Brexiter or Remainer….
Set “awesome” goals: the rest will follow
I’ve been influenced a lot by The Last Word on Power, a book on leadership by Tracy Goss. It’s quite difficult to get hold of now so I’ll give you the gist…
A little give and take goes a long way
Over the years I’ve come to realise that I’m motivated by ideas – something new that captures my imagination. Not any old ideas, just those that fit my preferences and prejudices. I…
Soft skills: I Don’t Like Your Attitude!
You’ve probably heard the advice, “Recruit for attitude, train for skills”. It’s a warning against selecting someone on the basis of their exemplary technical or professional abilities only to find them “difficult”…
The psychology of government
As political parties around the world try to work out why opinion pollsters are struggling to get accurate readings of what is on voters’ minds, governments are beginning to tap into pioneering…
Political regret you just have to live with
So why did so many political professionals fail to predict both Brexit and the US election result? Both are political earthquake events. Both seemed to result in counter-intuitive outcomes. In both cases,…
All in it together – some of the time!
Groucho Marx famously said that he didn’t want to belong to any club that would accept him as a member. That’s a typical Groucho-ism: illogical and funny but somehow striking a chord…