Royston

Involve Managers and Staff in the work of change management

Many Change Managers assume that if the rationale for change is made clear to the organisation then they will go along with it. In the process of demonstrating the need to change and an understanding of the impact (on themselves and their group) employees will buy- in and thereafter work actively to realise it. There is an assumption behind all this that ‘Change’ is negotiated and develops over time and that the change agent’s...

Just sleep on it and the solution will come

I suppose many have read about recent research led by a leading expert on the benefits of napping at the University of California that suggests that Rapid Eye Movement (REM) sleep enhances creative problem-solving. At last now when I get caught sleeping on the job I have the perfect excuse. The study by Sara Mednick and Denise Cai graduate student in the UC San Diego Department of Psychology showed that REM directly enhances creative processing...

Strangelove revisited - my love hate relationship with Land Rover Discovery's

I expect most people associate Land Rovers with a robust off road vehicle capable of navigating the Sahara desert (see Ice Cold in Alice) or scaling the heights of Mount Kilimanjaro on a single tank of petrol. Robust rugged and ready for any off-road experience. Well the reality is other-wise and my experience of Land Rovers (specifically the series TD5) has shown them quite incapable of getting out of our...

How many bacteria in a doner kebab - Bristol University Student finds out the hard way

I was talking to her indoors about her sisters son who's at Bristol University who just had a nasty run in with Gastroenteritis following a 'delicious' late night snack of a donar kebab (despite repeated warnings from his mum) after consuming a quick ten pints at the student union bar. This nasty ailment is an inflammation of the gastrointestinal tract involving both the stomach and the small intestine...

Why do People Write Viruses and Spam - how can we stop them?

Why do people write viruses, spam programs and other malware that causes thousands of lost hours and frustration to end users every day of the week and why are we not more severe with these people when they do get caught?

We concede to virus writers, bootleggers of software and pirates of music some sort of kudos and aura of a folk hero a 'Robin Hood' charm - when in fact they are petty criminals. What motivates...

OK Prince Philip's recent remark to president Obama as to whether he could tell all the politicians apart led me to publich my top list of Gaffs by HRH Philips - he's worth his weight in gold in my view:

My Top 5

1.0 "If it has got four legs and it is not a chair, if it has got two wings and it flies but is not an aeroplane, and if it swims and it is not a submarine, the Cantonese will eat it."
(at a 1986 World Wildlife Fund...

Stiff competition in the penis enlargement industry

After a period of relative quiet and normality I have noticed my inbox is becoming inundated with spam posts again. As normal I still get the occasional post about the little pink or blue tablets some of them almost looking as if they were sent via legit sites but of late it is the stiffening competition in the penis enlargement industry which is giving me gip. Apparently you can gain inches to your anatomy (in minutes) by wearing...

The Prince William Cup - another obsequious gesture by the WRU

A new rugby trophy was apparently chosen by Prince William first son of Prince Charles the Halfwit from three different designs presented by specialist jewelers in Wales; Mari Thomas, from Llanelli and Nicola Palterman from Neath won the commission to create the cup. The creation is 55*cm high, 1.5*mm gauge trophy as their biggest and most their most elaborate job to date - see pic below for the monstrosity. The blurb...

I read with interest an article in the Sunday paper this week on the assertion that Bees 'Decision Making Strategy' (sic) could help the business world to come to more informed decisions.



Apparently swarms send out 'scouts' to assess the quality of a potential site for a hive. The insects then report back to the old hive and do a 'dance' to describe the benefits of the site. The study concluded that the swarm then comes to a group decision on the best...

Why is Business Benefits Planning Essential - free ebook to download

Benefits planning aims to deliver the benefits promised in the business case and ensures they are actually realised. Many projects although they complete successfully in project management terms fail to deliver any of the initial benefits that launched the initiative. I have seen countless examples of project teams and managers congratulating themselves with the success of the project, 'how well it went', 'all the...

The Red Lady of Paviland

As BizFace members will be aware the 'Red-Lady of Paviland' currently resides in a box in Oxford and is the subject of action to attempt the repatriate the red-lady (actually red-bloke cos it is man!) to the land of origin Wales. The Red-Lady actually a red-ochre stained body of a man, is one of the earliest known Palaeolithic burials in the UK and quite rightly belongs as part of the heritage of the Welsh being an example of early occupation of this land some...

The Bardsey Crown to Return to the land of Merlin

No doubt everyone is watching with great interest the attempts by the Bardsey inhabitants (all ten of them) to have the Bardsey island Crown returned to its rightful place in Wales.
The Island is a god forsaken lump of rock off the Llyn Penninsula in the North of Wales once inhabited by Monks in a colony established there in the 6th Century by one Saint Cadfan. - and as an interesting side note is the imputed last resting place...

Christmas 2008

It's that time of year again when itinerant panhandlers (carol singers) make their annual pilgrimage to my front door appear on my door-step attempting to sing a few strangled verses of some long forgotten carol before being sent away with a flea in their ear and a recommendation for a few singing lessons by yours truly.

The year before last as I reported in my last Christmas message some group of lads came around and made a vague attempt at Silent Night....

World Toilet Day Celebrations in Chipping Norton

As we all know last week (the 19th November) saw the celebration of world toilet day - I know 'what another crap day' - well yes actually. As we know a visit to the bathroom is a regular ritual for all of us and a person will go to the toilet about 6 to 7 times a day and with all that flushing that takes place will use around 30% of the 60 gallons of water used by an average person in the UK daily. It is something we all take for granted...

The recent banking crisis and the failure of the Scottish attempts to take over the banking world in the UK has set me thinking about the earlier attempts at setting up regional banks and in particular the setting up of the first real retail type banks in the UK. Many years ago numerous county banks were created in different parts of Britain, including Gods Country Wales. There were a number of so called drovers' banks set up in mid-Wales at that time. Drovers as in 'rawhide', the famous cowboy...

Recent Archaeological research shows football invented in Wales

The first reference to football being played in this country was actually in Wales over a thousand years ago. The beautiful game was watched and played by hooligans as it is nowadays was probably introduced to Great Britain by the Romans in Wales and was played in the great Amphitheatre in Silurum Venta (aka Caerleon) by soldiers of the Second Augustan Legion during breaks from sacking, pillaging and general mayhem. Watched...

The Railway Chronicles - starlet's bags under eyes forces new photo shoot

I was on the way up to see one of our northern NHS clients this time on what is now the national express line (what happened to the GNER?) - this was to be a difficult discussion about why they could not have a piece of software which is valued at well over a hundred grand installed for four pence halfpenny - but that’s not the subject for today as I must protect our beloved clients. I was reading through some...

Brown solves world hunger and financial markets in a day.

I am becoming used to seeing Gordon Brown in his many guises or relaunches (currently around number seven) giving out the impression that he is more or less single handedly running every ministry in this country. From facilitating mergers between banks, solving Clostridium difficile in hospitals, greeting our hero Para Olympians back home to lagging. It is the latter theme I would like to dwell on as I was astonished to see...

Car park Charges abolished and then chaos ensues

At the beginning of the financial year in gods country (Wales) the first minister announced that car parking fees, the subject of much controversy in the principality and elsewhere, were to be abolished. This 'lead' was not followed by the Department of Health in the UK at large who said England would not be following the Welsh example -"We have no plans of forcing hospitals in England to subsidise their car parks with resources that...

Kevin Keegan pushes World War from top news slot

I could hardly believe what I was seeing and hearing the other day when the nice BBC man opened the news with the statement ' today's top story Kevin Keegans future with Newcastle in Doubt'. Not Hurricane Gustav, Russia about to move on Poland, Brother Browns give aways to his pals up north or Alistair Darlings torpedoing the UK economy. No - a story about a second rate football manager in a northern team in some god forsaken place...

Hi BizFace,

Some more wonderful Prince Philip Gaffe posts:


My Top 5

1.0 "If it has got four legs and it is not a chair, if it has got two wings and it flies but is not an aeroplane, and if it swims and it is not a submarine, the Cantonese will eat it."
(at a 1986 World Wildlife Fund meeting)

2.0 "Deaf? If you are near there, no wonder you are deaf."
(in 1999, to young deaf people in Cardiff, referring to a school's...

The Deathly GM Crops and The Half-Wit Prince (Book 8)

Most of the time I regard Prince Charles as an amiable affable buffoon who talks a peculiar brand of new age sentiment and claptrap and dresses in a quaint Scottish (kilt commando style) way so beloved by our American friends across the water or who swans down the racecourse in top hat waving to the assembled masses on the rails. This erstwhile Edwardian who I think at heart harks back to those times when obedient yokels tilled...

Most people who have little time for a monarchy or are of a republican orientation focus too much on the minutiae of the royals as they currently are. Worrying about a Prince Philip's faux Pas - which actually livens things up a bit except for his rather implicit racism - the minor civil list cost in the scheme of things and on the small issues. Whether they pay tax or make a contribution to our balance of payments or can possibly break a deadlock in the house of commons are not significant problems....

Where are the Republicans hiding in this Country?

As a result of the English Civil war all three episodes (1642-1651) we managed to lead the European world at that time by getting rid of the Monarchy and replace it with the rudiments of a republican democracy. Unfortunately a few years later in 1660 we let Charles the 2nd back from exile and started the Royal merry-go-round again which continues to this day with the clear threat of another Charles ascending to the throne probably...

Part 3 – Public sector tendering

Innovation

• Demonstrate competitive advantage and added value by developing innovative processes, products or methods of working. Identify and share with the customer practices and market advances which clients could use to increase performance and value but be careful that they do not run away with your IPR.
  
• Areas of innovation could include:
• Shared contracts/alternative delivery solutions (especially where there are cost savings

...