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From Good to Great (Jim Collins)

The Importance of Selecting a Great Team: Insights from Jim Collins’s “Good to Great”

Jim Collins’s book, “Good to Great,” delves into what differentiates merely good companies from truly great ones. Among the many insights Collins offers, one stands out as particularly crucial: the critical importance of selecting a great team.

First Who, Then What

One of the central tenets of “Good to Great” is encapsulated in the principle of “First Who, Then What.” Collins argues that the path to greatness begins with getting the right people on the bus before deciding on the strategic direction. This concept might seem counterintuitive in the fast-paced world of business, where the drive to innovate and implement new solutions often takes precedence. However, Collins’s research reveals that having the right people on board is a prerequisite for long-term success.

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My love affair with Michael Porter !

As a technology officer with a profound interest in the intricacies of business strategy, my journey has been heavily influenced by Michael Porter. His models, despite being crafted over three decades ago, continue to be invaluable in guiding strategic decisions.

The Timeless Relevance of Porter’s Models

What fascinates me most about Michael Porter’s work is its continued relevance. Despite the rapid pace of technological advancement, his models provide a bedrock of strategic thinking that remains pertinent today. The crux of Porter’s insights lies in understanding the fundamental dynamics of competitive forces, strategic positioning, and value creation – elements that are as crucial now as they were in the 1980s.

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Why I Don’t Want Plastic Bottled Water in My Hotel Room: Changes a Hotel Can Make to Be More Sustainable

As a frequent traveller, one of my pet peeves is the ubiquitous plastic bottled water provided in hotel rooms. While the gesture is appreciated and sometimes the need for bottled water is necessary, the environmental impact is significant. In an age where sustainability should be at the forefront of our minds, it’s time for hotels to rethink their practices. Here’s why I believe plastic bottled water has no place in my hotel room and some changes hotels can implement to be more sustainable.

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Troubles at Work? How to recognise gaslighting.

In a business, employees often work closely with directors, managers and colleagues, creating a tight-knit, family-like atmosphere. While this closeness can foster collaboration and loyalty, it can also mask toxic behaviours, including gaslighting. Gaslighting is a subtle form of psychological manipulation where someone makes you doubt your own perceptions, memories, or experiences. When this happens at work, it can damage your confidence, hinder your performance, and ultimately create a toxic environment.

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How to Improve Carbon Offsetting for the Travel and Tourism Industry

As part of my Msc I started to look at big problems, technology could solve – Travel and Sustainability.

The travel and tourism industry has been under increasing scrutiny for its carbon footprint, particularly with aviation being a significant contributor to greenhouse gas emissions. As the world grapples with climate change, improving carbon offsetting mechanisms is essential for this industry. Here’s a comprehensive approach to enhancing carbon offsetting for travel and tourism.

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Takeaways from WeAreDevelopers World Congress 2022

My takeaways from WeAreDevelopers

AI development helpers

GitHub announced copilot, a plug-in to your IDE which will predict and write code for you. They predict this could save a developer unto 40% on common code problems, and in the next 5 years could effectively write 80%.

The other speakers didn’t really align with this but its an interesting concept, if we’re all resolving the same types of issues, it doesn’t take long before there is a design pattern or best practise to develop the solution – the complexity is making those design patterns work with our codebase.

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How to get an urgent uk passport appointment

At present UK passports are taking longer than normal to process, my daughters recent passport renewal (child) took approx 7 weeks (3 weeks shorter than the 10-week current estimate).

Due to an upcoming business trip to India (and the fact that India has temporarily suspended e-visas for uk citizens), I find myself needing to apply for a paper visa. Paper visas require you to have 2 consecutive pages free, and I only have 1.

My passport is valid for another 5 years so its good for a while, but the lack of pages leaves me with an issue. I need a new passport for the visa, but I can’t risk a 10 week wait as I have a holiday in August. So I find myself needing to request an urgent 1-week passport appointment which wasn’t quite as straight forward as I expected.

To book an appointment you visit the following webpage;
https://www.gov.uk/get-a-passport-urgently/1-week-fast-track-service

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