The Fourth Gimbal

Organisational proposition – Nudge, nudge, think, think

“Are you involved in any charitable activity?” asked the interviewer, …….and there it was – the final question in an otherwise benign ‘magazine-meets-entrepreneur-for-‘in-depth’-interview’ piece published in one of the UK’s most popular broadsheets. Of course, the answer was a gushing ‘Yes!’, followed by a few well-chosen words about a pet project, fundraising for autistic children.
Great [...]

Business personality and the messaging triangle

If you actively manage the three sides of your organisation’s messaging triangle by consciously developing the relationship between Portrayal, Perception and Expectation, you are more likely to nudge the market in your direction. However, get it wrong and the consequences of message dislocation can be costly and very long-term.
Examples of message dislocation abound: -

The big [...]

Employee engagement will make the difference

According to the Chartered Institute of Personnel & Development’s recent Employee Outlook report, employee engagement is at an all-time low, in spite of the economy looking as though it may finally be emerging from recession.
Even though the UK’s Office for National Statistics has estimated 1.1% growth in GDP for the second quarter, employee engagement was [...]

Capello and the Maverick Potential business personality

To regular readers, my apologies. Illness has meant that posts have been few and far between in recent weeks. During my down-time, the soccer World Cup has provided a thought-provoking source of entertainment. The spectacular rise and fall of the English team made endless front and back-page headlines in the UK, unfortunately for all the [...]

Aligning company values with market expectations

Incompetent? Belligerent? Homophobic? Conniving? In the world of Business-to-Consumer(B2C) branding or, more to the point, in markets where the brand lives or dies by the sword of consumer opinion, having your organisation perceived consistently in such negative terms can wipe billions off of market valuations and ultimately threaten the survival of the business. Just ask [...]