Five things I have learnt as a consultant

As the waves swished across the sand, a gentle breeze swayed my hammock. Somewhere in the lazy distance a seagull ...

Change management #1

You might wonder what qualifies me to write about cultural change in an organisation. Well, I’ve done it several times, and I thought I’d set myself the challenge of trying to describe some of the success stories I’ve enjoyed in 250 words or fewer.

My main motivation in writing these vignettes is that I keep meeting depressed people: people who are in such a dire situation that they have started to believe that they will never be able to change it.

So what I should like to do is provide very brief case studies comprising the before and after, but not the during: my aim is to uplift, rather than instruct, in these stories. That's why I aim to publish them on a Friday: so you can go home full of hope rather than despondency!

The consultant's tale

"And I have heard it said, unbidden guests Are often welcomest when they are gone."

William Shakespeare
King Henry the Sixth, Part I

As an educational ICT consultant I think I must have heard all the jokes and jibes about consultants. Unfortunately, some consultants really do live down to their reputation, but not just in education. A few days ago I was subjected to unrequested and largely unhelpful advice from a freelance website designer. Read the conversation, and then extrapolate from it. I'll explain that later. Let's just say for now that I think there are valuable lessons to learn that can be applied in the classroom and to our co-workers, especially those whom we manage.