Does it pay to be incompetent?
It is a continual struggle in the public sector world to remove an ineffective, incompetent or lazy member of staff because of the inbuilt bureaucracy that protects them. The days are long gone where managers could easily build up a strong team exact to their liking as there are to many barriers protecting the workshy and no hopers. It is experienced throughout the public sector and anyone who is working or who has worked in this sector knows this is a real problem. Alan’s article on this very subject should make us all want to rise up and strike a blow for the virtues of common sense.
At last No Keyboard….Review update
We’ve been using this for a month now – and it does what it says on the box. It is making life so much easier; like dictating this post. The installation was easy and the way it checks your documents for ‘your style of writing’ was a bit of a surprise. The performance is just what I expected, but here are a few tips to make your life easier:
· The position of your microphone is essential. Moving the microphone by just a couple of centimetres can change the accuracy dramatically – but the installation process emphasises this.
· Speaking sentences makes the dictation more accurate, as the software puts the words into context, whereas single words can come out incorrectly.
· Take the time to ‘teach’ Dragon words that it regularly gets wrong, it learns them on the first go.
· The more you use it the more accurate it becomes, as it builds up your profile.
· Don’t use it after a bottle or two of red wine. It seems to talk rubbish – or was that me?
A highly recommended bit of kit for anyone who spends a lot of time in front of their computer writing. From our comments on this, I’m really interested to know how Dave gets on with MacSpeech Dictate.
Post by Alan
At last No Keyboard !!!!
When you look at the incredible pace of change in technology, one thing remains oblivious to what is happening around it…The Keyboard. Watch any movie that is set in the future and when computing is involved .. there it is… The Keyboard. Can we break away from it? Do we want to?
Is it because a keyboard is so flexible in the way commands can be given or that it is less easy to make a mistake when touching something physical? It may just be that there has been no really serious need to update the good old keyboard with something that is better and easier to use.
What are the alternatives?
I can only really think of one and that is our voice, technology cannot yet be wired to our thoughts and there are no other methods that I believe offer another way.
A couple of companies have been consistent in their ongoing commitment to enhance the voice as an alternative to the fingers. Nuance Communications who produce Dragon Naturally Speaking Software is one and the the only one who’s software I have used in the past. I used a version way back in the early days and found it was very difficult and time consuming to get it to work intuitively.
We are now onto version 10 and their suite promises:
* Turns your voice into text three times faster than most people type – with up to 99% accuracy
* Allows you to completely control your PC with your voice
* Automates complex workflows with voice commands
So does it work and what is the learning curve like?
Watch this space as we are about to find out and will update you with our results soon.
Post by Grahame
Welcome 2010
Happy New Year. We hope you have had a good break over the festive season. Whilst we were doing so we also got into a discussion about what ‘Ethical Performance’ is. The reason behind the discussion was the ethos of the team at Learning 2 Achieve that ‘everything we do is about ethical performance’. Actually it is easier to give examples of what is unethical performance and this view seems to be reinforced by those who have written about the subject by giving examples without defining what ethical performance is.
After much debate we have so far concluded that it is about openness, honesty and authenticity. Openness is about communication, honesty is about values and authenticity is about leadership. All of these combine to effect the culture of the organisation and whilst organisations talk about having a ‘performance culture’ do they define what that actually means? There is also the overriding question of ‘what’s in it for me’ (WIIFM)? Is a leader in the organisation encouraged to be open, honest and authentic or are they encouraged to keep things close to their chest, look after the values of the organisation rather than their own and put on a façade of everything being wonderful even when it isn’t?
The whole approach of ethical performance is what assists an organisation to navigate their way across their landscape, which is why we have included values in our unique balanced score card performance landscape programmes at www.performancelandscape.co.uk.
I am in the middle of writing an article about ethical performance and I am sure I will also get drawn in to discussing what demonstrates unethical performance, but we would like to hear your views.
Test video with Terry & Alan .
This was initially going to be a test video to see how the sound and light came out with the hand-held camera. However after speaking with both Alan and Terry we decided to put it onto the blog. This was mainly due to the very topical subject matter they were debating. There is little doubt that the next few years are going to be uncomfortable in the UK as we tackle the huge debt that is owed.
Terry and Alan discuss in the video what the future holds for organisations in the public sector when budget cuts force them to rethink their strategies. Will they cut down on training, will that be a good or bad decision? It’s an easy target where money can be seen to be saved at an instant….BUT is that a short sighted strategy? Well we know that it is. Historically cutting back on training creates a less productive and enthusiastic employee. Investing in people helps businesses and organisations stay strong with a committed workforce ready for the challenges ahead.
London Networking Event
Alan and Grahame went to the Strand Palace Hotel in central London to attend an Internet Marketing lunch organised by a successful online entrepreneur called Martin Avis. It is arranged to allow new and experienced online marketers to mix and exchange ideas. For example Grahame had a long chat with Gary Vurnam who has made over a million with products and ideas he has sold and promoted on the internet. Alan spoke at length with a chap that was just starting out and was unsure of which area of internet marketing he wanted to go down.
It was a long day and at the end we were both brimming with ideas and information. You may well ask what this has to do with our core businesses Leaning 2 Achieve Ltd and Biz Web Solutions. As with any business you need to be able to sell yourself and promote what you do to others and internet marketing sits at the cutting edge of this. Much of what is used such as video, sales letters and joint ventures are pioneered by these guys and they know what works and what is likely to bomb.
Have a look at our short video called Martin Avis London lunch and you will see how informal and relaxed the whole event was, oh.. and the food wasn’t that bad either.
New Video – Ross Brawn the man behind the team
Did you see the Brazilian F1 last Sunday? I know not everyone enjoys this sport, however it does have many great moments and one of these was Jenson Button winning the World Championship.This was a significant event for the man behind this fantastic accomplishment, Ross Brawn. Why? well the story behind how this was all achieved is explained in our featured video on the home page Ross Brawn – the man behind the team. This is narrated by Alan and he explains how Ross Brawn can be regarded as the great all rounder when it comes to performance and strategy.
A Trip To Brighton
Networking is one of the best ways to promote your business. It gives you the opportunity to speak with others about how their own businesses are doing within these tough times and what ideas they have to see themselves through.
Everyone I found to be very open about their business and apart from the odd one or two, nobody was to pushy.
There were business card everywhere and at the end of the event I felt like a kleptomaniac. I am sure I had more than I gave out ummm.
Both Alan and I can really see the advantages of attending these events, My guide would be to be picky about which ones you go to otherwise you will keep bumping into people you have seen before and they already have your card, so choose wisely.
Performance Landscape article.
In my article , ‘Public Services wealth warning’ I outlined why radical decisions are the only way that the public services will survive the new performance landscape. In this article, ‘Navigating across the new Performance Landscape’, I have explained why mature conversations need to take place between the public services and why this generation of middle and senior managers need to learn how to deal with the forthcoming cuts.
Alan’s presentation at Senior Special Constables Conference
Following the presentation to the ACPO Excellence In Policing Conference Alan was asked to do a similar presentation to the Special Constables Chief Officers conference in 
October. They have an excellent national strategy which was always intended to run from 2006 – 2010 and Alan’s input was to move the strategy on to its next phase, beyond 2010. This was well received and has resulted in tangible outcomes to be taken forward.
A recurring theme from these presentations, and from discussions with other clients, is that the impending cuts to public service budgets are new to this generation of the workforce. The reasons for this are explained in an article on our performance and strategy blog titled ‘Navigating across the new Performance Landscape’ and can be consolidated into two points:
- We have lived through a sustained period of growth
- The performance culture of the last ten to fifteen years has been focused on quantitative measures
The wise organisations are those planning the development and support for their managers, at all levels, to lead their staff through this financial drought.
