Sir Charles Masefield describes the series of events by which, under his leadership, BAE Systems’ worst performing factory became their best. Continuing to share stories from those we’ve met on our travels, in this episode we’re joined by Sir Charles Masefield. Charles shares a story from very early in his career with BAE Systems. Charles […]

Steve Crompton shares an inspiring, real-life rags to riches story, which proves that anyone can make a difference and achieve their dreams if they take the initiative and are willing to work hard to make it happen.  Anecdotally Speaking is back! We’ve taken a short hiatus while travelling all over Australia and the world. We’ve […]

It’s not what you know, but who knows you and trusts what you say! Looking after your business connections is important for maintaining communications, especially for your ‘news feed’. But does your attention to the news depend on the messenger? In today’s story, we contrast the famous Paul Revere with the not so famous William […]

Today’s episode illustrates the importance of not just noticing a pattern of excellence, but working out why it happens. Sometimes this means jumping in and talking to customers. It’s so easy to become disconnected as you become more senior in a company. It seems like the guys at Apple are combating that tendency and putting […]

Bringing your data to life is crucial in making others understand why it’s important. In this example, we hear how John Snow had to be creative and clear with his data to prove his theory right. If you work with data, this story is particularly useful for you. While we disagree on some things in […]

What do you do when you have high turnover? Henry Ford’s solution made his shareholders angry. In this example, we see how Henry Ford ignored what everyone around him thought and went ahead with a decision that would more than double his profit. We discuss how this is a great example of how a company […]

When people don’t understand what we’re trying to convey to them we get frustrated. Sometimes we wonder why they aren’t getting something so simple. This is called the curse of knowledge. This week’s story is my favourite type – a scientific experiment story. It’s about Elizabeth Newton, a Stanford University graduate who conducts an experiment to […]

An important part of leadership is taking care of your team. This story is a beautiful example of how taking care of others and helping them through tough times is beneficial for everyone. The focus of this story is U2 at their 1986 Tempe concert, and how a death threat almost led to them cancelling their […]

Putting the customer first and shifting your perspective to seeing how your design might be viewed by others is really important in today’s globalised, competitive market. It’s Mark’s turn to tell a story this week and the example he tells is particularly useful if you’re designing products, processes or services. Doug Dietz works for years […]

We’ve changed things up a little for this week’s episode of Anecdotally Speaking! We have Gerry Lynch, former General Manager of Mars New Zealand and now CEO of Delmaine Fine Foods tell the story this week. Mars New Zealand has been awarded as the best place to work in the country. Everything in their work is […]