Is This a Government Committed to Small Business?
Today David Cameron will claim his government has delivered on supporting small businesses. I'm sorry, Prime Minister, but I don't see it.
happy people
Henry Stewart, Founder and Chief Happiness Officer
Henry is founder and Chief Happiness Officer of Happy Ltd, originally set up as Happy Computers in 1987. Inspired by Ricardo Semler’s book Maverick, he has built a company which has won multiple awards for some of the best customer service in the country and being one of the UK’s best places to work.
Henry was listed in the Guru Radar of the Thinkers 50 list of the most influential management thinkers in the world. "He is one of the thinkers who we believe will shape the future of business," explained list compiler Stuart Crainer.
His first book, Relax, was published in 2009. His second book, the Happy Manifesto, was published in 2013 and was short-listed for Business Book of the Year.
You can find Henry on LinkedIn and follow @happyhenry on Twitter.
Get in touch
The Key Business Question: Will it Make Life Better?
“Seven years ago we were a tiny unremarkable company. Last year Propellernet were voted the best search agency in Europe and best small company to work for in UK,” says Jack Hubbard, founder and CEO of Propellernet.
8 Companies That Don't Have Managers
At Happy we let people choose their managers, an idea which has been seen as very radical when I’ve spoken about it. However there are companies that have gone a step further and got rid of managers altogether. Some are small but some are billion-dollar companies:
SouthWest Airlines - putting your people first makes good business sense
The annual UK Servant Leadership conference this month was an inspiring event. This movement is based around the idea, first promoted by Robert Greenleaf, that your purpose as a leader or manager is to serve your people. One example of how this makes simple business sense is SouthWest Airlines, which is clear in its commitment to Servant Leadership. Now the third largest airline in the world, Its record of 40 consecutive years of profitability (unique in the US airline industry) is based on founder Herb Kelleher’s philosophy.
Get More Great Ideas - Spend Less Time at Work
Last week I was in Barcelona speaking to the international conference of the Dogs Trust, and exploring overwork. I asked a simple question of everybody there: Think of a great idea you’ve had in the last year? Where did you get that idea?
Is it time to go beyond empowerment?
For years we’ve talked about empowering people to find their own route to an agreed goal. But is that enough? Does setting the goal itself limit the possibilities? Given the three levels below, what can we do to move to self-management?
One Simple Step to Be More Productive – Today
Have you noticed how in some organisations people seem stressed and over-loaded and complain of too much work, but nothing much seems to get done? Yesterday I had a meeting at Google, which always appears to be the opposite. Everybody is relaxed, helpful and friendly and yet they are incredibly productive.
The Joy of Not Working
Take time out. Cut off from work entirely. And see the difference in yourself when you get back.
Blog from Our Drupal Apprentices
Today we started the first Drupal pre-apprenticeship programme. The idea of the course is to find school leavers with an interest in and aptitude to coding/web development and help a young person get their foot on the ladder to employment. This intensive two week course will cover the basics of using Drupal, HTML, CSS, PHP and JavaScript. Currently four organisations have committed to taking on an Apprentice, so we will prepare this group of school leavers and get them ready to go out to an interview.
The Myth of The Clever Manager: Lessons From Boss Swap
Looking back at the lessons which can be learned from a decade-old TV show, there is still plenty for most bosses to learn.
