Are there champions for small change out there?

From Haydn

One consequence of this bubble, different from all other bubbles, is that many, many companies have expanded on the back of cheap and easy finance and on the back of cheap resources and markets that only grow. We need champions who recognise this for what it is: unreal. And champions who can step up and experiment with change.

We think of the past decade as a property and credit bubble but actually companies even in manufacturing and in services have borrowed to grow, and have had access to cheap resources (China, India), and customers who have grown their spending consistently.

These are the ingredients of a cocktail we don't yet understand.

One consequence has to be" under-developed managerial capabilities". When your markets keep growing and when the banks keep lending so that you can grow to serve those markets, life as an executive is easy. We have to find ways to identify the weaknesses this exposes for hard times and normal times. We have to find executives who are willing to acknowledge that change is necessary and the time is right. And we have to find companies who are prepared to experiment with new strategic, structural and managerial forms.

We can see already in the USA companies are adopting new managerial practices around Web 2.0 principles - build in a capacity to do experimental management, experimental strategy; trial, error, failure, learning, moving on. Who in Ireland and which companies in Ireland can see the need to experiment with how they manage their companies? Because there is no six sigma, no business process transformation and no other formula to turn companies around this time.