Until recently I was 100% convinced that transparency is good. Authorities, NGOs, companies – they all should be open and transparent about what they do, how they do it and why they do it. They should allow outsiders access to key documents like strategies, internal and external evaluations and audits, and financial statements. The more others could see, check and verify, the better. For instance, I thought it was very [full post]
Writing a sound project proposal is not easy, and getting project funding is becoming more and more like winning a lottery. However, once you do win that lottery not all your problems are over! Why not, you may wonder. After all, getting money for something you want to do is not a bad deal at all. Well, to a certain extent that is indeed true. However, project proposal writing has [full post]
Almost a week ago, a New Year started for many of us. Time for a bit of reflection on the past year and for looking forward to 2012. A coach friend of mine posed me two valuable questions: What are the 3 things or persons that you will definitely leave behind in 2011 and not bring with you to 2012? What are the 3 things or persons that will flourish [full post]
Having seen Daniel Pinks Ted Talk on motivation recently it was almost uncanny to stumble upon Simon Sineks Ted Talk on Leadership. Sinek focuses on what makes leaders inspiring and successful. He presents a “golden circle” consisting of 3 circles. The outer circle represents what, the middle circle represents how and the inner circle represents why. Or, in Sineks words, the purpose, the belief that drives a person or a [full post]
Arriving home late last night I zapped for a bit and ended up watching a TED Talk on motivation by Daniel Pink. “There is a mismatch between what science knows and what business does”. Employees are being incentivised with carrots and sticks, while according to research this type of motivators work only in case the task to be performed is of a mechanical nature, not requiring creativity at all. As [full post]
