Daryl's Blog

I got gently hauled over the coals for encouraging readers to 'stick to the knitting' in my last but one blog. Knowing the absolute importance of good communications (don't ever forget the classic line in Cool Hand Luke, 'what we have here is a communication problem') I have to accept that I am as guilty of using jargon as anyone else. Christians can be the worst of course with their language of Zion, which can be quite impenetrable to outsiders and excruciating to insiders (I'm currently enjoying re-runs of Doc Martin, but when the born again Christian appears I cringe; give that man a slap, he definitely mustn't get the girl).

Back to sticking to the knitting; this phrase was used by Tom Peters (in Search of Excellence), who by proxy helped me in my career by giving me a lot of useful in phrases to impress my boss with. It means, get on with what you're good at, not what you're not good at. Most mergers and takeovers (statistically between 50 and 80%) are doomed to fail, because people overlook this vital point. Banks forgot what they are there for (to look after our money, help us build strong businesses etc), and have ended up losing more money than they ever made in all their previously profitable existence. My business looks after charities, which I think we mostly do well; but whenever we tried to diversify into other areas we always ended in yet another failure. As I get older I get more comfortable with what I'm good at, and more able to trust others with what I'm not good at (although I do want to find the time to learn to cook better and be a blessing to my wife).

So, check your communication skills, jargon creeps in so easily, stick to the knitting, be lean and mean, with plenty of blue sky thinking. I'm going to do some real work now (by the way, if you are involved in a charity that is considering partnering, merging, a takeover etc, let me know if I can help you in your thinking and planning).