Paul Taylor

Latest Writing

  • Net Zero and The Law of Horse Manure

    Net Zero and The Law of Horse Manure

    Catastrophic predictions that spell dark days for humanity are nothing new. The Times predicted in 1894 that in 50 years time, every street in London would be buried under nine feet of horse manure. It was the crisis of all crises. There was, to be fair, some evidence for this. As urban populations rapidly increased… Read more

  • The Gravitational Pull Of Business As Usual

    The Gravitational Pull Of Business As Usual

    The interior secrets of black holes are guarded by a one-way light-trapping boundary called the event horizon. This horizon is the point, according to NASA, that the gravitational influence of the black hole becomes so intense that not even light is fast enough to escape it. A very different horizon exists in many organisations, except Read more

  • 5 Social Media Policies That You Can Love

    I posted last week about How Your Social Media Policy Could Kill Your Culture. It was about the “control creep” that’s affecting some organisations as they try to protect themselves from a social media firestorm. In this post I want to look at a few organisations whose policies and guidance acknowledge the risks but see Read more

  • Can I Borrow A Cup Of Wi-Fi?

    I’m on holiday. I’m flicking through Twitter and sipping a beer in a village bar. Outside, some Thai kids are playing a game on the smartphone they’ve borrowed from their Mum. Locals pop in every so often to sit down , catch up on gossip and read their emails. What’s wrong with this picture? Here Read more

  • How Your Social Media Policy Could Kill Your Culture

    I love Social Media. But really, it’s not that important. Not compared to some things. I’ve begun to see a few posts suggesting that companies need to take more control over their employees social media output. That word – ‘control’ – has actually been used on more than one occasion. An unwelcome trend. It’s obvious Read more

  • Does Social Housing Need To Find A Richard Branson?

    It’s May 2008 , and Helena Moore and I have just left the stage at the European Customer Management World Conference. We had just presented to an audience that included John Lewis , Microsoft and some young startup outfit called Facebook. People who we would now recognise as experts in marketing their product and selling their Read more

  • Top Tips for Meetings: No.1 – Don’t Have Them….

    About 18 months ago I visited a multinational company specialising in networking equipment. There I sat , marvelling at some of the most state of the art communications systems on the planet: HD Video seamlessly linking multiple sites , one in a different country. Phones with tablets attached to them enabling employees to collaborate and problem solve Read more

  • HEY , Where are you? – Why your company needs to Google itself

    I recently explained to a group of managers why they should google themselves. After the initial “what, me? I’m not famous!” responses,  they see their search results , look intrigued, and then get it – the dangers of a badly curated digital footprint. But although many of us have gotten into the habit of doing Read more