@CalvertMarkham

Major focus is management consulting - teaching, academic and institutional.

 London
Joined June 2011
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Signs of the future calvertmarkham.wordpress.com…

Signs of the future

Most weeks I undertake a routine trip driving through the suburbs of south London. It’s a distance of some 10 miles and when traffic is light can take 40 minutes – and much more at busier times. Ou…

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A good word for 2021 calvertmarkham.wordpress.com…

A good word for 2021

In one exercise while undertaking arduous training soldiers have to run in full kit over a long course through the Welsh mountains. After careful navigation they eventually arrive at their destinat…

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The failure of colonialism calvertmarkham.wordpress.com…

The failure of colonialism

Some 40 years ago I arrived in Juba, what is now the capital of South Sudan, but at a time when Sudan was undivided and the largest country in Africa. The road from the airport was lined with hands…

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Another country - the culture war between past and present calvertmarkham.wordpress.com…

Another country

It is with some shame that I share with you a cautionary tale from my childhood, delivered by my mother in private horror. She and my father had been at a formal dinner when one of the diners broke…

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A little-known celebration calvertmarkham.wordpress.com…

A little-known celebration

Napoleon is said to have declared (presumably in French) that ‘every French soldier has a marshal’s baton in his knapsack’, implying that given ambition, talent and opportunity the humblest soldier…

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A perfect fit calvertmarkham.wordpress.com…

A perfect fit

As a fan of Terry Pratchett’s Discworld series of stories, I have often used Captain Samuel Vimes’ ‘Boots’ theory of socioeconomic unfairness to preach the virtue of buying quality. To …

calvertmarkham.wordpress.com
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Sex, sadism but less snobbery James Bond in lockdown calvertmarkham.wordpress.com…

Sex, sadism but less snobbery

‘Please sir, can I go to see Dr No?’ I was at a boarding school, but even though I was a day boy, you needed your housemaster’s permission to visit the cinema in the small town. ‘That’s one of thos…

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The Power of Ten: farewell stones and pounds calvertmarkham.wordpress.com…

The Power of Ten

I quite like driving in France because when distance is in kilometres, you go a lot faster; kilometres pass more quickly than miles. We have yet to change to kilometres in this country but we have …

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A good word for 2020 calvertmarkham.wordpress.com…

A good word for 2020

One January many years ago I was leading a conference being held in a remote country house. It was late afternoon and already dark, when suddenly the lights went out. The weather was stormy, and a …

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Let’s hear it for Abe… and Desmond calvertmarkham.wordpress.com…

Let’s hear it for Abe… and Desmond

Lesson 101 in social sciences for consultants ever features Abraham Maslow’s hierarchy of needs. For those unfamiliar with it, here goes: not all needs are ranked the same. Most profound are physio…

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The time of your life calvertmarkham.wordpress.com…

The time of your life

Last week we mourned the death of Vera Lynn, aged 103. She came to fame through her performances during WWII, becoming the ‘forces sweetheart’, who raised the spirits of so many through her singing…

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Thirty years on calvertmarkham.wordpress.com…

Thirty years on

The first edition of my first book on consulting skills was published in 1987. It will shortly be issued in its seventh edition, and so I have indulged myself by looking back over the 30+ years sin…

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From hype to reality calvertmarkham.wordpress.com…

From hype to reality

Last year the Centre for Management Consulting Excellence conducted a project researching the skills that management consultants would need in the year 2030. The results were announced at the Centr…

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A faint Allelujah for management consultants! calvertmarkham.wordpress.com…

A faint Allelujah for management consultants!

Alan Bennett’s latest play, Allelujah, is set in the geriatric ward of a local hospital. One of the main characters is a management consultant who is keen on making sure the hospital is closed down…

calvertmarkham.wordpress.com
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Do management consultants make things worse? calvertmarkham.wordpress.com…

Do management consultants make things worse?

The press eagerly leapt on a research study published in February that claimed to show that there was an inverse correlation between health trust performance and the amount they spent on management…

calvertmarkham.wordpress.com
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Beware of the door calvertmarkham.wordpress.com…

Beware of the door

It was already dusk when he reached the mansion. It had been empty for years, but although the front door opened easily, the hallway seemed untouched by passing burglars. Ahead was a grand staircas…

calvertmarkham.wordpress.com
Making friends of my clothes and a route to world peace calvertmarkham.wordpress.com…

Making friends of my clothes and a route to world peace

I’ve just bought a new winter coat, but it’s vital that it goes through a process of becoming my friend before I start to wear it. Some clothes become friends instantly, so you can put them on almo…

calvertmarkham.wordpress.com
In search of (consulting) excellence calvertmarkham.wordpress.com…

In search of (consulting) excellence

(Scroll to bottom for explanation!) Tim Harford, the Financial Times’s “undercover economist” is currently presenting a series of 10 minute broadcasts, “50 things that made the modern economy”. Rec…

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Summer music in a park - a perennial pleasure calvertmarkham.wordpress.com…
On reputation in consulting calvertmarkham.wordpress.com…

On reputation in consulting

Branding is the embodiment of reputation. A brand allows a premium price to be charged, and helps keep market entrants out. Only in recent years has a value been explicitly put on brands; for examp…

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