The usual analogy for political aggression is that it's like fast bowling; a potent weapon if and only if it's completely accurate. I've not been following the story this afternoon, bu… (View Post)

Remember Malmesbury's (?) anecdotes of the time he tried to be helpful in a meeting and was told off for embarrassing the big boss in public? Healthy organisations aren't like that, of cour… (View Post)

What's the rule of thumb? Ten intimates, a hundred friends, a thousand recognisable faces in the crowd? Whatever extra powers electronic data give us, our fleshy brains are still basically the s… (View Post)

Not just an issue in Westminster, I suspect. See also the (abolition of) Captain Mainwaring issue in business. The temptation is always to centralise control- it looks more efficient and is technical… (View Post)

If you want to construct a messy cock-up scenario, it probably goes like this. Mandy's vetting uncovered the relatively trivial stuff that any of us could have said- the resignations, the unheal… (View Post)