/Insights

eeeee

New workplace-readiness certification designed to equip learners with the skills employers consistently look for. Global certification body APMG International and learning consultancy smart/tasking today announced the launch of Career Ready Academy, a new certification programme designed to help individuals develop the practical workplace skills needed to succeed in an increasingly competitive job market. Recent research from the Institute for Public Policy Research (IPPR) f

Enterprise transformation frequently suffers from a metrics problem. Progress is too often measured by the volume of tasks completed rather than the actual commercial value delivered. This creates an environment where project trackers look entirely healthy, yet the business transformation itself remains stalled. This challenge forms the basis of the second installment in our 10-part series on enterprise performance, where we isolate the recurring execution patterns that hold

These days, any business leader can use ChatGPT to generate a slick strategy document in minutes. It will feature sharp market analysis, industry language, and a convincing growth story that stands up to peer critique. The problem I’ve seen, however, is that investment committees frequently mistake a strategy deck for a guaranteed outcome. A slide deck is just a document. It is a feeling. It is not a target operating model, and it does not guarantee growth. Value is rarely l

A conversation with Niall Anderson For the second lesson in our 10 Lessons from 10 Years in Business series, I sat down with smart/tasking CEO Niall Anderson to talk about something he believes sits at the heart of successful consulting, sales and transformation work: truly understanding your client. Not surface-level research. Not generic discovery questions. But deep context - understanding the market, the pressures, the ambition, the politics, the risks and the real cons

In the second part of this two-part series, we identify the structural taps that lock-up your internal capacity, and what you can do about them. Once you recognise the mathematical velocity required to protect your margins, the question shifts from when to act to where to intervene. When a business model is under pressure, executive teams often try to solve the problem by pushing for more volume. They run the sales dice faster around the board, assuming growth will erase st

Over the last 12 months, the smart/tasking team has seen the real cost of delayed decision making. Leadership teams can lose millions in margin, not because they lack strategy, but because they delay difficult operational decisions for too long. In corporate life, it is remarkably easy to mistake frantic operational activity for real value. But when these foundations are ignored, early operational indecision quickly becomes the most expensive line item on an executive P&L.

Over a 40-year career navigating the journey from an apprentice to various board-level positions, I have seen the same costly script play out dozens of times. A senior leadership team identifies a massive opportunity for growth or optimisation. Significant capital is allocated to deep diagnostics, and a prestigious strategy team delivers a brilliant roadmap. But then, the strategy team leaves the room. The gap between strategic intent and operational reality remains one of th