Posts by Marcus de Courtenay

Improv for Agile Mindsets

As leaders are increasingly required to facilitate more collaborative, agile workspaces, so too must our skill bases and the focus of our professional development shift. More and more we need to hone our ability to listen, communicate, and learn to...

The Ties that Bind Us: External Social Capital and Innovation

Few partnerships could be considered more profitable than that of “Wintel”. Microsoft and Intel dominated the PC-era and led the market in a range of metrics, managing to achieve a continuing level of innovation which delivered better PC performance for...

The Social Animal: Finding Fulfilment

Many years of sociological research have identified a number of primary social needs that drive human behaviour. During periods of change and disruption, we can experience a particular threat to these needs, which may translate into anxious, stressed, and even...

Regenerative Teams: Rhythm and Reach

Few interpersonal relationships are more important to organisations than the dynamics of teams. It’s uncontroversial then to say that getting them right should be a priority.   On the one hand, the look of teams has changed irreparably in recent...

Amplifying Voices: Optimal Feedback Loops

A San Francisco-based executive consultant recounts a conversation he overheard about Steve Jobs’ feedback style while at Pixar. Jobs would point to a person in a meeting and ask, “Tell me what’s not working at Pixar.” He would continue to...

How Psychological Safety Fuels DE&I in High-Performing Teams

The case for diversity, equity and inclusion (DE&I) in organisations has been made extensively. To start, in our practice at Performance Frontiers we see it as the right thing to do on a human level. We are also seeing that...