Adding Meaningful Value
An antidote to modern bureaucracy
and the pathway to excellence
“For the first time since the industrial revolution, you cannot build a company fit for the future without building one that is fit for human beings.
And we should be grateful we’ve been given this chance. Because the management pioneers of 100 years ago were trying to work against the grain of what it means to be human. We’re not.”
— Prof Gary Hamel
Want high functioning, creative, effective teams? Delighted customers? Slicker operations?
Then confusion, dysfunction and apathy are your enemy.
The challenge is that modern management feeds these problems: its norms and bureaucratic tendencies work counter to human instinct.
Which is why you end up with problems like death by meeting, policy jungles, sluggishness, disengagement, disconnected decisions etc.
The answer therefore is not to double down on the status quo. It’s to pursue ideals with a long track record of bringing out the best in people.
Ideas that work in harmony with human wants and needs, not against them. In particular, purpose, simplicity, relationships and beauty.
Want to add real, meaningful value?
Let’s talk.
”Over years of discussions with leading board Chairs, NEDs and global CEO’s, I have witnessed this paradox: a conviction that things must change and yet a personal brain-freeze and gutlessness that perpetuates the status quo.
In meeting John Featherby, I found a highly articulate advisor already inhabiting the future of sustainable and flourishing business and the inherent re-imagination of the relationship between employer and employees in a thriving workforce. I recommend him to any leader brave enough to be on the right side of history earlier than most.”
— Managing Partner Board & Executive Search Firm
“Shoremount helped us re-define our strategy and change our business model to create new opportunities and focus on long-term ambitions.
We are now set to generate marked improvements not only in financial returns but also in how we interact with our local community, the environment and wider stakeholders. Importantly, I now enjoy my personal role and am excited about the future.”
— Principal,
Family Office
Purpose
Lack of direction. Unclear goals. Shifting priorities. Fragmented initiatives. Missed opportunities. Scattered focus. Wasted resources.
Just as soldiers need clarity of mission, they also need the bigger picture of objective and expectations in the event of information loss or crisis.
So, whilst high purpose matters, purpose is not merely about finding the social impact of your product (contrary to corporate trend).
Purpose is a glue. A direction of intent and collective endeavour.
Aligned, focused, motivating, and directional, a strong purpose gives your company the clarity to thrive and innovate in a fast moving market.
"Purpose is not just a cause, it’s the foundation for growth and innovation. When your business is anchored in purpose, everything else falls into place."
Satya Nadella, CEO Microsoft
Operating purposefully leads to…
4x revenue growth
2.5 revenue
30% more enterprising
50% less employee turnover
2.3x fewer sick days
3x more productive
30% higher customer satisfaction
4x more trusted
4x revenue growth 2.5 revenue 30% more enterprising 50% less employee turnover 2.3x fewer sick days 3x more productive 30% higher customer satisfaction 4x more trusted
Simplification
Customer confusion. Decision paralysis. Information overload. Policy jungles. Mission Drift. Resource Drain. Governance gridlocks. Death by meetings.
Modern companies are drowning in excess complexity and process.
It doesn’t need to be like that.
Simplification is not just possible, it’s essential.
Smoother, faster, clearer and less draining, simplicity frees you to spend more time on what really matters.
“There’s a powerful temptation to add layers of complexity to problems. The best way to succeed, though, is to strive for simplicity.”
Tim Cook, CEO Apple
“Business schools reward complex behaviour but simplicity is more effective.”
Warren Buffet
Pursuing simplification leads to…
49% more productivity
64% more customers
679% outperformance
40% lower operational costs
24% faster production cycles
30% lower compliance errors
25% faster decision making
49% more productivity 64% more customers 679% outperformance 40% lower operational costs 24% faster production cycles 30% lower compliance errors 25% faster decision making
Relationships
Customer dissatisfaction. Trust deficits. Inadequate conversations. Talent challenges. Conflict escalation. Community alienation. Lack of fun.
The limiting factor of all organisations is the quality of its relationships.
Prioritise quality relationships and not only will your people flourish in the immediacy but you create a fly wheel of possibilities and options.
Overlook relationship and you quietly breed problems, risk and decay.
Ultimately, it is not just good for the company. Foster good relationships is a defining factor of our quality of life as a whole. Vital when we spend so much time at work.
Relationships are the currency of leadership. When trust is high, the speed of progress increases exponentially."
Angela Ahrendts, Former SVP, Apple & CEO, Burberry
Quality relationships lead to…
50% better team
58% more retention
70% better innovation perception
60% higher profitability
41% less absenteeism
50% higher customer loyalty
12% more productive
50% better team 58% more retention 70% better innovation perception 60% higher profitability 41% less absenteeism 50% higher customer loyalty 12% more productive
Beauty
Disharmony between values and practice. Contextual mismatch. Soulless spaces. Adventure-less thinking. Hyper functionalism.
If beauty and story can improve the world, it can certainly improve your company.
But beauty is not merely about aesthetics: there is a highly practical, objective nature to it.
Consider what a beautiful friendship or golf swing looks like. It is not awkward or purposeless. It is that activity reaching its fullest expression of itself: what it was meant to be.
Beauty at that level is practical not just visual: fitness to the role, proportionality in the context; having the capacity to excel at it.
When people talk about something world class appearing effortless, that is beauty in action.
In a company, beauty is therefore not only seen in aesthetics but felt in experience. It is a company at the fullest expression of itself.
“We strive for beauty in everything we do, because it creates a memorable experience for our customers.”
Richard Branson, Virgin
Valuing beauty leads to…
12% increase in productivity
25% more well-being
80% boost in creativity
94% want more pleasing work environment
20% better employee retention
32% higher job satisfaction
40% boost in mood and productivity
12% increase in productivity 25% more well-being 80% boost in creativity 94% want more pleasing work environment 20% better employee retention 32% higher job satisfaction 40% boost in mood and productivity