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Innovative Actions Programe Workshops
People and Culture - 13th September 2005
This workshop was lead by Karen MacKenzie of jkfC Ltd, who began by quoting Tom Peters statement,
“Culture is just the way we do things round here”.
This certainly rang a chord with the participants. Continuing, Karen suggested we can gain competitive advantage by:
- Employing the best technology – however so can a lot of your competitors
- Developing the best systems and processes – again so can your competitors
Why not “Engage the best, smartest people because smart people make smart technology smarter and smart systems smarter”. The workshop continued to develop this strategy in an interactive session. Karen’s closing quote “‘Whatever you do, or dream, begin it now. Boldness has genius, power and magic in it! Begin it now.’ – Goethe
Following Karen’s overview our Family Business Speaker was Kevin Fitzpatrick of FM Environmental.
Established over 45 years ago by Kevin’s father, the company continues to innovate and grow. Kevin spoken frankly and passionately about his own experiences in leading the company. He clearly focused on the importance of people in his own organisation and the value they brought. His leadership style he described as fairly democratic in nature and his philosophy was:
“I think I’m good at picking good people so it makes sense to let them take responsibility for projects. People respond positively if you give them an opportunity to prove themselves”.