That expression comes from Beau Willimon, one of the geniuses behind House of cards (yes, I confess I am a big fan, and this one is in Season 2, episode 3), and it stroke a chord while negotiating with a service supplier recently. The service…
Typical answer from someone unprepared when asked: “how much is the budget for your project?” My interlocutor eventually admitted she needed to check with the general manager. Fair: if I want to start a discussion and understand the magnitude of a project, it is usually…
The summer heat seems to affect some spirits these days. Short-fused tempers manifest, or some minds are so focused on an end goal that they forget to check (“enjoy” just sounds unreal sometimes…) the scenery and see what is happening around, and available. Ignoring what…
To the count of 3, make a wish! That is it: OFL is reaching the tender age of 3. What a ride, a temper, a series of rollercoaster-like palpitations, including deceptions, excitements and other decision-making exercises. And it is not over yet. Comparing that length…
As the Sport Accord Convention in St. Petersburg (which I missed) wrapped up last week, I got to read some first-hand impressions from participants: touching on emotional and professional expectations, some comments were tactful, some raw. The fact that it was taking place in Russia has triggered…
9 days. 9 days of thinking, re-thinking, asking, debating and slowly seeing some light. All this on my back, in response to the blind eye I had been turning on some of my body’s signs over the past weeks and months: I have been lying…
While watching the news leaves me more and more perplex about how much, when that happens, partisans of opposite ideas, political, social, cultural or economic, get to listen to what “the others” have to say, and why, it sometimes seems fairly similar to what a…
While some politicians are debating on a way to pay their country’s debts and decide on a budget, others are looking into new nuclear projects and worldwide charities are running another stretch of their continuous fundraising campaign. The new year’s celebrations are competing year after…
The first time I met with the COO of a company I used to work for, the conversation got cut short with this ruthless statement, yielding for nothing but acceptance. Nothing to add, just swallow both my pride and the pill, whatever the message. I…
The fascinating part of crossing borders, of a country or a county, to go and work is to learn the little details a client, or a country, looks at first. In the UK, Health and Safety seems to have taken one of the first ranks…