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As seen in The Environmentalist...

4/8/2017

It's great that The Environmentalist magazine featured Kapaciti Director Nathan in their July edition. Nathan talks about his work in the sector, how others can get into it and his links to IEMA.

Follow the link below to access the article or subscribe to The Environmentalist, the UK's leading magazine to the environment and sustainability profession, published 12 times a year by the Institute of Environmental Management & Assessment (IEMA): www.environmentalistonline.com/article/nathan-vear

Superstitions in business

13/7/2017

It’s Kapaciti’s 3rd birthday and the office plant, resident since day one, has a flourish of new green leaves. Surely a positive sign? This got us thinking about superstitions in the corporate world, or ‘traditions’ if that makes us feel more comfortable! Maybe you have a power tie, special pen, place certain items in specific places on your desk, or run through certain routines before an important meeting or presentation?

Friday 13th is an interesting example, retail analysists say that millions of Britons alter their buying behaviour on the day, or in anticipation of it. The price of flights departing on Friday 13th can be as much as 22% lower than normal! Whilse risk analysists report that there is a statistically lower risk of accidents Friday 13th, as people are extra cautious.

There are many entrepreneurial believers! Even Steve Jobs had a wardrobe consisting of a black turtlenecks and jeans. Superstition maybe, but his rationale was that by wearing the same thing, he wasted no mental energy on the daily dilemma of what to wear! Instead, his energy was channelled into more productive things!

We are in exponential and complicated times and running a business is unpredictable! If being a believer boosts your confidence, familiarity or sense of control, then embrace the quirks of superstitions and go for it!

So ‘triskaidekaphobia’ aside, (an abnormal fear of the number 13), happy 13th of the month, happy birthday Kapaciti, have a lucky one!ck here to edit.

Transform your organisation with Interim Management support

20/6/2017

Brexit limbo, pessimistic growth forecasts or just a feeling that it would be best to batten down the financial hatches… some of the reasons why more and more organisations are engaging executive interims to bolster their resources and deliver results. Here’s Kapaciti’s take on the opportunities they are tapping into:

1. You get the help you need when you need it
Be clear about what you what you want to achieve, when and why. Write your list of the expertise you need to maximise results. All for an investment that you can readily budget for, what’s not to like?

2. Results are determined by what you’re prepared to ask for
Interims will have a long CV, backed by results! They will typically have worked in several organisations on projects requiring change and transformation. You'll have access to their experience, skill set, insight, and get a benchmark on best practice.

3. Prepare for a running start
Interims are often available at short notice, allowing you to react quickly to a developing situation. Once they are in situ, their job is to make you look good, that’s their springboard to the next opportunity, so they’ll do whatever they can to make it happen.

4. No baggage… or office politics
Objectivity and pace are the names of the game. With fresh eyes and a results focus, prepare for an onslaught of enthusiasm and ‘can do’ attitude, which will boost the morale and productivity of stagnant or stretched teams.

5. Cost-effectiveness
Limited HR involvement, no NI, sick pay, benefits, or holidays. just the need for (decent) coffee on tap where Kapaciti is concerned!

Respond to the constant change in your organisation by engaging a flexible interim resource; they’ll guide you through the opportunities presented by your transition. Everything starts with a conversation, can we tell you more?

Brexit - Time for a visionary, bold and progressive agenda on environment and sustainability in the UK

27/6/2016

I’ve spent most of the weekend as if in some kind of day dream. Probably like many people in our profession. (Self-declaration: I voted in...)

Having spent my working life in the EU, I’ve taken great interest in the way environmental legislation is created, adopted and implemented and sees Europe shaping and defining UK environmental policy - dragging it kicking and screaming from the ‘dirty man of europe’ of the 80’s to, now I think of it, a country great on thought leadership, yet begrudgingly compliant. We may have led the way on environmental management systems and pollution permitting control, but on kerbside recycling, environmental design, energy labelling, impact assessment, landfill, air quality, circular economy, and bathing water, we have to agree surely that EU has led the way.

Yes, we do like a moan in the UK, but our achievements in creating a sustainable economy while protecting and enhancing the natural environment have been hard fought in spite of the financial, political or hierarchical challenges we often face.

My reaction to the news of the out vote has been of shock and disappointment. As time has gone on that has been replaced by a degree of fear in what might be a wildfire of environmental deregulation. The environmental press have captured this sentiment who have reacted similarly, expressing a combination of fear, doubt and uncertainty.

Two weeks after my professional body in all things environment and sustainable, IEMA, published its bright, open, and brave vision for transforming the world to sustainability, I have at times caught myself with a wry ironic smile. “Transforming the world to sustainability” from little England now seems a daunting proposition. I can picture now a future Prime Minister, standing on a melting Greenland icecap past its tipping point, preaching to the world about what everyone should be doing about climate change while glibly ignoring our own mediocre, confused and frequently changing policy on the environment.

We cannot change the outcome of the vote, but we can influence what happens next, mobilising and influencing the agenda in our organisations and whoever is in Government in shaping a future policy for the UK or negotiating the manner of the UK’s exit.

It's easy to be fearful of a de-regulation agenda, however the UK brexit vote is precisely the reason why we need to need to step-up and step-forward with confidence, taking this unique event as an opportunity to make the UK a shining beacon on the global environmental and sustainability agenda.

Now is the time form a visionary, bold, and progressive agenda for the environment, and for sustainability in the UK - for us to be bright, open and brave in working with our politicians and decisions makers, whomever they may be, to deliver on the instruction given by the country in a way that moves forward from where we are, not backward.

Photo by Kien Do via Unsplash

Nathan is a Full Member of IEMA and is a Chartered Environmentalist.
IEMA is the body for environment and sustainability professionals, transforming the world to sustainability. Head over to their website for more information. www.iema.net

A rolling stone gathers no moss...?

15/4/2016

I've had a bit of a revelation today. I've seen the future ...

As I recently sat listening to third year students give their insight and advice on success in a digital world, two things struck me. The first - watching people not unlike how I was at University - was how quickly and how much the world moves and evolves. You want to know? I mean a lot, and quickly!

The second was that I'm sure there was a time when I knew what was what, and that significant change generally occurred every couple of years. Today, the reverse is true; significant change happens all the time. If stability does break-out though, don't rest on your laurels; by the time you've caught your breath the world has move one and you're playing catch up!

Listening to these millennials talk about the way they consciously and purposefully engage with Facebook (family and private), Twitter (public and professional personas), LinkedIn (mentoring, advice, job opportunities), Pinterest (private wedding pinboard), I began to reflect on how the traditional structures of organisations created by the baby boomers and inherited by us generation x'ers are slowly dissolving to create something more organic and fluid. Whether we are approaching a tipping point such as the alarming rate of melting on the Greenland ice sheets - a topic for another day - remains to be seen, but it isn't far off...

Finding the right strategy to pursue is critical, as will be negotiating the path at what is a time of significant change in the labour market. Nearly every other student in the room has, is involved in, or thinking about creating their own business and digital is at the centre of that - upfront and centre.

This has huge implications for the hearts and minds of every organisation today, and if it isn't on the agenda yet, it should be. Those businesses that succeed will be those able who manage this tension between structural solidity and liquid fluidity to their benefit. Not everyone will get it right, for many it the path will be be complicated and treacherous, but it is possible.

And as I've said, I've seen the future today. Through our business consultancy and coach-mentoring services, Kapaciti can work with you, providing the capacity and insight to manage that tension and to work with baby-boomers, x'ers, the y's, the millennials and whoever comes next to make sense of the changes today's businesses need to make for tomorrow, and for tomorrow's business to seize the opportunities of today... and I include Kapaciti in that.

Google the proverb in the title of this piece, and we're told that a person who does not settle in one place will not accumulate wealth or status, or responsibilities or commitments. In today's economy, that doesn't hold true.

To paraphrase Charles Darwin, it is not the strongest or the most intelligent who will survive but those who can best manage change.

A rolling stone gathers no moss

Nathan attended the third of Lincoln University's Digital Talk Workshops 'Success in the digital world'

The Digital Talk Series 2016 is a project set up by Hanya Pielichaty (Business School Digital Lead) and her Digital Student Ambassador Group (DSAG) as a way to engage University of Lincoln staff, students and the wider business community in digital technologies and learning. The series is compiled of four guest talks and three student-led workshops all with the purpose to inspire and inform others about digital advancements and platforms in an interactive and dynamic manner.

For further information or to find out more, head over to Lincoln University's Digital Student Ambassador Group, or join the conversation on twitter here @DSAGUol or here #UoLDigital.

Rebooting the blog...

30/9/2015

It been a really busy year for Kapaciti. One that has see us do business in one way, shape or form with a number of great people and business in the UK and abroad. It's been so much fun (and hard work) that the 'social media' strategy has taken a back seat.

And so it's time for a reboot so watch this space.

But if that doesn't happen, that's cool. Delivering tangible value for clients, inspiring change and momentum is far more important... besides, we can just take this part of the site down.

If you wanted to know what we're about or how we can support you delivering your business objectives or critical projects, please get in touch.

Is your business resilient to extreme weather?

3/10/2014

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Business Resilience isn't a snappy term for something as important as it is. Fortunately, weather metaphors come to the rescue...

Is your business capable of weathering a storm? Have you the tools, information, and measures in place so when the storm does come, your business can 'batten down the hatches' and 'ride it out' until the sun shines again?

For businesses unfortunate enough to have been stopped in their tracks following an extreme weather event, the weather is no longer just a metaphor, its a real issue affecting your business continuity.

Like many areas of the UK, businesses across the Humber face the need to adapt to a changing economy, evolving work practices and social trends. But unlike many parts of the country though, Humber businesses also need to be prepared for extreme weather events when they do happen, particularly flooding.

Many businesses around the banks of the Humber were counting the cost of coastal flooding in December 2013, when a storm and tidal surge combined to create the near-perfect storm.

So is your business prepared? Can it literally 'weather the storm'. The good folks at Humber Chemical Focus, Your Climate, and the Local Authorities across the Humber have come together to organise an event so you can find out more about the plans you need in place so your business can recover quickly when it gets knocked off its feet by extreme weather

Find out what the risks are, learn how others have responded, and get practical advice on how to be prepared for whatever the weather throws at your organisation.

Kapaciti will be there too so please look out for us!

Places at the event are free, but are limited, so please book on-line to secure your place.

Credits:
Photo: "Raging Sea" by Evgeni Dinev, freedigitalphotos.net

Links:
http://www.yourclimate.org/
http://www.hcfhumber.co.uk/events.aspx

To book your place on the visit:
http://humber-resilience.eventbrite.com or email to Katie.hedges@hcfhumber.co.uk

Get in touch with Kapaciti to for a no-obligation business resilience health check. Our gap analysis tool will help identify the measures you need in place to get your business back up and running quickly if struck by an extreme weather event. Its not a matter of if it happens, its a matter of when. We're only a call or click away.

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Time to take renewables seriously

28/8/2014

It seems that after a long time having to prove and justify itself, the renewables industry is on the verge of a major breakthrough.

With RWE Generation announcing plans to take out 1,000MW of coal-generated power supply in Germany over the next three years in the face of "the continued expansion of renewables", UBS bank has come to a similar conclusion it seems.

In a briefing paper to clients, UBS find that centralised power stations will soon become extinct because they are too big and inflexible, and are "not relevant" for future electricity generation. An endorsement for market investment in renewables if ever one were needed.

Not that one is needed in the Humber, of course, as the huge investment taking place right now across the Humber in manufacturing, operations and maintenance sectors demonstrates.

On the ground, RenewablesUK reported that 22% of the UK's energy came from renewables on the 17th August. Not quite the 55% experienced in Spain throughout July but still a hefty contribution.

Wind and solar power used to be scoffed at for only being useful when the wind blows or the sun shines. As far as the renewables sector in concerned, it certainly seems like the sun is shining!

Sources:
"Big power out, solar in: UBS urges investors to join renewables revolution", edie.net, 28/08/14
"Renewables fuel European economies and force power generators into rethink", environmentalistonline.com, 18/08/14

Credits:
"Solar panels and wind turbine" from freedigitalphotos.net by Anusorn P nachol

Get in touch with Kapaciti to find out how we can support you in developing your environmental or business strategy. Kapaciti is here to help you make informed decisions bringing together research, consultation and the latest industry analysis. We're only a call or click away.

New beginnings

13/8/2014

Hello world! Thank for you for visiting Kapaciti Online. We'd like to think its a 'Knock Out' (geddit?) and would certainly welcome any feedback you'd care to share with us about your experience here so far...

It's been a steep learning curve in getting a website up and running from scratch but its fair to say that we're quick and agile enough to take it all in our stride! Such is the way we do things at Kapaciti!

A big thank you to the beta testers! Your comments and feedback have been really helpful.

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