Ahem, Concerned about over-staying my Latin welcome with the eternally hospitable Pickup Tennysons of Olgiata, I accepted an offer to look after another house and garden in the same neighborhood, and started to lead a more ascetic existence than I had until then. This was excellent preparation for another move after two weeks into the […]
Author Archives: Lionel Stanbrook
Decision makers, scientists, journalists and the public often base their judgements on particular issues on summaries of the research done to clarify the issues. But despite its authoritative sounding title, a literature review is depressingly often a starkly dishonest way of trying to resolve a problem about which a lot of research has been done. Most […]
Ahem I divided the month of July between working in Rome and holidaying in South West France, with just a couple of passing night ships at home in Leymen. With my working time at a premium, I flew to Zurich after a full and stressful working day in a hot Rome, took the train to […]
Assisted by all the available communications resources cheaply obtained and even more cheaply used, it’s altogether possible that our generation may be communicating less intelligently amongst ourselves than any generation past, literate or not. For the evidence grows every day on social media that large numbers of people read no more than two or three […]
Ahem Leymen’s acknowledged eminence grise of local village history, Max Wyss, lives within a stone’s throw of the Chateau de Landskron at the top of the hill. He runs the society that undertakes and administers repairs to the castle. I went to see him as part of my occasional research into the history of the […]
Three steps provide the basis for good reputation management. Participation: Seek input from a broad range of stakeholders. Start to make partnerships with non-governmental organizations to help you to draft some clearly articulated goals, creating a business case linked to a rationale of corporate responsibility. Listen to all affected communities to address their concerns while […]
“Portmanteau” words pack two meanings into one word by taking part of one word and adding it to part of another. Such words have a long history, and probably a long future, as new words are created every day. I am compiling a dictionary of such words and I need some help with more suggestions […]
Ahem There was a rare and immediately memorable Stanbrook family gathering this month in London with most of the living Stanbrook family in attendance, namely my brother Clive, sister-in-law Julia and all their children and grandchildren, with Alli and me, Jessie, Ella and Gwen, cousins Diane and Brendan and assorted related cousins, nieces and nephews. […]
Kill the mission statement – create a mission narrative. A compelling mission has the power to shape a company and inform the strategic and operational decisions of its management. But all too often the words describing the mission, the mission statement, are lifeless and uninspiring. A mission statement can take five seconds and it can take years […]
It’s not a useful generalisation that a corporate reputation takes years/volumes to build but can be lost in a day/word (or variations of the same point). A really good corporate reputation, honestly earned and properly maintained, simply cannot be destroyed so easily unless it was obtained by deception. Unsubstantiated gossip, hate mail or mischievous accusations can make no […]



