Basic crisis management sadly lacking in Philippines ferry disaster

When news broke last week of the tragic loss of the Princess of the Stars in the stormy seas of the Philippines, images of grief stricken relatives were shown across the world. But as the story recedes from the global media's gaze, strong criticism is emerging of the way in which the ship's owners, Sulpicio Lines, responded to the disaster.

This story, from Manila based ABS - CBN, reads like a case study in how not to manage a crisis. Read the story here

Debriefing your team after a crisis = valuable team building

However well you prepare your organisation to face a crisis situation, it is likely to experience a range of intense and varied emotions. In this article, the author argues strongly that by taking time to debrief after the event and highlight the things were done well, as well as those that could be done better, the bonds between team members are inevitably strengthened.

Read Chris Manning's thoughts in his blog here:

Creating a leadership culture

Many organisations grapple with the challenge of how to produce effective leaders of the future. This insightful paper looks at the effect of culture within organisation, and suggests 6 dimensions in which the top performing companies appear to be winning.

Read Richard Magid and Jay Wolf's paper here.

Management Speak - time for a paradigm shift?

How many of us have met or worked with people who can't seem to string a sentence together without at least one cliche to make your teeth grind? This article celebrates our common frustrations, and lists 50 examples of the language that seems to afflict the majority of boardrooms of the world. It even includes a boss-speak (polite version) bingo card for you to cut out and use at your next conference call!

Read the BBC article here:

docleaf Briefs

BEIJING (Reuters) - It's official. Hungry foreign hordes craving a fix of diced chicken fried with chili and peanuts during the Beijing Olympics will be able to shout "kung pao chicken!" and have some hope of getting just that.

As it readies for an influx of visitors for the August Games, the Chinese capital has offered restaurants an official English translation of local dishes whose exotic names and alarming translations can leave foreign visitors frustrated and famished.

If officials have their way, English-speaking visitors will be able to order "beef and ox tripe in chili sauce," an appetizer, rather than "husband and wife's lung slice."

Other favorites have also received a linguistic makeover. "Bean curd made by a pock-marked woman," as the Beijing Youth Daily rendered the spicy Sichuanese dish, is now "Mapo tofu." And "chicken without sexual life" becomes mere "steamed pullet."

And finally, a crisis in anyone's book... A 1.8 metre (nearly six feet) python has been found in a toilet bowl in a high-rise apartment in Australia's northern tropical city of Darwin, media reported on Friday.

The Northern Territory News said the black-headed python was found in a 10th floor toilet. Reptile catcher Chris Peberdy told the newspaper the python, likely to be a runaway pet, had been travelling through the building's sewer pipes.

"When I saw it I was pretty shocked," he said. "There is no possible other way it could have got there than through the toilet. I had to give him a wash because he was wet and a bit smelly." (Reuters, Aus)