Sir Digby Jones, the Birmingham solicitor turned director-general of the Confederation of British Industry, gave a hugely entertaining address to the Solicitors 2005 conference last week, and saved those present from the considerable expense of engaging management consultants. He boiled down the essence of a good workplace to four simple principles: say please; say thank you; say sorry when you have made a mistake; and be cheerful. 'It's very difficult to give a bollocking to a cheerful person,' Sir Digby pointed out. Management consultancy is one of those service sectors that make lawyers feel particularly useful by comparison, and Sir Digby could not resist a little joke at their expense. 'A management consultant,' he explained, 'is a man who knows a hundred ways to make love to a woman, but doesn't know any women.'