At the end of 'Steve Jobs', the Michael Fassbender movie, there is a heartfelt moment as Steve picks talking to his daughter over starting his presentation on time (something we learned earlier in the movie that Steve is borderline obsessed about). By stalling the presentation and continuing to talk to his daughter, he was saying … Continue reading How important do they make you feel? →

It was a rather peculiar situation. Six people of varying degrees of authority were sitting around a table waiting for someone to make a decision. The Big Cheese wasn't present you see and in her absence she left a giant metaphorical hook in the middle of the room. The team had come to an impasse. … Continue reading Deniability & Productivity →

I think projections are curious things.I find them odd for two reasons:1) I can't tell the future and2) The person requesting the projections knows I can't tell the future. So why are we pretending I have some mystical orb?I posit that projections are more to do with fear than anything else. The unknown provides too … Continue reading Projections →

In hindsight it was obvious. Of course it didn't work. The potential participants were filled to the brim with scruples!First of all the request included videoing oneself. That task alone is riddled with feelings of anxiety and self consciousness. Secondly the ask was to video oneself performing a difficult task. A difficult task that requires … Continue reading Puzzling over participation →

The word yet should not be underestimated, especially in the realm of goal setting.The deadline has come November 16th 2020 and you are not a millionaire. Upon reflection you see how ambitious it was of you to write that goal five years ago.I'm not a millionaire...yet!Adding yet to that statement puts self pity on hold … Continue reading Yet →

As Bryan slept the many voices inside his head were called to an urgent meeting. Arthur: Quiet down! Quiet down! Let the record show that the committee of Bryan's internal voices is now in session. First and only item on this emergency agenda is labels. Carl the floor is yours. Carl: Thank you Arthur. Unfortunately … Continue reading Actions first, story second →

To follow on from yesterday's post I wanted to share with ye a fantastic exercise I just read in 'Do More Great Work' by Michael Bungay Stanier. It's a catastrophization prevention technique for your worst case scenario generator. First you list all the worst case scenarios your brain is thinking of and then you assign … Continue reading Catastrophization Prevention Exercise →

What's the worst that could happen? I could die. Ok, realistically, what is the worst that could happen? ... Imagination can be tremendously useful for  improvisation, daydreaming and playing with children but it's paralysing when put to work for negativity. Fantasy in play and realism in worst case scenarios.

When feeling particularly indecisive I've found that the simple act of fleshing out one's options verbally with another can be extremely useful. In your head it all sounds so logical but to hear it out loud, to hear it repeated back to you, it can sound quite silly and a winning option might become clear. … Continue reading Fleshing it out verbally →

"No Teacher is greater than one's own experience" Timothy Gallwey in 'The Inner game of Tennis' "The burned hand teaches best, after that, advice about fire goes to the heart" JRR Tolkien in 'The Lord of the Rings' If experience is the best teacher why do we love to rob people of the opportunity by … Continue reading Experience as a teacher →