I think anyone who gets nitpicky when reviewing a first draft is revealing some issues. Maybe they're envious? Maybe they want to put the creator down? Maybe they're raising the standards for acceptable so that no one can reach them and make them feel better about themselves? It's a first draft. It's supposed to be … Continue reading First draft nitpicking →

In the business world the lack of anything to talk about is a good thing. It means you can cancel that meeting and get some time back. But I fear, in the personal world, calls get cancelled for the same thing. "My life is really boring and routine right now. I don't have any exciting … Continue reading Highlights hindering →

The culture is you get praise every time you do something well and you get silence when you do something wrong. It's an ego sensitive environment that relies on the absence of praise to push you to do better.

You don't make eye contact and greet every person you come across in the street. That would be weird. But on a forest trail you do. Goes to show that the context is important. The setting influences behaviour and should not be ignored.

I think the problem with institutional education is the assessments. The tests are passed by rote memorisation and with essays you are encouraged to reference as many other  opinions as possible. I think the new way should be - what's your opinion? Can you articulate it? Do you have a firm grip on the subject … Continue reading Institutional education →

The pattern used to be: Notice a frustrating characteristic. Bring up the frustrating characteristic with another human out of earshot from the owner of the frustrating characteristic. Together discuss in depth that frustrating characteristic. Return to that person at a later point with a second frustrating characteristic for you to discuss. The other person seeks … Continue reading Breaking the pattern →

To ask the question "Why didn't he just do...?" when watching Fawlty Towers is to miss the point. It's supposed to be panicked decision making for our entertainment.

Woe is him, he is the victim of unfortunate circumstances that he could do nothing about. Hang on just a moment! I offered him a way out of his predicament and he turned me down. He's not a victim, he chose his fate. Save your sympathy for someone more deserving!

The first kindle came out in 2007 and yet in 2024 there are still book stores everywhere. The world wide web has digitized news for decades and yet newspapers are still being printed and sold. Netflix, Disney+, and YouTube haven't stopped the sales of DVDs. Despite the convenience of Spotify and Apple Music people still … Continue reading Stalled death →

American sports feel more like the entertainment industry than English sports. Why? Because of all the efforts to keep the fans at the game engaged while the ads are on. The kiss cam, the celebrity lookalikes, the T-shirt gun and so on and so forth. When there's a lull in an English sporting game, the … Continue reading Sport entertainment →