What is 427 x 935? Back in the day, to solve this problem, you had to sit down with a pencil, a piece of paper and wrestle it into submission.  But these days we have calculators and calculators have robbed all the difficult problem solving from this equation.  Instead of learning our times tables off … Continue reading Calculators stealing problems →

In an individual sport, you are solely responsible for your success or failure.  In a team sport the performance responsibility rests with the collective and this can be a blessing or a burden.  In an ideal world the workload will be shared evenly throughout the team, in reality the effort exerted is rarely uniform.  A … Continue reading Hiding in Teams →

When you play rugby union there are coaches, training sessions and matches.  When you play tag rugby there are only matches.  Tag rugby is a social amateur sport and therefore lacks a regular development programme.  After mastering the basics of tag rugby you may find your growth plateauing.  The absence of coaches and training sessions … Continue reading Tag Rugby learning →

Mistakes are inevitable. It’s one of the terms and conditions of being a human being. Even the highest performing individuals in the world can’t avoid mistakes.  The greats aren’t great because they never made mistakes, they’re great because they recovered well from mistakes.  So if you can’t avoid mistakes I think the next best thing … Continue reading Recovering from mistakes →

Every month Bertie has to fill out a report and he hates doing it. He has such a small window to write the update that it causes him so much stress. He has to consolidate information from many locations and come up with decent commentary all in a matter of hours. Usually Bertie has to … Continue reading Bertie’s report →

Being the big fish in a little pond certainly has its perks. In particular the security of being the best.  You know it, everyone in the pond knows it and it’s immensely satisfying.  You’re king of the jungle, top of the food chain, and living in the penthouse. But… … If the big fish wants … Continue reading Big fish growth →

“Solve world hunger, tell no one!” The Grinch in ‘Dr. Seuss’ How the Grinch stole Christmas’ 2000 - I was watching Avengers End Game last night and a particular moment struck me.  The Avengers have an idea for saving the world and they are pretty confident their plan will work. The only hitch is they … Continue reading Grinch v Tony Stark →

What if the whole world was grounded? This year has turned a farcical notion into a sudden reality and businesses have suffered.  Currency exchange companies have had to make mass redundancies. Brick and mortar stores have had to shut up shop. The hospitality industry is in jeopardy. The future of business real estate is threatened … Continue reading Stressed business models →

Michael Bungay Stanier recommends taming your advice monster and I agree. I think unsolicited advice doesn't take as well as solicited advice. Furthermore I think probing questions that let the 'patient' come up with the answer themselves will resonate most of all. Having said that I think the biggest challenge to taming one's advice monster … Continue reading Scenic route to success →

The title of perfect is a heavy weight to bear. The word was not meant for labeling humans. To be perfect is to be flawless and no human is flawless. Being called perfect can make one terrified of mistakes. So afraid that 1) they don’t try and 2) if a mistake should occur they make … Continue reading Burden of perfect →