If you have been reading things I have been writing about here for the last few months, you will know that I have been leading a piece of work called the Creative Leadership Academy (CLA). We have been experimenting with the creative arts, looking at ways in which they can enhance the work we do … Read more
Earlier this week we watched the first video from the collection which documented His Holiness The Dalai Lama’s visit to Manchester last year. It was an incredible weekend. Buying the video collection at the time seemed like a good way to recapture some of the learning. So, after a break of a few months it … Read more
In the next few weeks my working patterns will change significantly. I am seeing this as an amazing opportunity to free up time to write more. This blog has been really quiet for the last few months as a lot of my energy has gone into getting into the space for this to happen. There … Read more
With any activity like running events or meetings where there is a clearly defined objective, it is really important to do a review at the end of the day. Many people use “happy” sheets as a form of evaluation to get feedback on the day from the participants, but these have limited value. People either … Read more
This is just a really quick comment on the idea of team working and encouraging discussions in a way that resembles flash mobbing. What do I mean by that? Well, in the last few years I have become increasingly impressed with techniques for facilitation that rely on the wisdom within the room and push the … Read more
October is the month of quick ideas. I have been working with the Myers Briggs Type Indicator (MBTI) for a number of years now. It featured in my PhD thesis, for example. And in my day job, we used MBTI as a team building tool last year. There are many applications of this tool, and … Read more
I wrote in earlier posts about the work we did last year as a team to develop a Creative Learning Academy approach. This included reading a book a month, a set of workshops and other activities. This helped to inform the developments in the Releasing Potential Programme which we are now running for R&D Managers … Read more
I wrote a post a few weeks ago about three principles which I have developed to help me to figure out the best arrangement for hosting and locating the work that I lead as the NHS goes through changes in the coming months. Just to recap, the three principles are: Legitimacy Authority Neutrality These are … Read more
Everybody keeps referencing mindfulness. It comes up when people are looking for ways to tackle stress. It gets a mention in personal development approaches. It’s some time since Jon Kabat-Zinn wrote about the power of mindfulness in his book “Full Catastrophe Living”. His work was based on solid evidence gathered over a number of years … Read more
I have thought for a long time that the number three has a real magic for me. I won’t go into all the ideas about the Trinity and get all quasi-religious in this short piece, but three does seem to be a key number for the conscious mind. We are able to hold three … Read more