Some quick notes about narrative approaches and complexity. This is a topic that I have studied over the years, and am revisiting now – looking for ideas. I have read fascinating material or attended workshops by the following: Dave Snowden – his work on narratives and narrative capture, plus his theories of complexity. Eve Mitleton-Kelly … Read more
In the last post I mentioned that I worked as a Community Artist in the 1980s. This involved teachings skills in photography as well as creative writing. It must be said that my photographic skills were pretty basic. This was in the days of rolls of film, black and white moody photos and dark rooms … Read more
This is the first of a series of posts on the experimental. This will be a set of blog posts, which feature ideas and experiments. Different approaches. What is “Experimental”? There are two distinct definitions for the word. When aimed at science, (of a new invention or product), based on untested ideas or techniques and … Read more
There seems to be a general agreement that 2016 was an awful year for the planet and for the people in it. That doesn’t, of course, mean that it was bad for you and I – although some of the big national and global things that happened probably impacted how it turned out for each … Read more
A couple of months ago I took part in a Street Wisdom session in Manchester. We spent the afternoon with David Pearl, the creator of the concept. It was a fabulous afternoon where I met new people who I have continued to have coffee conversations with, and also learnt to look at the city around … Read more
There’s a gremlin in the works. I set out this month to write a blog post every day. If you are a subscriber, don’t panic. I am not going to post them every day – that would be too much. I’m scheduling them and spacing them out. I decided to do this as a challenge … Read more
It’s an exercise I attempted a while back. Probably six months ago. I sat with a blank piece of paper and set out to write a list of 100 things that I am good at. It was hard, really difficult. Modesty kept kicking in. A voice inside me kept saying, well yes you’re quite good … Read more
There are eight people in the team that I lead. Last summer it was feeling like we were flying around and hardly ever having time to reflect, time to work together and to plan our future. We were so busy in delivery mode that we had little time to see the bigger picture. Tentatively I … Read more
When we hold events, workshops, conferences, or just bring people together for a key meeting that will shape our work for the future, it is so easy to just move on to the next piece of work without reflecting on the experience. How often have you been involved in running an event, and then at … Read more
The concept of individuation was first brought to my attention when reading the work of Carl Jung. I would have been in my early thirties when I started exploring this idea; that stage in life when I was struggling with new identities like parenthood and trying to figure out what I was here on the planet to … Read more