Author: moderncareers

  • What Did You Learn On Holiday?

    A soggy giraffe is no fun. Giraffes prefer sun and choc ices.
    A soggy giraffe is no fun. Giraffes prefer sun and choc ices.

    Well hello there and I hope Crow looked after you all with his blogging. He certainly looked a happy bird when I saw him earlier! Now he’s got the hang of it he’s keen to do some more, so I’m sure he’ll pop up again.

    So, thank you Crow.

    Now where was I? Ah yes…the end of the holidays, the start of school and the picking up of all the loose ends left in a tangle at the beginning of August. And with all transitions it’s often helpful to reflect on what went before and to draw a few conclusions.

    So, in the spirit of being a bit reflective I would like to invite you to consider these questions:

    Q1 – What worked well for you over the summer?

    Q2 – What will do you differently next year?

    I ask these questions because one of the things I learned over the summer was that sometime the best thing to do is to say STOP!

    For example, we were travelling to Longleat, to enjoy a proper English Safari and had proper English rain to accompany us, which clearly was also coming along for a day out. The forecast had said it would be sunny, but it was fibbing, so I pulled up the car and suggested we stop and go somewhere else instead. A bold move, when you have children to disappoint.

    However, given that the temptation is to carry on regardless it was great to show the kids that you can call a halt and can change your plans. We went to a motor museum instead and kept dry.

    And a couple of days later, when the sun came out, we went back to wave at stationary rhinos and gasp in awe at sleepy lions, and had a much better time.

    In fact later on, I said stop a second time and instead of going to the cinema when the sun was out we enjoyed a warm and interesting time at Chedworth Roman Villa.

    What did the Romans ever do for us? …I hear you cry… Well on that day they sold us very nice icecreams and kept the sun shining until it was time to head off. And I thought it was particularly clever of them to build a large house with heated baths on the site of a future National Trust site. Clever chaps these Romans.

    So, for me the thing that worked really well was simply saying ‘stop’.

    And next year the thing we will do differently is to go abroad for some sun. That way we can see what the Romans did for other countries too. Apparently they were a big noise in Italy….

     

    Books! Speaks!

    If you’re new to this blog there are some books listed on the homepage and you’re welcome to browse. If you’d like to know how to write one, do contact me and ask me your questions. If you’d like me to do a bit of public speaking, or talk to your colleagues, then you can have that too. I’ve been told that I’m pretty good at it. You can decide for yourself though.

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  • Crow Does… Endings

    Crow says: 'Haha! I'm off...I wish I could fly...oh look, I can! Caw!'
    Crow says: 'Haha! I'm off…I wish I could fly…oh look, I can! Caw!'

    Hello, I’m Crow and sometimes I turn up at Richard’s workshops, which is fun for me and gets some interesting reactions from people. I like to help humans develop their presentation skills, or challenge some of their thinking styles and if I squawk, well that’s just me being friendly, as I’m a happy sort of bird. Richard is taking a break for three weeks and has asked me to stand in and say something interesting. He claims that he’s in the garden ‘thinking great thoughts’, but personally I think he’s just asleep. Oh well, anyway, here goes my blog…

    Well hello there humans and it’s my last week of standing in and quite frankly I’m amazed how much fun this blogging lark has been. (Unlike actual larks, who are no fun at all; smug birds with their Vaughan Williams music and all that). When Richard asked me to write something I was like all ‘no way man’ and like ‘but I’m a bird’ and all that sort of thing.

    But now I’ve had a go and have realised, that despite the lack of opposable thumbs, I’ve enjoyed it.

    Thinking is good and playing is good (do have a look at the other weeks if you missed them) and reflecting on them made me realise that sometimes you have to end things (or let go of a bit of baggage) in order to begin new things.

    In my case I’ve ended my blogging ignorance and now I quite like this kind of thing. (Don’t tell Richard though, as he’ll get me on it every week and right now my beak needs a break).

    So as the summer holidays come to an end and we all turn our wings towards the rest of the year I thought I’d invite you to think about this question:

    What do you need to end, or pause, or let go of, in order to create some space to begin something new?

    I know that’s a thoughtful question, but then again, unless you’re a pigeon (why are they so silly?), you can cope with it.

    How did I do? That’s three weeks of typing, not bad for a mere bird! I’m off now for a rest and to work up the outline of my new book called ‘Pigeons: Why?’  …It could be a blockbuster….