The book we are working on at the moment is ‘Do More Great Work’ by Michael Bungay Stanier. I wrote to Michael a few weeks ago to see if he would be interested in working with us. He lives in Canada so there were some practical difficulties to overcome. However, thanks to the wonder of Skype we managed to plan and deliver a 1 hour workshop at the end of last week. The technology worked beautifully thanks to a team with plenty of bright ideas. In the end 12 of us worked with Michael and we had a small camera crew in the
space with us to capture the event. This will be online soon on the work website along with a few small clips on YouTube.

One of the interesting things about the workshop was that we invited in some of the freelancers who work with us on various projects. It was a great opportunity to recruit the wider team to work together – and the
feedback from the freelancers was incredibly positive. “The first time in years I have had the chance for any personal development” said one of them.

All in all, it was an incredibly positive experience. Michael’s input was really helpful and very focused, and as a team it was a really productive experience. One of the team commented that it was as though Michael was in the room with us.

The Development Academy will continue over the next few months.  I will post further feedback on its progress.

At the last team meeting before the summer break, I introduced 6 books which have had a particular impact on the way in which I work:

• Michael Bungay Stanier – Do more great work
• William Bridges – Managing Transitions
• Tom Peters – Re-imagining
• David Allen – Getting Things Done
• Robin Sharma – The monk who sold his ferrari
• Stephen Covey – The seven habits of highly effective people

In the meeting we discussed the best way to work with these as a group. We decided that a form of ‘book club’ would be the best idea. So, we will each read one of these books over the period of a month and then have a discussion about it at the next meeting, looking at implications for the way we work as a team.

I guess you could call it a learning academy. I intend to further develop this academy idea as the months go by. I am also keen to look at ways in which we can use videos and other materials to build the learning. Hopefully this will help us as a team to build in a strong value base to our work.

Watch this space….

I have written about TED before. There are now over 800 videos online to view for free. I am subscribed to the newsfeed so that I get them dropped directly into iTunes as and when they are released. Last week I was catching up on a backlog of videos and came across this one. It will take you less than 20 minutes to watch as Brene Brown talks about vulnerability.

I like the way she begins with science and then dives into the whole emotional context of vulnerability. As I watched, I became truly moved by what she was saying, and found myself scribbling ideas frantically on a scrap of paper. She talks about the need for wholehearted vulnerability as the route to joy, happiness and fulfilment. She points to shame, fear, disappointment. She talks about being the first to say ‘I love you’, being turned down, asking for needs to be met, being flawed. The talk is truly inspiring and well worth just that little time to watch.

After watching the video, I subscribed to her blog and am enjoying reading that too.

I love reading Seth Godin’s thoughts on his blog (me and millions of other people). Earlier this year I read his book ‘Linchpin’ and recommended it to people who I work with, because it gives insight into the need to go beyond procrastination. We don’t get round to things on an even bigger scale these days because there are just so many distractions.

Then a couple of weeks ago I bought Godin’s latest book ‘Poke the Box’ which I am about to begin reading.

The link above is to a post on his website which looks at our relationship with authority figures. I like the way he reframes in a really helpful way. Take a look and see if you agree.

Begin to write as you normally would. Carry on writing until you get to the end point. Then, review what you have written. Find the natural point in the writing where the work really kicks in: the point where you are actually in focus.

This is the point where you want the writing to begin. So, cut everything that comes before that – and you have two choices. You can either lose the earlier section if it doesn’t contribute anything, or move it further on in the writing.

I am looking for the point of balance between head and heart. It’s the dance between the known and the unknown. I have written before about the way in which so much of the work that we do is a performance. Well, that has made me think more about the nature of the performance. Sometimes we work from a very scripted place – at such times it might be a meeting with a formal agenda, clear goals and a project plan. There is little space for innovation or creativity. This is the head space.

Then, at other times we are drifting in creative space, looking for ideas. Perhaps we are brainstorming or generating new ideas in other ways. This is the heart space.

The place between head and heart brings these things together into a creative tension. The closest of comparisons would be with improvisation. Especially with musical improvisation. If you haven’t listened to a CD of one of Keith Jarrett’s live improvisations, I would recommend that you do. He goes onto the stage with the parameters of the live event as the only boundaries. Beyond that, he empties his mind of pre-conceived ideas and creates new and fresh music on the spur of the moment. It is remarkable to hear and incredible to watch.

It is this space that I am thinking about. Thus, somewhere between head and heart, we find a creative space of improvisation. It can come in giving a presentation, running a workshop, in a coaching session. When it arrives, we find that the words springing from our mouths are a surprise. The ideas that come forward are new, they form in the interaction with others. We find a completely new perspective in the connecting with others.

1. Connect
2. Be active
3. Take notice
4. Keep learning
5. Give

The more I mull over these factors, the more I realise that they are the key principles to an active and engaged life. Try it yourself. Think about times in your life when you have felt at a low point. What a difference it would make if you connect with others, exercise, take notice of the things around you rather than being self-absorbed, keep learning and being curious, and give to others.

Interestingly, the New Economics Foundation has as its strapline “Economics as if people and the planet mattered”. In the current political climate in the UK, it would be useful to apply that message! Understanding the value of everything rather than the cost of everything.

I have just used a quote from Bartok:

“What is new and significant must always be connected with old roots, the truly vital roots that are chosen with great care from the ones that merely survive.”

In striving to produce something startlingly different which pushes into new territory we always need to help the process of communication by creating hooks for the audience. Bartok did it by pushing music into new soundscapes whilst drawing heavily on the folk and ethnic music of his homeland, Hungary. He and Zoltan Kodaly were active musicographers – generating a growing archive of the history of Magyar music. This simultaneous exploration of the historical context with the pushing out into new territory is key to charting new territory.

So, complexity for its own sake, working against the conventions just to be obtuse is counter-productive.

I read a book a few a few years ago by an academic from Warwick University, Gibson Burrell (now at Leicester). The book was called ‘Pandemonium’. It was about a post-modernist approach to organisation studies. In keeping with the subject it was laid out in an unusual format with the text working from front to back for the top half of the page, then from back to front for the bottom half. It was an imaginative approach which worked well. A departure from the norm – but there was a clear guide to get the reader through the book.

So, the point of this post is to remind me that if I experiment, I need to ensure that the communication is not lost because of the lack of cues or clues for the reader. In the words of the title, by all means explore complex issues and enjoy the journey – but remember the acronym KISS – keep it simple stupid!