To be Human is… To be an adventurer. To embrace failure. To be authentic. To be messed up. To seek connection. To stand up for injustice. To love regardless. To say sorry. To be unique. To have faith. ∴ To be human is to step up. And play your part.
I learnt recently that WD-40 stands for “Water Displacement 40”. The 40 means it was his 40th attempt at developing the product. The inventor Norm Larsen had tried 39 times to find a way to displace water to stop rusting in the aerospace industry. When he finally succeeded on his 40th attempt he created a … More Could you fail 39 times?
A few weeks ago three people, over the course of a week, reached out to ask why I wasn’t blogging? One example is from a young reader who private messaged me, “I was just wondering what happened with your blogs – I really enjoyed reading them” I looked back and saw I hadn’t blogged in … More Stopping unintentionally
As I open the door and step across the threshold, I’m struck by the sweet aroma of fresh coffee. The warmth inside contrasts the crisp air outside, as does the bustle and noise of a busy café. I glance around the café and take comfort from the fact I see no-one I know. I slide … More How to create space to think
You know when you repaint a room a different colour, and the first coat of the new fresh paint doesn’t look quite as you expected. You’re pretty sure it will be OK, but until you get the rest of the paint on you won’t know. Last week, with our annual conference looming and our strategy … More How to stop people thinking outside the box.
You have probably all worked with people at the creative extremes. At one end is the person who works really hard, executes like crazy then tells you “I’m not creative”. At the opposite end of the scale is the “ideas person” who constantly has ideas and never delivers on anything. Leading these people can be … More Two things you need to become innovative
Recently I was sitting in a group of maybe 200 people who were asked if they were artists, and only four people raised their hand. I was one of the four ‘artists’ who put their hand up. Can I paint or sculpt or dance? No, not at all. Yet I am an artist, because at … More We are all artists
Knowledge and creativity are spinning so fast that it’s hard to know if that latest idea I have is actually mine, or someone else’s. Its almost as though this latest drop of an idea is merely a colourful addition, to an existing artwork. After all, is there any such thing as an original idea? Or … More Creating original thoughts from stolen colourful ideas
For some unknown reason I am both cursed and blessed with a natural ability to do accounting. So much so, that some people consider it a strength. I am blessed because when you run a business it is good to have a firm grasp on the numbers. Yet I am cursed because I actually really … More Strengths = Being Good and Passionate
When your kids are 3 they are all artists. Regardless of how recognisable their drawing is we encourage them over and over again as they mass-produce their drawings and scribbles and … art. By 10 many kids will realise that they don’t draw as well as other kids and by the late teens, you … More 178 | 365 Art
I like this photo because of the way the sun fuses with the water to create bright spots that look like small liquid fireworks (without the risk of burning your house down). Spent the last couple of days thinking about bright spots. Things that are working. It’s been refreshing because by default I … More 163 | 365 Bright Spots
'Old marketing is dead10 years ago we were able to advertise a position in a paper and know that people looking for a job would see it. Nowadays you need to advertise in many papers and on multiple websites and you are still not guaranteed a good response. It used to be that you could … More Does advertising really work?
If you buy a Lighter then you would expect it to have gas in it – right? Well when I purchased one from the Oasis Superette in Papamoa it didn’t. I went back and they put it right for me without blinking. They were really helpful and its an enjoyable experience going to their store. … More A quest for an ingenious business
People Matter ∴ Do Good 