If you don’t know, I’m not telling you!
[dropcap4]M[/dropcap4]ost of us grow into adulthood carrying messages given to us by our parents. Some are wise (‘treat everyone as an equal’); some are obscure (‘always carry a rubbish bag in the back of your car!’); some are funny (‘never spit on old ladies, and they’ll never spit on you!’), and others are just plain [...]
Expanding the event horizon
“You either get it, or you don’t!” So said Dr Phil. Remember him? He came to public attention in the UK through his ‘relationship and life strategy expert’ slots on the Oprah Winfrey Show in the late 1990s. His pithy, no nonsense approach struck a chord with audiences around the globe. I guess we can [...]
Persisting in beliefs
I knew someone who didn’t wear their hearing aid. They needed to because they found it difficult to hear all sorts of things – traffic noise, birdsong, conversation. They said it was because the device was old and didn’t fit properly. So, arrangements were made to have this individual assessed at a local hospital and [...]
It’s OK to be human
We’re all familiar with corporate mission statements and, most likely, with the idea of building our own personal mission statement. [pullquote4 quotes="true" align="right"]I got up this morning and took part in the human race. But I came last![/pullquote4] And, if you’re a follower of self-help advice, then –assuming you’ve written a personal mission statement – [...]
Maybe I think too much?
One of my favourite all-time singer-songwriters is Paul Simon. I just love everything about his work. One of his less popular songs from his 1983 Hearts and Bones album entitled, ‘Think Too Much’ resonates with me. [pullquote2 quotes="true" align="center" cite="Paul Simon"]Maybe I think too much for my own good. Some people say so. Other people say [...]
Adversity Quotient
I discussed a nippy and straightforward measure of some facet of a person’s functioning, psychological make-up, emotional state, and so, on a few days ago (see I’ll have another quotient, please). In passing, I’d referred to the Adversity Quotient. I have to admit that this was a relatively new measure as far as I was [...]
Gaius Petronius
This is such a famous quotation that has adorned countless offices over the years. However,as it remains so pertinent today, I thought it would be worth repeating it here: [pullquote1 quotes="true" align="center" cite="Gaius Petronius (Roman Army Officer) 60 AD"]We trained hard, but it seemed that every time we began to form into teams, we would [...]
Life Isn’t Lived in Chapters
[fancy_header3]Just something to think about today…[/fancy_header3] I like literary novels. Two favourite authors are Gabriel Garcia Marquez and Roberto Bolano. I try to read a few of the books short-listed for the Man Booker Prize each year. I enjoy grappling with the language: the images, the metaphors, the ambiguities. However, I realise that in comparison [...]
Just doing my job
I had a conversation with a teacher recently about writing end-of-year reports for the children in the teacher’s class. The teacher indicated that, with respect to one young person, they would likely have to write something along the lines of “Billy does not appear motivated to participate in lessons.” To which my reply would be, [...]
Learning about each other
Managers learn about their employees: through discussions, observing their behaviour in meetings, under times of stress, and so on. But largely through their words and actions. Now, what a manager learns is mainly directed by what is deemed relevant to their practice. A manager’s particular occupational task will have a bearing on what s/he deems [...]
I’ll have another quotient, please
If you want a quick and simple measure of some aspect of a person’s functioning, then the chances are you’ll use a quotient. A quotient is simply a number obtained by dividing one number by another number. They purport to measure the relative amount of some quality or charactersitic. They are everywhere. Perhaps the most [...]
The Starting Point
I had a line manager once who, in a meeting, declared that all Heads of Department had to double-check all travel expense claims of their employees on a monthly basis. And the reason for this? “We have to stop them ripping us off!” Now, there was simply no evidence whatsoever for this outrageous declaration. Just [...]
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