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Eureka moments

January 28, 2013 By admin Leave a Comment

I have been thinking a lot about creativity lately and, in particular, the conditions that lead to great ideas. I have always intuitively believed in the eureka moment (not sure why, perhaps as it’s a romantic notion and I am a romantic 😉 Of course, as luck would have it, I stumbled across Steven Johnson’s animation of “where good ideas come from.” Alas, there it is … are your ideas a eureka moment or a collision of small hunches? I guess I will have to let go of my romantic notions as mine are the latter 🙂

Filed Under: 30 day challenge, Creativity, Leadership Tagged With: 30 day challenge, Creativity, Leadership, visual blog

Being curious

January 27, 2013 By admin Leave a Comment

Yesterday I blogged about an amazing group of people who are making great things happen in Victoria. The word that came up over and over throughout the day was curious, and I observed that this was a pretty curious group and that their curiosity led to some amazing results. The room also buzzed with excitement and energy. This doesn’t always happen when we work with groups. Sometimes we spend a lot of time trying to chip away at the brick walls in people’s minds. What’s your curiosity quotient and how does that impact the teams you work on?

Filed Under: 30 day challenge, communication, Creativity, Leadership, teams Tagged With: 30 day challenge, communication, Creativity, Leadership, teams, visual blog

Worlds colliding

January 26, 2013 By admin Leave a Comment

Today got away on me and I’m not entirely happy with my visual, but … it’s getting late and I am trying to get over perfectionism 😉 Today I had the happy honour of working with some pretty amazing Victorians from all walks of life as part of our once-a-quarter initiative. They are planning a most spectacular festival that has the potential to transform Victoria, Victorians, and anyone who happens to visit our fair city the week of September 9, 2013. Keep an eye on the VIATeC website for this exciting festival!

Filed Under: 30 day challenge, Creativity, Leadership Tagged With: 30 day challenge, Creativity, Leadership

Losing the plot

January 25, 2013 By admin Leave a Comment

Having decided to do a number of things differently this January (this 30 day visual challenge but one of them), I got to thinking about what it is that contributes to a lack of self management and meeting goals I have set for myself, and here is what I came up with for me:

Lack of reflection time and rushing here and there
Too much TV
Too much fiddling with technology
Scheduling too many meetings too close together
Drinking/eating too much

The last one bites as those who know me know I am a big foodie and winey (is that a word?)

Here’s to a little less of these things and a little more self management this year 🙂

Filed Under: 30 day challenge, Emotional Intelligence, Leadership Tagged With: 30 day challenge, emotional intelligence, Leadership, visual blog

The values/creativity conundrum

January 24, 2013 By admin Leave a Comment

Yesterday I posed a values situation … well not entirely as it was also about creativity. I think we often fail to come up with creative solutions when we think values are at risk of being compromised. We also fail to come up with creative solutions because we are thinking in the “tyranny of the OR.” We need to embrace the “genius of the AND” (Collins and Porres), and bring forward our very best “integrative thinking” (Roger Martin).

So from that perspective, here is how to have everyone’s needs met!

(Oh and just to be fully transparent myself, I chose the little old lady as that seemed to align best with my values around compassion and service.)

Filed Under: 30 day challenge, Creativity, decision making, Leadership Tagged With: 30 day challenge, Creativity, Leadership, values

Putting your values to a test

January 23, 2013 By admin 5 Comments

What would you do if you were driving your lovely 2 seater sports car on a very hot still day and while stopped in traffic noticed the following three people at a bus stop?

Your best friend. You often give her a lift in to work as she works at the hospital right next door to your office.

A little old lady who is clearly in trouble. She’s bent over and looks just about to keel over. She reminds you of your own Mum, who is also old and frail.

The love of your life —- hopefully. You have been in love with this person forever and things just never quite work out … perhaps this time … but no … what about your best friend and the little old lady in trouble?

What do you do? Answer with discussion tomorrow!

Filed Under: 30 day challenge, Creativity, Leadership Tagged With: 30 day challenge, Creativity, Leadership, values

Being Vulnerable – Part III

January 22, 2013 By admin Leave a Comment

Sunday and Monday I blogged about Patrick Lencioni’s 2010 book, Getting Naked, and the first two fears that block consultants from building client relationships and loyalty. The third and final is fear of feeling inferior which leads to consultants putting their own needs before the client. The remedies are to honour the client’s work, make everything about the client, do the dirty work, and take a bullet for the client.

Filed Under: 30 day challenge, communication, Leadership Tagged With: 30 day challenge, communication, Leadership, Patrick Lencioni, visual blog

Being Vulnerable, Part II

January 21, 2013 By admin Leave a Comment

Yesterday I blogged about Patrick Lencioni’s 2010 book, Getting Naked, and the first fear that blocks consultants from building client relationships and loyalty. The second is fear of embarrassment, which can keep people from sharing their best ideas with clients, and admitting to mistakes. The remedies are to ask dumb questions, make dumb suggestions and celebrate your mistakes.

Filed Under: 30 day challenge, communication, Leadership Tagged With: 30 day challenge, communication, Leadership, Patrick Lencioni

Being Vulnerable, Part I

January 20, 2013 By admin Leave a Comment

I just ran across Patrick Lencioni’s 2010 book, Getting Naked, and thought his message that consultants need to be vulnerable particularly relevant given today’s business environment. I completely related to the three fears that block consultants from providing excellent service to their clients and will be profiling one a day. Today’s blog is the fear of losing business which causes consultants to avoid the very things that ultimately build trust and loyalty. It can be remedied by entering the danger (speaking up in high risk situations), telling the kind truth, giving away business and consulting instead of selling.

Filed Under: 30 day challenge, communication, Leadership Tagged With: 30 day challenge, communication, consulting, Leadership, Patrick Lencioni

The Tragedy of Lance Armstrong

January 19, 2013 By admin Leave a Comment

To say I have mixed feelings about being glued to Oprah’s interview with Lance Armstrong is an understatement. To say I have mixed feelings about the interview itself is another one. As an ex high school English teacher, I can’t help but think of the great Shakespearean tragedies. Today I am most struck by his comments about surviving cancer and how his fall from grace compares to that. While he did recover his physical health, will he ever recover his integrity and heal his emotional and psychic health or will he live out the tragedy storyline? I guess only time will tell.

Filed Under: 30 day challenge, Leadership Tagged With: 30 day challenge, Lance Armstrong, Leadership, visual blog