Andy Ripley is a rugby player from the 1970s; he wrote the following:

Dare we hope? We dare.
Can we hope? We can.
Should we hope? We must.
We must, because to do otherwise is to waste the most preciuos of gifts, given so freely by God to all of us. So when we do die, it will be with hope and it will be withe easy and our hearts will not be broken.”
- Andy Ripley, 10th June 2007, Athlone Friary.

The article that brought this moving piece to my attention can be found here; if you have the time to read it, it might inspire you too.
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When speaking in business if our desire is to affirm a positive commitment, why not say “I agree completely”; if we have to use percentages to express the level of our agreement/support, “I agree 100%” will convey the appropriate meaning.

Exaggerating to a point of absurdity diminishes credibility and lowers the likely-hood we will be taken seriously.
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When gifting you hope the recipient will be pleased to receive it; receive a gift and you may have a number of potential reactions:
1) accept or decline it;
2) display pleasure and genuinely mean it;
3) feign pleasure and consign the article to the closet, waiting for the next car boot sale to dispose of said item.

In business, the same principle holds true, ‘feedback is a gift.’ Essentially it’s no less fraught, the same outcomes apply.

Next time you give or receive feedback consider the options. Accept what’s been said, reflect upon it, then decide whether it will be of use to you.

Ultimately it’s one person’s opinion and probably not worth loosing too much sleep over.
On the other hand, maybe a fresh pair of eyes has noticed something you’ve been overlooking.

Either way, gifts don’t come along that often, enjoy them.
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It’s time for a paradigm shift:  in-thinking; in-acting and in-doing.

Regular, mini retirements that  redress the sole, the mind and the body are an alternative worthy of consideration; I am.

“I’ll be happy when I can…” “it’ll be alright when I am able to…”these are the words of the frustrated and disconnected. Ask yourself what would happen if you never got to the date in question? What a waste of life that would be.

A final thought, if you enjoy what you do for a living, why stop? If you don’t enjoy what you do, change!
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If you have a spare 30 minutes you may find this podcast from the BBC informative and stimulating.

Listen to comments from Sir Stuart Rose of Marks and Spencer, Damon Buffini of Permira, Sir Gulam Noon, Vincent Tchenguiz and Professor Manfred Kets de Vries of INSEAD business school in Paris.
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Returning after the winter break, the 2010 season begins on Sunday 14th March in Bahrain. Forward thinking cities/countries and politicians compete to secure the rights to host an event, one in a series of races which span the globe.

In business, we often focus on return on investment (R.O.I.) how else can we justify the expenditure of precious resources? Well, in the world of F1 just as in our lives, nothing is guaranteed. Investment is based on a hunch, a very well thought-out and planned hunch except the brains making the decisions are probably the best in their field.

Innovation created to serve Formula 1 often appears in commercial, military and technology environments some time later; carbon-fibre for strength and lightness is one example.

I’m reminded of a Chinese saving:
‘only a fool learns from their mistakes, a wise person learns from others.’

Well, this fool will be learning this coming Sunday, care to join me?
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2010 is the 82nd time the gold statues have been awarded so why then has it taken so long for a women to win?

Let’s hope the publicity associated with this important milestone inspires women everywhere; in business as in life itself, success often comes down to personal self-belief and confidence as anything else.
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The employer expects and the employee agrees to a specific set of responsibilities and the implied associated activity.

In return for the reward, the employee is expected to work for a ‘nominal’ number of hours. On occasion, it doesn’t matter how these hours are spent, so long as the employer ‘sees’ the employee is ‘at-work,’ the assumption, is that ‘the employee is working.’ Often this course of behaviour results in the employee feeling they are paid to ‘attend-work.’

Implicit in many organisations is a feeling that the employee should be at work before their colleagues arrive and ought not to leave first; the car-park-game is born!

If an individual is paid by results, trust is both explicit and implicit for the relationship to prosper. Micro managing the key result areas (K.R.A.s) is ignored in exchange for an expectation of results.

Independent, freethinking individuals are set free by the payment by results model because it allows for creative endeavour. Worker bees on the other hand, loose all structure and meaning; terrified they colonise together, taking comfort from collective mass and soon revert to recreate the status quo environment they find safe.

Let’s be clear, we need both: free-thinking indviduals and worker-bees for our society to function, which type are you?
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Training courses don’t work – save your budget and switch to something that does!

An unprecedented work schedule means we will not be in Cardiff on the 10th. Apologies to those who had already confirmed their attendance, thanks for your kind wishes and support.

We are working with the branch to reschedule the event for the Autumn. Stay tuned for more exciting updates.
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The Business Artisan theme for 2010 is summed up in one word: Utilisation.

Utilisation of:
skill;
experience;
potential;
capacity;
development;
time; and
opportunity.

OK, deep breath, here goes…
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