Mindfulness over matter
Mindfulness over matter Artist and psychologist Ellen Langer gives this great YouTube presentation on mindfulness over matter. Mindfulness is often thought of as some kind of zen state of calm, but the way Langer talks about it suggests something different: an alertness to what is happening around us. It’s a great reminder of how easily […]
Are meetings a waste of time?
The New Statesman argues that meetings are a waste of time. It looks at research on the effects of ‘no meetings’ policies and finds: Across all the companies in the study, the most beneficial results came when companies restricted meetings to two days per week. Holding good meetings is like swearing – “the more you […]
The power of purposeful mistakes
We loved this article from the New Scientist on how making mistakes can boost your performance (paywall). It’s by David Robson, author of The Intelligence Trap, a book we also enjoyed. The central plank of Robson’s case is: “Consciously blundering, even when you know better, can promote deeper understanding and better recall, so you are […]
The power of letting go amid uncertainty
We’re fans of Oliver Burkeman’s newsletter, not least for its title, The Imperfectionist. In his latest, the writes about the challenge of the Inconceivable, inspired in large part by the writings of Buddhist thinker John Tarrant. He acknowledges the difficulties of managing uncertainty but asks: “But what if sometimes you didn’t need to get a handle […]
What can we say to the people who push our buttons?
When we train facilitators, one of the subjects that always comes up is: how do we deal with difficult people? For instance: the person who won’t stop talking, or the one who doesn’t talk at all. And then, even more challenging, is the one who is shockingly prejudiced – or who says something a bit ambiguous that […]
Seven types of rest – and what it means for meetings
Under sustained stress – which many of us have experienced in the last couple of years – it’s easy to tell ourselves we’re exhausted and conclude that we need more sleep. What we miss in this state is that there are many different ways of resting other than (trying to) sleep. This article lists seven types […]
Is working from home more creative?
We’ve noticed a couple of interesting articles recently on how the forced experiment in working from home has impacted creativity. This article in Scientific American: Remote Work Can Be Better for Innovation Than In-Person Meetings found a big problem: “The vast majority of leaders tried to pursue innovation during the lockdowns by adapting their office-based approach of […]
Using the wisdom of rehearsal space
Johnnie recently wrote a piece for Startups Magazine: Using the wisdom of theatre to give better performances at work. “If we think our work has to result in a definitive performance we put everyone under pressure which stifles creativity. What if we see ourselves and those we work with as being in a rehearsal space? This can […]
As groups get bigger, ideas get smaller…
We’ve always advocated using small breakout groups a lot during events. We’ve found it even more important when hosting on zoom. Generally speaking, if a breakout goes above 4 people, the likelihood of participation starts to drop like a stone. We’ll often use threes and pairs too, giving lots of space for people to hear […]
Imaginary lives and how we live them
Can we embrace the imaginary lives of participants?