I am definitely one of life's note-takers. Over time, keeping notes has become one of the most important practices in helping me to live an intentional life, seek purpose and work effectively. Whether I'm in a meeting, at church, in a cafe or whatever, I always have a notebook with me. I write things down … Continue reading The notebook: analogue in a digital world

One of the benefits of being at home more these days is the time to do a lot of reading. I've always been an avid reader but in recent years, time with a book (or more often these days, my Kindle) has been squeezed into the margins of the day by the busy-ness of life. … Continue reading Purple Cow

That's what a lot of people in the UK and worldwide are wondering now. When will the lockdown end? When can we get back to normal after COVID-19? Despite numerous best estimates and rumours, the honest answer is that no one knows. Indeed it is such a complex situation that realistically, no one can be … Continue reading When will it end?

I'm going out on a limb here, but I'm a little uneasy with the VE Day celebrations planned for next Friday. Something feels wrong to me about flag-waving and celebrating the "winning" of a war in which millions died. A war which sowed the seeds of the breaking up of the British Empire (which ironically, … Continue reading Looking backwards and moving forwards

A couple of months ago, I was chatting to a colleague who's about the same age as me. We were looking back on our twenty-odd year careers since university and how many different experiences we'd each had in that time. Some good, many hard and some a real drudge, but all of which had helped … Continue reading Show up daily and do the work

I posted up this blog article on LinkedIn recently, wondering what the new normal might look like after COVID-19. Having read it, leadership coach Bob Gibbon challenged me to write a manifesto for work after this pandemic is over. Thinking about my own experience since the lockdown and what I've see in my own circle … Continue reading Working after COVID-19: A manifesto*

There are so many hackneyed phrases used to try and describe the time we are currently living though. Unprecedented. Troubled. Whatever your adjective of choice, there is no doubt that the world today is suddenly and radically different to the way things were even a month or two ago.  We have switched to new ways … Continue reading The new normal?

There is no doubt that the world is pretty weird place at the moment. We are all having to adjust to a lot of change, very suddenly. Whether that is uncertainty at work, living and working cheek-by-jowl with our families, home-schooling children or simply the worry about what is yet to happen, almost no-one's life … Continue reading Gratitude

Well I'm still here, though I haven't blogged in quite a while. The last couple of years have been pretty crazy at work which has eaten into my time an inclination to journal and blog. Ironically, it's probably those exact processes which help to make sense of all the noise and are most needed right … Continue reading An update (long overdue)

When you were little, did your parents make you eat your greens?  Did they, through a combination of deception, persuasion and coercion make you eat you peas, sprouts, cabbage and cauliflower? Why did they do that?  Why? Why would a loving, caring parent FORCE their children, against their will, to eat something that they really … Continue reading Eating your greens