There are 337 Fire Departments in the State of Maine USA, and 94% (316 of them) are Volunteer Fire Departments (VFDs). For a population of roughly 1.3 million, that works out at about 1 Fire Department per 3,964 Mainers. In Wales we have approximately 153 Fire and Rescue Stations, all operated by paid professionals. For […]
The Retirement Speech Test. “I wish I’d said that years ago”
The Perfect Retirement Speech. I’m thinking of offering a course on how to write the perfect retirement speech. Nothing fancy, clever or sophisticated, just three bite-size chunks. Part 1 is just a case of, writing down what you really think about a specific topic connected to your working life; take your pick from the following […]
5 Tweets from the #CynefinRetreat: Economics and Value, Snowdonia 2018.
SCAFFOLDING, SEEING DONUT ECONOMICS, PSYCHOCRATS, FUTURE HERITAGE AND NAVIGATING THE WHITE WATER. 5 Tweets barely scratch the surface of 3 days (and nights) of talking and thinking and walking and talking at the Cynefin Retreat in the heart of Snowdonia, Autumn 2018. Link here on the Cognitive Edge page. It was an absolute joy and privilege […]
Ocean Spray Cranberry Cooperative. Are some things better suited to being a cooperative? #ChurchillFellowship Post 11
Not much is certain in life and many cooperatives either don’t get moving in the first place, or fail later on (just like lots of other enterprises). So why do some survive and prosper for generations? Almost 90 years in the case of Ocean Spray, which started in the 1930’s. Are there certain activities that […]
The Panelfisa Paradox. What widget making teaches us about sustainable human development. #ChurchillFellowship Post 9
“Panelfisa Coop, The important thing was not the screws” This post is about the transformation (a deliberately chosen word) of Panelfisa, a worker owned industrial manufacturing cooperative in the Basque Country. It’s not a ‘recipe book’ case study claiming… “follow these 5 easy steps and you too will transform your organisation”; life just isn’t like […]
What’s normal for the spider is chaos for the fly. Power shift and co-production. #ChurchillFellowship Post 8
Context is everything. Thanks to Beth Smith (@bethansmith93) for ‘what is normal to the spider is chaos to the fly’, which inspired the illustration above. The quote neatly describes how different experiences of a situation (the context), can massively influence your feelings and also the decisions you make about the situation. For the spider it’s […]
Planting Oak Trees to Build Future Ships. Churchill Fellowship Post 6.
Here’s a quiz. What links these four things together? There are pictures to help you: A replica (under construction)of the Basque Galleon, San Juan, Some strangely shaped pieces of wood, The Wellbeing of Future Generations (Wales) Act 2015, and A template drawing of the ‘sections’ of a mature oak tree. * There’s a Mayflower II […]
GUREAK. A Basque Social Labour Inclusion Flagship, ‘Here with Ours’. Churchill Fellowship Post 5
I’ve visited 100’s of factories over the years, as part of previous jobs, and in my leisure time (ask my wife). Sometimes I’ve been accused of getting a bit over enthusiastic. I love seeing things being made. However, I’ve never been so greatly affected at an emotional level as I was when I visited GUREAK […]
Cooperative Entrepreneurs Boot Camp. Mondragon Team Academy. Churchill Fellowship Post 4
Yesterday I had a “I wish I was 18 again” experience… I was wishing I was 18 again so I could go to Bilbao and spend four years doing a degree in Entrepreneurial Leadership and Innovation at Mondragon University. I’m not kidding. This was all slightly unexpected, and I’ll cover that in the next post […]
Failure is Not an Option, and Neither is Blame, Most of the Time.
Here’s a quick quiz. Where did the phrase ‘Failure is not an option’ originate? Queen Boudicca AD 61, in her famous rallying call to the Iceni Tribe before taking on the occupation forces of the Roman Empire. Chief Engineer Isambard Kingdom Brunel 1835. In his brief memo to all Great Western Railway staff, stressing the importance […]
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