Back in about 1989 I went on a rugby tour to play against a Royal Navy Field Gun Team in Portsmouth. Some of our team (Whitchurch Hospital Cardiff RFC) were on sabbatical from the Royal Navy and gave the following stern advice the evening before the game, “watch out for the Field Gun players with […]
Newsletter vrs Podcast, Who Wins? Remember, a paper newsletter can also keep you warm.
My father in law once told me about how managed the mountains of mail that landed on his desk as the Head of a large High School. One of his routines was to drop all of the newsletters neatly into a box with the intention of reading them at the end of term. Mostly they […]
Purpose, Meaning & Happiness on the Camino. Also, why is there a bullet hole in this road sign?
At a recent conference (forgotten which one exactly) the speaker said something along the lines of; “having purpose and meaning are the main things that lead to long-term happiness in life”. He also added that “if you achieve this sort of happiness you can tolerate all sorts of hardships and frustrations”. These thoughts resurface during […]
Graphic Facilitation….so much better than my notes.
Building on my enthusiasm for graphic facilitation (as mentioned in previous posts) I was fortunate to see Paul Richardson of apagraphicfacilitation.com in action at Welsh Public Services Summer School. In the spirit of a picture really does speak a thousand words and the drawings are so much better than my notes, here are a few […]
Berlin Love Padlocks…. not as viral as I’d imagined
That’s a title that could conjure up something interesting particularly if you frequent the more exotic Berlin attractions (I’d imagine). Well actually it’s quite sweet and innocent. Love padlocks are a tradition that involves placing a padlock on a piece of municipal iron work, usually a bridge railing, and throwing the key into the river […]
Negative Capability, John Keats and Half Man Half Biscuit.
Everybody sing along……. There is nothing better in life, Than writing on the sole of your slipper with a biro. There is nothing better in life, Than writing on the sole of your slipper with a biro. There is nothing better in life, Than writing on the sole of your slipper with a biro, On […]
The Rule of 1% is Dead….. well not quite round these parts.
After wondering in previous posts about how many people actually participate in online communities of practice, my son helpfully pointed me in the direction of the 1% rule of Internet culture. Fantastic, this felt like the world of 90% lurkers I recognise. Then the BBC goes and burst my bubble. In their online spring briefing […]
Flipchart foraging and why its worth trying the Draw Something app
One of my pastimes is checking out the abandoned flipcharts I find in the variety of offices and meeting rooms I get to frequent. It’s quite a revealing pastime (possibly about me unfortunately). Occasionally you do stumble across sensitive material, obviously this goes straight in the confidential waste bin, or back into the hands of […]
Alternative critera for choosing a University …… measure what matters most.
“Everything that can be counted does not necessarily count and everything that counts cannot necessarily be measured”. An Albert Einstein quote which eloquently sums up the problem with performance measures (and targets). I’ve been struggling with performance measures for ages and don’t think I’m any closer to being comfortable with them than I was about […]
Please don’t shoot the Piano Player……….. just provide a bullet proof vest
The good old expression, shoot the messenger has been around for ages, but it’s still very relevant, particularly to me. Basically the (blameless) messenger, bearing bad news receives some form of punishment, just for being the unfortunate individual that delivered the message. Enough said, a pointless act, but it happens. Here’s how my situation plays out. […]
What's the PONT 