Brain Ginger

Walk away ...

2015-04-10T01:03:00.002-07:00

People of little understanding are most apt to be angry when their sense is called into question. (Samuel Richardson)

I’m not suggesting that you have ‘little understanding’, you understand, but sometimes the best solution to workplace conflict is just to leave it alone. If someone in your group is being particularly difficult, ask yourself:

· Are they too emotional to discuss an issue rationally right now?

· Are you ever likely to reach a resolution? If a conversation will not change anything – let it go.

· Can you end the conversation or postpone it?

· Assess your own emotions. If you are affected, wait until you have cooled down.

· Can you resolve the issue without insulting the other person’s understanding?

It is never worth expending energy on making other people feel angry.

This week Kathy is wondering whether to risk putting away her winter clothes, and whether it is definitely warm enough to plant garlic yet.

Begin ...

2015-03-04T10:57:00.000-08:00

The secret of getting ahead is getting started. (Mark Twain)

And what better time to get started than the New Year. But, wait a minute, surely you are not thinking of one of those useless resolutions that fall apart in the first few weeks ...

· Who or what do you want to be ahead of?

· What precisely would that look like?

· What three things would get you there?

· Which of those things is most urgent?

· What is the first step and when will you take it?

Don’t put it off. Take that first step within the next three days and then pat yourself on the back.

This week Kathy is pleased to be back with you all and hopes that Spring is springing where you are.

2015-02-11T02:23:00.002-08:00

Brain Ginger has temporarily lost its heat and apologises for the silence. We are having some technical problems but will be back soon. Meanwhile, click on a label (look at the bottom of a recent post that you liked) and see what happens.

Early Happy Christmas!

2014-12-18T10:53:00.000-08:00

Too bad that all the people who know how to run the country are busy driving taxicabs and cutting hair (George Burns)

As I rush up to the holidays as if time was going to stop for ever, I’m hearing a lot more ‘bah humbug’ than festive joy! OK, so, I’m guilty too. I asked my friends: how can I increase my Christmas spirit?

· Knit party hats for the goldfish.

· Fly to Mauritius and snorkel naked.

· Swear allegiance to Dionysus.

· Surround myself with fresh air and roses.

· Remember that how I spend Christmas is not a competition and nobody but me cares whether I win or lose.

Oh, and yes, you are right. The quote is entirely irrelevant – but it made me laugh! Have a great break and I’ll see you in the New Year.

This week Kathy went to see her fabulous friend and aunt, and reflected on how very important it is to live each day brilliantly. Any day. But particularly this one.

Change. Start now ...

2014-12-10T10:40:00.000-08:00

Only a crisis – actual or perceived – produces real change. (Milton Friedman)

When economists start talking seriously about changing the nature of the British state, it’s time to ‘withdraw head from sand’. If you are going to be effective in the future, you need to know how to drive change.

· Which people would help you to design the future?

· Which players and resources could you bring together into a different business model?

· What sort of thing puts you off, and how can you avoid it?

· How three things convince you of other people’s credentials?

· When and where are you at your most persuasive?

· What can you do to help others to drive change?

Whether you think that there is a crisis, or that politicians just choose to see one, they will drive changes anyway, so you might as well be prepared.

This week Kathy joined 12 self-employed consultants from all over England for our ‘office party’ and very good it was too!

Be your own leader ...

2014-12-03T11:35:00.000-08:00

Parents can only give good advice or put them on the right paths, but the final forming of a person's character lies in their own hands. (Anne Frank)

So, you have a boss who wants you to succeed and a project that really interests you, but somehow it still hasn’t taken off. What can you do? Study your own approach and attitude.

· Are you genuinely curious?

· Do you seek out new experiences, knowledge, and candid feedback?

· How do you react when someone challenges you?

· What is stopping you from seeking out the information you need?

· Can you start before you know everything?

Your energy and enthusiasm leads that of others, whether from above or below. Show it.

This week Kathy stretched her brain with friends, wrote and gave up on painting her house until the spring.

Sweetness …

2014-11-20T00:31:00.000-08:00

You catch more flies with honey than you do with vinegar. (Adage)

For a project to flourish, you need, more than anything, the continued attention of the people who help it succeed. Without their attention, contacts, money and goodwill are only empty words. So, think about how to keep them, as well as how to attract them in the first place.

· What would attract them to your idea?

· What’s in it for them?

· Are the benefits still clear and direct, or have they got lost along the line?

· What ‘kind thing’ can you do to keep people buzzing around your idea?

· Which acidic action is most likely to drive them away?

Of course, this assumes that your task is to attract the attention of flies. Don’t read too much into the metaphor!

This week Kathy discovered http://www.nationaltrust.org.uk/clumber-park/ which is a totally unexpected wild place in Nottinghamshire. Take walking boots and a picnic.

Expect the best …

2014-11-12T10:14:00.000-08:00

It's better to be an optimist who is sometimes wrong than a pessimist who is always right. (Author Unknown)

Are you stuck in a world of doom and gloom? It’s sooo boring, and the more you focus on negative stuff, the less impact you seem to have, and the worse it gets. Oh dear. Go on, just for a day, focus on the good stuff (however small) and see what happens.

· Even if they are not appreciated by others, what are the positive elements of what you do?

· What pleasant impact have you had on someone today?

· What nice things have they done for you?

· Describe three beautiful things you have seen or heard.

· How can you spend more time with the best people you know?

Be a glass half full person. Expect the best, accept no less.

This week Kathy only tackled about a third of the things on her ‘to do’ list, and she doesn’t care!

Because life’s complicated …

2014-10-29T15:11:00.000-07:00

No one does anything from a single motive. (Samuel Taylor Coleridge)

People do strange things. Things we simply cannot understand. Why would they do that? Are they mad? But we all live in very complicated worlds:

Might their decision be affected by the degree of difficulty, or its impact on the business in hand?
What exerts the most influence on them?
Is their issue most about ability or willingness?
What are they avoiding or seeking to achieve?
Where would different decisions take them?

While you are examining their motives, you might also want to check your own.

This week Kathy learned a lot about children’s fiction in WW1 and enjoyed a friend’s wonderful 80^th birthday lunch (not both at the same time!).

Mindless repetition …

2014-10-21T12:34:00.000-07:00

If you always do what you've always done, you'll always get what you've always got. (Ed Foreman)

On the other hand … is constant change always a good idea?

· Do your customers really want you to change? How do you know?

· Which elements of consistency are most important to them?

· How will you weigh rewards against risks?

· What would be the consequences of changing your portfolio?

· Would change make you vulnerable to competition?

If one definition of madness is endlessly repeating an action but expecting to get a different result, then another is forcing change without understanding the consequences.

Last week Kathy left Malta in a thunderstorm and went to Tenby in another.

And then?

2014-10-09T09:33:00.000-07:00

The final test of a leader is that he leaves behind him in other men the conviction and the will to carry on. (Walter Lippmann)

Obviously, you don’t intend to get run over by a bus, or leave for less dramatic reasons, but this is a good test to measure your leadership. Take a moment to consider how committed your team are to the direction you have set.

· How much of the direction of travel was set by you in a darkened room?

· What strategies did you employ to bring people along with you?

· How many times in the last month have you said yes to somebody else’s good idea?

· How many of your colleagues could give a convincing presentation about the whole scheme?

· Have you ever discussed your shared values around the outcome?

Well done! Pat yourself on the back and delegate 10% more.

This week Kathy is unpacking from a week in Malta. Re-entry is always hard.

Selective weeding …

2014-10-01T10:45:00.000-07:00

Weeds are flowers, too, once you get to know them. (A.A. Milne)

Some large organisations have a tendency to self-perpetuate. They self-seed little projects in unexpected places and then leave them to live or die. Is yours an organisation like this? Spend some time with a couple of those projects.

· Precisely which problem were they set up to solve?

· What would happen if they stopped?

· Would they benefit from being transplanted to a bigger pot, sorry, group?

· What have you learned from their work?

· What strategy could grow out of their work?

Show them some attention. Ask them where they think their story should go next.

This week Kathy was so focussed on work that she almost forgot to go and see www.elvismcgonagall.co.ukand would have missed more laughter than she could ever describe.

Think positive …

2014-09-24T09:57:00.000-07:00

If you think you can do a thing or think you can't do a thing, you're right. (Henry Ford)

Let’s talk about interviews. Presumably you want the job, you’ve done your homework and you really want to succeed. Yes, you need to show your knowledge, but how can you also show that you will be a good employee?

· What would you want if you were your boss?

· Remember how good you are at summoning relevant facts rather than telling them absolutely everything you know.

· What examples show that you are good at reading situations accurately?

· Which three characteristics of your approach to work are you proudest of?

· What would people say about you as a workmate?

If you believe you can do it, then you probably can. If you are convinced you can’t, then you certainly won’t.

This week Kathy enjoyed the gruesome tales of Spa Fields in Islington, bought a winter fleece and wrote poems about blocked drains and Gilgamesh.

Must it be you?

2014-09-17T09:51:00.000-07:00

I guess the main source of stress for me is the stress I put on myself. (Thomas Keller)

Getting consumed with work is easy to do. So is becoming obsessional about club activities, housework or social networking.

· How much time do you regularly spend at this activity?

· Are you trying to impress someone, or do you have a problem with time management, perhaps?

· What is wasting your time? Be honest – it may be a pleasant distraction, but if it is adding to your problem, stop it.

· How well do you protect your time outside work?

· What can only you do?

· If you could delegate, what coaching would colleagues need?

Keep what makes you happy. Increase your job satisfaction, don’t detract from it.

This week Kathy was taken back to childhood by Rowland Emett, http://www.bmag.org.uk/events?id=3160 and loved it.

Follow your fantasy …

2014-08-12T23:47:00.000-07:00

When I examine myself and my methods of thought I come to the conclusion that the gift of fantasy has meant more to me than my talent for absorbing positive knowledge. (Albert Einstein)

When we are in charge, trying to be serious and credible, we may quash our flights of imagination, assume that a sense of the absurd is frowned upon. But if rational, logical progression isn’t working, perhaps it’s time to try fantasy.

· If there were guaranteed to be no obstacles, what would you like to achieve?

· If a being from Alpha Centauri was tackling this, what would they do?

· What super power do you need?

· What is the most ridiculous way that your problem could be solved?

· If you started from twenty miles away, what would happen?

· Which fairy story does this problem belong in?

Take one of the answers and pursue it further. Trust your instinct. The worst that can happen is that you amuse yourself.

This weekend Kathy cut hedges, planted lettuces, picked apples and vacuumed behind the chest of drawers, but still does not feel like a domestic goddess.

Begin …

2014-08-05T10:35:00.000-07:00

Begin somewhere; you cannot build a reputation on what you intend to do. (Liz Smith)

We all have perceptions of each other, true and flawed. Somebody important to your career may be making assumptions about you based on your past performance. Is what you are doing right now a true reflection of your capabilities?

· What do you need to achieve in the next year?

· What have you done recently to demonstrate your expertise?

· What most truly demonstrates the quality of your work?

· What project is coming up that would show your potential?

· Who can you recruit to make sure that you get it?

Take the first step this week. Begin.

This week Kathy returned from a writing course in Devon full of words and optimism.

Pay attention …

2014-07-23T09:52:00.000-07:00

The most precious gift we can offer anyone is our attention. (Thich Nhat Hanh)

There are people in our lives whose approval is important to us, but there are even more whose attention is a vital part of our life. Don’t leave it until it’s too late to acknowledge how much they mean to you, and then make sure that you give as much as you get.

Whose eye do you try to catch when you say something clever?
When do you feel ignored?
Who is trying to tell you something without using direct words?
Are you paying attention?
Whose attention made you who you are?

This morning, look around your group of people and give your attention to not-the-usual-suspects.

This week Kathy spent a memorable day with ‘52’ers in Stratford. Sorry to bore any poetry haters, but this is really a special group of people: http://bit.ly/1zWWYhS

Take a break …

2014-07-09T00:23:00.000-07:00

For fast-acting relief, try slowing down. (Lily Tomlin)

If you are feeling stressed, one approach is to decide what to excel at and what to do just adequately enough.

Which areas lead to a substantial result for the future? These are worth more time and really high quality input.
What things do you do that don’t really produce a huge return, even when you put in a lot of time? Just tick over.
Where does additional time not really add value? Review.
Who do you need to get on side for your new approach?
What must not, under any circumstances, fall between the cracks?

Slowing down is not the same as stopping. After a couple of days, decide when to speed up, and by how much.

This weekend Kathy went to Wales, watched dogs doing silly things with tunnels and got sand between her toes.

Think big …

2014-07-02T00:29:00.000-07:00

Never limit yourself because of others' limited imagination; never limit others because of your own limited imagination. (Mae Jemison, astronaut)

After a period of turmoil, it’s comfortable to think ‘Right. This is it’. Perhaps you know that where you are is where you want to stay, and I’m not suggesting that you change for the sake of it, but exercising your imagination muscle is always healthy:

In what way do you want to prove you can do even better?
In your wildest dreams, what would you do to persuade key people?
Who are you holding back, to protect them, or protect yourself?
How long is it since you made that decision? Is that reason still valid?
If you can’t imagine how they could grow, can they?

Imagine your way into a different future.

This week Kathy has been celebrating – a friend’s wedding, a successful poetry reading, the village’s annual Wake (festival). There is little quite as rewarding as being among happy people.

Essential …

2014-06-26T10:12:00.000-07:00

Most of what we say and do is not essential. If you can eliminate it, you’ll have more time, and more tranquillity. Ask yourself at every moment, 'Is this necessary?' (Marcus Aurelius)

When you are mired in overwork, it’s really difficult to make this sort of judgement for yourself, so that’s where we should help each other. If someone in your team is struggling, ask them questions that will help them to establish what is essential:

· What precisely is the task and why are you doing it?

· How is it important?

· What makes it urgent?

· If it didn’t happen today, what would happen next week?

· What is positively essential?

· Which two, small, non-essential tasks are getting in the way of that more important task?

Articulating individual problems will bring clarity. Try it on yourself!

This week Kathy is wrestling with site master planning in a disused factory, and talking to wonderfully creative people who can make something terrific happen.

Weighed in the balance

2014-06-17T09:46:00.000-07:00

Your net worth to the world is usually determined by what remains after your bad habits are subtracted from your good ones … (Benjamin Franklin)

It’s easy to become distracted by a colleague’s bad habits. Indeed, you might be infuriating somebody right now. Would you want to be defined by what annoys people?

What is the most useful thing that your infuriating colleague has ever done?
How consistently do they act like that?
What usually makes them behave badly?
Under what circumstances do they usually behave well?
Are you guilty of any of those behaviours?
What? Not ever?

For the next three days, show everyone your best side. How hard was that?

This week Kathy is recovering from a power failure, the washing machine flooding the bathroom and kitchen, installation of new wiring, and brick dust. Bah humbug.

Ascent and descent …

2014-06-10T14:21:00.000-07:00

Be nice to people on your way up because you'll meet them on your way down. (Jimmy Durante)

Believe me, he’s right - it’s happened to me several times, at both ends of the ladder. If you need a reason to be nice to people, fair enough, but there are other benefits as well.

· When was somebody in authority last nice to you?

· What effect did it have on you?

· If you were writing a reference for them, what would it say?

· Who has any reason to resent your success?

· What would you want them to do for you if the positions were reversed?

Avoid unstable ladders. Say thanks to the person who is holding it steady for you.

This week Kathy saw Henry IV Parts one and two at the RSC. Part One is fabulous, Part Two, something of a Sher-fest. Both well worth the visit though.

What holds you back?

2014-06-03T11:44:00.000-07:00

I would rather have a mind opened by wonder than one closed by belief. (Gerry Spence)

We all have limiting beliefs. I’m talking about those subconscious beliefs that we accumulate in childhood and repeat to ourselves as truths, despite evidence to the contrary. For example – I tell people I am innumerate, despite the fact that I run businesses and never get overdrawn. What about you?

· What stories do you tell people about your skills?

· Which one might have been true 20 years ago but isn’t now?

· What would be a better way of describing your performance today?

· Which of your limiting beliefs are actually a way to avoid taking action?

· Who would you trust to tell you the truth about how good you are?

Repeatedly talking about a limiting belief merely reinforces it in your subconscious. Practice describing your strengths, out loud, in public.

This week Kathy is reading The Reluctant Fundamentalist, slashing rampant ivy and admiring her roses. Remember that you can click ‘Labels’ (at the bottom of this post) to find all previous blogs about Performance, or whatever.

Positive or negative?

2014-05-28T00:02:00.000-07:00

A pessimist sees the difficulty in every opportunity; an optimist sees the opportunity in every difficulty. (Winston Churchill )

There’s little quite as infuriating as being told ‘there are no problems, only opportunities’. But Churchill’s saying is rather different – it talks about how you approach a situation, not how it approaches you. Let’s start by assuming that both positions are valid.

Who in your group fits either of these definitions?
What happens when you suggest change to them?
How could you modify your behaviour to avoid infuriating somebody who comes from the other viewpoint?
What skills does someone who sees the world differently bring to your project?
What would have to happen for a pessimist to turn into an optimist? Even temporarily?

When analysing your situation, list the negatives first, put them aside and then list the positives and take action on them first. Much more satisfying!

This week Kathy has been dyeing clothes (and her fingers, nails and anything else that gets in the way). It’s good to change one’s spots.

Is this you?

2014-05-21T00:28:00.000-07:00

Anybody who thinks there can be limitless growth in a limited environment, is either mad or an economist. (Sir David Attenborough)

Perhaps you are one of those who spend their days trying to do more with less - and often succeeding. Don’t wait until you get to the end of your options. Spend a moment now to think about why, in your world, growth is so desired.

What is the desired outcome of growth in your world?
Who or what in your environment limits your activity?
Which is most important to your project, quality or quantity?
Where must you grow, even if you retrench in other areas?
What precisely are you going to give up doing?
Who do you need to convince?

Leaders redefine the possible. And find a way to get there.

This week Kathy read Orwell’s 1984 again – well worth doing, though not an uplifting week – and saw Arden of Faversham at the RSC. Odd, but somehow not quite odd enough.