ThinkWorks Blog

History really does repeat itself - or else I'm just filtering things well...

noreply@blogger.com (ThinkWorks) — Thu, 28 May 2015 10:51:00 +0000

This week, I introduced my son to the joy that is Indiana Jones.

We watched the first film in the series - 'Raiders of the Lost Ark'. No matter that it was over 30 years old. He devoured it just as I remember doing all those years ago.

I couldn't help but think of the similarities of the first time I ever watched it. I sat with my father, on his knee shielding my eyes at the scary bits...and I do remember one particular conversation on that night. Indy leaves Marion prisoner when he has the chance to free her - he knows that if she disappears from her makeshift prison, bound to a tent pole, her captors will suspect he has returned and this will put the recovery of the Ark in jeopardy. I remember questioning my father incessantly as to why he didn't rescue her and, although he explained, I couldn't quite understand why the good guy hadn't simply done what the good guys do...

My son, sat on my knee, asked the very same question at the very same point - I tried to explain in the same way my father had to me. He seemed perplexed at the answer I gave and still questioned on - just as I had. It was uncanny. Perhaps it was coincidence but perhaps it wasn't. Perhaps, as soon as the conversation started, I travelled the same neural-networks I had all those years ago and almost 're-engineered' the conversation so that it fit with my model of the world.

It is said by many people in many ways that we do this all the time. Neurologists call it our Reticular Activating System, Psychologists call it a feedback loops and confirmation bias. Some people even explain it in a more mystical way 'if you dream and think it then the universe will bring it to you'. It's more subtle than that of course - It's how we filter things in or out that appear relevant, which can work both for us and against us. Like any filter, we allow certain information through and block some of it out in order to make sense of the world around us. In this case, my filter worked in quite an obvious way - by remembering an event from a previous time. Sometimes it is much more subtle than that - such as allowing only information through that confirms my original opinion on something to be true..

Either way - I did about as bad a job trying to explain it as my father did to me - proof that even with an effective filter, it doesn't mean we always learn from the past - even when history does seem to repeat itself!

It's the little things

noreply@blogger.com (ThinkWorks) — Wed, 23 Apr 2014 12:30:00 +0000

Another typical day has passed. Of course, my day-to-day routine changes quite often, but there are still some steadfast jobs that occur without fail. The kids wake up, breakfast is made, off to school they go, work begins and ends as usual, family dinner, bedtime, and then we start all over again. Sound familiar?

On a typical day of walking the kids home from school, it is not uncommon for me to say, "Hurry up" or "Come on then, let's get home" to my children, who tend to walk along at an excruciatingly slow place. On this particular autumn day, there were piles of fallen leaves scattered along our path. My eldest, uncharacteristically, took off running. "Oh good, I thought, maybe we can get home at a decent time." But instead of continuing on as I'd hoped, she ran straight towards a big pile of leaves. Back and forth she went - kicking up as many leaves as possible.

My youngest soon joined in. Instinctively, I started my usual, "Come one now…we've got to get home," but I stopped myself mid-sentence. What's the rush? Why ARE we in such a big hurry? Then I realised - we needn't rush at all. For once, I had no appointments, no meetings. I've just been so used to rushing from one thing to the next that, inherently, every daily task has become a timed event.

I look a deep breath and watched my little ones literally jump for joy. They piled the leaves up again and ran through them over and over. Instinctively, they'd glance over to me, almost as if they were waiting for me to say it was time to go. But I never did. In that moment, in that tiny space of time, I slowed down and just enjoyed it.

It's the little things in life that make a difference. Sometimes, we just have to slow down to see that.

Image credit

Random Acts of Kindness

noreply@blogger.com (ThinkWorks) — Tue, 25 Feb 2014 14:21:00 +0000

So I'm on the train, heading from London to Preston. It's rush hour and there are no seats. My colleague and I are standing and I offer to go and buy a couple of bottles of water.

At the till there is a guy in front of me who looks particularly stressed. His tie is pulled down and his top button is open. He looks frazzled and flushed like he has just sprinted to the train.

He offers his loose change over in exchange for two cans of lager. The lady shakes her head as she counts through it and looks up to tell him he is a pound short. With a resigned look he turns to put one back.

Without really thinking I put my two bottles of water on the counter and gave a £5 note to pay, telling the assistant to take the shortfall out of my change and let him have the two beers. "He looks like he needs it," I said.

He couldn't believe it. He couldn't speak! "Really?" he gasped, finally. "You wouldn't believe what a day I've had, mate -- You've just restored my faith in humanity!"

Well now, what's a beer between a couple of blokes who don't know each other?

I just hope that when he got home and his wife asked him -- "How was your day?" -- his answer was changed by my random act of kindness. And I hope his evening with his family (if he has one) was just that little bit better for him and them as a result.

Interestingly, I don't actually care if that happens or not. I felt good about it and a little bit of me changed with the gesture.

Pay it forward!

Plastic? You've got to be kidding me.

noreply@blogger.com (ThinkWorks) — Wed, 05 Feb 2014 11:46:00 +0000

Occasionally, I share a story or two about my kids and the things they say. They seem to get better and better as they become more conscious of their surroundings and influences and it becomes more obvious by the day that we need to be really careful with what we say…

We were on a bike riding around the lake one pleasant Sunday, with my daughter (5) (that's five years old by the way) leading the way. As we turned the corner, we passed the ice cream hut at the far side and the hatch was open. You know what is coming next…

"Daddy, can we have an ice cream please?" my daughter (5) (remember that's five years of age) asked. "Well, honey, it's nearly dinner time so let's wait until after. And besides, I haven't brought any money out with me," I replied -- thinking that would be the end of that…

"Don't worry Daddy; I'm sure they'll take plastic."

What have we done? How can she know about this already? No wonder the world got in the mess it did.

Be careful what you say. You think they aren't listening but they are. You think they wouldn't understand even if they are listening. But they DO!!!

Lewis – An ordinary inspiration. Facing the Facts...

noreply@blogger.com (ThinkWorks) — Thu, 05 Dec 2013 09:32:00 +0000

I met Lewis a month or so ago. His quiet inspiration astonished me - no frills; Just absolute bloody-mindedness to overcome the facts. I was asking a group bout what facts they face in their day. They talked about traffic, early mornings, the weather etc etc etc etc…… Lewis came to me in the break. He told me about a few facts he had faced. Here is how he told me. Be inspired.

"My story begins from the age of 11, when – on suffering from a constant high temperature - I was rushed to hospital where they removed my appendix. They assumed that was the problem but were wrong. My mother was with me when I stopped breathing on the ward. My heart stopped and I had to be revived by the staff. I was unconscious for so long that my brain was starved of oxygen and left me in intensive care in a comatose state with severe damage to the brain.

I spent a whole year in the infirmary. I had to relearn all basic motor skills just like a young infant. I had to go through schooling and relearn basic maths and English skills and worst of all was the intense Physiotherapy. When I stood up for the first time in one year the pain was unimaginable and two floors of the hospital heard my screams.

I was then transferred to a private hospital. This sounds great but I was separated from all friends and family so that I could purely concentrate on my recovery, which was very difficult. Once I was there I had to undergo further occupational and physiotherapy, speech therapy and more schooling, I had to learn how to use a wheelchair and crutches to walk. I had to use two bars in which to support my weight and after some time I used my physio for support.

When I was there it felt more like a prison at times due to the strictness and set rules. However, it was a beautiful building with beautiful grounds, I learnt how to cook and prepare meals and drinks and we went on day and evening trips in order to build our social skills. I spent the best part of a year there.

The rebuilding process has continued over the years. Now I am an undergraduate at University. They said I would never walk or talk again.

Here I am; I walked in here to tell you this story."

Customer Devotion - Its a 2 way thing - Genius!

noreply@blogger.com (ThinkWorks) — Thu, 23 May 2013 21:15:00 +0000

So I went to the Apple store today. I know, I know - everyone talks about how great Apple is and it has almost become a cliche.

However, what they did demonstrated how real customer devotion works. I had experienced a real issue with email the previous day - where basically everything had seized up on me. It says a lot about the world when I can honestly say that without email I was lost - without contact. (Of course this isn't true - but it felt like it at the time!)

I had spoken with the email host company and they had blamed the situation on my mac and the difficulty it has in communicating with certain email formats. I went to the Genius bar at Apple - such a great name - and they spent the next two hours pulling various people of the shop floor (a very busy shop floor) to solve my issue. An issue that it turned out was nothing to do with Apple or my hardware and completely due to the email host's internal issue. In fact, none of the Apple geniuses actually understood what was happening and why - yet they still ploughed on to solve the issue.

They were devoted to me - the customer. Is it any wonder therefore that I am devoted to them - real bonafide 2 way customer devotion?

The culprit - who was at fault - made the most serious of mistakes - blaming someone else and demonstrating customer irreverence - such that I will now devote myself to leaving them as quickly as possible. Devotion to customers drives customer devotion. That simplicity is the genius of Apple.

Do It Or Don't Do It - Then Choose to be Happy

noreply@blogger.com (ThinkWorks) — Thu, 02 May 2013 09:49:00 +0000

Life is a set of choices. It's a fairly bold point to make. People may argue that there are things that are not a choice - but when you really come down to it - we all choose to obey the law (or not) - we all choose to live by certain standards or values (or not) - and we all choose to prioritise things deemed to be important (it's just a question of what you deem to be important).

Of course there are certain things that are not actually a choice. Where I was born, my genetic make-up, history and things from the past - to name but a few. We can, however, choose how we then deal with those things.

Take something simpler and a little less controversial. I 'choose' to be an inconsistent and distinctly average golfer. Why? Because I don't practise enough or dedicate the time to improve. I would 'like' to play well - but I actually choose to prioritise work or family over golf. I could 'choose' to improve at golf - and face the consequences of less work time or less time with family as a practise night after night. Either way, I can then 'choose' my response. I am 'happy' with my choice. I play golf and don't get wound up when I hit a bad shot. It would be silly to get wound up - I have 'chosen' not to practise so bad shots will remain a part of my round.

I know some people who 'choose' to be bad at golf (by not practising) and then get really frustrated and miserable with it.....I even know some people who 'choose' to improve but then moan that they cant get their work done or that they are upsetting their family. What if I didn't have the money to learn golf? A valid question. Seve Ballesteros practised by hitting stones with a rusty old iron on a beach. If you want it enough you'll find a way.

Either way - if we realise more things are a choice - we can then choose our response. Give up smoking or don't, lose weight or don't, practise hard at a hobby or don't, work hard or don't, do your kitchen extension or don't, go on holiday or don't - either way is fine. It's a choice - so make it and be happy with it.

It Really is a Good Friday - Laughter is Contagious

noreply@blogger.com (ThinkWorks) — Fri, 29 Mar 2013 19:47:00 +0000

Sitting in a continental European airport lounge, having worked on Good Friday (I think for the first time in my full working life) at 20.15 - waiting for a cowboy time flight (10 to 10 - get it?).... I couldn't feel better about life.

Yes I would like to have been at home today with my family. Of course a drive from Heathrow to the North West until 3am is not my idea of fun. Airports are lonely old places at the best of times - but tonight this place is positively ghostly. Yes I made it to the airport in time to catch the earlier flight only to be told my ticket was non transferable so I had 3 hours waiting or a £300 transfer (3 hours will be fine thanks). No, the lack of a really good night's sleep whilst travelling this week has not left me feeling the most spritely I have ever felt - a tad shattered really.

But you know what? Life is great. Time is short - and I have too much to do to get down about these minor things. Richard Carlsson said "Don't sweat the small stuff." How right he is. This weeks' project has gone well and I've been with great people. The programme was well received - and I delivered a course for the first time with a live translator in some people's ears. I felt like a speaker at the UN or the European Parliament.

And besides - when I wake up tomorrow morning in my own bed with a roof over my head - my daughter will be stood there smiling the best smile in the world. My son will want to play lightsabre fights (nothing better) and my wife will take pity on my tired form and make me a lovely cup of coffee delivered with a kiss (I hope!). And all will be right with the world.

I realise this blog is totally cliche'd and sentimental when compared with others I tend to write - but you know what. I don't care. Its time I indulged myself a little.

How can you learn anything from this? Go and make your long weekend count. Life is great - time is short. What can you look forward to and be grateful for? Its easy when you're prepared to look. And if that isn't enough for you - take a look at this video for absolute evidence that emotions are contagious - what effect are you having on people around you? Are you a drain or a radiator? https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EeauvE1M7qc

I Love it When a Plan Comes Together...

noreply@blogger.com (ThinkWorks) — Thu, 21 Feb 2013 11:15:00 +0000

Isn't it great when an experiment goes well? I realise the idea of an experiment is actually to test a hypothesis. Sometimes though, I run live experiments with an audience on a hypothesis I know to be true and its always nice when the point is demonstrated with gusto.

I ran a conference recently with a session focused on innovative and creative problem solving. This is a huge topic these days, with organisations looking to drive efficiency, productivity and ultimately the bottom line and having to find different ways to achieve that because existing patterns of thought have been exhausted.

To shift our patterns of thought, in order to drive different ideas to better solve an issue, its important that people have the right mindset and that the environment (including the social aspects of that environment) allow them to 'just go with it' without fear. The great thing is that both can be worked upon.

I ran a game of word association with two willing volunteers, in front of an audience of 150, with penalties for 'failure' (remember Mallet's Mallet?). The point to make was that it becomes very difficult to shift those patterns of thought with that kind of 'pressure'. For the record, other types of pressure may actually help the process...

Somehow, one of the competitors (interesting word given the competitive pressure we added) managed to bring the game back to one particular word 4 times out of 7 games. The word was 'hard' (Cue immature giggling from the audience each time). He just couldn't get his mind away from that word and any opportunity to associate back to it, no matter how spurious the connection, was taken. His mind was locked into a certain pattern and a big part of that was down to the ' social pressure' of the situation.

Release the social pressure on people to always be 'right' and then, with other tools to hand, creative solutions can start to flow. After the 4th time, he finally stood up and said - "OK point proven".

"I love it when a plan comes together." Hannibal - The A Team.

Praise & Chips, Giving is not just for Christmas...

noreply@blogger.com (ThinkWorks) — Fri, 14 Dec 2012 14:08:00 +0000

What is Christmas really about?

PRESENTS!!! I hear my 5 year old daughter shout - and receiving them no doubt.

According to my very loose, non academic piece of research (which consists of just asking a load of people) tells me; if you ask an adult that same question their answer is also likely to be 'presents' - this time though - GIVING them.

There is no doubt that as a kid I just couldn't wait to open that present under the tree. Nowadays I am more excited about a great present I have bought someone. I cant wait for them to open it and see the look on their face... Giving is receiving. Give something that is really appreciated and you receive more than any present could provide.

This was demonstrated by the actions of my 2 year old son at a birthday party. I was filming as he sat with the other kids eating their party tea. He reached over to his neighbour's plate to pick up a chip when he had finished his own. I thought I was going to have filmed evidence of daylight robbery. He did something that caught me by surprise. He lifted the chip off the plate and held it out to feed her. A small, insignificant act of kindness. (It didn't even cost him one of his own chips!!)

She gave him the biggest smile I have ever seen and he looked up to the camera and did the same. In her he had a fan for life (if not certainly the rest of the party as she stuck to him like glue!) He still talks to me about it today. In that small act, at just 2 years old, he learnt more about how to engage with people AND feel good about yourself than anything I could ever teach him. Giving is receiving.

The nice thing is - Giving doesn't have to cost a fortune.

Praise is something you can give. Try giving someone a really specific, appropriate and timely piece of praise and see what it does for them. More importantly, see what it does for you. Just like giving a great gift - it feels wonderful. Your esteem will grow, your influence will grow and your mark on the world will in some small way too.

Giving is not just for Christmas, its for life.

Ridiculed, Opposed... Pioneers Need a Little Resilience

noreply@blogger.com (ThinkWorks) — Wed, 28 Nov 2012 10:21:00 +0000

Pioneers are few and far between. Rosa Parks and the civil rights movement. Steve Jobs combining beauty and technology. Cliff Young running without sleep for days.

All of these, and more, had to endure what most pioneers have to put up with. When they want to change the norm - to upset the status quo, others around them go through an interesting process. The same could be said of any organisation or team going through change. Think of a football club going through a 'transitional' period and changing the way they play. Think of a business implementing a new system. All change comes up against people who's view of the world is somehow threatened by it.

Change is often at first ridiculed. People laugh and mock. That will never work; It will never last; It will never catch on; Said with a smirk, a smile and a condescending tone.

When ridicule hasn't put the pioneer off, then nay-sayers turn to opposition - the extremity of which will depend on how seriously and significantly they believe this change will affect their world. That opposition can even turn violent.

If the pioneer persists and their approach appears to pay dividends, people then start to accept that change as the norm. Some come along more quickly than others - some refuse to ever reach the third stage, doggedly sticking to their guns (sometimes literally).

This short video highlights one (less extreme) example. Roger Bannister ran the first sub 4 minute mile. Listen out for the comment by the (very BBC sounding) commentator about half way through... In order to do what many thought impossible, it required a 'pioneering' approach. Bannister suffered ridicule and criticism for his training and racing methods. His methods soon became accepted as the norm though.

Bannister's day in the wind and rain

Next time you are pushing the boundaries, be prepared for a bit of ribbing, then some opposition. With a little resilience, soon you too will help others to accept it as the norm.

Is it our eyesight or is it our focus?

noreply@blogger.com (ThinkWorks) — Tue, 20 Nov 2012 23:03:00 +0000

Sport can be a very interesting representation of life in a wider sense.

An old friend of mine once told me an interesting story of his long running battle with chipping from around the green in golf.

He was suffering from a total breakdown in his action once he came within 20 yards of the green itself, fluffing, thinning and duffing shots and this became a downward spiral that began to depress him whenever he even thought about the game.

I remember a round when he had chipped surprisingly well. He was discussing it in the bar after and couldn’t put his finger upon why he felt more confident during the round. That evening he discovered that he had been wearing the wrong glasses that day. He usually wore a certain pair for golf but had forgotten them. There was his answer. He felt more confident because actually he could see the ball better with his other glasses.

Easy and logical.

Sometime later he was playing a round and chipping the ball beautifully. One thing was strange though. At the end of the round he discovered he was wearing his original glasses that had been causing him problems. This came as a shock.

It appeared therefore that the equipment wasn’t at fault, just his confidence!

We can be fooled by our own potential; and often are. When I began this business I left a ‘secure’ job. One thing that had held me back for too long was the sense of security I had in my monthly wage. Interestingly, that sense of security was misplaced. If I hadn’t sold anything my job would have been under very real threat. The money was my metaphorical pair of glasses. Once removed, I realized it had only affected my perspective, not the actual facts.

We need to take those glasses off every now and then and realise that it isn’t our eyesight, it’s our focus that will help us realise our potential.

Perception or Reality? Is that even the right question?

noreply@blogger.com (ThinkWorks) — Fri, 26 Oct 2012 13:44:00 +0000

I was running a session this week where the classic debate took place. As it gathered pace, people focused upon some of the facts that are holding them back from achieving their true potential as a team.

I heard the classic comment 4 or 5 times from different tables around the room. “Ah, but is that perception or the reality?”

I can understand this question in the context. We were focusing upon how perceptions don’t always match the reality and can therefore lead to communication difficulties, inappropriate behaviour and misunderstandings.

The truth is, we always behave according to our perception of the reality so some would say the question doesn’t matter. Whatever the reality is, it’s the perception of it that would need to change in order to drive a change in behaviour. To do that we can either look at the same facts from a different angle (see Blog number 1 for the brain as a protractor) or we can change the facts in order to drive a different base point for the perception to form.

Either way; to shift behaviour we must shift perception. As it’s behaviour that ultimately drives the reality, and perception drives behaviour, it’s the perception that therefore shapes that reality.

So maybe we should ask ourselves a better question.

Rather than 'is that perception or reality?'; perhaps the question should be – “how is my perception shaping that reality?”

It Is What It Is - It Was What It Was.

noreply@blogger.com (ThinkWorks) — Thu, 20 Sep 2012 22:49:00 +0000

Walking up the 10th hole this week, I had a moment of clarity. The 10th hole on the Carrick Course at Loch Lomond that is. Perhaps one of the most spectacular views in all of golf (or so claims the blurb). It truly is magnificent.. See the picture and you'll get an idea.

I had just received an email that was - I have to say - a tad frustrating. My game had gone to shreds as a result as I was finding it difficult to concentrate. Given that I spend most of my time developing people's self awareness, high performance thinking and a winning mindset, the most annoying thing about this was that I knew exactly what I was doing to myself.

I turned to my playing partner and expressed my frustration - explaining the situation to him.

"It is what it is"... I said to him in a genuine effort to put it into perspective.

Then it hit me..while the 'it' was there, it would remain. I had to do something rather than just try to forget it. 'It is what it is' had to become 'it was what it was'. Simply saying it differently shifted the issue in my mind.

To really overcome something, must we not (at least in some way) put it in the past? Some facts are not great - that is plain. We can live with them and battle their gnawing effects - or we can DO something and put them behind us properly - and in the process find a solution.

What will you DO to make 'It is what it is' - 'It was what it was'?

*In the end it turned out to be a misunderstanding. Something that need not be worried about at all. Isn't hindsight wonderful? Indeed hindsight is only possible when something IS in the past - sound familiar?

Superstitions May Not Be So Suspicious.

noreply@blogger.com (ThinkWorks) — Wed, 29 Aug 2012 16:32:00 +0000

Always put your left sock on first. Walk onto the pitch last. These were just two superstitions that I used to swear by during my rugby playing days.

People avoid walking under ladders, salute a single magpie or wear their lucky undergarments to name but a few. Some cast these off as quirks that have no relevance in the real world – that affect nothing and are therefore useless. However, the opposite can be argued.

On a recent course a delegate revealed she had passed her driving test at the fourth attempt. When I asked 'if you had failed it that fourth time instead of passing it, would you have retaken it a fifth time?'; she said 'of course she would, however, probably would have to move straight to the sixth attempt to pass because she has a thing against odd numbers.' (At least that's how I remember the conversation). Luckily the room took it in the spirit it was intended and everyone had a good belly laugh, including her I might add.

My Grandmother truly believed that bad things happen in 3’s. A statement I have heard regularly in the past. If we think about this – although it may not be helpful, it may not be so illogical either.

We have a filter in our brain that allows us to take in the information most relevant to us at any particular time. This is why you notice a certain car drive past you on the road once you decide you are going to buy that model. This is why you are able to ‘ignore’ all the other cars on the road to concentrate on the things that are important (such as potential hazards to avoid). You filter things in and out according to your perceptions and beliefs. After witnessing the first ‘bad thing’, my grandmother would spend the rest of the day focusing on finding the other two.

If someone sets a goal to run a marathon, they begin to notice runners out on the street. Those runners were there before; they were just filtered out as being less important than something else at that time.

Superstitions work in the same way. Someone wears their lucky pants for a big meeting, their mindset is just that little bit more positive about how their big meeting will go as a result. They feel more confident and therefore stand a better chance of behaving more effectively. Someone walks under a ladder, they spend the rest of the day focusing on any negative they see and attribute it to this arbitrary event (if that is what they believe happens as a result). The same negatives may have happened anyway, but if we don’t focus on them they won’t define our day in the same way.

A superstition therefore DOES affect the outside world. Through a shift in an individual’s focus and what they filter in and out, it drives different perceptions, emotions and therefore behaviour. Our behaviour then affects the outside world - indeed it is the only way we do affect the outside world.

So superstitions aren’t so suspicious. They are perfectly logical in the way they work – it’s just that we need to make them work for us rather than against us.

And yes - in case you're wondering, my Grandmother always completed the set in the end.

Pay Attention! It might just help your memory.

noreply@blogger.com (ThinkWorks) — Mon, 06 Aug 2012 21:38:00 +0000

Incredible memory skills are usually attributed to people who have learnt some kind of special technique to recall a large number of things in a certain order - either that or people claim it comes from some freakish natural ability.

Memory is driven by the attention you pay to something and the emotional connection with it. Most memory techniques play on both of these. They make you pay real attention to it and they help you add the emotive connection.

Cast your mind back just a week or so...to the Olympic Opening Ceremony to be exact. There was a a section of the ceremony dedicated to the theme from Chariots of Fire, played by The London Symphony Orchestra, with a cameo appearance from one of Britain's favourites - Rowan Atkinson.

Think about Atkinson's performance, what do you remember of it? Try to recall it. Try to do this as well as you can before you read on....

Do you remember the single repetitive note he played? The look of boredom and disgust on his face as he played it? Do you remember he took a photo on his smart phone? Do you remember him sneezing and trying to find a tissue and using all manner of props to keep the repetitive note playing? Do you remember him closing his eyes and imagining running on the beach in an all white strip alongside the other runners from the famous scene in the film? Jogging away from the pack to re appear in a car? Driving ahead to take the lead and then getting out of the car to continue running and win the race? Do you remember him opening his eyes again to find that in his daydream, the music had finished and he was still playing his solitary note alone? Do you remember he then played a mad little flurry of notes as his grand finale?

How much of this did you recall before I reminded you? Or rather my 4 year old daughter did. It was her that reminded me. She recounted this story to me tonight. I was astounded as to how much she remembered compared with me. We had let her stay up to watch the opening ceremony and this was the level of detail she remembered of it.

This was emotive for her - she paid real genuine attention to what she was watching and hearing. How often can we really say that as adults? Children live in the present tense more than adults who tend to be distracted by the past and the future much more readily. How much attention was I really paying to the ceremony? How distracted was I even on this most 'important' of evenings?

How much of life passes us by when the example we should be following is right there in front of us - demonstrated by a 4 year old.....

What Doesn't Kill Us Makes Us Stronger

noreply@blogger.com (ThinkWorks) — Tue, 24 Jul 2012 13:54:00 +0000

What doesn't kill you makes you stronger. A phrase that is rolled out all too often when the facts around us appear to be negative.

I'm pretty sure that Adam Scott may have heard that phrase, or a similar version, over the last couple of days. Four shots clear after four holes? That has got to hurt.

Another golfer who suffered a similar fate was asked if he ever thought about the shot that lost him the Open. His reply was; "Not really, sometimes I go a whole ten minutes without thinking about it."

Emotional strength is something that we can work on on an ongoing basis. How we deal with the facts drives how we feel about them.

Rory McIlroy went straight out and won the next Major Championship after his disaster and Im sure that eased the pain somewhat.

Its a lot easier to say 'what doesn't kill you makes you stronger' once we are back on the road to recovery but the paradox is that to get on the road to recovery we must have some iota of belief in that statement itself to begin with.

In the moment, Im sure its difficult to see the woods from the trees (no pun intended) so we must try to build that emotional strength on an ongoing basis - putting some cash in the emotional bank account for times when there is a Major withdrawal.

It will happen to everyone in their own context - the question is - have you deposited enough to make sure you don't go overdrawn? I truly hope Mr Scott has.

Please Don't Confuse Subtlety with Significance.

noreply@blogger.com (ThinkWorks) — Mon, 09 Jul 2012 13:31:00 +0000

Please don't confuse subtlety with significance.

Language is a very subtle thing. However, just because it can be subtle, that doesn't make it insignificant. The words we use say everything about us.

I recently asked a friend 'How life was treating them?' Just an insignificant question designed to break the ice after a few weeks without contact...right? Only partly. The wording has more significance than may first be apparent. The question demonstrates the belief (however deep rooted) that life is in charge of you, not the other way around.

Now - people may scoff and say - "Calm down, its just a question" - but if we hold true the understanding that our behaviour is driven by our beliefs either consciously or subconsciously, perhaps it would be worth re-thinking the wording to be less fatalistic. The significant part of this process is the 'thinking' about it. As I think about it consciously I develop my belief system accordingly.

I, for one, would find it awkward to turn the language around completely. I wouldn't ask; "How are you treating life?" However, I'm sure there is a phrase that I can find that would work for me - and probably one that is already commonly used in greetings around the world...

There are many examples of how language can reveal the deeper held beliefs of an individual. "Its only me" - implying I'm not important; "Take Care" - implying the dangers are many and you must avoid them. These are everyday sayings that we use without conscious intent - however, if we consciously think about them, we may want to make a different point.

So many of these statements we make are negative in their nuance. We become so used to them that it has become a part of our everyday accepted language. We don't have to invent new outlandish phrases to counter this - we can just think about our language more carefully, think about what belief it implies and in the process of doing this, work on our belief system as a direct result.

With regards to shifting our belief system, building self esteem and 'thinking positively', subtle changes can be significant - we don't have to change the world to change the world.

Playtime & Success - Who says you can't have it all?

noreply@blogger.com (ThinkWorks) — Tue, 26 Jun 2012 23:07:00 +0000

“ The only place success comes before work is the dictionary.” Vidal Sassoon.

It’s a quote I’ve seen before and saw again this morning.

It may be true – I think we all understand the sentiment. However, I did start to think about something that comes before both of those things – in the dictionary as well as in life.

Play.

I tweeted a phrase my Dad used to share with me recently; “Find something you love doing Simon and you’ll never work a day in your life”. What he meant was that work can be play – and if you make it so then it doesn’t feel like work anymore. What is interesting though is the by-product of this – when work is play – it often breeds success.

Think about it. Think about something you love; Something that when you do it you lose track of time; You get into a state of flow; Something that when you wake up early to do it you are excited and you can’t put it down at night.

It could be gardening, golfing, guitaring, gaming, gyming, grilling, galloping, guffawing or any other activity for that matter (it doesn’t even have to begin with with G).

If you really enjoy it, you’ll dedicate time and energy to mastering your art (or science), and as a result its likely that you are going to get pretty good at it.

It may be that you can’t just become a pro golfer – but there are lots of other opportunities to work in the world of golf. The same goes for any activity. If you love it enough, find a way to play and work at the same time.

It will make for a happy working life – and lets face it we spend a lot of our life at work.

Playtime and Success – Who says you can’t have it all?

You are the Cause; Luck is the Effect

noreply@blogger.com (ThinkWorks) — Wed, 20 Jun 2012 23:22:00 +0000

"You need a bit of luck in a tournament like this."

I’m trying to think how many times I have heard that statement over the past few weeks. Every single person that has been asked about England’s performances in the Euros has said the above statement.

Does luck really exist? There are two ways you can look at any situation involving what might be called ‘luck’.

England were lucky not to concede against Ukraine when the ball had clearly crossed the line.

John Terry put himself in the right place at the right time to put enough doubt in the 6^th official’s mind.

This is luck at its most basic – a perception.

People who tend to be luckier just think differently about opportunities. They also think differently about their failures. This process can be so powerful it can even filter out opportunities staring them in the face.

Last week a salesperson called our house. He asked for Mr. Clarkson so my wife put our 2-year-old son on the phone. We giggled as our little lad jabbered away. When we took the phone back off him the salesperson had hung up. We may not have bought anyway, but now there was no chance.

However, if that salesperson had still been on the phone, and had shown a sense of humour – I would have heard him and his sales pitch out. You never know – I might have even bought.

He might have considered himself lucky if I had but the truth is, it would have been him making his own luck by giving it a chance.

He probably considered himself unlucky so put the phone down. The truth is – he was unlucky BECAUSE he put the phone down. Its just a case of cause and effect.

You are the cause – luck is the effect.

So come on England – do the right things and the world can think you are lucky.

The Brain's Protractor

noreply@blogger.com (ThinkWorks) — Wed, 13 Jun 2012 09:40:00 +0000

Welcome to the Think Works Blog!

The first in an ongoing series of observations, anecdotes, lessons, questions and more. All focused at improving the way we think and therefore do.

The cornerstone of anyone working in this field of human high performance is perspective and perception. So let's start there....

You remember protractors at school? Usually a semi circular thing for measuring angles.

Your mind has a hidden protractor when it comes to perspective.

We were in Cyprus for a 10 day break. Beautiful place and fantastic people. We had 3 days left of the holiday and a friend used an interesting word... JUST. "Just 3 days left" he said to my daughter. She turned to us and with a sad look on her face said "I don't want to go home yet."

My response was to highlight that we weren't going home yet - that 3 days gave us plenty of opportunity to have lots of fun.

It led me to think that you can look at 3 days very differently depending on your perspective - or ANGLE. If you are about to head away for a romantic city break for a long weekend - the thought of 3 whole days is a really exciting one. However, when people think of the last 3 days of a 2 week holiday, it may well depress them.

Look at any fact you face and there are lots of angles it can be viewed from. These angles are nothing more than perspectives. Take a different view of a fact and you are using your mind as a protractor to see which angle might be the best to see it from.

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