I have read a lot of stuff on being present and noticing more this year, but this paragraph by says it like no one else … “What is the use of planning to be able to eat next week unless I can really enjoy the meals when they come ? If I am so busy planning how to eat next week that I cannot fully enjoy what I am eating now, I will be in the same predicament when next week’s meals become “now.” If my happiness at this moment consists largely in reviewing happy memories and expectations, I am …

Big HT to Andrew Rixon for noticing this Leunig Cartoon in the weekend Age … Andrew suggested that Leunig really understands complexity theory – I agree! This metaphoric-tangle that Leunig uses is so true of life and most of what we do. So why are we still trying to control and manage this tangled web with rules? Luenig knows that there are no ‘rules’ for getting through this mess. Instead, he has captured some ‘principles’ in this cartoon … principles that might just help change our mindset. There are probably some other principles too but there is no rule book …

Have you ever noticed how many numbers there are in our world? Numbers appear to be as prolific in our streetscape as letters of the alphabet. This morning … I noticed numbers. I set off on a morning walk with our dog, my head swirling with thoughts,projections and assumptions. My mind was on auto pilot and it’s projections filled my whole being. Then I noticed this on a power pole … I noticed it’s color and the engineering-like design. It was a lonely object, on a pole, in a deserted street, on a cold winter’s morning. Anyway, my point is …

Johnnie Moore writes over at his blog here about research into productivity in the workplace. It resonated with me on a number of levels and this quote from Antony Mayfield got me thinking … “… digital tools and networks can be used to loosen clogged bureaucracies and ways of working. But if we don’t think about how they are being used, don’t challenge unproductive and corrosive ways of working, they will establish new workplace tyrannies and inefficiencies.” My use of online media has resulted in many new networks, friendships and business relationships. As my own work habits have changed (dramatically) …

I am sitting in the corner of the room whilst a workshop makes it’s way to a close. These people represent the polarity of an organization – people in strategy, others at the edge working with community and others who cut across the 2. Their intent is to build strategy that has a clear purpose, is co-owned and provides a framework that is flexible enough to cope with the unexpected. In this line of work we are dealing with community and natural systems, so the unexpected will happen … Often! They are building this strategy in both a top-down and …