In our ‘always on’ world the loading on our senses and emotions can feel like an onslaught. And the stimuli and provocation keep coming. We may find ourselves reacting in ways that are out of proportion to the situation or to how we would if we were less overloaded, whether that’s ‘lashing out’ or shutting...
I read an article yesterday that suggested that Rishi Sunak was ‘behaving like he thought a Prime Minister should’ rather than being himself. Regardless of Politics it had me thinking about the fine line between ‘acting as if’ and being untrue to one’s own essence. The great power of ‘acting as if’ is that it...
Fear is a vital factor in human survival…it protects us in the face of the ‘grizzly bears’ we encounter in life. The challenge though is to know when a fear-based response, running away, burying our heads etc. is the right response and when courage is what’s required. Our systems are crumbling. Uncertainty is rife. Physical...
According to Fast Company, reporting on the positioning of the latest range of Apple watches, Apple ‘used to sell wonder, now it sells fear.’ This new range is supposedly about helping us survive the challenges of a difficult and uncertain world. Sure we are living in tough times yet the more we buy into this...
If like me you are a fan of period dramas you will have a visceral sense of the hierarchy associated with the notion of service – a system where the so called lesser are in service of the so called greater. Even though in many ways (though for sure not all) our society in the...
The level of misinformation surrounding us these days is so pervasive and toxic that it’s possible to lose all sense of equilibrium and ‘truth’ even when exchanging views with long-standing friends and colleagues. Of course, truth can be both factual and perceptual. For example, there are many ‘truths’ or what we might call ‘deep knowing’...
The world over we can see conflict from the macro – nations bearing arms against each other, with catastrophic human cost – to the micro – sharp words exchanged between those who know each other, as well as those who don’t. Though the disputed ‘territory’ will be different in each case and the damage substantially...
One of the side effects for many of the prolonged ‘lockdowns’ that I’ve heard mentioned, and indeed notice in myself, is a tendency toward becoming ‘settled’ or institutionalised in non-action. Whether it’s the simple things like getting on a train or plane, going to a restaurant or back to the physical workplace or something bigger...
I’ve spent over 40 years in the service industry, and this is both a blessing and at times a curse. It means that I’m acutely aware of the principles behind excellent service and the importance of the customer, and it also means that service failures I encounter along the way are tricky to tolerate. However,...