This time of year is a time when many people resolve that they need to do things differently in life. After a period of reflection over Christmas and the New Year they take stock and decide to alter course. In doing so, they often constrain themselves by paying too much attention to past experience and not enough to where they want to get to..
When good isn’t good enough!
At the 1999 Open Golf Championship at Carnoustie, Jean Van de Velde was closing in on victory as he teed up on the 18th hole. What happened next is a good example of why perfectionism isn’t always a strategy that leads to success.
Determination… what would you do to succeed?
Many of you will have seen the 2016 film about Michael Edwards, otherwise known as British ski jumper Eddie “The Eagle”. His personal story is quite well known but is a real testament to the power of determination.
Things may not always be what they seem…
Have you ever been in a situation where you witnessed something and when you discussed with other witnesses later, you don’t agree that they saw what you did? Interesting question. How does this happen?
The power of diversity
Whilst the current focus on diversity is rightly concerned with equality, that isn’t the full picture. There is a huge advantage in diversity in its widest sense and there is plenty of evidence that this is the case.
We have a problem, should we ask for expert advice?
With so much of what we do these days guided by ‘expert’ judgements, I recently found myself reflection on the nature of expertise. Specifically, what exactly does it mean to be an expert?
Where are you headed?
Author J. K. Rowling reportedly said that she wrote the last chapter of the last Harry Potter book first, around the time when she initially conceptualised the famous saga back in 1990, while riding a train from Manchester to London.
Why do some teams fail?
One of the more interesting team related puzzles for me this year (2019) was the failure of the England team to, as I saw it, show up for Rugby World Cup Final. Having delivered a standout performance against the All Blacks in the semi-finals, it was difficult to believe that you were even watching the same team. Noting there were one or two ‘tactical’ substitutions. What happened?
When you think of turkeys do you think of determination?
Christmas is a time of year when most people are thinking about winding down to spend time quality with their families, but for some it is when they are at their busiest.
Who needs a mobile phone anyway?
I was in London recently for the weekend – having arranged to meet my sister and go out for dinner. As she lives on the south coast and we live in the East Midlands, we decided to book a nice Hotel with our respective partners and make a weekend of it. I hadn’t quite planned what happened next.