Connecting at its worst and best!

Una and I talk about being prepared to give of yourself, your ideas, your resources and your contacts openly and willingly to those you meet.

Last night I went to a great fundraiser locally and it reminded me of the consequences of holding back and at the same time the advantages of giving.

The restaurant we booked bent over backwards during the booking saying yes to everything including closing its doors to the public so we could have the place to ourselves. We arranged speeches (fun and more serious). an entertainer and of course the compulsory raffle draw! :-)

When we arrived there were other diners and the manager refused to accept that he had said he would close. Infact he continued to let people in. The entertainer arrived and the manager said he had no prior knowledge of this (not true) and that as there were other diners this was making his life really difficult. He put up the prices of his drinks (verified by regular users of this establishment) and generally treated our guests in a surly manner.

It didn't stop us though - we were all determined to have a great time and using our best assertiveness techniques we managed to get the entertainer in.

Before we sat down to eat, one of the guests commented that he was surprised we didn't use the restaurant next door as they had a great relationship with them and then went on to say "infact let's pop round maybe they'll give us a prize in the raffle" This we duly did and they were thrilled to contribute a £30 restaurant voucher as a prize wishing us a wonderful evening... no conditions, no exceptions just given with kind hearted openness. As we walked back in to our restaurant, we thought we might as well ask if they would donate a prize as we were holding the event there on what would have been an extremely quiet night otherwise... maybe just a  bottle of wine. "No" was his reply.

As the night went on and everyone had finished eating, we went around with the raffle tickets and included the other diners (by this time there were only 4 tables) The diners on the first table were indignant that they had been asked but you know what they were quite happy to stay for a further hour and enjoy our very funny entertainment - interesting! Two of the other diners both won prizes in our raffle and soon became part of our extended 'family' Enjoying it so much they asked to be on the mailing list for future events.

So the point of my story is two fold

1. Which of the diners had the best experience and why?
2. Which restaurant did we recommend to our 75 guests who. because of the experience are absolutely going to make a point of visiting it soon!

“All the world is made of faith, and trust, and pixie dust.” 
― J.M. Barrie, Peter Pan


Trust in the goodness of others ans expect nothing - just act. Think about how you can support others every day.

Have fun!

It's an exercise in matching and motivating

Company culture draws on so many influences and diverse dynamics. We put great store in detailed recruitment processes only to throw it away at the door when a new recruit starts with little welcome and in some cases, not even a  computer set up. Their team are busy getting on with BAU and have little time to look up and smile let alone welcome and guide.

But fit is so critical success that why don;t more managers spend time assessing, chatting, exploring with new staff what turns them on, what's important to them in work and what their purpose is - if we can tap into that real potential each time we recruit then the first 100 days would simply be, a breeze so wise up, find out what's important and let your team fly.

And if you want to know whether Gandhi was always the way you imagine take a look at this.

What's your fit?

I've just had a wonderful 30 minutes trawling around Linkedin and found some incredible things. One is a company called Roundpegg - The Culture company who relate culture to wine. You can see it here.

A good reminder that when you are doing something that doesn't fit with your values in a way that doesn't fit with your style then work can be tough. So this is a urgent call to all you managers out there! How confident are you that you fully understand the top 3 values of all your staff and their preferred way of working? How confident are you that your approach fits with these needs? Enjoy your pondering!

The power of crowdsourcing

Years ago the Jam published a song called 'In the crowd' with the lyrics 'when I'm in the crowd I can't see anything, my mind goes a blank...', However, today the concept of being in the crowd, thanks to social media is one of enlightenment, enhanced thinking, exciting challenge and connectedness.

The concept of crowdsourcing, where online communities are used to elicit ideas, opinions, content and information from a wide and diverse community, is being used widely. Evidence can be seen of its power, from IT organisations using it to develop environments like Moodle to Government bodies using the concept to gain input to Government policies. People taking part in discussion forums are contributing to the practice of crowdsourcing everyday and long may it continue. It is a great way of testing your views, seeking further information and sailing beyond your comfort zone. Are you brave enough?

Boxed in by Fear

This is Alfie cat, and as many cat lovers will appreciate, where there is a box (or a bag, or a drawer, or a cupboard) there is a cat hidey hole.

Alfie is a bit of a scaredy cat though, so will resort to hiding to avoid the unknown.

His recent dive into this box made me reflect on what makes me 'dive into my box'.




It didn't take me long to come up with a list which included:

• Things I don't know how to do.
• Things I might fail at.
• Things which if they go wrong will be BAD BAD BAD

This is all fear of the unknown kinda stuff and it often gets in the way of me starting things which, once I have begun the task seem to be so much less scary. So how do we conquer that initial fear. Here are my 3 tips:

• Believe in yourself. Think how often you have done something you didn't think you could do.
• Don't fear failure, embrace it. As Thomas Edison says, 'genius is 99% perspiration and 1% inspiration'. Remember, to fail is to learn and to learn is to move forward.
• Step out of the hidey hole and be brave. You miss so much being stuck in a box, embrace the unknown and discover the endless possibilities it offers!

Feeling happy - is it natural or synthetic and does it matter?

Today the sun came out, the sky was blue and it was warm enough to sit in the garden with a cuppa. As I closed my eyes and listened to the noises of spring (birds singing, the occasional yap of a neighbours dog, distant music and plane flying overhead), I felt a genuine surge of happiness.Such simple things can bring real joy.

With this in mind I really enjoyed this TED Talk from Dan Gilbert on the science of happiness. Did you know there is a difference between natural happiness and synthetic happiness? I put my 5 minutes in the garden down as natural happiness but am I right. This research really makes you think about your own happiness and what we call happiness!

Una

Along the right lines...

Last Thursday Caroline (coloured scarf) and I (the other one in the middle with glasses) decided to do something different so we signed up for a London Literary Pub Crawl.

Well if you ever wanted to know what the great writers got up to in their down time, wondered where Fitzrovia is and wanted to chat to Charles Dickens or Virginia Woolf, this is your chance. Courtesy of the Maverick Theatre Company this was a fun, engaging and fascinating experience.

We won't issue spoilers in case you fancy giving this a go as a good night out with your colleagues, but it got us wondering how actors learn their lines. As L&D people we often need to commit things to memory so we can present ideas to others, so how do we do this? There are a few interesting discussions on the subject of memorising lines. Here are a few to get you thinking:


How do actors/actresses memorize their lines?
What Actors Can Teach Us About Memory and Learning

Actors Techniques on Learning Lines - BBC

Una