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Social Engineering, Human economics - both topics of research on our family jaunt to the Sunshine Coast. A holiday is always a journey. Gigantean leaps in awareness and evolution of life skills that take some assimilation when re-entering the mainstream. Today's blog topic is "Betterness". A new wave of business thinking? Or a habit for a life line? Hitting the Arrow, 500 emails, a snag with the GST return, and missing the school bus yesterday was as brisk a wake up call as diving into the river literally. I sat in the rainbow lit spa, Rainbow beach on Monday night attempting to commit to cell memory what HOT felt like. Two weeks of sunshine, bikinis, beaches, tropical fruit and relaxation hopefully imprinting the DNA before the 18 hour trek home to a -7 degree frost and the cold metallic barrel of a long hard winter where making swede a delicacy lies before me. Your soaking in it - mantra. The urge to push myself under, to stay longer, to avoid coming back was tantalising close. The Plantation Resort had apartments for sale - A dual lifestyle beckoned. If animals had passports we could be there now. Cultural flexibility skills kicked in and we made ourselves taste everything about that option, exploring all we could of our surroundings to make sure the Disneyland effect could fade and we could see without our rainbow coloured glasses on. They slid to the end of our noses. BFO's for me always come from what we souvenir when away from the norm. A multitude of tips from holiday reading - Betterness: Economics for Humans by Umair Haque, will mix it up with dreams from Night Circus - Erin Morgenstern and a more fragrant home thanks to buddha bum frangipani and lemon grass scented candles, gifts from my kids. For them the priority carry on luggage included a sand dollar, four clip on koalas, super hero outfits, new swimmers and thongs demonstrating belief in the future, whimsy and wonder not that different to my own take home items. In a workshop I developed back in 1900 & 90 something - "small world" we explore the topic of culture shock and how to deal with it. I'm always fascinated when you arrive at a new place how the colours are bright, the smells and sounds enticing and all the fashion in the shops has an AMAZING MUST HAVE NOW kind of influencer. By the time you immerse in it all, roll around a bit and suck on the juicy bits you realise that you are so over things with studs on them you can manage to not own any except for those already in your snow tires. Fascinare - means to cast a spell. To take the essence of what you are looking at and immerse in it. To look and learn, to become engaged with things again. How long has it been since you have changed your environment? Immersed in a new world and got over excited about things from another perspective. Dived into the void and swum in things unfamiliar. Stepped out of your comfort zone and looked at what you would like to DO better or instead of what you are DO-ing now ? When was the last time you sucked on something new? Smelt it, dealt it kind of living. It would appear that those in the land of OZ are so much better at things than us Kiwis. Across the ditch they dress smart, smile, welcome you, joke with you, enjoy and cater for children and respect the flags - they genuinely seem to like their jobs and going to work each day. My "oh I know so much better than you" persona has decided that Australia may be yet to experience it's GFC. Things seem over geared and a little fragile. Retail down, cash rates changing, resorts in receivership proving tempting to buy though development may never ever ever get it back together. There is a smell like a dead rat in the rafter, like something has crept inside to hide from the winter and eaten up large on handouts. You can't quite place where the smell is coming from; it's almost sickly sweet... but you know somehow in your gut it has potential to get a lot worse before it gets better. How DO we make things better? Umair Haque has inspired me to toss out the mission and vision statements, objectives and strategies of doing business and to get jiggy with ambition, intention, constraints and imperatives. Good thing my business isn't called "objectives unlimited" anymore because that is so last century. The Night Circus has challenged my perspective on black and white, its entered my dream state and cast a spell. The DO party animal in me craves a Night Circus event. Contact me if you have an ambition for one too. I intend to find more ways to weave magic in daily life to invest in human potential and to correct the effects of old school ways of doing business - no pursuits that lead to diminishing the common wealth: widening economic inequality, the depletion of the natural world, and more. To get out of this trap, we need to rethink the future of human exchange, we can be inspired by our values and intentions and impose on ourselves limits of what we will DO and not DO. We can become more aware of the mechanics holding the game together and D.A.R.E to DO things another way. Engaging all our senses and sensibilities. Reaching inwards to find the human potential and immersing in things that delight our senses. We can become more child like on our journey. Trust that the future will be warm and welcoming, that treasure can be found where ever you go and that first step to being a superhero is to look the part. There is definite climate change amongst us. The world is experiencing rising anxiety. It may be as easy as tapping it out with Brad Yates on you tube. It may be as simple as taking a break to get better. Winter learning workshops with me supporting you with what to DO next will certainly engage the senses and warm up human potential - I'm back at the desk and charging ahead with gay abandon. Come join my circus and play.
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I never did a day's work in my life. It was all fun. Thomas Edison Take it easy baby , take it as it comes, be a specialist in having fun - Jim Morrison "Are you having any fun yet ?" One line mantras. B.F.O's - Blinding Flash of the Obvious moments. The AHA feeling. An opportunity to sum up the essence of your experience in just a few words. To me that is the phrase ....Best said to another when you are perhaps experiencing something that is no fun at all. Particularily useful when life seems to suck the big kumara. It's a cunning reminder that we are here for a good time not a long time and are fully capable of enjoying the journey. The sort of statement we see on a bumper sticker and want to recall for life. Last millenium I was heading to a meeting with the bank manager, WINZ had cancelled a trial program for transistioning long term unemployed people into work in Queenstown. We had already committed to the office space, training room and team. Our land lord was about to change the locks if the lease wasn't paid. I had no idea how I was going to keep the business let alone my life afloat. When on the way down the mall my financial controller turned to me and said... "Are you having any fun yet?" Instantly the pressure was off, we looked at each other the stress lifted and we began to laugh or was it cry? From memory a lot of both, we had to sit tears streaming to compose ourselves into the concerned adult individuals that we knew the finance representatives would assume that we would be. And the issue was certainly and suddenly back in perspective. I can't even remember how we sorted out the rent that day but we did, the world still turned but most importantly we relaxed, we had some fun and we learnt. Learn from the mistakes of others you don't live long enough to make them all yourself. If you obey all the rules your miss all the fun - Katherine Hepburn Sick to the stomach, a need to pee, sweaty palms, racing heart. A collegue reminded me recently are all symptoms of excitement. I'd been wrestling with my anxiety after the death of three significant others in my inner circle and it was manifesting in similar displays in my middle child. Time to examine what we like to DO when we are excited. Dress for a special occasion, day dream, plan, write a journal. make, give and receive gifts, find like minded souls to share the journey. Immerse in the task, become absorbed in the moment. Some purposeful choices to re-label the state and enjoy the day, moment by second. To nurture my inner children with happy voices, hugs, bike rides, compliments, squeals of glee, baking, adding novelty, parties and fun times with friends. To walk barefoot in the icy cold river collecting stones. To look up and see the light not at the end of the tunnel but right here we we are. In some call centres there are Fun Managers. The person whose role it really is to create the doughnut day and hand out the silly hats. It's not the wank factor the cynics among you would label it as. The best pull it off with aplomb. Celebrating moments, creating themes adding value to the brand and the day. Establishing employee retention and decreasing challenging customer moments. Because every moment deserves to be a great one. As we would like to think that Buddha said... "The trouble is we think we have time." Go on I D.A.R.E. you - Decide, Act, Review and Enjoy - Then do it again.... and again...and again. One more time with feeling! Climb something, set a goal, make a plan, throw yourself off or into anything. Scare your self silly. Fascination comes from fascinare - to cast a spell. Create magic in your day. Go out feel the warmth of sunlight on your skin or eat what it is you love for lunch. Drink out of beautiful glass, tell a joke, love an animal, smile more at yourself in the mirror. Acknowledge your natural beauty - you are the oldest you have ever been and the youngest you will be in this moment. Experience your wealth - you have life. Invite a group of random friends to play tennis and drink Pimms. Ensure enough of them know you well enough to turn up in nightclub attire, and 6 inch heels. Have new racquets and balls on display but touch neither. Drink the Pimms and add champagne. Go out. Pretend you are a tennis club. Talk loudly and passionately about who has the best back hand. Stay out all night. Tell stories on the couch. Laugh hard, long and loud about who wears the biggest nana pants. When your husbands walk in from their fishing trip in the morning throw the lillies out of the vase and pretend you are drinking the water. Are you having any fun yet? Culture = group agreement to ritual. Corporate culture is no different to that in a petre dish. Same - same but different. DO - Learning, supports the strengthening of workplace culture through employee selection , training and identity empowerment. How your premisis looks, how the corporate values you have or are evolving are interpreted. If your team were a tribe what would it look like and be like? Does your business experience fluctuation of seasonalilty that translates into a very different summer tribe to winter tribe? Many of my adventure tourism clients experience this. Imagine a ski field every day in winter. Pre dawn early starts... The groomer team coming off shift with ice-laden beards and carhardts - the break of day often, way sub zero. Or being the food and beverage manager with the fluctuating need for staffing and production levels on powder days risking the wrath of the local ski god community. Compared to the summer tribe maintenance works and marketing teams where starting later and bbqs on the deck in casual clothes typify a Friday at work.. Perhaps your business is skydiving and it's September equinox. How do you keep the tandem masters, manifesters and camera people happy when mother nature does her thing every spring and blows hard day after day? Or you are a local council and the land use has changed from sheep farming to dairy and your water table level has risen and you flood risk has tripled along with angry farmers that your customer service team are dealing with one more time with feeling. When I worked with Progressive Enterprises my favorite job title was that of the space manager. Everyone wants to be a spaceman right? In the real world there are more of them than you think. They hold the golden key to brand management. Whether your product is displayed, stocked or not. If it is at eye level, on the ends or perhaps a scan back deal has been struck. On a bad day the spaceman runs a nationwide special on coackroach bait... except there are none of the varmints in the South Island. Or the hotel chain where everyone wears the same uniform in all properties regardless of global location , or climate. Corporate culutre can be visable in how individuals take their breaks. How meetings are held, what and when uniform items are worn. How does your team idenitfy as your organisation? What perks and quirks are typical in your workplace? What do your staff social functions say about you? How do you interact with your customers and key stake holders? DO you know what your tribe looks like, feels like and acts like? What bits can you encourage and how DO you enculturate new members to your team. This week I've been supporting the move of an organisation into a new office. Interpreting the challenge to raise the professionalism of a team. Time to lose the mis-matched coffee mugs, add some plants and ensure office colours reflect the brand. Will it be of value? It will be a message to those within and external to the organisation. Culture is the story we tell as a group that defines who and what it is that we are. What are you like? If something doesn't feel right, look right, sound right, smell right or seem right - it probably isn't. Yet how often do we let ourselves or others convince us that we are manifesting drama, not seeing things clearly or that we are wrong? When I teach conflict resolution in workshops we talk about dealing with issues when you first experience discomfort. And why we often don't choose to act-i-on things right at that first point of niggle. I ask how often was that first feeling wrong when you look back at a scenario that blew up. Answer never. I have coached clients who have been at the extremes of the elements during military service and survived when others have taken their own lives. Their gut instincts kept them alive there yet in the boardroom they don't trust the gut feeling that someone may be manipulating a situation. I bet they are not wrong. I've had that quiet little voice that seems to rise up from somewhere deep inside of me tell me I'm being managed or led up a path that is not of my own making. Yet I've allowed others to talk over it, to tell me I have a problem or that I am the one who needs to toe the line. Only to realise every single time further down the track that the voice was spot on and that I was indeed correct not to waiver. That my instincts were on target, that I could have saved myself a lot of grief, self doubt and mayhem by belief in my self and my ability to judge what is going to serve me well. Our instincts are to keep us safe and to trigger the flight or fight skills primate in all of us. Some like smoke alarms are now hair triggered towards anxiety and we are over conditioned to dumbing down our feelings and responses. Perhaps you body has been screaming for so long for you to listen to it that now it reacts to every threat with caution. Because if you haven't listened in the past I better act up real quick to get you to listen now. If you start listening again to what your instincts are trying to tell you the relief is instant. The faith empowering and the self trust strengthening. Your soul calms down and you don't have to panic any more because you are now aware you will handle it, the universe doesn't bring you anything that you can't handle and we can take care of ourselves. It's the voices in our solar plexus that we need to be quiet enough to hear. For those who are busy telling themselves that they don't have any little voices to listen to it's exactly that voice that I'm talking about. The one that tells you gently that you or someone you are in connection with is acting out of integrity. That what they are saying thinking and doing are not lining up. Just go with it. Buy yourself some time and say thanks but no thanks, or not just now. Take the time to listen and to trust what you are feeling. What's the rush. Try it today. Tune into your instincts next time you have to make a decision. Don't weigh up the logic just go quiet allow yourself to tap into source and ask yourself yes or no? Stay or Go? Block or Flow? Go with that first answer calmly and gently one small step at a time. Let me know how it works for you. Put your gut out there to test the wind. Lycra or crampons? Both choices I have managed to avoid today but for some now in both they may be questioning what's around the next corner on this adventure. It's Gods Zone race time and participant kits required extreme climbing gear. Multi sporters are the guru geeks of our town. By day they mascarade as company directors, engineers, real estate agents or work in retail. By weekend they push sleep depraved into the hills, racing, climbing, kyacking and conquoring. - Where? not even they know until they get there - I live in awe. For thousands near the Arrow today is Mototapu time, when Shania Twain opens her land thanks to the OIC rules that surrounded it's purchase for the mean and the keen to trek from Wanaka across the valley by bike and foot. It's become a walk in the park completed so often by some there was head scratching last night wondering why it was they thought a 5th time would be different. Perhaps it's for the carbo load feasting before it... guilt free indulgence. For others it is the first big push out of the comfort zone how hard can riding a bike be?? By now they may be wishing they'd purchased the comfy seat 2000 version of their padded shorts instead of the crib in the Southern Riveria or that Chanel handbag. Or perhaps they are pausing, daring to look behind them to see why that friend the planner is taking it so carefully down the hills when surely that's the easy side of the ride and we are not even half way in. For the fast and furious it's already done and dusted, they'll be lying in the village, eating a Mantra samosa, being felt up by physios and welcoming number after number across the line to local celeb torts and cheers - I wonder if we'll see Chuck's mum? For other friends today is an adventure of another kind. Two souls meeting as one to tie the knot and begin a different kind of story, married, fiesta style. Some friends scattered by distance or carnage are sending love via moonbeams and honoring them in creative ways, planting cherry trees, writing love notes in the sand and adding beats to spotify. Then there are those who are ten years into their married story - wrapped up in their off spring or overseas travel. Living lifes adventure on opposite sides of the world doing it well all the same. There's parties tonight, competitions to win and work to complete. Some Ad-venture-rs are too busy to take "time off" right now but we'll get there... where ever there may be. For me what adventure does the rest of today hold? An experience of being in the flow. I've opted out of the above pursuits ( see my earlier blog on Saying NO being a really a big yes). To focus on my own state of calm and retreat from the roaring crowd. Some me time DO-ing what I love to DO - I woke with my youngest childs arm across my neck, a sleep hug. I hadn't noticed her climbing in to my bed but it was well after I was rounding up the cairn terrier from his rabbit slaughter at 2am, belated thanks to the father in law for the spot light it does work on rabbits, and horses who seemed very surprised at how I look in my nightie at 1000 plus lumens. I've had a late breakfast in bed - an almost luke warm weak cup of tea, barely cooked peanut butter toast with a freshly plucked rose on the plate side. I've been out doing some friend stalking. The chickens and I have had our chat over their La rumbla scraps, the sprinklers are all on as is the dish washer and the washing machine - water consumption is in abundance, the house is clean and silent - the children are all gone, we've raised them well enough they all have friends. The bliss of the solitude to write. There are still those cherry trees to plant, a new wwooffer arrival, mojito hour and that's just in the breaks. The advenutres that await will surely feature in another blog. I don't yet know but I've commited to go with the flow. When you have no idea what's happening next, your excited about the process. I love it when a plan comes together particularily when you have no idea of what the plan is. To enjoy every adventure for what it is, a moment to smile lots and laugh plenty. Life is the journey not the desitination and isn't it the best adventure of all. NZ European?? Not me I'm a New Zealander!! 6th generation, my children are 7th. And every time I fill in a form it irks me. To not be able to acknowledge my country as my own is a bash to my ethics of enculturation. While there is no bad just different I feel unsettled and misplaced. And now at census time we Kiwis have an opprtunity to DO something about it. My ancestors came from Nova Scotia and Mauritius a long long long long long long long time ago - not much European about any of them. They milled Kauri in Whatipu and by the colour of my youngest kiwi chicks skin the cocoa plantation we lost due to no rates payments in Southern Africa just a few generations back has a lineage battle with which unknown iwi may have jumped the engineering whanau fence in Patea and Hawera / Taranaki. You can take the boy from the naki but not the naki from the boy and it shows clearly in my daughters heritage. Yet we still don't know how to fill in our forms.Every time the school sends home a survey I add a thesis. Ethnicity debates aside we are New Zealanders. From Gods Own, Middle Earth. We love our country with a passion. there is not a human who did not migrate here, by waka or ship, by aircraft or mothers womb. They honed out a life from the bush, have contributed as settlers, farmers, politicians,mothers and others. We have never left and we call it home. Our blood is in her soil. Tommorrow there is a chance for our country to embrace us all. New Zealanders. All of us. Not of only our treasured maori or those who are happy to own European decent. Tanga te whenua to me is people of the land but when, where and how does that start or finish? How many generations have to pass of children being created and born here? Of toil and endevour towards the good of our nation until we don't have to pretend we are from somewhere else? Go on I D.A.R.E. you - be brave enough to say where we are from. I owe this to my kids this is their home. Garden art is my current thing.
More truthfully weeding the garden is my current thing and it's hardly a work of art. That's what you get when the engineer in the family decides to put an acre into veges on the 5 acre block but works away solving the nations infrastructure issues most of the week. So aside from writing because to write is to breathe, I'm loving my green fingers, broken finger nails and fluffy inners of my Hunter gummies. I'd love my sustainable paradise to be a work of art but currently with the drought and full summer harvest upon me I really only feel like we've created a shit sandwich. I spend a lot of time irrigating, picking and panicking that everything is doomed, nothing will thrive and I'll fail. I'd like to put a big peg on it to remind me that this is what I value - like a memo note to self. A great work of art takes time, passion and commitment. And sometimes it's the preparation of the site, the collection of your tools and knowing what it is that you want to create that you must first give your focus to before success is achieved. If you've had some of your better ideas hit hurdles or get all caught up in schmoo too ...Congratulate yourself. You don’t have to eat the schmoo bap - However you do have a great example of contrast. You know what it is that you still need to work on, what you don’t like, what stinks and what turns you off. You know what failure feels like and you know you want to avoid anymore of it. Sometimes you have to say NO so that you can create the space to say YES. Saying NO to things, people and projects is the fastest way I have found to bring YES to fruition. |
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