A humanistic, creative, and reflective approach to work and life

Passion Parasites - 12 traits

Four Dimensions of Learning

2023

Three brain modes

2021

Happy merry 2021! And a reminder to celebrate your successes

My Zettelkasten KMS input and output

Zettelkasten note taking

Connection distance affects how we perceive contrary information

Risk assessment and prevailing social narratives

Reducing the emotional attachment load in problems

Systems naturally deter innovation

Four facets of problem-solving

Quality: Knowing when to stop

2020

Possibility, Likelihood, Magnitude, and Multitude

When the cause of a cause-based business takes over

Psychological safety in Agile

2019

Linear vs bubble working styles

Contain and excise anxiety from self-esteem

A mediocre to prefect scale: for websites and life

Simplistic polarisation impedes problem-solving

2018

Your year-in-review story

Problem peeling

Anatomy of a problem

Three ways to do innovation

Top tip for working with a difficult person

Three fundamental user needs

De-normalising for possibilities

Hospitals to start drug company

Flowing from ideas to up-and-running

2017

Experience design must move beyond marketing

Entitlement to voice suffering

Continuum of customer service care factor

Three obstacles to constructive discourse

Ill-differentiated triggers

Golden opportunity or trickery?

Constructive versions of lying techniques

EQ visualised

2016

Four lessons in social manipulation from the 2016 US elections

Post-traumatic growth

Some problems are insoluble

Three dimensions for understanding a problem

Talent-Belief gap

Anxiety blocks creativity

Mechanistic Processes vs Guiding Principles

When strong emotions override communications

Engaging the brain to help the heart

Ambiguity can be a strength too

Pragmatism an undervalued strength

Ideals vs perfectionism

Watering sustainable behaviour change

Inclusiveness and mental dexterity

Indicating and (maybe) not turning

No one succeeds on their own

Optimal anxiety

How to become more innovative

2015

Scanners and divers

Get Sh*t Done!

Let them win

What drives a closed mind?

Pink flamingo legacy

When is good enough is good enough

Making an impact vs overnight fame

Doing matters

Behaviour change and anxiety

Thoughts on a Matisse sketch

Beliefs, assumption and acceptance

Let me tell you how it should be

Looking for the win-win

Minimum Necessary Outcome

Work life balance is not a flatline

How we make meaning

Travelling is like a startup business

If it burns, stop touching it!

Knowledge transfer vs construction

Flow from a floor

Design + applied psychology: A hybrid problem solving process

Hello Europe

Rapport in 10

Avoiding suffering

We run our own mazes

Address, appease or avoid

Global awareness, personal power

We don't have to have it all figured out

We get what we venerate

Chaos or order?

Pay attention to build connections

Commitment and happiness

Weeding the lawn

Reframing for new perspectives

Answers from unexpected places

Start an ideas diary

Managing small-stuff overload

Cultivating self-awareness

Try on their shoes

Visual reminders of the big picture

Build your creative confidence

2014

See you in 2015

Captain Hindsight

Escaping the status quo

Export from Freemind to Word outline

Two must-learn Word features

Excuses for not improving

Design thinkers and the MBTI

Blinded by potential?

Convert Thinking to more Doing

Investing in not-haves

Two things the world need today

Time and B/W thinking

Black and white thinking

The mastery-boredom cycle

Designing for happiness

Evil Eights

Failure: two views

Breaking through illusions

Balance is across time

Agile, change-embracing, accelerated projects

Listening to transform crises and conflict

Selflessness vs selfishness in negotiations

Working with the nature of things

BS Detector

Hidden true value

Happy medium age!

Assumptions and fantasies

Reacting without thinking

Respond to covertly aggressive manipulation

Change toolkit

The dark side of expertise

Feelings vs reality

Square peg round hole

Permission to tool up

Confidence vs arrogance

Judgement vs discernment

Acceptance vs acquiescence

Goals vs habits

2013

Faulty thinking

Facts, emotions and crises

Useful worrying

Inspiration fatigue

Blind beliefs

The wisdom of foolish

Be curious, be happy!

Active listening: two ways

Control

Distractions

Emotional intelligence (EQ) primer

Killing inspiration

John Cleese on being creative

User-centred design mindset

Making an impact authentically

Four traits of collaborative leaders

My success indicators

Success indicators

Purpose Identity Meaningfulness Satisfaction

New resource: A problem solving checklist

2012

Strategy formulation framework

Strategy vs Plan vs Process

What is Strategic Design?

2011

If maturity = uniformity, what are the next greenfield industries?

2010

Bloom's Taxonomy diagram

The developing, the developed and the brave new world to come

“To hell with being a home-owner”

F**k my weaknesses

Reflections on travelling: enoughness

A worthy vision

Reflections on travelling: acknowledging differences while seeking similarities

Taking a sabbatical

Working to a higher purpose

Personal development underlies good business and good governance

On success in life and work

What happens to the dreamers of big dreams?

Empathy vs second-guessing

Tools to access our personal truths

Boo to perception management

Passion and attraction

Acceptance vs sufferance

Shoulds vs wants

Shoulds vs wants in business

I am satisfied

Design Thinking

A Problem-solving checklist

Good taste and insecurity

Wabi sabi

Two great lifestyle design blogs

The heal-thyself myth

Three things

Japan day 4

Small thoughts kill ideas and collaborations

2009

How to write a manifesto

Super heroes and villains

The Art and Science of Pricing

How to do a million good deeds

Reframing

Greed is a game

Transforming pain and suffering

Playfulness

Pillar management

“Them” and “us”

Integrative thinking

Power is never given. Power is taken.

World in transition

Ideas are bulletproof and the world needs big ideas

Two insightful and fun gems

What do you want to be famous for?

Status Anxiety

Making it to the middle

No to pessimism paranoia and selfishness

Silence is golden is innovation

Perspective, perspective, perspective

Empathy in action

Self-censorship and the fear of creativity

Competing with everyone

The power of belief

What shape are you?

Lessons from transitions

Existential mulling 1 – Blogging

To improve or not to improve?

Outliers

Social graces, ethics and learnt behaviour

2008

Chinese blog posts idea

Visual thinking and napkins

Irrationality, morality, respect, mirroring, social empathy, self reflection, conciliation

All I Really Need To Know I Learned In Kindergarten

The hours are long...

E.piphanies

Congruence and life on the Internet

Curiosity

Four turbulent characteristics

Emotions and decision-making

Wonder, not decide

Three things that matter most

On travelling and blogging

Tim Berners-Lees – making a difference

Rationality is an illusion

i-confide.com

Marketing, intrinsic motivation, happiness and Joy Ninja

Bigger is not always better

Authenticity - a real example and the doggie doo analogy

The Power Paradox

Definitions of "power"

Heart core vs hard core

Ode to imagination

Play

Cattywumpus

2007

The Golden Compass - we are the choices we make

Strength

“Giving up” our time

Reconnecting with creativity

The in-between

What should I do with my life?

Choose

The security of being in a box

Thinking of writing a best seller?

Effortless action

Fear still driving

Consultant, coach, and counsellor

Being, flow, and not pushing

Jack Welch on integrity

More on Integration and differentiation

To laugh often and much

Toiling

Differentiation from integration

Our beliefs and expectations of others

The stimuli behaviour cycle

Attention economy - another two articles

Attention, meaning, and the New Economy

True joy of life

Tailor your business to suit you

The good guys need to win – and they do!

Attention, Meaning, and Meaningfulness

Entrepreneurs of life

Principles vs rules

Three requirements for a fulfilling life

Life vs lifestyle

Can you really buy innovation?

Today is Pay It Forward Day

Unveil yourself to the world

Life intelligence (LQ) for your business

Malleable morals and integrity

Multiple intelligences

What price happiness?

Are you a sundial in the shade?

How to learn anything

How to tell if you love what you do

Conversations: the big thing

Beyond “work-life balance” to simply “life”

iWoz

Take it personally

2006

Giving and receiving

Unshrink

Be a kid again

Vermillion is dead, long live Vermillion!

How to change the world

Everyone just wants to be heard

Never argue with an idiot

Changing ‘them’ is easier

Over-planning over a toothbrush

What Is Your Life’s Work?

Faith

How do you want to succeed?

Commercial strategy for tomorrow

The Nice Factor Book

Cubicle Commando

Never work when you are desperate

Unexpected consequences

One word to open new worlds

Dream house, dream business

Contemplating an egg

Dominant vs submissive states

Keeping score vs satisfaction

What has your business done for you lately?

Out of the ordinary - right now

The Big Moo

New beginnings

Working with your “faults”

Your beautiful dream

2005

“The first pancake is always lumpy.”

Three challenges of evaluating technology

Optimism - alive and well!