Excess. Overload. Overwhelm. A good thing can turn bad if we have too much of it. James Clear summed it up well recently in his 3,2,1 newsletter. ‘Ten minutes in the sun can energize you. Ten hours in the sun can burn you.’ Five minutes on one activity can energise…

Peanut gallery. Hecklers. Trolls. How easy it is to lob advice, criticism or worse, from the sidelines. Or from a keyboard. Just ask any professional athlete. The attacks are personal and rarely about their performance. The grace with which so many of these young sports stars handle the lobs and…

Neutral was a handy gear when I had my first car at 18. My 1970 VW beetle was vintage, even back then. It was also a neutral colour — ‘fawn’ according to its registration papers. Don’t laugh. That probably explained why I could afford to buy it on waitressing wages…

Are you the only facilitator in your organisation? Being the only in-house facilitator doesn’t mean you have to fly solo — in the room and especially not on the screen. Who is your Wing Woman? Man? Person? The pronoun is completely up to you. I just love alliteration 😊! I…

Joan is my mother-in-law. At 105, she remains one of the most connected people I know. She remembers all her children’s and grandchildren’s birthdays and still sends them hand written cards. A little earlier these days as snail mail lives up to its name. She is considering making the pandemic-enforced…

My recent rant about ice breakers generated quite a response. I said that icebreakers free ships, not people. And yes, it’s spelt differently. Judging by the response I got, a lot of people feel the same. …

⚠ Warning: rant ahead… Icebreakers free ships, not people. Those dreaded words, ‘Let’s start with an ice-breaker’ land as awkwardly as any dad joke. Most people will roll their eyes. Some will panic and look for the exit. So why do we insist? Probably because ‘icebreaker’ is there in black…

R-e-s-p-e-c-t Aretha Franklin nailed it. ‘R-e-s-p-e-c-t / Find out what it means to me.’ It is the perfect theme song for the fallout from the AUKUS deal on nuclear-powered submarines recently announced by Joe, Boris and Scott. The announcement came as a surprise to Australians and to our neighbours in…

Donald Trump’s recent conversations with G7 and NATO partners prompts a few reminders about partnership basics. It’s a given that organisations need to invest time, effort and money into onboarding new staff to set them up for success. Make them feel welcome, help them get to know the culture and align expectations. Partnerships also need such induction processes. A new person can bring fresh insights. They…