Experimentation v Planning v Emergent Strategy Experimenting isn’t something I usually enjoy, but sometimes you just have to go against everything that you’ve learned and experience something new! I’m an organiser. I enjoy planning and I enjoy taking steps one by…
Things are never too hard For a few seconds, it all seemed too hard. I had five articles to write last week, none of which I’d started, and it was clear that I should fly down to Melbourne and spend…
The other day I converted my downstairs fishtank into a light. All the fish had died long ago, and it was just sitting there, doing nothing. I enjoyed making the felt and I enjoyed the feeling of achievement when it…
Taking the stress out of writing. Rie’s Stress-free Writing System Do you find writing stressful? “I want to write a blog but when I sit down to do it, I can’t start.” “Whenever I write something, I find myself going…
From time to time in our lives, we feel like things aren’t working, that the time we’re spending doing things isn’t worth the results. It’s time to declutter! Clutter, both physical and mental (and virtual), has been linked to depression,…
We have recently returned from Guatemala, where we visited the orphanage in which Alex, my son, has been volunteering. It was an experience full of contrasts and revelation. Contrasted against the beauty of Lake Atitlan, I saw the orphanage for…
This week I had to write the final newsletter to the people who have been part of my census team for the past few months. Their contract will be finishing soon, and mine will be over at the end of…
This blog post is a little later than usual, because my Census contract has kept me particularly busy. Those of you in Australia will know a little of why that might be. Census night was a PR disaster. People ask if…
This week I have been skimming through hundreds of résumés submitted by prospective field officers for the census. It occurred to me that I was just scanning them to pick up key words. I was looking for education key words,…
Have you ever had to apologise to someone at work, or to one of your clients? When you’ve made a mistake it’s often necessary to apologise before a good working relationship is destroyed. In business, it’s far more difficult to…
