"The innovation point is the pivotal moment when talented and motivated people seek the opportunity to act on their ideas and dreams."
Dads are hard to buy for! Anything they really want they have probably already bought for themselves, and the usual staples of cardigans, socks and Black and Decker guffins hardly set the world on fire. So I think its time to mix father’s day up. Let’s not focus on Dad as he is today, instead lets mine his past for things he used to love but has probably forgotten about. Below are 8 father’s day time capsule innovations that may just put a smile on the old man’s mug.
Dad’s are great, but hell! do they suck at communication - especially with the fruit of their loins. Often the nearest they come is when they ask you if you want to speak to your mother as soon as they’ve picked up your call, or when they ask archly why you want the car. And yet, they must have so much they could pass on to their unripe and in-desperate-need-of-a-shower progeny.
Here then are some nuggets of Dad Gold; 12 things all fathers should explain to their sons before they unleash them all sweaty and eager onto the world (I’ll leave it to you girls to comment on what you want to hear from Dad). Read the rest of this entry »
Answer: Have a lot of ideas.
end of post.
Only kidding. It is true though that most of the people who have had great ideas have had hundreds if not thousands of terrible ones. As Thomas J. Watson of IBM once said: “Would you like me to give you a formula for success? It’s quite simple, really. Double your rate of failure.”
The common approach to getting good ideas is to brainstorm. To get together with others and throw ideas out there while holding back on the inner critic. It’s often advertised as an almost magical, zen like leap into creativity, where all our problems can be solved. Trouble is it doesn’t work. It doesn’t work because people can’t keep there mouth shut. Read the rest of this entry »
Ever thought you’d like to be doing something different? Ever dreamed about that high paid job with all the prestige, with the nice car and the big house? Ever contemplated going on a river boat ride down the Zambezi, or a hike through the Andean mountains? Ever wondered what it would feel like to swim with dolphins off the Florida Keys? Ever [insert personal dream here]? Are you doing anything about it? No? Then I suggest that what you’re doing instead is what you really want to do.
There’s a phrase that goes: you are what you do every day. What I am suggesting here is what you want to do is what you do every day. Sounds crazy I know but hear me out. Let’s be honest, for the most part we have all chosen to be where we are in our work and lives. Nobody held a gun to our heads, and even if they had, we could still have chosen the bullet! But no, we are where we are because of the choices we have made. If we are unhappy with our position in life no one is to blame but ourselves. What we do every day we have in a very real sense chosen to do. Even if that choice was the lesser of two evils, we have still freely chosen it. Luckily though, we are free to choose again.
You stack shelves for living or you clean the sewers or you’re doing a PhD or you work for a large corporation. You chose that, but you are free to choose something else at any time. If you do decide to change your situation then all you need is time and planning to make it happen. If you don’t do the planning, then ultimately you don’t really want it. And this brings us to the crucial point: what most of us don’t accept is that planning is part of the experience of what we want. Read the rest of this entry »
It’s my last night of my week long stay in the US. I’ve spent most of it in Detroit visiting friends and the last 2 days I’ve been in a hotel in Chicago where I met up with an old University buddy. I stay in hotels just infrequently enough to still enjoy the experience. I like the mini bars and the maid service 
One thing new at the hotel I’m staying at tonight: Pillow menus! These are basically a selection of pillows that you can choose for free. One has built in speakers and plays soothing music, one is impregnated with aromatherapy oils, one is made of silk and so on. Read the rest of this entry »
My PhD was one of the hardest but most rewarding things I have ever undertaken. There were many moments where I thought I’d never finish. It took a tremendous amount of support from those around me and some long hard looks at how I approached the way I worked. Looking back, there were definitely things I could have done to make my life easier. The following list is inspired by the things I did wrong, as well as a few I did right. For all those of you still going through the process, hang in there! You can finish and you can definitely do it in much better style than I did. If you manage to do just half of what’s on the list below you’re already well ahead of the game.
The secret to getting up early? There is no secret really, its simply ensuring that you get enough quality sleep. However that in itself can be challenging. Many of us are too overworked, stressed, wired up, worried or distracted to develop healthy sleeping practices. So in celebration of the wonders of a good night’s sleep, here a few suggestions to help get you up the stairway to heaven to bedfordshire, and ensure you wake up the other side feeling refreshed and energized with a mind that’s kick ass clear! Read the rest of this entry »
