I have had a passion for organisational development (OD) for many years and have a wide range of influences on my work, from management studies to fiction, and psychology to digital art. It will probably be no surprise that much of the OD field has been driven by US and Euro-centric theories and practices and…
A culture of possibility A culture of possibility and the spaciousness of uncertainty from one of our favourites. Where there is hope, there is creativity A piece from 2013 about the links between hope, creativity and innovation which usefully talks about the different kinds of hope. The business case for hope Paula Davis-Laack explores the…
“I don’t talk about change management anymore.” With an eyebrow raised, a colleague responds, “oh, why?” “Because I don’t think we can manage change anymore.” This is a conversation I have had a many times over the last few years and while it may seem like a semantic debate, I genuinely believe we need to…
I have seen lots of interesting blogs in the last two weeks; top five things to contemplate for the coming year, ways to develop and improve, self-care and so on. The umbrella that unites many of these things for me is ‘change.’ It made me consider how we think about organisational change and I wanted…
L&D Connect – what would you do…? Great question from L&D Connect this week – ‘if you could slow down, totally, and utterly, what would you do with the extra time and space available to you?’ Donate your tech If you’ve been fortunate to upgrade your tech recently maybe you could donate your older stuff…
I’ve been in the creative and cultural sector long enough to remember a time before business plans (yes, there really was one!), we mainly worked on the basis of funding agreements. Over time the focus shifted, and we have spent some years perfecting the art of the business plan. Last year showed us that much…
For last year’s words belong to last year’s language and next year’s words await another voice…And to make an end, is to make a beginning. (T S Eliot. Four Quartets) As the New Year begins in earnest, it is clear that much is still going to be demanded of all of us. While we had…
Blob Opera This wonderful experiment from Google Arts and Culture lets you conduct your own four voice choir of multi coloured blob people. It also comes with Christmas carols for extra joy. Whilst you are there do try out some of the other experiments – guaranteed to put a smile on your face. The creative potential…
This has been a rollercoaster of a year, we’ve encountered more novel and challenging circumstances in a shorter time period than I can recall in other part of my lifetime. New words have entered the lexicon and just as we felt we were getting to grips with things the situation changed again. Trying to reflect…
Life isn’t about waiting for the storm to pass, it’s about learning how to dance in the rain. Anon, more recently attributed to Vivien Greene (1904 – 2003) The metaphorical rain has been rather heavy this year. The plans we all started this year with had been torn up by the end of March. We…
Revised Charity Governance Code is out A new edition of the Code was issued this week. The sections on integrity and equality, diversity and inclusion have been revised and strengthened. The Code is a great tool for enabling constructive conversations about board development. The power of (creation) myths The stories we tell ourselves about how…
Values aren’t buses… They’re not supposed to get you anywhere. They’re supposed to define who you are. Jennifer Crusie I think this has been a year where values have come to the fore, when the spotlight has shone on the things that really mean something to us. Voices have been raised about community, equality, fairness…
Ideas for using data well to improve diversity It is not enough to collect the data; we have to use it well and there are some good tips here from two behavioural scientists. The article is based on a white paper from the Harvard Kennedy School that includes case studies from the UK. How to…