Learnings from ALIA Europe
Posted by jamesk | Filed under Aikido, Stuff
So, time to put a voice to what I learnt during that week, which I’ve shied away from thus far.
Tags: alia
Experiencing Authentic Leadership at ALIA Europe 2010
Posted by jamesk | Filed under Aikido, Stuff
During my journey to the conference, I bumped into Michelle – who I’d met at Paul Linden’s workshop last June – at Schipol airport, and was delighted to find that she was going to ALIA too. We nattered and caught up all the way to the conference centre, hidden away in snowy woods, populated by wild boar.
The Sunday evening saw us all come slowly together in the main hall, where the walls were covered with our intentions, sent in soon after registration; conversations started; groups formed and melted; ideas already started to provoke.
Tags: alia
The Journey to ALIA Europe
Posted by jamesk | Filed under Aikido, Stuff
In November 2008, just as my second daughter was born, the advertising industry was being threatened, if not with meltdown, at least with belt-tightening. I found myself with both opportunity and excuse to lessen my workload for the first time in over 10 years.
Tags: alia
“Tomorrow, I’m going to Scotland to fight the bad people there.”
Posted by jamesk | Filed under Stuff, Tilly
“Tomorrow, I’m going to Scotland to fight the bad people there.”
Thus, my 5-year old defined her (hopefully – first) foray into the fascinating and tough arena of international diplomacy.
Tags: nvc, restorativejustice
Who killed the honey bee?
Posted by jamesk | Filed under Stuff
Bees are dying in their millions. It’s an ecological crisis that threatens to bring global agriculture to a standstill. Introduced by Martha Kearney, this documentary explores the reasons behind the decline of bee colonies across the globe, investigating what might be at the root of this devastation.
Sleep conflict cloud
Posted by jamesk | Filed under Stuff
So, here’s the rub: our 8-week old daughter only goes to sleep on top of us. It’s nice in a “I feel wanted” kinda way, but that wears pretty thin between the hours of 1am and 6am.
But, you say, that’s ludicrous behaviour, why don’t you just put her back in her cot? Yep, my thoughts exactly, but apparently it’s not that simple. Never one to avoid a challenge, I’m gonna conflict-cloud this one out.
Shona
Posted by jamesk | Filed under Shona, Stuff
Day Two for Shona - best way to handle this new life thing!
Welcoming Shona Xuan
Posted by jamesk | Filed under Stuff
I’ve no photo yet, but I’m blogging nonetheless: our second daughter was born on Wednesday, and named by our first today: Shona (Scottish) reflects my side of the family, Xuan (Vietnamese) reflects her mother’s.
She’s beautiful, and loud. And I’m very, very proud.
Wacky agile zealots are at it again
Posted by jamesk | Filed under Stuff
This post reminded me of a long drive around Eastern Scotland at the start of this weekend.
I had a printout of the route from Aberdeen to Boat-Of-Garten from the AA website. Matt had his TomTom. Rather than shuffling papers, I agreed to use the gadget, so Matt tapped in Boat Of Garten, and off we went.
Despite knowing that Aberdeen airport is northwest of the city, and that we would be driving further northwest still, I didn’t complain when the TomTom took us around Aberdeen and southward down the coast – after all, there was bound to be a good reason, wasn’t there.
We were also extremely hungry and looking for food as much as roadsigns. (Incidentally, we found the first ever chippy that’s asked me which of a selection of batters I’d like – how good is that?).
The mileage remaining got less and less, and we were still driving along a large clear road in a fairly low-lying area, but my suspicions were rising. When we found ourselves on the Dundee bypass, I knew something was up. The TomTom was taking us to a non-existent destination, which had added two hours to our journey.
Finally, we got onto the main road north, and hammered along in the gloaming. Fantastically for a southerner, the sky remained light until 11pm, so the driving wasn’t that painful. But, even so, we had a deadline: the B&B owner wanted us there by 10pm, so we made a series of grovelling phone calls as we got closer and closer.
It stuck in my memory as just another random irritating drive until reading Those wacky agile zealots are at it again, when the greater implications became clear.
Even when the route, timings, are as clear and as well-defined as they can possibly be, we still need to keep our eyes on the road, not just for rabbits and corners, but also to check that the route is correct (or, in this case, the destination).
Catching up
Posted by jamesk | Filed under Stuff
I’ve had a wonderful evening, catching up with old colleagues, who really are friends. It was excellent.
It seems that you’ve all found my blog, and I got several positive responses to it. Thank you so much for that. In case you hadn’t noticed, it’s been lagging new content recently. Your comments will do much to change that.
All the best to Dave, Pete, Pete, James, Jack, Andy, Raf, and Scott,
James
P.S. Talking to Pete S., a new subject appeared: two companies working for a single client, and the politics that so often get in the way. I’ll think on’t.
P.S.S. Anyone heard from Tim W.?
