Great Circle

Many years ago - when I was still a church minister - I had a picture of a donkey on the back of my office door. Underneath it, I had written, “So. Are you leading, riding or carrying the donkey today?” It was a personal reference to Aesop’s fable about the old man, the boy and donkey. Follow [...]

Twenty-year marketing veteran and business-owner Roland Reinhart has a creative and seriously good message for those of us who manage people or manage projects, and he explores the world of work and marketing and business on his website Hate Something, Change Something. I am really enjoying his latest podcast series: Run Your Business like Gordon Ramsey. [...]

In January 2004, I injured my back. More accurately, one final injury connected the results of all the previous injuries along with a high degree of emotional stress, and the back decided to lock up for the next two years. Two years of acute and chronic pain with severe restrictions to what I could do. [...]

If you’re on the verge of an important decision or faced with a great problem or a great opportunity, read on! Ever played Chess? In the greatest strategy game ever created, you don’t just roll the dice on your turn and move to the space indicated. You face multiple variations, possibilities, choices. You’re required to [...]

It can be thoroughly frustrating to work amidst unhealthy and unethical practises. Defining yourself may be a goal that takes a lot of hard work, but you will retain your integrity AND you just might become the influence that prevents others from blindly following an organisation’s unhealthy practises and values.   From the time we commence kindergarten, we are conditioned to find the [...]

Robert Hruzek – the master of the quirky story pictured here – has invited many of us to make a contribution to his latest Group Writing Project at Middlezone Musings.  The theme? What Have You Learned from the World of Work? Here’s my piece… ****************  My first job upon leaving High School was in a dangerous, smelly [...]

In 1997, one of my bosses asked me the following question: “What do you want to be doing in 5 years’ time?” I was stumped. The only thing I knew for sure was I didn’t want to be working for him doing what I was doing at that time. But as for where I was [...]

People used to say about one of my old workmates:”Bill’s got 110% enthusiasm. But it’s that extra 10% that gets him in trouble”. I’ve come to disagree. Bill’s problem was not too much enthusiasm; that was his strength (or one of them). His problem was the weakness(es) that undermined the good his optimism and energy accomplished. His good work was undone [...]