Changing the World - click by click!

I’m not sure exactly why I like this article by Peter Bregman so much…I’ve been trying to give it some context in my mind but I’m struggling a bit…and I’m not sure exactly how it applies to leadership either. Well I have some vague, not fully-formed thoughts about how it might but I’m finding it a little bit hard to articulate. So I’m just going to blurt some stuff out and leave you to connect whatever dots you choose do.

I think the idea of deliberately pursuing boredom to stimulate creativity is so simple and yet so inherently sensible. I like the way Bregman finds the positives in something we are all taught to avoid. As he says… (more…)

I think this is a really good example of the kind of thinking and leadership we need more of….and I’m not talking about my personal blog, I’m talking about the Robin Hood tax! Like it or loathe it, it is at least an attempt to look outside normal ways of thinking to find a solution to a problem. Inventing doesn’t need to be ground-breaking…it can be a new way of applying old ideas.

Check it out…..and have a read of my personal blog while you are there!

I do so love my weak puns!

I saw a guy from LEAP (Law Enforcement Against Prohibition) on TV the other day and was fascinated not only by what he had to say but by why. What LEAP are all about is the legalisation of drugs…but not, as he pointed out, because they are ‘bleeding heart liberals’. In fact he was at great pains to make it clear that he was right of Genghis Khan! But it seems that there is a growing concern among law enforcement that the current strategy on drugs is not only not working but is actually counterproductive, both in terms of its effectiveness in dealing with the issue and it’s impact on the effectiveness and perceptions of law enforcement.

The drug problem is, in my mind, without a doubt an adaptive challenge…. (more…)

Spider goat, spider goat, does whatever a spider….hmmm my kingdom for an appropriate rhyme for goat!

Moving right along…first we had Spiderman, then we had Spider-pig (thank you, Homer Simpson!) and now we have Spidergoat. Seriously….scientists have succeeded in breeding goats with the web-spinning gene from spider. These goats produce milk that has the protein from spiders web in it. They can then take the milk, add salt and synthesise the protein out to make a ‘web-like’ substance called bio-steel. Check it out here….

What is spooky about this is that here is an excerpt from Natural Capitalism (Pge 15), where the authors talk about our need to look to other systems to find ways to boost resource productivity, one of which is nature…

“Science writer Janine Beynus points out that spiders make silk, strong as Kevlar but much tougher, from digested crickets and flies, without needing boiling sulfuric acid and high temperature extruders.”

To quote Hannibal from The A Team….I love it when a plan comes together! I have to say, I get a real boost when I see that there are signs we are moving in the right direction.

A little side-note here…me and my ex-business partner, Steve Clarkson, once wrote a ‘company’ song for our consulting company using the theme tune from Spiderman…I’ll sing it for you one day.

I have to thank a mate, Jack McKenzie, for the content of this entry. Check out this video…not only is the speaker very entertaining but, for me, what he says is pure gold. It’s equally applicable in organisations, where creativity is always useful I think, but especially so when you are dealing with adaptive challenges and change…the answer is very rarely obvious, so creativity in your organisation is a big bonus!

Not sure I can add anything else to the video so I’m going to shut up. Oh yes I can….the Sloan Distributed Leadership Model talks about Inventing as one of the four key capabilities needed for leadership in an organisation….creativity –> inventing…but more on that another time!