Dear friends Let’s get to it… /strategyI love interviews. The dialogue between a skilled questioner and an intriguing guest is a wonderful format for revealing insight. My favourites are The Paris Review’s Art of Fiction which are often months and multiple conversations…
“The beauty around us … is an end in itself.” – Rick Rubin Two weeks ago I wrote about the power of a librarian’s mindset; that by being both curious and curatorial we give ourselves the possibility of seeing…
Ed Catmull co-founded Pixar, the business that changed how we experience movies. His book Creativity, Inc.: Overcoming the Unseen Forces That Stand in the Way of True Inspiration, is one of the best that I have read about leading and building…
The Spark and Fire podcast profiles some of the world’s great creatives. Host, June Cohen, is also a creative pioneer. She is the CEO and co-founder of the award-winning media company, Wait What. I look forward to the day that someone interviews…
Good morning You’ll remember that earlier this year I dived into the basics of running effective organisations. I did so because we are all confronting profound uncertainty. And, in uncertainty, the most powerful strategy is to build resilience, to ensure that…
Good morning everyone It is good to be back. I have missed writing to you. I hope that you had a good break. If this is the first time you’re reading Strategy, Soul and Self – welcome! Here are the…
Good morning friend Mindfulness practitioners guide us to smell the smells, see the shapes and feel the textures of the world. Writers tell us that writing helps them see the world differently. They’re constantly hearing fragments of dialogue that they…
Good morning everyone I am in a celebratory mood today. If you aren’t, I hope that you will be by the time you’ve finished reading. Rémy Ngamije, the Rwandan-born Nambian author, whose debut novel I told you about in Behaviour Design,…
Last week Sihle Nontshokweni celebrated the fact that her children’s book, Wanda, which she had co-authored with Mathabo Tlali had received its first international review. They wrote the book to “encourage young children to love themselves for what they are born with, despite what society may…
Last week’s email reflected on how psychologically unsafe environments destroy value by silencing people or, more insidiously, by creating conditions in which people do not feel safe to speak and so silence themselves. In the silence, value is hidden. Amy Edmondson, Professor…
At the end of last year my sunglasses were removed from my, often-forgotten-to-be-locked, car. The desire to avoid adding a summer squint to my Zoom stare led me to The Oculus. They have been pioneering a South African designed and manufactured…
Wow, it’s the last Sunday of September. What a year! This painting by Alexandra Karakashian has captured the year for me. Today’s subject was inspired by an elder of mine who would ask me, “What have you done recently with your position…