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Steven Covey, in his “Seven Habits of Highly Successful People”, talks about the importance of ‘sharpening the saw’, as a metaphor for continuously improving your skill set and capabilities.  I was reminded of this today when I had to replace the foil and cutters in my razor.  It is something I do regularly and this […][...] read more » Sharpening your razor

I listened to a BBC program about so called “Thankful Villages”; 52 villages that amazingly saw all their men / boys return from WW1, and 14 of which even managed the same in WW2.  It is fabulous to learn that some places were untouched by the slaughter.  What interested me is that it took some […][...] read more » Seeing what’s not there…

I was out walking last weekend and I came across these three trees which had all somehow found a way to go on thriving despite all Nature had thrown at them.  The first was twisted and broken by a storm and resumed its vertical growth, the second had been left with a fraction of its […][...] read more » What doesn’t kill you makes you strong

I was amazed when I read the recent news that McDonalds has announced it won’t be serving Heinz ketchup any more at its 34,000 restaurants, as they don’t like the fact that Heinz have appointed Bernardo Hees, the former head of rival Burger King, as Heinz’s chief executive. Heinz was recently acquired by Warren Buffet’s […][...] read more » It IS personal…

Yesterday was the day after Apple’s big iPad launch event and they released v7.03 of their iOS operating system, so I clicked to upgrade.  Apple has a global reputation for excellence and ease-of-use, so it was bound to be simple wasn’t it?  NO!  It turned out they had changed their T&C’s for iCloud and you […][...] read more » A tale of 3 IT Giants…and a corporate ineptitude

I’m interested in all aspects of communication but this story really takes some beating.  Leslie Grange, a signer for deaf viewers on the BBC news, appears to have decided that merely reporting the news was a little dull, so to brighten the days of her deaf viewers she started spicing up the stories.  Here are […][...] read more » Not quite the 9 o’clock News

Last night I was unfortunate enough to get stuck on the A3 when the road was closed. at the height of rush hour.  For those of you unfamiliar with the road it is a major road with 3 lanes in both directions, and last night it was completely shut.  It was one of those occasions […][...] read more » Going nowhere

Bramble Bank Cricket Yesterday evening I was witness to what I suspect must be a uniquely English piece of lunacy.  Two or three times a year a sand bank known as Bramble Bank appears above the waters of the Solent.  Some time in the 50’s, one sailing club challenged one of its rivals to a […][...] read more » Some times it is good to be a little strange..

I am, or at least I once was, an accountant, and I always had a slightly jaundiced view of the figures we produced which ‘proved’ a case.  I always felt that you could make figures argue almost any way you chose.  As the following story illustrates, I am not alone in this feeling:- There once […][...] read more » Lies, Damn Lies and Statistics

“Nothing is as pointless as improving what should not be done at all!” Peter Drucker In other words asking “Why are we doing this?”, should be asked before “How can we do it faster or better?”[...] read more » Thought for today…