I moved to Cayman and immediately felt at home on a small island and found a blend of over one hundred nationalities.
Wisdom
Make it crazy to choose anything else
What would we need to do to make it crazy to choose any alternative to going by train?
The craic will be mighty!
The craic will be mighty!
Be Curious and Learn Widely
Learning widely aids the ability to both imagine and to connect the dots. To be imaginative takes a variety of thinking and voracious curiosity in…
AI as Authentic Intelligence
It is “AI”, but no, it is not Artificial Intelligence. Instead, it has been designed and evolved using what we’ve called “Authentic Intelligence”.
Kind Leadership
Sharing a few thoughts around the theme of Kind Leadership.
My Context today is to Listen
Today I am attending a Vision Day for a leading charity and will not be in the country. For this specific event, my context today is…
Why do we retire?
Let us look at why we retire, why sometimes we can’t and then the question “why retire?”, for those who have the choice to continue…
Wise books
Inspired by my friend Chip Conley, here are eight books I feel provide me with wisdom in and through life’s journey.
A Good Day
Let the gratefulness overflow into blessing all around you, and then it will really be a good day.
To listen more, to share knowledge less?
This week I am attending an event online and was asked to note my speciality, to which I simply wrote: "Listening" Having come back from a short break and paused my daily posting for only the second time in a streak that has continued for well over 1400 posts, I'm...
Do not feel absolutely certain of anything
Bertrand Russell, philosopher and polymath, gave us ten commandments supplemental to those from the Bible: Do not feel absolutely certain of anything.Do not think it worthwhile to proceed by concealing evidence, for the evidence is sure to come to light.Never try to...
Do you question what you have been taught?
…people are educated just enough to believe what they have been taught, and not educated enough to question anything they have been taught.
Writing is a Behaviour
Writing is a behaviour. It is something I do, otherwise the crush of thoughts in my head would have nowhere else to go. If writing…
Seeking Wa 和
Wa is both the oldest name for Japan and brings a sense of “Japaneseness” in language and other ways to the country and people.
Those who know it do not speak about it
Verse 56 of the Tao te Ching translates to: Those who know it do not speak about it. Those who speak about it do not know it. Anna Kiesenhofer winning the 2021 Olympic Road Race My Twitter profile reads: Sounding Board, Dad, FINA Referee (not in that order). Measure...
Wisdom Insurance – the NBA’s Modern Elder
From an earlier post: 6 Components of Wisdom Love this from Chip Conley (past guest on WhatComeNextLive here) on his Wisdom Well blog ..let me introduce you to the Miami Heat who recently got knocked out of the NBA playoffs. At 40 years old, Udonis Haslem makes $2.5...
The only mistakes are not trying and not learning
My first job interview after qualifying as an accountant, almost thirty years ago, was with Kel Thompson, at that time Managing Director of Cayman Airways. Among many lessons that stay with me from that first interaction was him telling me he expected me to make...
There’s No Algorithm For Wisdom
Wisdom Pyramid by Chip Conley There’s No Algorithm For Wisdom. “Who needs wisdom when we have such exquisite algorithms?” A young data scientist asked me this question when I was at Airbnb. I could tell he was half-serious, so I pulled out a pen and paper and...
6 Components of Wisdom
Last year I mused widely in the post: "What is your definition of Wisdom?" Today, more focussed thoughts on the 6 Components of Wisdom, each both thought-provoking and actionable for you in your leadership of self and others. Thank you to my wise friend Bruce Lloyd,...
When you feel you always knew
What is Wisdom? In this moment I am focussed on the feeling of receiving wisdom: Something concise that, when you hear it, you feel you always knew it. This week I was talking to my friend and collaborator, the brilliant Alan Wick (at AlanWick.com), who is indeed sage...
Better Human, Better Leader
Be a better human by being open, vulnerable and supportive of your people, which will make you a better leader. Teachings from Jerry Colonna. Yesterday evening I had the great pleasure of being at an intimate gathering at the H Club to hear from Jerry Colonna, hosted...
The power of not knowing
One of my favourite places in London is Hungerford Bridge, the footbridge I regularly take over the Thames from Waterloo and the South Bank. This summer, the "Hungerford Bridge Gallery of Outsider Art" suddenly appeared one day. No explanation, no website, simply art...
Mentoring Stones
Rock balancing, February 2019, Baja Earlier this year I had the amazing experience of rock balancing in Baja at the Modern Elder Academy. My experience, was, odd as it may sound, the rocks taught me something, the value of having ever deeper Presence. Chip Conley puts...
What is your definition of wisdom?
My "long read" for you yesterday was on: "Transferring Enthusiasm", inspired by insight from a long conversation with a wise friend. Another wise friend is Chip Conley, author of "Wisdom and Work" and, like my friend who inspired yesterday's post, is both wise and...
Transferring Enthusiasm
Propagating viral ideas all starts with transferring enthusiasm. This week I embraced my good fortune in spending a thoughtful two hours in the company of a wise elder, someone I exchange emails with and occasionally meet up with. Much of our conversation centred...
Kilkenomics: Knowledge Speaks, Wisdom Listens
"Models are useful hypotheses guiding rough maps of the terrain"Paul Krugman Paul Krugman won the Nobel Prize for Economics in 2008 for models and thinking on a particular field. He has also had a unique platform for an Economics professor in writing a twice-weekly...
Knowledge Speaks. Wisdom Listens.
One of the things that I admire the most about the inspiring Chip Conley is his ability to distil what he learns down to elegant simplicity. One such phrase is "Knowledge Speaks. Wisdom Listens". Recently Chip has started daily mini-blogging on what he calls "Wisdom...
No one ever made a decision based on a number
No one ever made a decision based on a number. They need a story. An unexpected "bucket list" moment Last week I was sat in the centre of the front row at the Royal Festival Hall as Hannah Gadsby came back on after her incredible show Douglas to receive the...
Curating 13 learnings from 13 years of Brainpickings
At certain stages of life, many of us focus more on Editing rather than Accumulating. For me, part of that is to cut back on the newsletters and news outlets I read and pay for. One that will always stay in my core list is Brainpickings from Maria Popova, a weekly...
Beware of simple ideas
Regular readers will know I love to distil to simplicity, with ideas such as Ockham's Razor, the Da Vinci quote "simplicity is the ultimate sophistication", as well as the idea that "if I'd had more time I would have written something shorter". What I don't tend to...
Flip your thinking – how long will you live?
Today sharing a story I first heard from Chip Conley sitting on the terrace at the Modern Elder Academy in Baja, days after meeting his amazing Dad. How long will you live? What type of life will you live? Society has deeply embedded structures and beliefs in so many...
Take the time to write less
On average my daily posts take under five minutes to read, yet an average of over an hour to write. I've taken as long as three days at an offsite with a client leadership team to land on a strategy that is simply one word. When I work on Business Strategy Coaching...
Don’t get better, be braver
Focus on the four characteristics of #OpenLeadership: Be Braver, Humbler, Hungrier and more open. The limits of techniqueIt’s possible that you no longer need to get better at your craft. That your craft is just fine.It’s possible that you need to be braver...
To see ourselves as others see us
O wad some Power the giftie gie usTo see oursels as ithers see us!It wad frae mony a blunder free us,An' foolish notion Translation from Scots: Oh, would some Power give us the giftTo see ourselves as others see us!It would from many a blunder free us,And foolish...
Edit, don’t Accumulate
In life and in leadership, you can edit, hone and distill your message constantly. "The first half of your life is focused more on accumulating: success, responsibilities, family, friends, hobbies, identities. A mid-life crisis is often about feeling weighed-down by...