Monthly Archives: February 2016

To Seek, To Strive

In the Social Age, where borders are devolved, where technology connects, where community persists, we have to look beyond hierarchies to solve the challenges we face. We have to seek, to strive: For fairness, for equality, to make every voice … Continue reading

Posted in Equality | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , | 1 Comment

System vs Person

“Hello mate, i’m Brett, i’ll be your server”. Brett was a couple of years younger than me, from New Zealand, and definitely hot out of training as the proudest waiter at the Italian restaurant. “i’ll have spaghetti and tomato sauce”, … Continue reading

Posted in Adaptability | Tagged , , , , , , | 2 Comments

Canada: The Relativity of Success

I clearly looked trustworthy enough that the slightly fraught ski instructor asked me to mind one of her proteges on the lift up the mountain, which is how i found myself in deep conversation with a very sparky four year … Continue reading

Posted in Achievement, Adventure, Bike | Tagged , , , , , , | 5 Comments

Skiing: Learning Into Action

I clearly remember when i first skied: i looked down what can only have been the most gentle of slopes, carefully thought through my training, and launched myself off, determined to snowplough with great grace in sweeping aaaaarrrrrrgggghhhh… So my … Continue reading

Posted in Adventure | Tagged , , , , , , , , , | 1 Comment

10 Things a Social Leader Does

Social Leadership is contextual and consensual: it’s a type of authority granted by the community, founded upon our reputation and social capital. Social Leadership complements formal leadership, but works in places where formal leadership cannot reach: our communities. And that’s … Continue reading

Posted in Leadership | Tagged , , , , , , , | 8 Comments

The Smell of Knowledge

I found myself in the library. Some twenty years after i was here last. Things have changed. I grew up with this library: adventure books with tigers and sharks, books about boats and adventure, maps and atlases, novels and dictionaries. … Continue reading

Posted in Book | Tagged , , , , , , , , , | 10 Comments

Words About Learning: Dreams

Spent part of today writing in a comic book store: a shop that sells board games and graphic novels. The chap running it had been made redundant, so he did the sensible thing and, instead of saving the cash, he … Continue reading

Posted in Words About Learning | Tagged , , , , , , , , | 1 Comment

An Imperfect Humanity: Pity and Grace

This is a #WorkingOutLoud post as i shape some new thinking around coherence in culture, social justice and the social contract: aspects of the Social Age. So don’t take these thoughts as fully formed, but rather as part of an … Continue reading

Posted in Culture | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , | 14 Comments

Led or Leader?

In the Social Age, the distinction is far from clear: as we move beyond the boundaries of formal authority and into the social ‘sense making’ spaces where we are most effective, roles are fluid, contextual, adaptive and impermanent. Indeed, the … Continue reading

Posted in Leadership | Tagged , , , , | 3 Comments

Brighton Rock: Reckless and Homeless

You can’t walk far in Brighton without finding graffiti: the sanctioned and sponsored art form type, decorating electrical boxes and shopfronts, the porto-art inhabiting alleyways and laid on hoardings, and the raw, visceral cries sprayed on garage doors, derelict rooftops … Continue reading

Posted in Exploration, Graffiti, Writing | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , | 14 Comments