The joy of writing Christmas cards - yes really

I have finished writing my Christmas cards to friends and family to post, and I have really enjoyed it. I usually find this very stressful, almost like another chore to get through, then cross off the long list of things to do in the frantic lead up to Christmas.

Yet I love receiving cards and haven’t previously really considered if those who choose to send my family and I a card have also struggled to find the time – we all lead such hectic lives. How thoughtless of me. Time is equally important to all of us and we are all responsible for how we choose to spend it. Writing cards with bad grace and irritation is so futile. In fact why bother at all? A false sense of duty and loyalty? Tradition? Everyone expects you to do it? You want one back?

An alternative of course, that many people I know choose, is to donate to charity instead. Of course I can’t criticise their intentions and their meaning. It is a very personal thing and who am I to judge how much the chosen charity means to them? It does seem a bit less personal though – how do those who would have received a card, had their friend chosen the traditional route, know that they were in the donator’s thoughts when the donation was made? Maybe they weren’t…

This year, I sat down properly to write my cards - mainly charity – and by the way, without sounding like too much of a goody two shoes, I regularly give to various charities and do charity events.

I got out my battered old address book and spent some time updating addresses. It’s amazing how quickly texts and FB messages asking for postal addresses I had mislaid or forgot were replied to. An indication of happiness that this must mean a card is coming their way? Then I started to write the cards, choosing each carefully and adding a personal message.

With each page in my address book came many wonderful memories of all of the great people I know, and have known well enough in the past to want to maintain contact and genuinely send them good wishes and love. I have also recently ‘celebrated’ my 50^th birthday and this has led to a lot of reflection. How have I spent my life so far? How do I feel about the choices I have made? Who has influenced me? Who has it been an absolute honour to know or be related to? Have I got the balance right between work, family and friends? Who do I want to continue to spend time with in the next half century?

Many of those questions are still swirling around my head, but one thing I am certain of is the importance of making the effort to see more of the people who matter to me. I was surprised when writing some of the cards at how long it was since I last saw that person, yet I enjoy their company so much and appreciate their friendship.

Busy family lives… Busy work schedules... Working hard yet not smart... Tiredness... Living in different parts of the country... Conflicting priorities… The list goes on… So I think I am only going to make one resolution for 2015, with any luck that means I can stick to it, and that is to make much more time for my friends and loved ones.

By the way, re ‘round robin’ letters… let’s not even go there…

And finally, yesterday I received a lovely hand made card from a great friend and colleague who I know to be very busy. That thoughtfulness and fun made me very happy.

A degree of relevance?

My daughter is doing her Psychology degree dissertation on the difference made to the ability to think critically gained by getting a degree. (In other words, does the study and discipline involved make much of a difference to this and to other cognitive skills that are valued by employers and useful in working life?) I’m not living my life vicariously through her, but I am very interested in what she is learning in her studies and I love talking to her about this.

As I am approaching, in a week’s time, what could be described as a ‘milestone birthday’ I have been feeling very reflective lately. When I did my degree in the mid 1980s, fewer young people went to University, and there was a widely held belief that for many professional roles, the subject studied mattered less than the skills gained in thinking, in the application of learning and in learning how to live independently. In those days, fewer degrees in vocational subjects were on offer too. I have a combined degree in French (major) and Art (minor). I’ve spent a great deal of my working life thinking that I wasn’t really using what I learned through studying those subjects as such, but I was using (I hope) the ability to think critically, to analyse, to evaluate, to write papers with a beginning, a middle and an end etc.

Several years later, I completed an MSc in Human Resource Development. That is the degree that I always credit with giving me the knowledge base that I use in my professional work and have developed since. I’m pretty sure that I have also benefitted from the rigour of the research methods I had to learn too (a phenomenological approach to epistemology, anyone?)

Back to French and Art, and bear in mind I live in a household where husband, daughter and son do A level standard maths for fun, and openly scoff at my Arts degree. Has this served me well, aside from the general skills for work and living gained?

French? I came to realise quite soon, and certainly when I needed to focus a lot on communication within work and when using social media, just how much the study of a foreign language has helped me to understand and better use my own language. Although far from perfect of course, I have always tried to think about who I am writing for, the kind of language I am using, its accessibility, how it is going to make the reader feel, being non-judgemental etc. I appreciate the importance of paying close attention to syntax.

Art? Well this is more difficult and mostly I have thought of its value in terms of how I experience my life overall, how lucky I am to see patterns and beauty all around me, to appreciate great music, great novels and poetry etc. I am seen by some colleagues as a creative person as well, which I don’t necessarily think I am, but maybe just because that is normal to me? However, a few weeks ago, Alain de Botton, the philosopher shared an article about William Morris on Twitter,  The Great Philosophers: William Morris has made me think so much and make some links that seem quite obvious now, but have eluded me until recently. I wrote my dissertation on William Morris and the Victorian Interior, mainly because I loved his designs (and still do) and was also attracted to his socialist views.

As I write, I have my copy of News From Nowhere to hand. My name and date of purchase is inside; 8 November 1986. It is pure coincidence that I bought this book exactly 28 years ago today. I cannot possibly do its contents justice here. I have just dipped into this tale of his vision of Utopia written in 1890 and set in 2003 (if only). How about this from Chapter 10, Questions and Answers; on education in the pre-Utopian world as?

“…a niggardly dole of not very accurate information; something to be swallowed by the beginner in the art of living whether he liked it or not, and was hungry for it or not: and which had been chewed and digested over and over by people who didn’t care about it in order to serve it out to other people who didn’t care about it.”

Powerful stuff. In true, facilitator speak – lots to unpack in here…

Education as a ‘niggardly’ meaning stingy or miserly ‘dole’ meaning one’s allotted share - provided uniformly and without any thought to someone learning how to live, because people who didn’t really want to, regurgitated it, unthinkingly. How I would love to say that we have moved on from this completely and utterly…

But I digress…

The article, The Great Philosophers: William Morris, reminds us that ‘Morris was the first person to understand two issues which have become decisive for our times. Firstly: the role of pleasure in work. And, secondly: the nature of consumer demand.’ The author goes on to say that ‘He spotted that craft offers important clues to what we actually want from work. We want to know we’ve done something good with the day. That our efforts have counted towards tangible outcomes that we actually see and feel are worthwhile.’

I read that a few weeks ago, almost 28 years after starting to read News From Nowhere and suddenly my great interest in and the passion I felt when I wrote my dissertation came flooding back, along with a ‘light bulb’ moment of its relevance to what I do professionally and what I believe in.

I quote more of this article below:

‘For Morris the key factor is, therefore, whether customers are willing to pay the just price. If they are, then work can be honourable. If they are not, then work is necessarily going to be – on the whole – degrading and miserable.’  

‘So, Morris concluded that the lynchpin of a good economy is the education of the consumer. We collectively need to get clearer about what we really want in our lives and why, and how much certain things are worth to us (and therefore how much we are prepared to pay for them). 

An important clue to good consumption, Morris insisted, is that you ‘should have nothing in your houses that you do not know to be useful or believe to be beautiful’.

I have emboldened the above famous quotation that I have never forgotten but had overlooked to made its link to the work I do. The creation of working environments in which people can be their best selves and produce items / provide services of genuine use and value to society, is I would say something that we should aspire to achieve in our profession of HR, L&D and OD. I like to think Morris would have approved of that (without all of our fripperies and nonsense fads of course.)

The article ends with some very deep questions:

‘Morris directs our attention to a set of centrally important tests that a good economy should pass.

·      How much do people enjoy working?

·      Does everyone live within walking distance of woods and meadows? 

·      How healthy is the average diet? 

·      How long are consumer goods expected to last? 

·      Are the cities beautiful (generally, not just in a few privileged parts)?’

I am definitely not qualified to answer any of the above, but I think we should all think about them, especially as we learn more about how our brains work and better understand the impact on our collective wellbeing of enjoying what we do, mindfulness, healthy eating and the environment around us.

Back to the beginning of this rather long blog, and I hope you’ve borne with my indulgence in being so reflective at this moment in my life. I look forward enormously to hearing about the results of my daughter’s research. I hope that along the way, the pleasure in and the application that can be made between the subjects studied and the skills acquired in the studying itself will become evident. 

Drink, walk, run, repeat - a half marathon survival story.

Two days after completing my 3^rd and final half marathon, my son has kindly advised me that I am still walking like a zombie off Shaun of the Dead.

I am having to use the lift at work to get DOWN one flight of stairs.

So was it worth it? What has the experience taught me this time?

Don’t worry, this is not another blog about determination, how rewarding it is to overcome adversity, how fortunate I am to have the opportunity to undertake such challenges etc.

I set off from historic Cardiff Castle with my daughter and have the following experience:

Mile 1     Great, a 10 minute mile, keeping up with 20 year old daughter nicely!

Mile 2     All still good, but waving daughter on so I will not slow her down or hold back her enthusiasm and potential to do well.

Mile 3     Water, followed by a long but gently inclined hill. Time to slow down a bit and pace myself.

Mile 4     The scenery of beautiful Cardiff Bay starts to come into view. I’ve been looking forward to this bit.

Mile 5     Still enjoying scenery but getting tired. If I keep up this pace, I may achieve the time I aspire to, but will not enjoy doing so one bit. Do I press on miserably and miss out on the great atmosphere, possibly overdo it and get another injury? Or do some walking if I need to in order to make the most of the experience?

Mile 6      Still prevaricating… with more water. Thinking about the Achilles injury I have overcome during the summer.

Mile 7      Decision made. Enjoy and soak up the experience. Finish in one piece – you will still succeed in raising money for charity no mater what your completion time.

Mile 8      Being kept going by all of the supporters lining the route and have lost count of all of the charities being supported by all of the runners.

Mile 9      Drink, walk, run, repeat.

Mile 10    Roath Park. Great fun. Being watched by curious geese. Brass band playing the Theme from Rocky. Supporter with big placard with picture of a target inviting runners to ‘hit for power’. I did. It worked.

Mile 11    Legs hurting a lot now. All hope of a ‘good time’ gone but confident I will finish.

Mile 12    The end is in sight. I will ‘run’ the last 1.1 miles… so much crowd encouragement now.

Mile 13.1 The Finish Line!

So was it worth it? What has the experience taught me this time?

• Planning and preparation does not always go to plan, but still persevere.
• You can keep reviewing progress and making realistic adjustments.
• Targets can be dynamic.
• Try to be clear about what objectives really matter, and which may be ‘nice to have’.
• Accept and appreciate help and support along the way. It can be unexpected and take many forms.
• Have a mindful experience and be ‘present’ all along the way. 

Next year, I am going to volunteer to marshall or support my chosen charity in another way.

Verity – what do you see?

 I have just visited Ilfracombe, and discovered Verity, Damien Hirst’s controversial statue dominating, yet fitting in completely at the harbour entrance.

Despite Verity being taller than the well-known Angel of the North, and making big news when she arrived, I had absolutely no idea she was there. We were staying in Ilfracombe because we wanted to be near Woolacombe, scene of many happy holidays. Neighbouring Ilfracombe was the shabby, down at heel Victorian town we had to drive through to get somewhere more appealing. We had a very pleasant surprise to find how much it has changed in recent years. Literally minutes after accidentally having a morning coffee at Damian Hirst’s restaurant, we walked along the harbour wall and Verity came into sight.

I can’t remember the last time a work of art had such an initial impact on me and forced me continue to think about its meaning.

My immediate thoughts were of feminine power and courage; she is heavily pregnant and her sword pushes upwards into the sky to signify bravery and confidence. Then I started to think about the balance of the vulnerability of pregnancy compared to the strength of giving life. She is holding the other symbol of justice, a set of scales behind her back and even better, standing on a foundation of law books. A woman who has it all?

Getting closer, I realised that on one half her flesh is stripped back to reveal her skull, her sinews, her muscles and her unborn child tucked up inside the womb. It was quite overwhelming. As an emergency ambulance was attending the part of the harbour where we could get a full view of her other side, we left it for the moment.

Back at our hotel, I looked her up straight away online and learned that she is an allegory – for truth and justice. I asked a couple of local people we met what they thought and started to learn just how controversial she is. I was intrigued when our hotel proprietor explained that a previous guest from another culture had also had quite a strong reaction to Verity, but quite different to mine. Interestingly, the fact that the scales are behind her back implied hiding from justice. Standing on books showed disrespect for learning, made even worse by her bare feet…

Armed with more knowledge, we returned to view her again the next morning, from every angle - close up, from above her and from the other side of the harbour. What did we see?

A message that truth and justice may sometimes be hidden? May not co-exist overtly?

Or, are the scales behind her back to give her the balance to thrust the sword upwards?

A pregnant woman with skin and flesh peeled back to expose her vulnerability?

Or a powerful woman who is not afraid to expose what lies beneath her skin?

Books as the foundation of knowledge and learning for everybody?

Or, books simply as a way of climbing higher and demonstrating power?

A realistic depiction of the body’s structure and internal systems?

Or a rather grotesque side to the body that we would really rather overlook?

We climbed up to the tiny chapel on Lantern Hill, which is also an ancient lighthouse. The last family to live there in the 1800s had 13 children. Presumably that fact was known to Damien Hirst when he planned Verity and her position? Also, the view from up there is of her skin covered, rather beautiful side. She is after all sharing the stance of and bringing to mind Degas’ Little Dancer of 14 years. Knowing Verity had been the cause of much consternation in the town, I wondered if this choice of aspect was deliberate. Push the boundary, make a controversial statue that will surely make people think, but also bear in mind that if it causes too much offence it won’t get past the planners at the council and will therefore never achieve what you want it to achieve.

I could have looked at her and pondered for hours. So many metaphors and thoughts about parallels with life, work, how we behave with each other, what we show, what we hide etc. but we had to continue our journey. We did stop for a final viewing though, from the other side of the harbour, through the trees. Equally mesmerising, but this time in the context of how she fits in with the whole picture of the harbour. This aspect is of the anatomical side, but from a distance. It is also well signposted…

She's at it again.

My headstone is going to read “Completely eschewed the term 'Back Office' in favour of terms that confer valued contribution of all roles, jobs and functions.”

Today, I attended a mainly positive and constructive national meeting on how the fledgling professional institute for the sector in which I work is going to develop. Unfortunately, I had to challenge a colleague round the table who used the term 'back office' when talking about how all staff may be involved in the future. She then indicated she was fine with the term and is a ‘back office’ person herself. Oh dear! I could not help myself in saying that I find the term demeaning, it makes us seem like we belong in a broom cupboard etc. and have no real contribution to the front line or the operations where all the 'real' work takes place. I find terms like 'corporate services' or 'essential corporate support' are much more acceptable. Although the meeting chair took my point, I wonder if I will be invited along to the next meeting! I have blogged about this before over 2 years ago on my old blog Basic needs, security needs and the ‘back office’.

(image from aviationarchive.co.uk)

Earlier this week, I chaired an in house meeting where during the round of introductions (with reps there from 3 predecessor organisations) one of the participants introduced herself as 'only' an administrator. Fortunately, I was not the only colleague round that table to react (in a positive and supportive manner) against anyone ever calling themselves 'just a...' or 'only a...'.

I do think this lack of confidence in the value of their views and contributions often expressed by office or junior staff is from the same stable as the casual use of terms like 'back office', or generally blaming other departments when things go wrong, or silo mentality. What these have in common is the ease with which others (those doing the 'real' work or having opinions that they perceive to matter the most) use such terminology or allow it to go unchallenged.

At best, this is just sloppy office or meeting talk, without much thought for the impact this could have on others or how pervasive it can be. An impact that has the potential to be harmful to organisational effectiveness, morale, team working etc.

At worst, this is a symptom of what I believe to be misguided views that some roles and teams have more value to the business and that others are all about ‘pen pushing’, ‘bean counting’, causing unnecessary ‘red tape’ etc. How often do you hear “someone in HR/Finance/Admin stopped me doing x, y or z.” I have made a habit of saying “Who exactly? Can you be more specific? What exactly was the problem or impact on you, and would you like me to take it up with the individual concerned?” Because, that's what they are, the nameless/faceless staff in these 'back office' functions - individuals, people who also want to do a great job. Most often, a name and a specific instance of unhelpfulness were not forthcoming. It was just easier for the grumbler to moan about an often hidden team, rather than think through what the actual issues and the impacts were, then attempt to address them constructively.

So how do managers, leaders, HR and L&D professionals, in fact all of us, address this? How do we make sure all roles, teams and functions are valued for the contribution they make to the whole success of an organisation? How do we make sure everyone feels valued and that they and their colleagues from all other parts of the organisation all appreciate what each other do and how it all fits?

Clearly, there is not a single answer to this and all organisations, whose cultures and behaviours are a direct consequence of the views held by the majority, are different. (I could get into a chicken and egg debate here.) However, I feel very strongly that a good place to start is to think about the language we use, and how we address each other, our roles and teams.

Please don’t let me be last

Rewind 35 years. I am in a comprehensive school gym wearing a very unattractive navy pleated gym skirt and a pale blue Trutex top. My heart is pounding, but not from exercise… I am full of anxiety wondering how long it will take one of the ‘popular girls’ to pick me for their netball team. Gradually I watch as the sporty girls are fought over, then gradually most of the girls in my class are chosen, one by tedious one, then yes, as usual, I am one of the last.

Filled with shame I trudge out to the netball court, am placed in Wing Defence, or wherever it is I can do the least harm. I am lucky if I get to touch the ball even once during the whole match… so I can’t really blame the team leaders for not picking me.

A few months previously, and it was the same story with hockey along with my extreme reluctance to get muddy or to join in the scrum. Fast forward a month or two to tennis and the excruciating embarrassment of lining up to practice backhand, repeatedly missing, being made to keep on trying and attempting to ignore the giggling of the bored girls waiting for their turn. So, it is fair to say, PE was my least favourite part of the school experience.

The present day. It is 4 weeks until I do the Cardiff Half Marathon. It will be my third, and probably my last, given my age and physique! I was out on a long training run with my dog yesterday, when it suddenly occurred to me that I was really enjoying, really loving doing ‘Cross Country Running’! Yes, I hated that at school too, probably something to do with being sent out over Stafford Common in freezing fog every winter…

So I was enjoying Cross Country Running.

Why?

What has changed?

I have blogged before about drive and determination to overcome setbacks and hurdles (was rubbish at athletics too). I’m also well aware of all of the research about how many hours practice you have to put in to become expert at something. (Not sure the PE teachers who put me through sheep-dip PE hell week in week out had that in mind though.) I think what changed for me was finding ways of keeping fit that I enjoyed, realising the importance of fitness for health, doing things at my own pace etc. And to be honest, when I did my first half marathon, there was a huge element of wanting to prove them (PE teachers and sporty girls) wrong.

That was ten years ago, and to be honest, I have had many up and downs since then, otherwise I would now be on my 10^th or 11^th half marathon, whereas this will be my third. I have had injuries, which I have overcome, a half marathon I trained for but pulled out of a few days before due to illness, career highs and lows, times of being incredibly busy and therefore too exhausted and time poor to train, a time I was working away from home, and a family to look after. But that feeling I got ten years ago, when I finished that race and learned that fitness can be fun and rewarding is up there on my list of major achievements.

So yes, I suppose this is another blog about the importance of drive and resilience in the face of setbacks. But it is also about:

·      trying different approaches

·      finding what motivates you as an individual

·      finding ways of doing things you find difficult, but know to be important, in ways that fit in with you and your life.

(The picture is one of the views from my cross country running - the boatyard and Uphill church)

Formidably Awesome Blog

OK. Caveats and disclaimers out of the way first.

I like the word 'awesome'.

I know and love the fact that language is evolving all the time.

I am guilty of overusing certain words - such as 'fab' and 'fabulous'.

I recently admired a blog http://linkis.com/nzlead.com/JD93A …but had the temerity to suggest, against what from the online stuff I read, is popular opinion, that the word 'awesome' is overused. It was suggested that I put forward some alternatives. Somewhat lazily, I pasted a few from my phone's thesaurus (well, 140 characters didn't give much scope.)

One of these words was 'formidable'. What a word! With my 27 year old degree in French and Art (neither used much these days) I instantly thought of what it means in French. A very different meaning, pronounced with the emphasis at the end - form-i-dah-bl. (I instantly forgot the linguistics module I did in the 2nd year, so this may not be the correct phonetic format.)

In French, formidable means:

• fantastic
• incredible
• tremendous
• marvellous

It can also mean 'fearsome', like the English meaning, which is about inspiring fear through something being hugely impressive, large, powerful or intense. But another meaning of formidable is the inspiration of respect, a bit like the word 'awesome'. And so we come full circle.

I love words.

I enjoy the challenge of thinking of just the right word to convey the meaning I intend, or to spark the reader to understand their own meaning.

'Awesome' can meet the bill, but somehow loses its meaning when it becomes ubiquitous.

I fear that this may have happened.

A Change of Focus

I have been considering writing a new blog, with a change of focus, for a while.

Passion, Pain and Politics covered well a lot of what I have been experiencing for some years as an HR leader in public service.

I definitely have not lost the passion, but maybe like many other colleagues who have gone through massive change recently, I don't want to focus too much on the pain and the politics for now. With the  exception that there has been a lot of personal learning from the pain.

I prefer to focus on positivity. Another 'P' - how I love alliteration!

The focus of my role now is on Organisational Development and as part of that, leading on Learning and Development. These have always been my favourite areas within the broadest concept of the notion of HR. So out of turbulent times, comes an opportunity to provide leadership, support, encouragement and, I hope, inspiration as we move forwards. I consider myself to be very lucky.

Of course, nothing is certain in terms of what will come next for my organisation. Some days will feel great as we use new opportunities to innovate and share new ideas. On other days, I may have to dig a bit deeper for the passion...but I will.

And as for the name of this blog. Well, it's a play on words (a little more sophisticated than the Annette Curtain joke of school days) and I give the credit for this to a good colleague. I hope I can do Net E-Learning justice! 

Post script. This is one of my Alhambra Palace photos. Chosen for the exquisite carving and detail, for the new light through old windows (with a nod to Chris Rea) and for the views (possibilities?) beyond as framed by the timeless beauty of this structure. And do you focus on the view, or on the building's gorgeousness? Or on both?