A little frivolity, the Herts countryside and the road into Ware.
For lots more pictures of the quaint market town of Ware in the snow, visit my Flickr site.
Showing posts with label Fun. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Fun. Show all posts
Monday, 2 February 2009
Snow Day!
A little frivolity, the Herts countryside and the road into Ware.
Monday, 22 December 2008
12 Learning Days of Christmas
From Peter Mayes, of Trainerbase:
THE TWELVE DAYS OF LEARNING
On the first day of learning my trainer said to me:
There is always One thing more that you could know.
On the second day of learning my trainer said to me:
There are Two McGregor Types.
And always One thing more that you could know.
On the third day of learning my trainer said to me:
There are Three Ego States.
Two McGregor Types.
And always One thing more that you could know.
On the forth day of learning my trainer said to me:
There are Four Learning Styles.
Three Ego States.
Two McGregor Types.
And always One thing more that you could know.
On the fifth day of learning my trainer said to me:
There are Five Leadership Levels.
Four Learning Styles.
Three Ego States.
Two McGregor Types.
And always One thing more that you could know.
On the sixth day of learning my trainer said to me:
There are Six Thinking Hats.
Five Leadership Levels.
Four Learning Styles.
Three Ego States.
Two McGregor Types.
And always One thing more that you could know.
On the seventh day of learning my trainer said to me:
There are Seven McKinsey S’s.
Six Thinking Hats.
Five Leadership Levels.
Four Learning Styles.
Three Ego States.
Two McGregor Types.
And always One thing more that you could know.
One the eighth day of learning my trainer said to me:
There are Eight Multiple Intelligences.
Seven McKinsey S’s.
Six Thinking Hats.
Five Leadership Levels.
Four Learning Styles.
Three Ego States.
Two McGregor Types.
And always One thing more that you could know.
On the ninth day of learning my trainer said to me:
There are Nine Team Roles.
Eight Multiple Intelligences.
Seven McKinsey S’s.
Six Thinking Hats.
Five Leadership Levels.
Four Learning Styles.
Three Ego States.
Two McGregor Types.
And always One thing more that you could know.
On the tenth day of learning my trainer said to me:
There are Ten Aspects of Culture.
Nine Team Roles.
Eight Multiple Intelligences.
Seven McKinsey S’s.
Six Thinking Hats.
Five Leadership Levels.
Four Learning Styles.
Three Ego States.
Two McGregor Types.
And always One thing more that you could know.
On the eleventh day of learning my trainer said to me:
There are Eleven Steps to Success.
Ten Aspects of Culture.
Nine Team Roles.
Eight Multiple Intelligences.
Seven McKinsey S’s.
Six Thinking Hats.
Five Leadership Levels.
Four Learning Styles.
Three Ego States.
Two McGregor Types.
And always One thing more that you could know.
On the twelfth day of learning my trainer said to me:
There are Twelve Performance Measures.
Eleven Steps to Success.
Ten Aspects of Culture.
Nine Team Roles.
Eight Multiple Intelligences.
Six Thinking Hats.
Five Leadership Levels.
Four Learning Styles.
Three Ego States.
Two McGregor Types.
And (as you know by now) always One thing more that you could know.
Thank you Peter! Season's Greetings to you all
THE TWELVE DAYS OF LEARNING
On the first day of learning my trainer said to me:
There is always One thing more that you could know.
On the second day of learning my trainer said to me:
There are Two McGregor Types.
And always One thing more that you could know.
On the third day of learning my trainer said to me:
There are Three Ego States.
Two McGregor Types.
And always One thing more that you could know.
On the forth day of learning my trainer said to me:
There are Four Learning Styles.
Three Ego States.
Two McGregor Types.
And always One thing more that you could know.
On the fifth day of learning my trainer said to me:
There are Five Leadership Levels.
Four Learning Styles.
Three Ego States.
Two McGregor Types.
And always One thing more that you could know.
On the sixth day of learning my trainer said to me:
There are Six Thinking Hats.
Five Leadership Levels.
Four Learning Styles.
Three Ego States.
Two McGregor Types.
And always One thing more that you could know.
On the seventh day of learning my trainer said to me:
There are Seven McKinsey S’s.
Six Thinking Hats.
Five Leadership Levels.
Four Learning Styles.
Three Ego States.
Two McGregor Types.
And always One thing more that you could know.
One the eighth day of learning my trainer said to me:
There are Eight Multiple Intelligences.
Seven McKinsey S’s.
Six Thinking Hats.
Five Leadership Levels.
Four Learning Styles.
Three Ego States.
Two McGregor Types.
And always One thing more that you could know.
On the ninth day of learning my trainer said to me:
There are Nine Team Roles.
Eight Multiple Intelligences.
Seven McKinsey S’s.
Six Thinking Hats.
Five Leadership Levels.
Four Learning Styles.
Three Ego States.
Two McGregor Types.
And always One thing more that you could know.
On the tenth day of learning my trainer said to me:
There are Ten Aspects of Culture.
Nine Team Roles.
Eight Multiple Intelligences.
Seven McKinsey S’s.
Six Thinking Hats.
Five Leadership Levels.
Four Learning Styles.
Three Ego States.
Two McGregor Types.
And always One thing more that you could know.
On the eleventh day of learning my trainer said to me:
There are Eleven Steps to Success.
Ten Aspects of Culture.
Nine Team Roles.
Eight Multiple Intelligences.
Seven McKinsey S’s.
Six Thinking Hats.
Five Leadership Levels.
Four Learning Styles.
Three Ego States.
Two McGregor Types.
And always One thing more that you could know.
On the twelfth day of learning my trainer said to me:
There are Twelve Performance Measures.
Eleven Steps to Success.
Ten Aspects of Culture.
Nine Team Roles.
Eight Multiple Intelligences.
Six Thinking Hats.
Five Leadership Levels.
Four Learning Styles.
Three Ego States.
Two McGregor Types.
And (as you know by now) always One thing more that you could know.
Thank you Peter! Season's Greetings to you all
Wednesday, 17 December 2008
Christmas in the office
One of my first jobs in the early 80s was with an FMCG company and every Christmas each member of staff would get a Christmas hamper full of goodies including wine, spirits and the ubiquitous jar of pickled walnuts.
We had an annual Christmas Ball - one year at the Inn on the Park (and someone from our party stole the doorhandles which had to be found and returned!). The budget spent, all in all, must have been in the hundreds per employee even in those days.
We probably had a few drinks back in the office too, with more than one colleague getting rather 'well oiled' and a little emotional.
Looking at articles on the internet about 'The Christmas Party' they are now nicely Politically Correct, Health and Safety conscious and all about responsible behaviour. As they should be, of course!
I don't recommend going back to the days of the backside on the photocopier, illicit snogging in the stationery cupboard or even the huge budgets spent per employee, but what I fear we do miss these days is the feeling that Christmas was a time of celebration. Not religious celebration even, but a culmination of everyone working hard for a year, of people joining and leaving, personal and business achievements. It was a time when we let ourselves appreciate that we had worked hard and got some recognition for it.
So here are my top tips for Christmas in the office:
Say thank you. Acknowledge and appreciate the help you have had from colleagues.
Say thank you again. Say thank you to your clients and suppliers as well.
Work. If you have to work over Christmas try and keep a positive attitude. You will have some quality time without the usual interruptions!
Stop. Stop working, go outside and look at your world. Whether it's the view of the factory next door, the buildings of your town, rolling fields, the neighbour's curtain or an endless sea of offices. Don't have any preconceived ideas of what to think about during this time. Just look.
Be social to the level that you are comfortable. Show up at the office party, but if you hate office parties, then don't sit there looking resentful, make it known that parties aren't your thing and leave after a couple of mince pies with a smile on your face. If you love parties, then go for it! But remember the good sense rules of not doing anything you wouldn't be completely happy doing on any normal working day.
Use the quiet time. If your business is quieter during holiday periods, put that time to good use and catch up with those jobs that you like to defer, delegate or simply not do.
Things to avoid:
Phoning clients up when you are drunk
Sitting on the mince pies
Spilling any kind of drink on the laptop
Getting locked in the office over the holiday
Giving someone 'knickers in a tin' for Secret Santa
We'd love more Christmas tips from our readers, so please contact us if you have ideas/stories/advice to contribute.
Wishing you the best for the festive season.
We had an annual Christmas Ball - one year at the Inn on the Park (and someone from our party stole the doorhandles which had to be found and returned!). The budget spent, all in all, must have been in the hundreds per employee even in those days.
We probably had a few drinks back in the office too, with more than one colleague getting rather 'well oiled' and a little emotional.
Looking at articles on the internet about 'The Christmas Party' they are now nicely Politically Correct, Health and Safety conscious and all about responsible behaviour. As they should be, of course!
I don't recommend going back to the days of the backside on the photocopier, illicit snogging in the stationery cupboard or even the huge budgets spent per employee, but what I fear we do miss these days is the feeling that Christmas was a time of celebration. Not religious celebration even, but a culmination of everyone working hard for a year, of people joining and leaving, personal and business achievements. It was a time when we let ourselves appreciate that we had worked hard and got some recognition for it.
So here are my top tips for Christmas in the office:
Say thank you. Acknowledge and appreciate the help you have had from colleagues.
Say thank you again. Say thank you to your clients and suppliers as well.
Work. If you have to work over Christmas try and keep a positive attitude. You will have some quality time without the usual interruptions!
Stop. Stop working, go outside and look at your world. Whether it's the view of the factory next door, the buildings of your town, rolling fields, the neighbour's curtain or an endless sea of offices. Don't have any preconceived ideas of what to think about during this time. Just look.
Be social to the level that you are comfortable. Show up at the office party, but if you hate office parties, then don't sit there looking resentful, make it known that parties aren't your thing and leave after a couple of mince pies with a smile on your face. If you love parties, then go for it! But remember the good sense rules of not doing anything you wouldn't be completely happy doing on any normal working day.
Use the quiet time. If your business is quieter during holiday periods, put that time to good use and catch up with those jobs that you like to defer, delegate or simply not do.
Things to avoid:
Phoning clients up when you are drunk
Sitting on the mince pies
Spilling any kind of drink on the laptop
Getting locked in the office over the holiday
Giving someone 'knickers in a tin' for Secret Santa
We'd love more Christmas tips from our readers, so please contact us if you have ideas/stories/advice to contribute.
Wishing you the best for the festive season.
Friday, 14 November 2008
Irritating words!
I read an article on an AOL site called Lemondrop today - about words that irritate. I couldn't help but smile at the first phrase to appear under office jargon:
Office Jargon: team-building, value-added, grassroots, reach out, multitasking, no-brainer, low-hanging fruit, monetize, ping.
My additions would be: outside the box, pick a window, and 'strategically' (when it's used in totally the wrong context).
There were also top hated unnecessary conjunctions and transitions:
Unnecessary Conjunctions and Transitions: no offense but ..., all of the sudden, basically, ironically, actually, honestly, totally, hopefully, as to whether, I swear to God, you know.
My additions would be: actually (yes, I know they mentioned it already, I feel that strongly about it!), one (as in one should, or one must ... it's you or me mate, not this amorphous 'one'!) and, of course, the word that my kids seem to use as the most prolific transition - like. Well, like, you know, like, what, like, yeah? Of course! I understand perfectly.
And, bearing in mind this is from a US site:
Misused/Mispronounced Phrases: irregardless (for "regardless"), aggravate (for "irritate"), anyways/towards (anyway, toward), for all intensive purposes (for "for all intents and purposes"), suppose to (for "supposed to"), could of (for "could have"), analyzing/analyzation (for "analysis"), literally (when meant figuratively).
Isn't language fun? I can't help but notice wrong uses of words in conversation or writing and sometimes it's amazing where you find them. The internet seems to proliferate misuse even further. You have to get creative with search engine terms and think of not just UK/US spellings, but also mis-spellings and mis-typing.
My pet hate of all, however, is:
TXT SPK.
I have noticed an increase in its use not just in texting, but in emails, on forums and even on websites. George Orwell may have been a bit out with his date for 'Newspeak' (1984), but he's been scarily right about so many things...
Office Jargon: team-building, value-added, grassroots, reach out, multitasking, no-brainer, low-hanging fruit, monetize, ping.
My additions would be: outside the box, pick a window, and 'strategically' (when it's used in totally the wrong context).
There were also top hated unnecessary conjunctions and transitions:
Unnecessary Conjunctions and Transitions: no offense but ..., all of the sudden, basically, ironically, actually, honestly, totally, hopefully, as to whether, I swear to God, you know.
My additions would be: actually (yes, I know they mentioned it already, I feel that strongly about it!), one (as in one should, or one must ... it's you or me mate, not this amorphous 'one'!) and, of course, the word that my kids seem to use as the most prolific transition - like. Well, like, you know, like, what, like, yeah? Of course! I understand perfectly.
And, bearing in mind this is from a US site:
Misused/Mispronounced Phrases: irregardless (for "regardless"), aggravate (for "irritate"), anyways/towards (anyway, toward), for all intensive purposes (for "for all intents and purposes"), suppose to (for "supposed to"), could of (for "could have"), analyzing/analyzation (for "analysis"), literally (when meant figuratively).
Isn't language fun? I can't help but notice wrong uses of words in conversation or writing and sometimes it's amazing where you find them. The internet seems to proliferate misuse even further. You have to get creative with search engine terms and think of not just UK/US spellings, but also mis-spellings and mis-typing.
My pet hate of all, however, is:
TXT SPK.
I have noticed an increase in its use not just in texting, but in emails, on forums and even on websites. George Orwell may have been a bit out with his date for 'Newspeak' (1984), but he's been scarily right about so many things...
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