With November 1st almost upon us, NaNoWriMo is set to begin. There are plenty of tools to help budding novelists achieve the goal of 50,000 words in 30 days, but what about the reasons behind committing to such a daunting task in the first place? Surely, many of those taking on the challenge have other…

I confess. I am a huge GTD nerd. While in the past it was something that I was just “into”, it is now the only way I can stay productive for any amount of time. So, I have turned into a huge proponent of the “system”. I have read the book, listened to David Allen speak…

Pastimes to Challenge and Entertain Thinkers relish the challenge and stimulation of brilliant games. They enjoy games for the pure thrill of exercising their minds and judgments in pursuit of victory. You can take pleasure in any number of great games. Here is a selection of recommended pastimes. Add them to your Christmas list: 1. Chess Chess is…

I’m pretty shy. You wouldn’t know it to watch me – I’ve learned how to handle most of the superficial stuff that makes up day-to-day interactions –  but deep inside I’m pretty scared of talking to strangers or making a spectacle of myself. But when I walk into my classroom…

I want to tell you a story about two photographers. For a while now, I’ve been wanting to get more into photography, hoping eventually to buy a nice digital SLR camera. So I was quite thrilled when a photojournalist friend offered to give me some of her old film equipment to learn on. The camera, a…

A Personal Story I went to a Catholic boys school in Blackpool in the North of England.  In my first year in the senior school I was a nerdy kid, with spectacles and short trousers.  For one hour a week the class had elocution lessons from an old, portly teacher called Mr Priestley. He had…

Every time that we approach a problem, in any walk of life, we bring to bear assumptions that limit our ability to conceive fresh solutions. Innovators are always aware of assumptions and are always happy to confront them. There is a story told about a northern pike, a large carnivorous freshwater fish. A pike was put…