Eiffel Over

Tag: reflection

  • A radical pause in a meeting

    For two minutes we sat there on Zoom and said nothing. We had just concluded a period of intense conversation. Thrashing out details. And then words escaped me. So we just sat there and let the silence in.

    We are often quick in meetings to move on to the next item on the agenda. We listen to others but do we have the time to listen to ourselves.

    Gut feel takes longer to process. And feelings take longer to notice. But these are sources of information as much as quick-fire words.

    Pausing can feel contercultural. But only if we see it as a waste of time. But what if it could reveal something really valuable? Then that would be worthwhile.

  • Returning to the centre

    Whenever I enter a period of calm, a quietening, I instinctively want to turn to reflective writing. Writing like this. It feels like I am speaking to an old friend. But the friend is inside. When I look back to my last blog post I realise that we haven’t spoken since March this year – it’s now July. There is so much to catch up on.

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  • From great to transformative: training and workshops that stick

    From great to transformative: training and workshops that stick

    How do you run a great workshop or training day that really makes a difference to the way people work? The keys are ownership and reflection. 

    In my view, great workshops, training days and away days need to do two things. They need to help people solve their own problems. And they need to help people work reflectively towards fixing them. 

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  • Four reflective modes for engineers and other humans

    Four reflective modes for engineers and other humans

    I once worked for a client who said his ambition for his firm was that it should become a learning organisation. That thought stuck with me. What if, through every action you took, you were learning. Every action could be an opportunity to learn to take the next action in a better way. Whether you are working alone or working with others, every day is an opportunity to learn and add value to your process.

    The way to do this is through reflection. I use four reflective modes, loosely based on Kolb’s Learning Cycle.

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  • Proust’s antidote to endless scrolling

    Proust’s antidote to endless scrolling

    The fault I find in our journalism is it forces us to engage with some fresh triviality every day whereas only three or four books give us anything that is of any importance.

    Charles Swann, in Swann’s Way, In Search of Lost Time Vol.1
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