On the House

Not such big news - House-hunting's emotionally and aesthetically challenging! 

 

In the words of Sinead O'Connor, "Nothing Compares..." to our home of 23 years (but which we have now put on the market to get rid of our mortgage and move somewhere cheaper, for reasons already mentioned in a previous blog 'Not Moving On'), except, to our surprise, the new-build that fits our requirements very nicely, but which we can't reserve until we have a confirmed offer and chain on our place...! 

What's extraordinary is the difference in quality between homes other people are selling at the same price, or more, as the new build and the new-build itself - i.e. there is no comparison! All need work, some are mis-represented in their estate agents' details, some are in naff areas or are too far from public transport (railway stations) or amenities and some, frankly, look like the people who live there just got up and ran out of the house five minutes before we arrived!

That said, our house has never looked better! All the little jobs I was never getting round to have been done; Saturday mornings now, we blitz the place - clean, tidy, declutter (hide), vacuum, etc - so it looks as much as possible just like the photos in our estate agent's blurb (real photo shown - make us an offer!)

What is it that's said about house buyers and sellers? "Every  seller's a liar and every buyer's a thief" (something like that). 

 

I couldn't possibly comment...

Milestone or Millstone?

I have written before about how my understanding of and participation in social media is 'not a numbers game', not about counting followers or retweets or favourites, but should be about showing up, sharing, interacting, learning and having some fun along the way.  

On Thursday, I came across the #myfirsttweet meme and was surprised to be reminded that my first tweet was in June 2010 and that I had wanted to explore Twitter's micro-blogging potential to support learning. 

Coincidentally, I realised yesterday evening that I had passed the 10,000 tweet mark earlier in the day.  That seems like a lot of twitter time!

So has it been a good use of my time? Has it been worth the effort and the risk? Have I indeed, showed up, shared, interacted, learned and had some fun?

I joined Twitter in 2010 to try and get an understanding of this new medium in relation to my professional practice, but what I discovered along the way was quite unexpected. I discovered a number of communities, professional and interest-based - who generously welcomed me in, shared their knowledge and experience with me and - astonishingly - wanted to know what I thought, engaged me in conversation and sought my opinions. And I was immediately and irrevocably entranced and engaged.

Not only that, but by the simple use of the magic trick called 'hashtags' and the ability to embed links to Internet sites, I could focus in on topics of interest, conversations (tweetchats) and resources in support thereof. 

My #PLN (Personal Learning Community) has grown digitally and has been enhanced by being able to cut through the 'Loneliness of the Disconnected Conference Attendee' and has enriched my conference (and un-conference) experiences. I've enjoyed not attending many such events, by following the twitter stream, via #hashtag, that others have shared live from the floor. And I've learned to do the same myself.

I now share photos via Instagram and Flickr. And I have learned to, if not, love facebook, at least to appreciate it and connect with friends and family in a more considered and adult fashion, even if I do think some of them need to get out more... I've also finally started to get my head around Pinterest, which has been a complete mystery to me up until just recently.

More work still to do: I could spend more time interacting with my LinkedIn communities, and I really must get to grips with Google+, particularly as so many PLN have kindly added me to their circles and, quite frankly, it's getting embarrassing that I have not afforded them at least the courtesy of acknowledging and reciprocating their validation.

To put all of the above in perspective, yesterday evening someone accused me - in a loving way, of course - of having 'twittertourettes', because I tweeted something just before we left a local restaurant. They may be right.

It's now part of my DNA. It's given me a voice that I had forgotten I had and enabled me to grow, develop and 'show up' personally and professionally. Indeed, as this tweet yesterday, nearly four years later shows, even my boss has expressed a view on it.

But has it become an unhealthy obsession? Do I feel the irresistible need to tweet/blog/post/pin/comment every day? Has social media become a millstone round my neck, a distraction from the real work and the real world, a demanding child requiring constant attention?  

Not so far. Not as long as I keep remembering that it's not a broadcasting channel; it's a walkie-talkie, a two-way street. Dialogue and authenticity are my watchwords here.

And on that note, here endeth a blog that's been a long time coming. Thanks for reading; thanks for being in my PLN (whether you knew you were or not), and thanks in anticipation for any comments/thoughts/challenges that you would like to add.

Lifted Up

I was invited to host a table at the Speed Learning event, part of the Workplace Learning stream at the Bett Conference in London yesterday. The theme, as articulated in the programme - was "...developing cost-effective, exciting and engaging new learning resources". This was new territory for me - as I effectively only had three minutes to share my 'story' and another seven minutes for discussion and questions, before the participants moved on to the next table and off we go again. No slides, no visual aids, no microphones, no co-speaker, no chairperson... Just me and 8-10 people, up close and personal for ten minutes - five times in one hour!

So, now that that hour has been and gone - and what an intense hour it was - what did I learn from the experience?

Well, anyone who has read any of my blogs or participated in any of my conference sessions previously will be aware that being stuck for words is not one of my areas for development! If anything, it's the opposite and I am constantly challenging myself to be more succinct in both my verbal and my written delivery. (You can take the boy out of acting, but you can't take the actor out of the boy. Someone once said that if the fridge door light came on, I would do twenty minutes!)

I wanted to share our story at FirstGroup of deploying Webex, coupled with our existing voice conference provider, as both a learning and a business communication tool, and to illustrate some examples of the challenges, mistakes and successes. Now, I have touched on this before at a couple of conferences, as a 'work in progress' and as part of a wider usually 20-30 minute talk. I have never had to compact four years' worth of work into three minutes! 

Serendipitously, I had been involved in a conversation at work last week, where the concept of the 'elevator pitch' came up. It's one of those phrases one hears and kind of assumes that one knows what it means, until one is challenged to explain it. I couldn't, but someone else did and we discussed how one would use the time between floors in a hypothetical lift with the Chief Executive, to 'make your pitch', tell your story, etc. and how one would have to focus on clarity and impact.

So that's what I did. On the run, I trimmed my story down to the bare essentials. I focused on a very brief history of how we got to where we are, some mistakes made along the way, why we decided to take the route we took, some examples of success in L&D (Data Protection Training, if you want to know) and one or two 'words to the wise' for anyone considering that approach. I was really challenged by the three minute deadline, but relaxed into the seven minute conversation with the rest of the table, which allowed expansion.

Great timekeeping and framing by Marc Powell ensured that everyone stuck to the timings and some really fruitful conversations seemed to be occurring across the room.  My only regret is that I didn't get the chance to hear my fellow hosts' stories at their own tables.

 

I realised afterwards, on the train home, that I had had a unique opportunity to put theory into practise. I had an understanding of the concept of the elevator pitch beforehand, but had now had a real chance to walk the talk in the session, learn from each of the five conversations, and refine both the technique and my story, for real. Invaluable.  So what will I do differently in the future? As I articulated in my tweet last night, I'll be aiming for focus, clarity and impact in my communications in the future.

My final learning point - if there's ever another Speed Learning hosting opportunity, I'll make sure I've got a bottle of water with me. I was parched by the end of the hour! Still talking tho'...

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Present - and Correct?

The recent decision by the G8 ministers to target dementia in the same way as they did  global HIV, with the aim of finding a cure or at least a 'stopper' by 2025, is good news. Having seen my own Mother slip away in her late 70's and seeing my mother-in-law similarly disabled now, whilst being surrounded by friends and other family members struggling with their own parents in the same situation, I have seen the future. And it scares the hell out of me! 

 

As a very personal reflection, and in no way from an informed, activist or political viewpoint, I started this blog on Thursday morning on the 'plane to Rome for a short break, a birthday treat courtesy of my daughter and my wife. And I am so ready for a break.  It's a long slog though from the August Bank Holiday to the Christmas Holidays - some 4 months, almost. And I'm weary. Tired, lethargic, a 'bit low' generally and trying to push through to Xmas.

But what has really brought that home to me in these last few weeks, is the number of what I would categorise as 'silly mistakes' that I have been making; nothing that has caused any impact on others - because I 'caught' them in time - but certainly not how I like to operate, either personally or professionally. And I guess what has emerged for me is the realisation (scrub that - confirmation!) that I have a preferred 'modus operandi', a comfort model of being present and effective, but the standards for which I feel I have fallen below recently. And I am really uncomfortable - and a little nervous - about that.

Recent examples include missing appointments, booking meetings on wrong dates, having to correct a webinar booking THREE times before I scheduled it correctly and even this week, as Mandy and I set off for our flight to Rome, I left my bum bag (with boarding card and passport) in the car in the long-stay car park at Gatwick Airport, and then left my Kindle (ironically, on which I am writing this blog) on the 'plane when we disembarked at the other end at Fiumicino Airport! Again, no-one died and I was able to recover both - and the other situations - quickly, with no harm done.

But here's the thing. I hate that I have done those things. It makes me feel at best, incompetent and at worst, not in control of my own thoughts and actions - and as we fly back from Rome today, with my 58th birthday to look forward to tomorrow, it scares me for the future. 

 
Having watched and lived through the gradual dying of the light of older relations and friends, I am more and more aware that modern medicine and health care has prolonged our physical longevity, but our poor old brains have not developed quickly enough to cope and are failing us before our bodies do. We are outliving our brains! And worryingly,
there are going to be even more of us in that situation come 2025!

Of course, my recent little mistakes are just symptoms of me being a bit tired and stressed and needing a break, nothing more. But it does make me wonder what it's going to be like when I get older. If dementia or Alzheimer's does happen, will I be aware of 'losing the plot'? Or will it be a more insidious, creeping withdrawal of mental faculties, a gradual slipping away, 'blessed' by an unaware ignorance of the fact, that others will have to deal with on my behalf?

 

Maybe - hopefully - none of the above.

For now, I am responsible for, and in charge of, my mental well-being and longevity. I try to keep my brain as active and 'fit' as possible. I read a lot, I do Su Doku puzzles every day, I work, I interact with others in person and online, I tweet, I blog - and I will continue to do so for as long as I possibly can. And, as we fly back to the UK today, Saturday, after a fantastic couple of days exploring Rome, I am resolved to take more holidays and travel more. That should do it for now.

 

So, come 2025, when I turn 70, maybe those clever scientists and doctors, who are about to get all those G8 research funds and collaboration opportunities, will have a little pill I can take if and when my brain is no longer able to keep up with my body.

Not so well travelled

I was recently invited to write an article for the 'Inside Learning Technologies' magazine link and so I produced a piece entitled "What I would say to my younger self", wherein I shared some of the stuff I wish I'd known when I was 'growing up' (which assumes, of course, that I have indeed grown up. The jury's still out on that one). 

Number 3 of my messages in a bottle to myself was "Don't pass up the opportunity to travel". I went on "...get into the habit while you're young and can do it on the cheap... If you don't do it now, you'll find it all the more challenging when you get older".

Well, I never did. I'm one of the least travelled people you'll ever meet.  For a variety of reasons, I didn't hear that message from my future self in time and, as a result, can pretty much count on one hand the countries I have managed to visit, and within those countries, the destinations and sights I have managed to explore.  I've been OK with that over the years, have managed to holiday and travel within the UK both as a callow youth and as a husband and dad on family holidays. To be honest, the idea of foreign travel with young children always struck as way too much hard work - just child care in a different climate! Funnily enough, both children, now nearly 22 and solidly 18, have managed to travel more through their friendship groups and opportunities already, than I have.

But now, as I approach 58, I can hear my travel alarm ticking away. Someone said to me a while ago "Do the difficult travel while you still can; save the easy stuff for when you're older and can't - the cruises, the Great Train Journeys, etc.  Mandy and I cruised for the first time three years ago, our Silver Wedding Anniversary present to ourselves, and absolutely loved it. We're thinking about what to do for our 30th in 2015, but are we going to go for the easy and luxurious, or the more challenging? We'll need to wait and see.

So this brings me to my 58th Birthday present from my daughter and my wife - Mandy and I are off to Rome on Thursday for a couple of days! Basically, it's all booked, flights, private Colosseum tour guide and Vatican tickets arranged. All I've got to do is turn up and go! I am very excited about this. And I'm loving that excitement. I've bought and am working my way through the Lonely Planet guide to Rome, I've asked my network for their recommendations of places to see and places to eat, and I can't wait.

In my message to my younger self, I also said "It's easy and it will broaden your knowledge, perceptions and experience." I may have left it a bit late, but in terms of my ever-continuing learning journey, Rome looks like just the place to do that. 

The only question left is, where next?

The Best Conference I've Never Attended

It was the CIPD's 100th Anniversary Conference and Exhibition in Manchester this week.  I couldn't attend - had too much to do at work and travel planned accordingly.  But I did manage to multi-task (men can do it too!) and follow the live backchannel on Twitter. Many of my Twitter PLN (Personal Learning Network) were either attending, presenting, facilitating, blogging or just simply commentating via social media during the two days and, whilst I couldn't keep up with the constant flurry of tweets and blog links being shared, I did what I usually do in these circumstances, which is to 'favourite' the tweets of particular interest, so that I could revisit them in my Twitter 'faves' column later and work my way through them in slow time.  This also allows me time to absorb and reflect, 'cos my brain can't take it all in at the same speed as the 'flying fingers' of my PLN can push it out.

So now it's Saturday and I'm starting to work my way through the list, only to find that most of the individual tweets and links I had saved had already been curated and replayed on the CIPD Tumblr site http://cipd.tumblr.com/ by Doug Shaw ( @dougshaw1 ), along with many other tweets and links that I had missed. Top Man, Doug!  Now I can use the Tumblr site as a reference book and take my time reading, absorbing, thinking and maybe even commenting on the wisdom and commentary therein.

The CIPD is changing. I now understand the new focus and direction of the organisation and have heard its new voice, not only from the conference floor, but from the breakouts and the coffee shops and the pubs and restaurants around the event itself, where everyone meets and discusses the news of the day.

And that's why I love Twitter and the community of people I have grown to know and respect through it, active in my professional field. Much time, effort and wisdom is shared freely and enthusiastically by way too many people to mention, but suffice it to say that I cannot think of a better explanation of why social media should be considered as a vital part of our individual and collective professional development.  I wasn't at the conference, but I am as well informed and engaged, sitting here at my breakfast bar at home, as if I had been, and it's thanks to those people that I am able to say so.

Now, back to catching up on the rest of those Conference Blogs....

The Train Took the Strain

OK, so I travelled First Class, but really, business travel by train is so much more restful and productive than flying or driving. Yes, it was only Paddington to Swansea, but that's still three hours there and three hours back during which time I was able to prepare for, and then reflect on, the two appraisal meetings - and joint lunch - which I have just conducted with two of my team. And deal with incoming emails. And make some phone calls. Oh, and write this quick blog!

OK, so I left home (Brighton) at 5:30 this morning and I won't get home until 9ish tonight, but I can't fall asleep at the wheel either. In our virtually connected world, I could have conducted these conversations via Webex, but I would also have missed the opportunity to chat with M and R over lunch. The value of doing appraisals in face-to-face discussion, with added non-verbal communication, is what makes the travel even more worthwhile.

That's all I wanted to share really. Just the kind of thinking that business train travel tends to inspire.  

Birmingham tomorrow, by train, to conduct two more appraisals. Looking forward to it already.

Update: Schadenfreude! No sooner had I published this blog and got back into London to continue my journey home by my usual commute, than I found my regular line hit by delays and cancellations. I had to get back on the Tube, go to Victoria Station and get a later train home from there. Everyone on that train seemed to have bought their takeaway dinner and the carriage stunk like a cheap kebab house. I was not best pleased, but the irony was not lost on me either!

Pleased to report that today's journeys from home via London to Birmingham and back, to conduct my other two appraisals, went like clockwork. It's still the only way to travel and be productive at the same time.

Remind me to tell you about the London-Glasgow or London-Aberdeen Sleeper train some time! Your travel and overnight accommodation in the one neat package!