Thoughts

Last weekend, the forecast for wind and waves was goooood. So I’d packed the car with all the toys, and, keen to get on the water, started driving to my favourite spot. On the way, I ended up behind a slow-moving car. It had a sticker on the back: ‘Please Be Patient. Learner Driver.’   […]

    Yesterday morning I arrived back in Wellington after a sleep-deprived, red-eye flight from Perth. As the kids and I meandered our way into the airport’s multi-story car park, a lady kindly held the lift door open for us so we could jump in, rather than wait for the next one. She and I […]

  The picture above is a word cloud of my clients’ and colleagues’ responses to this question: “What’s the first thing you think of when you think of me?”      I have it on my wall in my office and I get to see it every day. When I’m having a tough day, just […]

  Busy is not a badge to wear with pride. Yet we seem to want to show it to anyone who asks. How’s it going? Oh really busy. How about you? Yep, busy as.   I was running a workshop last week about how to create unhurriedly productive team cultures. The people in the group […]

As you’ll have observed, one of the big themes I write about is about being unhurried. Truth be told, I struggle as much as the next person on crafting an unhurried rhythm to my days. We’re living in a society that, on the surface at least, values speed and ‘more’ over slowness and ‘enough’.   […]

    I’ve been reflecting on the idea of ‘enough’.   I was first inspired by the idea of enough by the British philosopher, writer and management guru Charles Handy. Both he and his wife, a photographer, were self-employed. At the beginning of every year they would sit down and work out what enough was […]

  At least three people I know well have recently decided to resign from their jobs. With no new job to go to.   These are not people at the beginning of their career who are going backpacking overseas. They’re not people at the end of their career, dialling their work hours right down. And […]

  We all need an unhurried project.   Right now, one of my unhurried projects is making a guitar as a gift for my son’s 21st birthday. I can’t rush it. It takes patience and focus. When I’m working on it, I’m completely immersed. Time dissolves. I breathe out. And I get immense satisfaction from […]

  Being laid low with Covid over the past week has meant I’ve had to reschedule a lot of appointments. I was due to host a housewarming party. I had a bunch of client commitments in the calendar. And then I was supposed to be flying to Perth to visit family for the first time […]

    As I write this, I’m on a flight from Queenstown to Auckland. As I sit here, I’ve been fortunate enough to witness a beautiful exchange that I think is worth sharing with you.     Sitting across the aisle from me is a woman who was, at the start of the flight, clearly […]