Required...Strategic thinker who keeps a cool head!

Here we are then...January 16th...we had our white Christmas and now the snow has finally melted.
It's been a slow start to the year for most people it seems. I've heard lots of comments like "I just hibernated between Christmas and New Year!"  or "I simply didn't want to get started again!"

The snow has probably had a lot to do with that. And if your local council performed like mine, and if your car is as useless in the snow as mine, then like me you probably got to enjoy the necessity of working from home.
Not really sure where they got it wrong with snow clearing this year?  But we sure were neglected, especially pedestrians who risked injury just walking to the shops. Local government has of course seen a tremendous change in its service and resources mix from the "good old days" when I worked there. It was different back in the 60's and 70's...like we had road sweepers!

Remember them?   Guys like Trigg in "Fools and Horses" whose pride in their barrow and broom could match a cavalryman's for his horse and lance. "Triggs" were the people that actually did sweep the roads ...and the footways ...and the channels. Parked cars didn't deter them! And of course when snow covered the roads they would come out and clear it... and then spread salt on icy footways. Then the "Time and Motion man cometh!" Bringing with him wonderous ways of improving productivity like the introduction of the mechanised sweeper. You know... that buggy with rotating brushes that drives up and down spraying water around the wheels of parked cars. Not very good on snow covered roads apparently. The Productivity Improvement years were followed by the Privatisation years and "Trigg" was outsourced, never to return.

Council Officers who had served their "apprenticeship" in the service they now delivered morphed into Managers with MBAs from the private sector. The old style Chief Officer became a Director who talked about Mission Statements and Values and Visions. Even we Ratepayers were changed... and now we are Customers within a "customer-centric business model."
And clearly it was that strategic thinking, together with the risk assessments and cost benefit analyses that benefitted us customers over the last few weeks as they concluded...no need to panic....the snow will eventually melt. And do you know....they were right! 

Curing those post-christmas blues...

Here we are then....December 27th and the annual bout of post Christmas blues has kicked in. When counselling me this morning, Lynda asked "If you had to choose between a holiday in the sun or Christmas, which would you choose?"  "Easy" I said. "I could give up my annual holiday and I often have, but I could never give up Christmas!

What is it that makes Christmas so special to us?  For the believers amongst us there is of course only one answer to that.  For the
"semi and non" believers I guess we would talk about getting together with family and friends...the christmas presents we exchange...and all the food and drink that we feast on.     Once upon a time we would also have talked about the great programmes on TV.  No likelihood of that this year with the depression rendering plots of Eastenders and the oh so lost it The Royle Family occupying prime-time viewing slots on Christmas Night.

Speaking for myself I love everything about Christmas...particularly the preparation and the anticipation. Starting on December 1st and decorating the tree and the house in a totally camp way. Buying gifts and stocking-fillers  for every one. Watching the expressions of delight on Christmas morning. I love the feasting part too...including the excesses of sweets and nuts and Christmas cake. I do wonder about the tin of Christmas biscuits though that just sits on the side...but it wouldn't be Christmas without it.

And it wouldn't be Christmas if we didn't get that inevitable attack of post-christmas melancholy!  After all the anticipation and then the emotional frenzy of Christmas Day, it seems to abruptly come to an end.  I try various self-help remedies...like arranging my opened presents back under the tree as if Santa has yet to visit???? .....it doesn't really help!
I had always put my post-christmas blues down to the fact that I simply enjoyed all the anticipation. What I better understand now is that decorating the house for the admiration of visiting loved ones, cooking them the pre-christmas pasta, giving them presents that hopefully please are ways in which I can show the extent of my feelings. Knowing that if I attempted to say it in words, that I would get totally emotional and fill up....just as I do when watching that final scene of Elf with Will Ferrell when the crowd in Central Park need to sing to get Santa's sleigh to fly!!!  (Another essential part of the pre-christmas build up!)
And I reckon it's the same for most of us. Whatever are our beliefs or reasons for celebrating Christmas, it is that unique period in the year when not only do we share expressions of goodwill....but we also find a way to tell those we love...just how much we do. Then we stop...no wonder we feel melancholy!
So come on then.....to cure those post-christmas blues....carry on wishing others "all the best!" and telling people what they really mean to you. OnWeGo!!!!!!! 

Something of value for Christmas!

I cooked the annual pre-christmas "spag bol'" for my daughters and grand-children last night. Holly calls it my token spag bol' ...but she does mean it in the special occasion sense of the word. It's something the old silverback loves to do, and it is always greeted with great appreciation amongst the progeny who proclaim it the "best of all" bolognaise with "better than anyone else's" salad.

Inevitably the occasion becomes nostalgic, and last night was no exception when we viewed several boxes of the old 35 mm slides.  My daughter's suggestion, not mine! And of course 35 mm slides are bound to be nostalgic because we all gave up taking them 20 years ago. But they caused great amusement. For the fashions....those Kevin Keegan shorts will never come back! For the comparatively austere decor. For those furnishings some of which survive to this day (I don't think I could physically remove the three seater settees from my present home?)  And because the evidence from the slides was that it was always good old dad who played with the girls when they were small, whilst their mother seemed to spend all her time lying on a sun lounger!!
Watching these golden oldie moments I also found myself recalling situations that we encountered as a family. I probably applied a bit of rose tinted retro-viewing but it did seem that we showed good guidance as parents. We often joke about the ex's disciplined approach to bed time. I can't really believe that the girls were still being sent to bed before it got dark when they had reached their teens!!
So I was particularly interested to read today about recent research carried out at the University of Toronto's Rotman School of Management. on the impact of disciplined parenting. This extract from esciencenews explains it:
Children whose parents use a firm parenting style that still allows them to test the rules and learn from it are more likely to assume leadership roles as adults according to a new study published in a recent edition of The Leadership Quarterly. Researchers used data from a long-term Minnesota study of twins. They found that children raised with an "authoritative" parenting style – where parents set clear limits and expectations while also being supportive of their children – assumed more leadership roles at work and in their communities later in life. While these children were also less likely to engage in serious rule-breaking, children who did engage in serious rule-breaking were less likely to assume leadership roles."Some of these early examples of rule-breaking behaviour, more the modest type, don't necessarily produce negative outcomes later in life – that was fairly intriguing," says Maria Rotundo, a professor "It doesn't mean all children of authoritative parents are going to become leaders, but they are more likely to."

It certainly corresponds with what I had always believed about the early-years fixing of lifelong attitudes. And that says it all really....what I had always believed.  Because it is those beliefs and values that were instilled by those closest to us when we were first learning about things that remain with us, shaping our attitudes and behaviours throughout life.  If we were fortunate they will have been good values. Either way they become deeply rooted and all of us find it difficult to alter our habits and behaviours that are based on these beliefs. Something we clearly experience when we try to change what we regard as disappointing behaviour and attitude in others.

So here's a suggestion for any of us still struggling with what to give the little 'uns this christmas. As well as that  particular toy that was on the letter to Santa....which of course will be much loved but probably played out by next christmas....
.... how about giving the gift of a guiding value for life?

"Investigate things and how they work!"

One of my favourite reads is the weekly newsletter "eureka" from esciencenews.com.  It's a round up of scientific research going on just about everywhere on anything. As I got older I used to be surprised how much there was still to learn. Yes seriously... I really did. Then I got wise and realised that clever people recognise how little they do know. Then I grew out of my intellectual self-analysing phase and just enjoyed being curious!
 "Be curious" was the lesson I learned from a lovely old guy I once knew, who although well into his 80's, was mentally as sharp as they come. "Investigate things and how they work" was his philosophy.
It was this enquiring mind, coupled with his talents as a tool-maker that lead him to design and make a spinning top. Not any old spinning top but one that would hold the Guiness Book of Records title for the world's longest spinning top!  Yes he was purposeful as well.   Each day he would be up with the lark and into the local Tesco at opening time, no sleeping in for him. Although he never made a thing about it, Bill's enquiring mind was as fit as it would have been in his youth.
I remember back in '98 driving with him and his younger sister of 78 as as we visited a long lost relative in Essex. They were arguing in the back seat over the details of a similar journey they used to make as children travelling to see an Aunt from their home in Southend-on-Sea. Younger sister thought that she remembered the journey. Older brother Bill knew that he remembered it. Maybe that was the purposeful side kicking in. Why bother to remember all that detail? Unless of course it was to prove his younger sibling was wrong. But remember it he did, as he recalled with amazing detail all the images along the way.
Sadly I lost contact with Bill a few years ago but I'm sure he is still getting up early each morning... is giving himself a purpose for the day....has a "project" on his mind that he is questioning... and is trying to improve on the answers that he is given. Thanks for that Bill.

I couldn't feel it in my loins!

I went to our company Annual Conference last week and we finished off the day with the customary bit of team building...this time in the shape of Karting.
Now OnWeGo is all about doing things you've never done before....stretching your achievement limits....breaking the conventional link between maturity and sensible behaviour. So Karting met all of those criteria and I was definitely up for it.

I thought it would be a good opportunity to apply all the NLP training...to work on the inner resourcefulness...to get into the zone and all that.  Of course all the young dudes were doing their stuff...you know how excess testosterone makes them behave when there's a bit of a competition. And the mountain of pizza for lunch probably added to their hyperactivity. Even "IT" Rich couldn't resist pointing out that he left 10 minutes after me and still managed to arrive at the venue 10 minutes before me...clearly questioning my prospects at the Karting?? Mind games!! Huh!! They are easily dismissed, and I focused on my positive visualisation as I pulled on my Karting suit. That was the first problem! It seems that Karters are typically narrow of hip and getting into "the zone" proved difficult with my loins in a tournaquet! Choosing my helmet didn't help matters. "XL is blue" read the sign. My chosen blue helmet wouldn't go past my ears! "No!" Said an exasperated Rich. "it's the colour of the stickers on the visor."  I think he was being helpful? .. and not still playing mind games!

By now the positive affirmations were not working so well, and by the time the pre-race briefing had finished I suspected that I hadn't taken everything on board...and I was now numb from the waste down!!

For those that have never karted, let me explain that mental concentration and quick reactions are essential. I was decidedly lacking in awareness, both above the neck and below the waste...and it showed in my results!

Heats 1 to 3 left me languishing down the leader board and positive visualisation of a podium place was proving difficult. Now previously, in the warm up sessions, the testosterone soaked yahoos in the studio had laughed at the gentle driving style of the girls. This was bound to offend my old fashioned sense of gallantry... or maybe it was my dominant Assertive-Nurturing behavioural style that was taking over? But competitiveness was giving way to altruism.  I found myself turning my attention to encouraging the girls. Actually, I didn't have to turn at all. They passed me at will. Nor did I have to encourage them!!!

I didn't make the semi-finals. I had to endure the customary half-witticisms of Bill the Accountant. My kartsuit had to be peeled from my shoulders by a gracious and sympathetic Amie...bless her!  I even managed to get lost driving home.
So no personal glory for me but most definitely a good case for the "don't give up....keep on trying" spirit of  OnWeGo!  
Karting I will do again...... and next time????

The real secret of long life

Playing golf last week with my great pal Tony, I told him that he is the epitome of what OnWeGo is all about, and that when we get to create our Hall of Fame he'll be in it.  I was feeling fraternal at the time, after all I hadn't seen him in a year, the round was paid for, and he had laid on a buggy! But gratitude apart I have to say he is an OnWeGo role model.   He is 75, fit as a fiddle, quick witted and still selling membership packages for the FSB with the same passion as he did 20 years ago.
He also takes his golf very seriously. A regular player at Puckrup (and former Club Captain) he still felt that a 9 shots handicap allowance was all I deserved in our round of Stapleford. But he also knew he'd have to play at his best to beat me. And it's that wanting to do your best each day that I believe is the real secret of long life.
We should all marvel at the power of our minds when it comes to things like attitude and determination. Fighting off illness. Overcoming adversity. Raising performance levels in sport. Each week we hear news stories and read scientific research showing how a focused determined mind drives a strong body.

Only today I was reading of work at UCLA that again shows how mental exercise, be it from Sudoku, crossword puzzles or even surfing the net will counter the ageing effect on the brain.  My own anecdotal research would add having purpose to those "stretching exercises."  Regularly doing something that in some way or other requires that you "attempt your best." Whether that is playing to your best, and sport is great for that, or doing better in terms of learning a new skill. Because a stretched brain remains a healthy brain which in turn insists on a healthy body to keep up.

Which is precisely what keeps Tony performing at the level of somebody 25 years his junior.

As to the golf....he beat me 36 points to 30! 

But I remained purposeful to the 18th. An awesome 180 yard par 3 over a lake to an elevated green overlooked by the hotel restaurant and clubhouse.

Tony (former club captain remember) sliced his tee shot into the water. A quiet inner word with myself preceeded a soaring 3 wood onto the green and two putts for par! I enjoyed lunch in the club house...that was also on Tony.

Look at me mother...I'm a book reviewer!

"A big thanks to Bob Howard-Spink, who deserves a special mention for painstakingly reading the drafts and testing my techniques on the range. Your help, feedback and advice has been invaluable."
 Roy Palmer

What?    Yes that's right.... I am posting an author's acknowledgement.... to me!!! Yes me.

And I'm crowing about it because I really am chuffed to bits. I have always wanted to be one of those "invaluable" people that gets mentioned in the Acknowledgments. I think it goes back to childhood when I thought that to be acknowledged must have meant that you had lots of knowledge. And to be honest,  throughout life I've never been a great reader and so the Acknowledgements were the only part of a book I was certain to read.

Which is why it was all the more surprising, flattering and I guess a bit daunting to be asked by Roy to run a golfer's eye over the draft of his forthcoming book Golf Sense...and me only a 24 handicapper as well!

I must say that Roy's ideas in the book are terrific. Apologies to any non-golfers but one technique that  helped me so much deals with getting into the zone prior to backswing. I've always been aware that I think too much about starting the backswing, and so it becomes a highly conscious attempt at moving hands, arms, shoulders and pretty much everything else in a vague up and down path. No wonder I never progressed much below 24 handicap!!

But not now!  A big thank you Roy!  For the golf improvement but also for giving me a crack at book reviewing and adding another entry on my "I never thought I'd be doing this" list.

OnWeGo is all about promoting the "keep it going....do something new" spirit and looking for opportunities to fulfill that spirit, at a time of life when we could be reaching for the jigsaw puzzles or watching day time TV.  It's about doing something that you'd never seen yourself doing. It's about recognising that we've got talents that others will appreciate. And it's about the enormous satisfaction derived from beating your "personal best" in life and getting thanks and appreciation in the process. Why shouldn't the rest of your life be the best of your life!