Recently, I came across an interesting concept. The Matthew Effect is when an initial success in something leads to even greater success. And, conversely, if we are unsuccessful, we’re likely to become even more unsuccessful. In short, it seems that success and failure will grow like Topsy, whichever gets the upper hand. The effect derives its name from a passage in the Gospel of St Matthew, 25:29. ‘To everyone who has, will more be given, and he will have abundance. But from him who has not, even what he has will be taken away.’
Heavy stuff. But most probably true. Let me give you just one example...Andy's Blog
Welcome to Andy’s musings. If Carlsberg could write blogs...
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My aim, along with most other people, is to live a long and happy life. And, I’m pleased to report, so far so good. My children are aged 15 and 11 so, while the innocence of Santa is gone, the magic of Christmas is still pretty much alive and well. I absolutely love Christmas. Sure, I follow the kids around turning off lights and inching the thermostat down a notch or two...
Sometimes opportunities arise that are just too fab to miss. For me, a trip to India is exactly that. I’ve been so excited about taking ‘The Art of Being Brilliant’ to the subcontinent. But my excitement was tinged with apprehension. The workshop contains some humour. My humour! Which sometimes doesn’t even translate to British audiences! And some of the phraseology about ‘mood hoovers’ and ‘2%ers’ and especially ‘limbic locking’. And what if the cultural differences mean that audiences just sit there passively? Yikes! My workshops rely on interaction and banter and off-the-cuffness. You see, some of my language doesn’t even makes sense in English!
Now I’m here, ensconced in the middle of Delhi. I’ve delivered 3 days of ‘The Art of Being Brilliant’ to various audiences from teens upwards. Sweltering temperatures and huge crowds. Lessons learned...If you’ve ever come on an ‘Art of Being Brilliant’ workshop (or read our fantastic book of the same name) you’ll be familiar with the term ‘mood hoovers’. A mood hoover is someone who’s stuck in a typically British doom and gloom mentality. The news is always bad, the weather’s always grim, all teenagers are hoodies, work’s rubbish...you get my drift! They’re stuck in moan mode. And we call them mood hoovers because they’re expert at sucking all the positivity and joy out of the people around them. It only takes 30 seconds...and they’ve made us feel as depressed as they are!
Let me introduce you to a guy who’s the opposite of a mood hoover. We call them, 2%ers...
Remember the olden days?
When cameras had films in. And you took 24 snaps, popped the film into an envelope and sent it off to be developed. 10 days later, Mr Postie delivered a fat envelope and you’d get excited...I run a course called 'The Art of Being Brilliant'. Quite honestly, I have the best job in the world, travelling to meet people from various businesses and schools to deliver something that really works. The results over the years have been magnificent. OK, so there have been a few failures...
To blog or not to blog? That is the question that’s been perplexing me for a while. The young, trendy cool brigade all blog, Twitter, Skype and do that Facebook thingy. I met my buddy Richard Gerver in the pub the other day...
