The Art of Brilliance Blog

A young couple moved into a swanky apartment in a new neighbourhood. They sat in their kitchen having breakfast, watching the world go by. The woman saw her neighbour pegging out the washing. ‘That laundry’s not very clean,’ she tutted. ‘She either needs a new washing machine or better washing powder.’

Other than the crunching on his toast, her husband remained silent.

His wife’s comment was exactly the same the next day. And the next. ‘Why on earth is that woman hanging out dirty washing?’ she sighed in disgust. ‘She needs lessons in basic hygiene!’

And her husband crunched, knowingly.

On the fourth day his wife plonked herself at the breakfast table with a gleeful smile. ‘At last,’ she said, pointing at their neighbour’s washing line.’ Her husband followed her gaze to the neatly arranged clothes line where the whites sparkled and the colours shone. ‘All of a sudden she seems to have learned to clean properly.’

And her husband broke his silence. ‘I got up early this morning and cleaned our windows.’

And so it is with life. We view the world from inside our head. Our eyes are our windows on the world. Before we give any criticism, it might be a good idea to check our state of mind and ask ourselves if we are ready to see the good rather than to be looking for something in the person we are about to judge. It’s easy to be critical. It’s easy for our windows to become grimy.

So, to stretch the vision metaphor just a little bit too far, we don’t want you to go all ‘rose tinted’. Not everything in the world is good and bright and fantastic. But, if you follow our advice and view the world through our ‘positive tinted’ spectacles, the world’s a lot brighter than you think.

For our ‘old’ customers, you’ll be aware that we run awesome 2%ers events. For our ‘new’ customers, you need to get yourself booked onto the ‘happiness’ event of the year…

We describe this as the equivalent of a Willy Wonka Golden Ticket. Forget Glastonbury or the Wimbledon final. The summer event of the year is happening on 1 July 2013 at Alton Towers where we will be running one of our world famous 2%ers events.

Last year’s Alton Towers event is impossible to beat (we had the world famous Paul McGee plus Alex Steele’s awesome jazz band), so we’re not even going to try.

We’re not aiming for ‘better’, we’re going for ‘different’. You can expect a ‘back to basics’ gig, focusing on a heady mixture of happiness, wellbeing, flourishing and maybe a dash of NLP. In a nutshell, lots of thought-provoking material and plenty of laughs.

Timings are 10am till 3pm. Cost is nil (yes, it’s FREE!). There’s no catch. And there’s only one rule…no mood hoovers!

If you want to bag a place (or places) please email helen@artofbrilliance.co.uk

Cheers
Andy

Check out Cherie Carter-Scott’s rules of life, inspired by the Helen Keller’s quote, “Life is a succession of lessons which must be lived to be understood.”

Fab stuff…

Rule One – You will receive a body. Whether you love it or hate it, it’s yours for life, so accept it. What counts is what’s inside.

Rule Two – You will be presented with lessons. Life is a constant learning experience, which every day provides opportunities for you to learn more.

Rule Three – There are no mistakes, only lessons. Your development towards wisdom is a process of experimentation, trial and error, so it’s inevitable things will not always go to plan or turn out how you’d want.

Rule Four – The lesson is repeated until learned. Lessons repeat until learned. What manifests as problems and challenges, irritations and frustrations are more lessons – they will repeat until you see them as such and learn from them.

Rule Five – Learning does not end. While you are alive there are always lessons to be learned. Surrender to the ‘rhythm of life’, don’t struggle against it.

Rule Six – “There” is no better than “here”. The other side of the hill may be greener than your own, but being there is not the key to endless happiness. Be grateful for and enjoy what you have, and where you are on your journey.

Rule Seven – Others are only mirrors of you. You love or hate something about another person according to what you love or hate about yourself. Be tolerant.

Rule Eight – What you make of your life is up to you. You have all the tools and resources you need. What you do with them is up to you. ** Rule Nine – Your answers lie inside of you.** Trust your instincts and your innermost feelings, whether you hear them as a little voice or a flash of inspiration.

Rule Ten – You will forget all this at birth.

That 10th one is a real bummer!

Can I add one more rule?

Rule Eleven – Being positive is a learned behavior. The younger you learn it the better! It’s more difficult to be positive than negative and, because it takes a tad of effort and a bit of practice, most people can’t be bothered.

Any rules you’d like to add?

Technology is great. My internet connection was down for a few days and it was really difficult to work! No, really, sad as it may sound, I was hopelessly lost and unproductive. And, as always, it triggered some thoughts.

Drug addicts are called ‘users’…

…and the same word is applied to those of us who are addicted to gadgets. And I think I’m on the verge of an addiction. But, an addiction is only bad if it starts to become a problem, right?

I need a fix of emails every so often. The damned inbox sits there, pinging away during my working from home days, basically stopping me working from home! It’s a problem. I attend meetings where managers have 2 or 3 mobiles lined up on the desk. And at break time they don’t get a coffee, they scrabble for their mobiles. It’s a problem. It’s common for users to be using on trains and in supermarkets and even in the pub. It’s a problem. We see people sitting by the pool, emailing work. It’s most definitely a problem!

And, have you noticed that users are getting younger. I had an email from a friend who lives abroad. A newish mum in fact. She sent me a lovely pic of her daughter’s first birthday with a proud note that said, ‘she’s just about walking, gurgling and loves to pretend she’s on a mobile phone. It’s so sweet.’ Excuse me? Like it’s a good thing! It’s obviously a worldwide problem!

‘Blackberry’s have been nicknamed ‘crackberries’. There’s an epidemic of ‘toasted thigh syndrome’, caused by excessive use of a laptop on your knee. And, get this, there’s even ‘vibrating thigh syndrome’ (phantom vibrating in your pocket, even when your moby is switched off!). Have you experienced it? Yep, me too!

We’re Facebooking and Tweeting. We’re meeting our perfect partners on line. I really wish I had a solution. Maybe it’s not a problem at all? Maybe me having a problem with it is the problem? The juggernaught of technological progress ain’t going to wait for me.

What would a 2%er do? I guess they’d be positive about the change. I guess they’d go with the flow, do the best they can. But, at the forefront of my mind is this… my PhD research is showing, very clearly, that having strong human relationships is one of the major ingredients of happiness. I have an uneasy feeling that 100 friends on Facebook doesn’t actually equate to the same level of happiness as 1 genuine face-to-face flesh-and-blood chum who you can go to the pub with.

I’m confused about this blog. Technology is great? Right? But the top 10 happiest days of my life are all days that have been spent without technology.

And that’s worth thinking about.

A x

Having said all that – we’ll be running two half day Art of Being Brilliants at Exeter Uni on March 21st. Use technology to find out more… click here. Then switch of your mobiles and calm that vibrating thigh with a half day’s antidote to busyness!

A new year. And according to the press, it’s going to be another tough one!

So we do what we’ve always done… hunker down and try and get it over with! If we can get through 2013 then maybe 2014 will be better? Or, on a more short term basis, if we can survive Jan and Feb, the days will start getting longer and the green shoots of spring will start peeping through. But…

If you’re one of our merry band of enlightened ‘2%ers’ you’ll know that life’s too short to think like that. We haven’t got enough weeks left on this planet to count them down, wishing them away!

People go to extraordinary lengths to discover the meaning of life. They go on pilgrimages to monasteries in India. They pray. Sometimes really hard and for a long time. But the last place people look is right under their feet, in everyday activities and inside themselves.

The reason so many people cannot see the big red X that marks the spot is because they’re standing on it!

Maybe 2013 can be the year when you start looking for happiness in the right place?

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, individuals who are so entrenched in their negativity that they are unshiftable, but they’ve been the exception rather than the rule.

And recently I came across a new challenge. It was an amazing business where I’ve met the best and worst delegates ever. Polar opposites! In the blue corner, some of the team members cared so passionately about being world class that they were going to amazing lengths to exceed customer expectations. And, in the red corner were some of the most intransigent energy vampires I’ve ever met. These employees were on a go slow, resisting all attempts to move with the times. Life was better in the old days. Negative about their managers and their jobs. Work was endured.

The curious thing is that the hard working ones were brimming with smiles. They were getting letters of thanks from their customers. They were glowing with brilliance. They were happier! And the go slows? Long faces. Default setting stuck on whinge mode. And most of all they came across as being very unhappy.

And in the middle sat the new apprentice, a fresh faced 16 year old, straight from school. Who will he side with? Tell you what, his choices over the next 12 months may well determine the outcome of his entire working life. Succumb to the dark side. Believe the harbingers of doom and become a purveyor of all things negative until moaning becomes normal. Or join in with the unfashionable bright siders. Work hard. Smile broadly. Enjoy the 9 to 5 experience and become enlightened into the ethos that hard work can be superb fun.

We all face crucial choices in life. Fingers crossed for the lad.

I love stories. I’ve just re-read Pollyanna. And it’s proof that, yes, you can be too happy! Her catch-phrase “there’s always something to be glad about” is very upbeat and positive. On first or second hearing that is! The lesson from Pollyanna is to turn it down a bit. When you’re so positive that people want to punch your lights out, you’re doing it wrong!

Tom Sawyer got it just about right. There’s a classic chapter where Tom uses the power of positivity to influence his chums. Tom’s aunt asks him to whitewash the fence. His friends call by and Tom is seen applying the paint with gusto, pretending to enjoy the chore. “Do you call this work?” Tom tells his mates. “Does a boy get a chance to whitewash a fence every day?”

Armed with this new information his friends discover the joys of whitewashing a fence. Before long, Tom’s friends are paying him for the privilege as well as deriving real pleasure from the task!

I reckon Tom’s a 2%er. He transformed a negative experience into a positive one. He’s influenced those around him in a positive way. In short, his enthusiasm is infectious. And I reckon there’s a message in there for all of us. Whatever job you are attending to right now, do it with passion, energy and enthusiasm. And when you get home, practice parenting in the same vein. You’ll feel great…and so will those around you

Happy whitewashing! A

A modern workplace parable, with a few random thoughts thrown in…

A senior manager had tickets to see the London Philharmonic perform Schubert’s Unfinished Symphony at the Royal Albert Hall. This was a rare treat because business was tough. In fact he’d spent the last week re-structuring his company, butchering the head count to improve the bottom line He enjoyed the concert. His tickets were charged to corporate hospitality but that didn’t stop him wincing at their face value. He decided to put some of his business cost-cutting ideas into practice. When he got home, he wrote a report to the RPO conductor…

“I enjoyed last night’s concert but couldn’t help thinking that the whole event was highly inefficient. At one point all 14 violins were playing the same note at the same time. I would recommend you only use 1 violinist in future.

The French horns merely repeated what the violins did and therefore I see no need for a horn section.

Many of the musicians expended excessive time and effort on playing rapid demi and semi quavers and I therefore recommend that all notes are rounded up to the nearest quaver. This has the added benefit of reducing the skill level so you could employ semi-skilled staff. This would be a massive money saver.

The oboe was used, on average, once every 15 minutes. It would therefore be prudent for the oboe player to play a selection of other instruments in his spare time.

If these recommendations are put into practice the concert could be reduced in time from 1 hour 43 minutes to 24 minutes and the number of musicians reduced from 57 to 8.

If Schubert had had this foresight he would undoubtedly have had time to finish the symphony.”

There’s a message in there somewhere folks. The modern world is striving for super-efficiency and cost-cutting. There’s no doubting these are important. But our belief is that quality shines through. Cut costs by all means. But please make sure you don’t reduce the value of what you’re delivering.

I like this story…

Baby bear goes downstairs, sits in his small chair at the table. He looks into his small bowl. It is empty. ‘Who’s been eating my porridge?’ he squeaks.

Daddy Bear arrives at the big table and sits in his big chair. He looks into his big bowl and it is also empty. ‘Who’s been eating my porridge?!?’ he roars.

Mummy Bear puts her head through the serving hatch from the kitchen and yells

“For God’s sake, how many times do I have to go through this with you idiots? It was Mummy Bear who got up first. It was Mummy Bear who woke everyone in the house. It was Mummy Bear who made the coffee. It was Mummy Bear who unloaded the dishwasher from last night and put everything away. It was Mummy Bear who swept the floor in the kitchen. It was Mummy Bear who went out in the cold early morning air to fetch the newspaper and croissants. It was Mummy Bear who set the damn table.

“It was Mummy Bear who walked the bloody dog, cleaned the cat’s litter tray, gave them their food, and refilled their water.

“And now that you’ve decided to drag your sorry bear-arses downstairs and grace Mummy Bear with your grumpy presence, listen carefully, because I’m only going to say this once….

“I HAVEN’T MADE THE F****** PORRIDGE YET!”

I’ll tell you why I like it. Because even brilliant people can lose their rag. Being a 2%er isn’t about always being right or always being nicey-nicey. It’s not about sticking an inane grin on your face and pretending to be happy when you’re seriously hacked off. Sometimes it’s perfectly OK to be angry and upset. And, hopefully, if this message has sunk in with daddy and baby bears everywhere and you will make mummy bear’s porridge in future.

Even when times are hard I can’t possibly ever buy eggs from battery farms. If you’ve ever seen the Panorama Special when they went undercover you’ll know what I mean. Awful conditions. All very inhumane. The hens are worked around the clock. Minimal appreciation and zero love. The girls are, literally, worked to death. Oh, and the eggs are rubbish.

So I spend a few pence more and get ‘free range’ because these chucks have been allowed some leeway to stretch their legs, take in some fresh air and feel appreciated. The farmer loves them. Oh, and the eggs are great.

I can’t help thinking that ‘free range leadership’ might also be a good thing?

Andy x

I’ve just read a professional journal aimed at personnel managers. And my attention was drawn to an article where they were asking eminent thinkers what they thought the future of leadership would be. Cool. That’s right up my street, so I read with interest what the top people in the field of leadership had to say.

And, oh deary me. Spot the school boy error folks. Here’s a direct quote from possibly the leading thinker on business and leadership in the UK. “Leadership will be virtual, virtuous, ephemeralised, generative, autopetic and dialogical.”

Now, this might be a Derby thing, but I’ve got absolutely no idea what any of that means! As I type it it’s underlined in red which means my laptop thinks it’s wrong too!

Which brings me on to the only stand-up row I’ve ever had with a client. Picture the scene. I was at a senior management meeting, presenting my ‘solution’ to their leadership ‘problems’. It soon became clear that the client was expecting big words and I gave him simplicity. On reflection, if I’d mis-sold him something ‘ephemeralised’ or ‘autopetic’ he’d have spent £100k. And I’d have spent the next 18 months wrapping his senior management team up in academic knots so they were incapable of functioning.

Just so you know, I was escorted off the premises.

I think my potential client was confused by the fact that I was charging him a considerable sum for something that was essentially very simple. His view was for that kind of money he could have something far more complex.

No sir, for that kind of money you can strip away the complexity and get down to the basics of how to inspire yourself and your staff. ‘The Art of Being Brilliant’ is certainly not ‘dialogical’ or ‘generative’. But my goodness, it works!

Until next time

A

I’ve just finished writing ‘The Art of Being a Brilliant Teacher’ with Chris Henley and Gary Toward (if you attended the last 2%ers you will know them and their fab school). Fingers crossed that it’s a half decent book that connects with its intended audience. But one thing it has forced me to do is think about the issues faced by educators.

As always, I ask for your patience while I make my point. Please hang in there. This could be the most awesome 5 minutes of your day!

There’s a little known phenomenon called ‘Campbell’s Law’. It states that if everyone knows what is being used to measure progress, you can expect corruption.

Let’s apply it to UK schools for a sec. We all know that ‘test scores’ are crucial. And, because everyone knows it, student performance is subject to distortion.

Instead of trying to figure out how to make time for play, fun, joy, intrigue, music, creativity and the arts, educators are hyper-focused on boosting test scores. Principals feel the pressure, this gets passed on to teachers, and in turn, you have students that see school for what it is – a factory where they are working to get high scores so that everyone can avoid the wrath of failure.

‘Campbell’s Law’ suggests we can expect short-cuts and cheating every step of the way. Understandably, teachers get caught in a cycle of ‘how can we deliver the syllabus the quickest?’ ‘How can we revise the best?’ How many past papers can we cram in?’ ‘How can information be retained the longest?’ ‘How can we remove distractions?’ ‘How can we boost scores?’ All driven by the desperate need to avoid the shame of being at the bottom of the heap. (I’m not having a go. I’m just thinking out loud).

If we want kids to experience a sense of wonder and discover new information on their own, if we want them to generate novel, adaptive ideas, and if we want them to derive their own perspectives and conclusions after a discussion, then maybe we’re measuring ‘success’ in the wrong way?

Because when test scores become the goal of the teaching process, they both lose their value as indicators of educational status and distort the educational process in undesirable ways Writing ‘The Art of Being a Brilliant Teacher’ has been cathartic. What’s become clear is that if you want to steal a child’s love of a topic, make it mandatory for them to follow precise guidelines of what they have to know and what is irrelevant. Make them learn it. And then make them learn it again and again.

Don’t answer tangential questions which will steal time away from the omnipresent syllabus. The result is that too few subjects have time for intrigue!

My mission is to get positive psychology embedded in the curriculum. For young people to learn the value of positivity, confidence and optimism. For them to make positive choices about their attitudes. For children to take personal responsibility for being upbeat and to understand that their choices influence those around them. And the ‘test’ isn’t an exam. It’s life itself!

Apparently early OfSTED reports alluded to ‘awe and wonder’ in the classroom. If this isn’t ‘awe and wonder’ then I don’t know what is!

As always, your comments are invited and encouraged…