The Art of Brilliance Blog

I grew up in the 1970s.

In those days we didn’t have many TV channels (just three in fact, BBC1, BBC2 and ITV). But we had some really cool superheroes on the telly. The Hulk. And Superman. And Spidey. And, best of all, Wonder Woman (what an outfit!).

The thing is that 1970s superheroes actually looked like superheroes. Turning green or wearing your undies on the outside was de rigeur for 1970s superheroes.

Fast forward to the late 90s. I’ve grown up and have kids of my own. My youngest got addicted to Bob the Builder. And I used to have a downer about Bob because he isn’t a superhero. He’s just a builder. He fixes stuff. What’s the point of watching DVDs about a builder? There’s nothing special about Bob. It’s not even as if he’d had an accident with a rivet gun when he was six and became the “contractor of choice”. He’s just a builder!

Until one day I sat down and watched an episode of Bob the Builder. It blew me away. Bob (bearing in mind all the builders you know) never turns up at a job and grimaces, shakes his head and complains, “Who did your plumbing love? I don’t like the look of that.” No siree. Bob always approaches his work with a positive mental attitude. And he doesn’t turn up on his tod. Oh no. He turns up with a high performance team (Scoop, Muck, Dizzy, Wendy, Roly, Spud and Lofty) and they sing and dance while they work. And, of course, when the challenge seems insurmountable Bob always shouts to his team, “can we fix it?” and his team always shouts back, “yes we can!”

Know what? I think Bob’s got himself an empowered team. He’s not a bad role model. He’s certainly ‘not just a builder’. His extra-ordinarily positive attitude marks him out as being the best builder in the world.

Maybe Bob’s a superhero for the modern times?

The top joke from the Edinburgh Fringe (according to the Independent anyway) was awarded this year to Joe Lycett: “What do we want!? More research into a cure for ADHD! When do we want it!? Let’s play swingball!”

I don’t know who invented ‘Swingball’ – but the slightly leaning pole surrounded by holes in the ground is an important part of our back garden. We recently had to replace ours because someone hit the ball so hard it came off the string and disappeared into the hedge!

Although life can spiral up and down – and up again, I suspect “life is like a game of Swingball” is a quote that will never catch on! Generally speaking we want to go somewhere with our lives, rather than just hanging on tight and going round in circles.

So, where do you want to go? Do you know? For those who are leaders it falls on you to help your team develop a clear vision of the future. But without a vision for your own life and personal development you could find yourself going round in circles – and it’s no use expecting your team to build a vision of the future unless you lead by example.

So for this blog, our challenge to you is:

• Where are you going?
• Who do you want to be?
• What impact do you want to have?
• And above all, why?

We’ve been running programmes that make you think for, well, quite a while, and we’ve been asked many times what else we can do to take our principles a step further? How can we build them into the way we develop our leaders to transform our organisations?

Well, the answer is finally here. In November and December 2013 we are running, in conjunction with ‘The Living Leader’, a three day Personal Leadership Programme that does all this and more.

If you were inspired by The Art of Being Brilliant then this programme will make you think and then help you to make it happen!

For further details email peter@artofbrilliance.co.uk

If you remember, I left you on a cliff hanger? What do you mean you don’t care? Or you can’t remember?

To recap, I’d suggested we need an alien invasion to bring us humans together as one big happy family. And it’s ‘happy families’ that I want to continue with.

Because some families don’t get on. I mean, how on earth are we going to reconcile the ills of the world when families are at war?

So, in true 2%er style, I’ve decided to do my bit for humanity. For the rest of my life I’m going to treat everyone as if they are family. I’m so excited about it! Once ‘everyone’ is family, the world seems such a nicer place.

My first opportunity to heal the world came as I was checking into one of Lenny’s purple hotels (in Romford – rock ‘n’ roll baby). I waited patiently as a couple tried to check in. I couldn’t help noticing that the middle aged woman had a dragon tattooed on her back and the guy looked rather like Steptoe. And it was weird that they only wanted the room for an hour? The Jeremy Kyle episode ‘I got my sister pregnant in a Premier Inn’ flickered momentarily across my mind. But, hey, they’re family, so I blew that thought away.

Anyway their credit card didn’t work and Premier Inn don’t take cash so after a few minutes of them pleading with reception and me desperately needing a wee, it hit me that this was an opportunity. I had just committed to treating everyone as family. Would I treat my family like this?

Of course not. So I stepped forward and paid for their room on my credit card. Ta da!

The lady with the dragon tattoo seemed really grateful and I walked down the corridor towards my room thinking, ‘This changing the world is going to cost me a bloody fortune.’ But, I have to be honest, I did have a warm glow on the inside.

Oh, and in case you’re wondering, the full amount was waiting for me (in cash) behind reception in the morning. I tucked into my morning croissant, my faith in humanity peeking through in a wry smile. I glanced at the headline of the local paper, ‘Mugging at Premier Inn by Dragon Lady and Steptoe accomplice.’

And I marvelled at the coincidence. Fancy that happening, here in Romford. Amazing!

Andy W @artofbrillandyw

I was driving home from a session all about ‘leading change’. To be honest I steer away from delivering the standard ‘change’ material. All that ‘unfreeze – change – refreeze’ stuff leaves me cold.

Instead, I decided to speak about what was really on my mind. I suggested that, as the human race, we are still very new to this planet. If we play our cards right, we’ve got a few million years left on the lease.

I then explained, in our trademark non-academic way, that a lot of the world’s current thinking is quite ‘medieval’. And by ‘medieval’ I mean ‘medieval’. For example, we still fight about money, territory and Gods.

And my mind flashed back to an article I’d read many years ago about how astronauts feel when they view Earth from a million miles away. Many of them comment on the tranquillity and beauty of our blue planet when viewed from afar.

And yet, here we are at ground level saying things like, ‘My God’s better than your God. Bang bang, you’re dead!’

Here’s a local and petty example. People from Liverpool (‘Scousers’) tend to have a general dislike of people from Manchester (‘Mancs’). It’s partly a football rivalry and probably a man thing, but stick with me, there’s a great point on the way. They hate each other so much that, famously, when there was a scarcity of maternity wards, expectant parents had to use the local veterinary hospital.

One night a Scouser and Manc turned up with their pregnant wives, along with a German Shepherd bitch called Lucy. Confused? So was the vet!

All were rushed into the delivery room and the men listened while there was a lot of panting, screaming and yelping from behind the door.

After a nervous couple of hours the vet emerged into the waiting room and explained there had been complications but not to worry as all the new born where fit and healthy. Phew! The only problem was during the turmoil of three females giving birth at once he hadn’t had time to tag the infants. “However,” he reassured them, “this shouldn’t cause too much of a problem because as their fathers you should find it very easy to recognise your own offspring.”

The Manc jumped up at the speed of a thousand gazelles and ran into the delivery room returning with the German Shepherd puppy lovingly cradled in his arms.

The vet looked confused. “That one can’t be yours sir,” he explained.

And the Manc said, “Up yours doc! I’m taking no chances. One of those babies in there is a Scouser!”

That is a lot of hatred!

However, consider this – if that very same Manc and Scouser went on a trip to London, they wouldn’t be a ‘Manc’ and ‘Scouser’ any more. They would unite as ‘northerners’, joining forces in the battle against ‘shandy-drinking southerners’.

Then if the northerner and southerner went on holiday to Spain, they would become ‘English’ and join forces against the Spanish. Being ‘English’ they would have too much sun, too many beers and chant racial slurs before drowning in their own sick.

However if ever the English and Spanish went on holiday to the USA they would then become ‘European’ and begin to hate the Americans. Then the Europeans and Americans go on holiday to somewhere in the Middle East… and I think you can see where this is going?

So the way I see it, what we need to bring the people of the world together in harmony and peace is… an alien invasion!

Think about it?

Then all the Muslims, Christians, Jews, Hindus, Buddhists and ginger people… in fact all the ethnic and minority groups would stand together in unity as one and shout:

“Come on you little green b*****s, we’ll have ya!”

For the members of my audience left awake, my point was, why wait for an alien invasion? Let’s unite now. Let’s forgive the mistakes of the past and understand we probably didn’t know any better and live out the remainder of our lease with positivity, harmony and happiness. Sounds awesome, right?

So, in part two of this blog, I’ll reveal what I’m doing to save the world.

Until next time

Andy W @artofbrillandyw

According to my esteemed co-author, Andy Whittaker, we’re all born perfect. But of course, in the interests of generating some debate, I totally disagree. We’re born completely and utterly flawed. You pop out into the world, someone slaps your backside (nice welcome!), you open your lungs and the starting pistol of life signals that you’re off…

You are you. You just don’t know it yet! And, eventually you get used to being you. You work out what works and doesn’t work for you. You suss the system.

But which bit is ‘you’?

Is it the body bit? Grab your ear lobe and feel the smoothness of it. The little hairs. That’s a bit of ‘you’, right? Or bite your lip. Ouch, that’s definitely ‘you’. Pull your hair. That’s attached (unless you’re wearing a syrup, in which case you’d probably best not pull it too hard) so that’s ‘you’ too. So there’s a physical ‘you’. That version of ‘you’ that’s basically a bunch of trillions of cells stuck together. And the physical ‘you’ is very important.

But ‘The Art of Being Brilliant’ is less about the ‘you’ that you see when you stand naked in front of the mirror. Yes, yes, we know there are a load of lumps, bumps and imperfections. But herein lies the clue to you number two. Who’s the one noticing your reflection? Who’s the one saying, ‘Best suck your belly in mate’? Who’s the one imagining how good you’d look if you actually put some effort into getting fit?

We reckon this is the real you. The lumpy, visible bunch of cells is just the mechanism you use to transport yourself around. The one in your head is the most important. The one that feels and connects. Some call it your spirit, or personality or inner voice.

If I ask you, ‘Do you talk to yourself’? The real you is the one who says, ‘I don’t know, do I?’

And that’s the version of ‘you’ that we want to engage. Because if we can get through to the realyou, our job is done.

Men will be men. Or will they? Roles are a-changing folks. In the olden days (ie, 30 years ago) men would go down the pit or out in their deep-sea trawlers. And they’d socialise with men. And there would be a clear male/female divide. I’m not arguing that this was good, but just that it was how it was. But it’s no longer how it is.

I am a male of the species. And look at what I don’t do… I don’t put shelves up or tinker under the bonnet of my car. I don’t decorate or tile the bathroom. I wouldn’t ever attempt to lay a patio or build a wall. I don’t really do gardening. I haven’t got a veg patch or allotment. I struggle with Ikea furniture.

Whereas my mate Pat is one of the last of a dying breed – a real man. He builds walls. And puts roofs on houses. And does plastering. Which means I’m delighted to be born into today’s world. Because in the old days when men were men, I’d have been a failure!

So, while a lot of people get a bit stuck in a rut of sameness and hark back to the ‘good old days’, I can’t think of anything worse? I’m thankful of the modern world. Because people are allowed to be who they want to be.

And that’s what ‘The Art of Being Brilliant’ is all about. It’s not about your job! It’s simply a reminder to be yourself, brilliantly!

Have a fab day

Andy

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.