Inside Out

After our last Anything Can Happen course we asked Mark, one of the participants, to write about his experience on the course. Anything Could Happen is such an unusual course with such a different methodology that it can be difficult for people to see what it’s all about. We hoped that by getting one of the participants to tell their story, it might help others to see what they might get out of it.

He did a fantastic job of describing his experiences, which we’ve presented below. There is also a PDF available for download if you want to print it out and give it to someone who would be interested.

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Once upon a time, on a dark and stormy night a traveller arrives at a small village, carrying nothing more than an empty pot. Suspicious of the stranger and in the midst of a food shortage, the villagers hide away in their houses and refuse him food and lodging. Seemingly indifferent to the hostile atmosphere, the traveller fills a large pot with water from the village well, drops a large, smooth stone in it and places it over a fire lit in the village square. Read More »

If you watch any group discussion where more than 3-4 people are trying to achieve something, an interesting effect occurs. The group often start out with everyone contributing but after an initial period of politeness (Tuckman’s forming stage) the group begin to resemble a fried egg. Both physically and conceptually, people place themselves either in the yolk, the white, or outside the egg entirely.

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An interesting series of podcasts from The Banff Centre, Canada. Their Leadership Learning Lab aims to explore the connections between the arts, ecology, culture, and the practice of leadership.o T fulfill this goal they have invited various leaders in a wide variety of fields such as music, alternative culture, business and the outdoors to talk about what leadership means to them.

Inevitably some are better than others but at about 20 minutes each, they make great listening in the car or while commuting.

The downside is that they are only available through iTunesU which means that if you don’t use iTunes you might struggle to get them. This use of propriety software is frustrating and unnecessary, if you are willing to jump through hoops, you can get around it.

Link to Podcasts on iTunesU

A Wild Campsite

I’ve just returned from four days in the Brecon Beacons, working with Marlborough College on a life skills week for 180 fourteen year old students. My small part in this enormous logistical exercise was to run two 2-day hill walking expeditions for twelve of them at a time.

We were wild camping in remote mountain campsites with no facilities so we had a carry all of our equipment in our rucksacks. Despite being given a packing list, many of the students failed to being essential items or brought inappropriate items and learnt the hard way from their mistakes or laziness. There is nothing like experiential learning to drive the message home!

I was asked many times over the course of the trip ‘What’s in your bag then?’ and so I thought I’d share the contents of my rucksack here, so you can see what I need to survive 48 hours in the hills.

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At lunch today the conversation turned to “ice-breaker” games used on course and I talked about my “Share the stupidest thing you have ever done” game. I like this game as it always seems to break down barriers fast.

Jeremy Renwick of Kubernetes then made the very good point that this game functions because “friendship is the exchange of  vulnerabilities“.

This had me thinking all the way home across the Wiltshire Downs. I have always been aware that friendships developed during climbing trips (or sailing, or kayaking) have a tendency to go from strangers to lifelong friends in very short periods. I knew that trust was an important part of this friendship and this statement sums it up perfectly for me.

When you hand the rope holding you to someone during climbing, you are about as vulnerable as you can be. Your life is literally in their hands. If those vulnerabilities aren’t exploited then you have formed a bond of trust that is as powerful as it is possible to be and a friendship normally follows.

I can see this phrase appearing in some of my courses from now on. I shall, of course, attribute it to Jeremy!

In an industry where people move from organisation to organisation frequently and many staff are seasonal, it can sometimes feel like life in the outdoors is one continual job hunt. As bad as it is to keep applying it can be just as bad to be a centre manager who is on the receiving end of 300 CVs a year and has to sift through them to work out who is the right person for the job.

Below is some advice for people who are either writing their CV for the first time, or are updating it before applying for full time jobs or freelance positions.. The overall aim should be to keep it short and neat and to provide only information an employer is interested in. By following the advice below, being honest and with a bit of luck, you will maximise your chance of at least getting to an interview. From there you’re on your own! Read More »

We don’t change organisations, we change people. People change organisations.

Nobody knows your organisation like you do. You know all its quirks and what works for you. All of your staff for a start. They all bring something to your team and those somethings combine to produce your success.

But just imagine for one second that each person brought a little bit more. A small change in their behaviour that leads to a small improvement in their output. Now imagine all of those small improvements adding up and you can easily imagine the change to your organisation.

Now imagine, if each of those small changes in their behaviour inspired someone else to change their behaviour. It’s a bit like dominoes and the change to your organisation increases rapidly.

At Totem we help people make those changes. By utilising a combination of outdoor challenge supported by behavioural theory we run programmes that are innovative and adventurous. Oh, and fun, because if people aren’t happy, they aren’t learning.

This is a task for the start of a course,  allowing you to guage the “fear factor” within your group and allowing the rest of the group to get a sense of each others fears.

Equipment: Post-Its, Whiteboard/Flipchart/Flat Surface and chalk/markers

Down the left hand side or along the bottom of the board write the numbers 0 to 5. Ensure they are spread out along the whole width to give the maximum room and that they are evenly distributed.

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