The format is pretty simple, guests, who are normally famous or highly regarded in their field, chose 8 pieces of music, one book and one luxury they would take with them if stranded on a desert island. Previously presented by Michael Parkinson and Sue Lawley, it is now hosted by Kirsty Young (r).

While the music is played in full, the real interest comes in the conversation between Young and the guest as she probes into their past lives, gently but without shying away from revealing questions. Since by definition they guests have all be successful, it provides a fascinating insight into how they got where they did. If success and successful people interest you, it’s well worth a listen.

If you want to give it a go, it’s on BBC Radio 4 on Sunday at 11:15 and repeated on Friday at 09:00, or you can get it as a podcast.

Are you Calvin? or does his attitude make you pull a face like Hobbs?

via Alex Papin

Come on in the water’s lovely! In a steep mountain river in North Wales, a participant realises he may not have done his wetsuit all the way up.

Flying Leap. 50 feet in the air, it takes courage and commitment to jump from the top of a telegraph pole.

Going Dotty. Staff at a primary school attempt to solve the infamous Dot Puzzle which has provided plenty of frustration for Totem clients this year.

Squeeze. A participant smiles after wiggling his way through a narrow gap in the rocks with the descriptive name of “The Nutcracker”.

A good plan is the key. Many participant learn that having a good, flexible plan is the key to succeeding at complex tasks. This map contains annotations for the next 36 hours of activity.

Between a rock and a hard place. Using natural features to provide problems with real boundaries to solve. In this case something as simple as getting the whole team into a fissure requires teamwork, planning and a sense of adventure.

Home from home. A happy group make themselves at home in a remote mountain hut.

Power Shower. Apprentices brave the cold to experience “the most powerful shower in Wales”.

Helping Hand. One participant helps another up a slippery step in the Old Dungeon Ghyll in the Lake District.

The World’s Largest Shopping List. Planning food for the rest of the group is a big responsibility that requires teamwork, communication, resource management and marker pens.

A long way down. The hundred foot abseil into an abandoned slate quarry is a highlight for anyone who plucks up the courage to go over the edge.

Duck and Dive. Those that choose to tackle “The Sump”, a gap between two boulders filled with fast flowing water, describe it as “scary but a massive sense of achievement afterwards”.

Maneuvers in the Dark. Removing the sense of sight means that this participant must trust his colleagues to guide him safely through a woodland.

Into the Wild. A group make their way into a remote valley to complete tasks before returning to base camp the next day.

Build your own boat. Given barrels, planks and ropes, this group have built their own craft, complete with crane to raise a 200kg treasure from the bottom of the lake.

Concentration. Making her way along a rope bridge, this participant transfers her precious cargo to her teeth so she can use both hands.

Stretcher Carry. As part of a simulated rescue, a group carries one of their members along a forest track. Instant feedback on the success of the teamwork is provided by the ‘casualty’ , often at some volume!

Musical Challenge. One of our technicians plays the bagpipes and so an impromptu jam and lesson sprung up. This participant is discovering it is a lot harder than it looks.

Journey into the fog. A team row out of the fog on a misty day on Windermere. They covered the full length of the lake, over 17km, in just under three and a half hours.

It’s not always outdoors. Participants describe themselves through coats of arms containing only pictures, no words allowed.

Splashdown! An inelegant but effective shallow water entry during a canyon journey.

The Spider’s Web. A Development Guide briefs the team on their next challenge, escaping through the spider’s web without being caught.

Up and Over. With some support from her team, this participant makes her way over the high bar.

Waterfall Walk. A participant steadies herself as she crosses a waterfall in the Afon Ddu in North Wales.

Technician Mischief. One of our staff team plays with a participant during a blindfold walk.

Water-borne Journey. After building their catamaran, these participants are exploring the shores of Llyn Padarn, just below Snowdon, looking for “encryption devices”.

Rations. Active people are hungry people. Just a tiny section of the amount of food needed for a 6 day course.

Row your boat. It is difficult to think of an activity that illustrates the need for teamwork better then rowing, in this case out on Windermere in the Lake District.

Innovative Reviewing and Reflection. As well as unique and exciting activities, we are constantly looking for new and interesting ways to draw learning from them. This technique allowed the group to re-walk a journey made the day before, past key locations and to describe the emotions invoked.

Nearly at the top. With one more move until he makes it, one participant is too focused on the task in hand to enjoy the view of Snowdon in the background.

Advice for Apprentices, from Apprentices. Asked to leave advice for the next group of apprentices through a similar course, this team produced an excellent list of guidance that could equally well apply to the workplace.

Every year we look for a piece of advice or prose that sums up the festive period for us and every year we come back to the same one. This piece could probably be read every day with becoming old so once a year won’t hurt. It’s from master storyteller Neil Gaiman and if it needs a title, “Benediction” would probably suffice.

May your coming year be filled with magic and dreams and good madness. I hope you read some fine books and kiss someone who thinks you’re wonderful, and don’t forget to make some art — write or draw or build or sing or live as only you can. And I hope, somewhere in the next year, you surprise yourself.

Have fun in the snow and we’ll see you all in the New Year.

The islands were of strategic importance to both the Allies and the Japanese as a launch pad for both aircraft and ships patrolling the Pacific Ocean. At different times, both side set up bases on the islands and with them brought many of the accoutrements of Western civilisation. Manufactured clothing, medicine, canned food, tents, weapons and other goods arrived in vast quantities for the soldiers, who often shared some of it with the islanders who were their guides and hosts. Such luxuries were previously unheard of and had a significant impact on the quality of life of the Melanesians.

With the end of hostilities in the Pacific theatre, the military shut up shot and the soldiers, sailors and airmen headed home. Gradually the remains of the supplies they had brought dwindled until nothing was left.

With little understanding of the events that had brought the cargo into the islands in the first place, some of the islanders began mimicking the activities and clothes of soldiers, such as performing parade ground drills with wooden rifles.

Hoping to attract more aeroplanes, others carved headphones from wood and wore them while sitting in fabricated control towers. They waved the landing signals while standing on marked out runways and lit signal fires and torches to light up runways and lighthouses.

Of course the planes never came and the supplies never arrived. While it’s tempting to write this story of as an amusing tale of a ‘backwards’ population getting the wrong end of the stick, we should be careful. ‘Cargo Cult’ behaviour is not as unusual in modern life as you may think.

Take this story from a US company for example,

I was employed at a company and I happened to be at reception at closing time. The receptionist pulled out a binder, and her fingers flew across her telephone. I asked her what she was doing. She replied that each night she would have to punch in a 30 button sequence to put the phones onto night service. The receptionist had forgotten the why of what she was doing.

Anyways, after analyzing the button sequence, it turned out that the receptionist was redirecting the line pools of Department A to the phones of Department B. Department B was a 24hr department… at least it used to be. It turns out that both of those departments had been disbanded long before I started there.

If we operate without knowing the reasons why we do, we function perfectly as long as the situation doesn’t change. However, if it does change, without understanding the reasons, we can’t know if our behaviour is still useful or if it needs to change.

Almost every sector has its own examples of cargo cult behaviour. Millions of children will sit down tonight to do their homework yet plenty of evidence suggests it doesn’t help their learning. Rescuers carry hot drinks to help hypothermia victims, even though there is no evidence it helps. Even checking your horoscope is an example, thousands of studies have shown that they have no truth in them yet millions of people use them daily for guidance.

The adoption of practices because they have worked in the past is natural, but it needs to be tempered with an understanding of why those practices worked and whether they are still relevant.

What practices take place in your sector because they seem to work? What are your Cargo Cults?

Photos by PhillipC and pareeerica used under Creative Commons (CC BY 2.0)

Watch on YouTube

[Click for full size]

While the handwriting is much better than some of our staff, if you can’t read it here is what they have written.

• Work together.
• Put 100% into everything you do!
• Support each other.
• Walking boots will be your new best friend!
• Find a positive in everything.
• Be on point at all times.
• You need to each as much as you can.
• Stay up beat at all times – a happy group will progress.
• Negativity is infectious.
• Challenge yourself, you are not doing to die.
• You will only ever do this stuff once.
• Think outside the box.
• Work with [what] you know, work out what you need.
• NO restrictions means NO restrictions, use whatever you can.
• CAN’T is not a work in your vocabulary.
• Sleep a lot.
• Get ready to push yourself to the ultimate limit.
• Do not argue, resolve instead.
• PLAN, do not dive in head first.
• Bring supplies! (junk food, fizzy drinks, etc)

We’re not sure about the last one but otherwise I’m not sure we could have written a better list ourselves.

It isn’t that they can’t see the solution. It’s that they can’t see the problem -G. K. Chesterton 

There are a number of systematic ways of solving problems. Some are useful in very specific situations, while others are powerful but very complicated. One of the ways we teach people to solve problems at Totem is using the 5 eyed method.

IDENTIFY what success looks like

You can only really solve a problem when you know exactly what outcome you are after.  When the problem is solved, what situation will you be in. Step one is to sort out what it is you are trying to achieve.

ISOLATE the real problem

If you have ‘flu which has given you a headache, you can stop the headache with an aspirin but while it might make you feel better, you will still have the ‘flu. You have tackled the symptom not the cause. The key to problem solving is to be able to look at all the symptoms and decide what the underlying problem that is causing them is.

INNOVATE multiple solutions to the problem

Once you have isolated the problem, you should come up with multiple solutions to the problem. It is unlikely that your first idea will be the best so produce as many as you feel necessary before committing to one course of action. This is known as ‘divergent thinking‘

IMPLEMENT the chosen solution

You then must chose a solution from the many that you came up with. Consider the merits of each and the drawbacks, eliminate one at a time if you need to until you have your chosen path of action. This process is known as ‘convergent thinking‘.

Once you have chosen a solution you must implement it to the best of your abilities.

INVESTIGATE whether the solution solves the problem

Finally, it’s important not to assume that because you chose the best solution from the ones you thought up, it will automatically work. Put a system in place for investigating whether your problem has really been solved. Make sure that all of the symptoms have gone away and the underlying issue has really been resolved.

More than eighty students signed up for the day and spent it building contraptions that Heath Robinson would be proud of. Machines that sorted coins, threw table tennis balls and climbed ropes, along with a few puzzles, codes and a research paper. There were some extremely inventive solutions to some of the challenges but ultimately victory went to the team that was organised, managed their resources, knew when to give up on a project, used the strengths of team members and kept track of time. These are all the behaviours that major employers are looking for today.

It was such a success that the University in-house magazine ran an article on it and asked for our top tips for students who have to attend assessment centres. Here is our advice for those who find themselves applying for a job where a centre is part of the process.

Five Top Tips for Assessment Centres

• 1. Get involved. You don’t have to be the leader of the group, or even the loudest, but we are assessing your contribution, if you don’t contribute, we don’t have anything to assess.
• 2. It’s not about whether you win or lose it’s how you play the game. Employers don’t care whether you can build a newspaper tower, solve puzzles or guide a colleague blindfold around a course. What they are interested in is the process you go through to get to your result. They want to see you communicating with others, sharing your part of the team’s workload, contributing ideas to discussions and how you work out solutions that are not immediately obvious.

 

• 3. Look after yourself. Assessment centres can be long drawn out affairs, typically at least a day, sometimes as many as three. Make sure you eat and drink plenty all day, if you are hungry or dehydrated you won’t perform at your best. Get plenty of sleep the night before and, if you are there for more than one day, don’t be the last person in the bar!

 

• 4. You are always on assessment. Every interaction I have with you as an assessor makes an impact on me, that is from the minute you walk in until you leave. Be polite, help out where you can, don’t be rude about anyone when you think they are out of earshot. If you are willing to do so on assessment, my assumption is you’d do it in the workplace as well.

 

• 5. Don’t put others down. While you may all be competing for the same job, you won’t win points with the assessors by bad-mouthing or putting down other candidates. Almost all employers want team players, not lone-rangers and we are very adept at seeing through games like this. Give praise to others where it is due and it reflects well on your ability to function well in the modern work place.

Steve Jobs (1955-2011)

We are a Mac based workplace here at Totem. I could bore you with why we made that decision, ease of use, low support costs, etc, but you probably don’t care. We like them and we like the customer focus that Apple has.

It was for that reason that we were very sad to hear of the the death of Steve Jobs. Aside from the human tragedy of someone dying so young,  the world has lost a maverick, a visionary and an incredible business man. He probably wasn’t easy to work with but people wanted to work with him. He stood on the shoulder of giants, in the form of his team of engineers and designers, but he assembled that team in the first place. He gave them their goal and ensured they stayed focused. He defined one clear model of leadership in the tech industry.

Fuller obituaries are elsewhere, everywhere really, a measure of the impact he and his team had. If we can have 1/100 of the impact on the world that they have, we’ll be a pretty happy team.

Hidden in one of Apple’s core products is something that I think sums him, and Apple, up well.

All Mac users will recognise the icon for Text Edit, the default editor that comes with OSX from Leopard onwards. If you zoom in on the icon, the lines of text are not scribbles, or gobbledygook, but a poem, “Here’s to the crazy ones’”. It was part of the “Think Different” campaign created for Apple in 1997, itself an artistic leap of marketing.

It’s an ode to those that challenge the status quo, who forge new paths and set off on adventures. Here it is in all its glory;

Here’s to the crazy ones.

Here’s to the crazy ones.

The misfits. The rebels. The troublemakers. The round pegs in the square holes.

The ones who see things differently. They’re not fond of rules. And they have no respect for the status quo.

You can quote them, disagree with them, glorify or vilify them.

About the only thing you can’t do is ignore them.

Because they change things.

“Explore, Get Dirty, Dream Big,  Be You” pretty much sums up our attitude at Totem, and that of many of our clients as well. Make today your day to jump in puddles, hatch some plans, set sail for distant shores (with or without a fish) and wave your flag.

Posters for girls round 2

via BoingBoing

Sleep

Via TED

Music can also change our perceptions of what we are looking at. Here is a great example of that, YouTube user Mscharosch has edited some BBC Life footage to Lux Æterna from Requiem For a Dream and the result is, well…..epic. It is worth putting on full screen and turning your sound up.

Epic Frog

Just look at how the mountains,

So very mighty be,

Sharp as razors at the top,

They span the land and sea,

But don’t forget that though,

Majestic spires capped with snow,

From each and every grain of sand did grow…

Seen on the side of a building off Hverfistgata in Reykjavik, Icleand.

“You cannot teach a man anything; you can only help him find it within himself.”

-Galileo Galilei

Experiential learning is the process of making meaning from direct experience.

Traditional education expects participants to learn about the topic from books, lectures, tutorials and worksheets.

Experiential education places them in situations that provide similar challenges to those they might face and evokes similar emotions, and that require similar skills and behaviours to overcome.

By using an adventurous environment such as the outdoors, we can provide a ‘laboratory’ in which facilitators can create challenging and demanding situations and in which apprentices can experiment with different behaviours, without that behaviour having a negative effect in the workplace.

An Experiential Learning Cycle

This is one of many learning cycles that helps us to conceptualise and understand the complicated, messy process of learning.  (For other cycles, see this great article by Roger Greenaway)

In order to learn through experience, it is not only necessary to ‘do something’. After we have performed an Action, three further things take place before that action alters how we act in the future.

First, we Reflect on the action we just took and the experience it generated. This is looking back and thinking about what happened and the feelings it generated, in ourselves and others and the effect it had on the environment we are in.

Then we conceptualise, that is, think about the reasons that it had those effects and understand those reasons. This leads to Learning.

Learning on its own is no use if we don’t then do anything with it, so we then have to Plan. This is about applying that learning next time you undertake that action and, importantly, similar actions in the future.

We all go round this cycle as we learn from experience, sometimes it takes a few seconds to complete a circuit and sometimes it might take us years. Typically, the more intense and complicated the experience, the longer it takes us to go round the cycle.

Different people favour different parts of the cycle, Peter Honey and Alan Mumford have a system for working out which area you prefer to spend your time in, which we occasionaly use on Totem courses.

There is of course, much more to experiential learning that these basic concepts, but they underlie much of what we do. Space to experiment, reflective practice and onward planning are at the core of Totem’s work.

However, the Totem van is a Volkswagen and it appears that VW have been opposing environmental standards that we might prefer they supported.

As usual, Greenpeace have excelled in producing an amusing campaign to make people more aware of whats going on. It is worth taking 5 minutes to make yourself aware of this issue, and if you drive a VW, or feel strongly enough, sign up to let VW know that you’d like them to change their ways.

May the force be with you…

[VW DARKSIDE : Greenpeace]

via Tim who works for us sometimes, thanks Tim!

via Brian

The fact that you can read it means the handwriting isn’t mine but I love the fact that, for one course at least, it is possible to pinpoint when all the ideas came together. [Click for a larger version]

…any those are my thoughts on the matter, now go away and make your own mind up.

It struck me that these should be the final word of any training course.

Have you got 5 minutes each day to help improve your life, across the board? This article suggests that it might be a good idea to find the time.

The best way to use the last five minutes of every day.

Via Lorna (again), photo from Slack12′s flickrstream under CC BY-NC-ND 2.0

“…and of course you can make the task harder by giving a vaguer brief.”

No! No! No! No! No! No! No! No! No! No! and No!

Giving a vague brief doesn’t make tasks harder, it makes them more frustrating. Participants spend more time looking to their facilitators to get clarification about what they need to do than looking at themselves or each other. It puts you in the position of power and takes away their ability to operate without your intervention.

By all means make your tasks harder, but at least have enough respect for your participants to make the briefs clear.

Photo from Martin Kingsley’s flickrstream under CC BY 2.0.

Come to the edge.
We might fall.
Come to the edge.
It’s too high!
COME TO THE EDGE!
And they came,
and he pushed,
and they flew.

Christopher Logue

They have just released a case study about the work we did with them and O2. It explains how O2 has proved that taking Key Skills development totally out of the classroom and into the open air can be a winning formula and why the Outdoor Programme we developed with PDS has become permanent feature of their apprenticeship programme.

O2 – Advanced apprenticeship in technology delivering key skills via the outdoors [PDF]

We’ve had Mission Specialists from the Welsh Space Agency chasing members of the Ukrainian Warfare Department across the hills of Snowdonia.

We’ve had loyal Comrades of the People’s Liberated Taldovian State recovering gold from the bottom of the Cripsian Sea.

We’ve helped apprentices recover the parts of a top secret battery from across Dartmoor.

(However, unlike one of the organsations we work with, we haven’t, to date, had anyone arrested for  impersonating a member of the local CID.)

Yesterday, Lorna, (whose producing some great material at the moment) has come up with a team exercise that makes our situations look humdrum and everyday.

We have a running discussion at work about how we would survive the zombie apocalypse. It all started with a quickly scribbled map to show someone where a meeting was, then someone added a zombie horde and little stick figure colleagues running away. This developed over the course of a couple of team lunches and idle mornings into a full blown plan.

Our plan has been getting gradually more complex. It started off with vague intentions to head to the Isle of White (where a colleague’s mother lives), an easily defensible spot. But then we wondered if that was too obvious, will people continue to flock there until the island sinks? Other ideas involved shopping centres (too many entrances), castles (bit obvious, also drafty) and a colleague’s houseboat (can zombies swim?).

This has the makings of a great team building exercise. What better way to find out the strengths of your team than to think about their very survival! Lorna cites some great examples about members of her team who suddenly revealed an ability to shoot, or to grow vegetables. The humour and fun in the exercise will likely engage your participants and encourage them to push forward their strengths and stop the exercise becoming mired in deep self-reflection.

You can read the whole article here. It’s laugh-out-loud funny and if she ever tells you how to stop Zombies attacking you, don’t trust her…

[Update: This is wonderfully related. Are you Worthless?]

Picture [Updated] from James Kim’s Flickrstream under CC BY 2.0

“I want to go to work each day to a job I find challenging and satisfying…”

How would you describe your values?

e.g.

Climbing, Canoeing, Swimming, Falling, Sliding, Catching, Carrying, Paddling, Shaking….

Alternatively, have them collect them on a flipchart, or white board.

I also find this useful in encouraging people to move from “task” to “process”, by guiding their thoughts towards the non-obvious verbs.

e.g.

Sharing, Arguing, Discussing, Leading, Learning, Helping, Supporting, Plotting, Scheming, etc

It’s a quick, lively, thought provoking exercise that can take on a life of it’s own!

Watch it on full screen for the maximum effect!

Trainers’ Exchange

South West

Friday 25th March 2011

Woodlands Castle

Taunton

10am-4pm

Trainers’ Exchange is an exciting new quarterly event for trainers, training managers, and anyone else working in learning and development. The meetings are an ideal opportunity to meet like-minded people in the L&D sector, share your ideas and experiences with others, and develop your own skills and knowledge. A programme for the event on 23^rd March is attached.

The meetings will be a friendly, supportive space where everyone can get to know each other, learn from each other, work together, and have fun together. We’ll create an opportunity for you to:

• Keep abreast of current best practice in training, learning and development
• Learn and practice new approaches and techniques for enhancing training
• Share tried and tested tips, techniques and ideas with others
• Try out new, untested ideas on the group and receive constructive feedback
• Gain support, feedback and ideas from the group

The first meeting is on 25^th March in Taunton and we hope that lots of you will be able to join us. The day costs just £40 + vat each (we’re not trying to make a profit but do need to cover costs). To book a place, or find out more, call Nicki on 01749 687357 or email me at nicki@salt-box.co.uk

They’re wrong.

Less Income means Working Smarter

With less income coming into the company, managers are required to do without resources they previously took for granted. Their teams need to produce a higher output with no extra inputs. They could work harder but most of us are working as hard as we can anyway.
If you can’t work harder you need to work smarter. Better communication and team skills  will increase the efficiency of a team, saving money normally lost on mistakes. Problem  solving skills allow people to remove obstacles that are preventing them from reaching their goals, saving time and resources.
There are two ways to give people these skills. The first is to let them develop naturally over the course of a few years, maturing as the person settles into their role.

Have you got that long?

The second is to provide your staff with some training.

Teams who have been ‘Downsized’ need Reforming

Nobody likes redundancies but they are an inevitable consequence of an economic  downturn. After a wave of job losses your team are likely to be shell-shocked and in  chaos. A change of working pattern and culture can take a long while to become accepted, probably longer than you have got.
Rather than being just a jolly day out, good team-building events can push your team through this chaos and help them reform and start performing again. Training in team
kills can help them understand each others position and bond together, helping the  company back onto its feet.
So smart managers realise that now is not the time to cut back on training but a good
time to invest in your staff and to help them start to really perform.

Photo by left-hand used under CC BY-ND 2.0.

Could Pulitzer Prize Winning Cartoonist Joel Pett put it any better?

(via Lewis Pugh)

For most people, any goal or pursuit taken up 10 years ago is probably a long-gone memory [but] for the last decade, Kested has regularly sequestered himself away in his basement workshop, carefully carving, letter by letter, every single line of the Declaration of Independence out of dark walnut wood.

Visit the website to to see more of this amazing piece of work.

Choosing the right form of review is a skilled task, more art than science. Here are 10 questions to ask yourself before you dive into your next review

1. Do we want to review what just happened?

Sometimes it’s important to review as a group, sometimes it’s best to let the action speak for itself. The individual’s reflection over time may be enough.

2. Are we ready to review yet?

Even if we want to review the action, are the participants in a state where it will be useful? Could they do with more time to process what just happened or are they bursting to share their thoughts?

3. Is this the right time to review?

Even if we feel ready to review what just happened, is it worth leaving until we have eaten or are less tired, or do we need to capture the learning now?

4. Are we in the right location to review?

Sometimes it helps to be at the scene of the action, sometimes some distance is useful. Is this setting inspirational, will it help anchor the learning. Are there distractions and are they useful?

5. Are the right people here to ensure a successful review?

Do we need the whole group here? Should we split into smaller groups? Do some people need to reflect on their own? With or without leaders/trainers?

6. What role will I have in the review?

Should I contribute? Facilitate? Sit quietly? Be absent? Observe?

7. What format and structure will the review take?

Options include: Group discussion, written reports, structured notes, questionnaires, presentations, personal conversations, pictures, slideshows.

8. What tools do I have available to me during the review?

Do I have access to exercises, models, pictures and theories that might help explain my points, or help others to make theirs?

9. Are we going to capture the review for further review?

Is the review of interest to anyone other than the participants? Will they want a chance to revisit the review again later? Will they be building on this review?

10. If we are, how?

Sometimes taking notes is useful, what about video? Is there a formal system in place for reflection that needs to be completed?

nowdonia | October 2010 | PDS / O2

PLTS And Outdoor Development

After a one day workshop introducing O2′s latest intake of apprentices to the Personal
Learning and Thinking Skills framework, we took them to Snowdonia for a week of personal development.

Abseiling, climbing, navigating, canoeing and pontoon building all provided material for discussion and a background for exploring the PLTS. Producing a substantial workbook with thoughts, reflections, questionnaires, photos and drawings, the apprentices used the last morning to draw it all into a six month action plan and returned to the workplace keen to try out their new learning.

“An extremely valuable way to learn vital lessons about ourselves and each other”

“I didn’t expect it to be so much fun!”

Leadership Potential Assessment

McDonald’s have a very systematic approach to business, with managers using flowcharts, lists and logbooks to make decisions and record information. However beyond the shift manager level they need staff who can think outside of these constraints.

Totem devised a one-day leadership potential assessment which produces a report on each candidate, based on their performance during a series of challenging outdoor tasks. The participant’s made a film, cooked burgers on an open fire, discovered hidden parts of the New Forest and built themselves a crane!

“Very enjoyable and informative, the analysis and feedback were very helpful”

Consultancy | September 2010 | PDS

Personal Learning And Thinking Skills Workbook

The government recently changed the nation-wide Apprenticeship framework, removing the Key Skills and replacing them with the Personal Learning and Thinking Skills.

Having worked with Totem on delivering the Key Skills through outdoor learning, PDS asked us to reframe the outdoor learning we had in place around the PLTS. Using the QCA specification as a starting point, we developed a loose-leaf workbook which helps apprentices capture experiential learning through discussion and reflection and turn it into a useful action plan.

Portsmouth | September 2010 | Network Rail / Call Of The Wild

Apprentice Induction

Network Rail’s apprentices spend their first year living on a Naval base in shared accommodation so getting to know each other and team work is essential. Like last year, Call of the Wild created a two day self discovery course designed to allow the apprentices get to know themselves and each other and Totem staff went along to help.

Using experiential learning and facilitated session, the apprentices learnt about DISC, Tuckman, Perception and took part in a series of challenges, all cumulating in the SuperTeams event.

Way Back Home is the incredible new riding clip from Danny MacAskill, it follows him on a journey from Edinburgh back to his hometown Dunvegan, in the Isle of Skye.

You can read about it and watch the interviews with Danny at http://www.redbull.co.uk/waybackhome

Hi Guys

I am undertaking a little research project to try and find out what people carry in their first aid kits, for use with all land based outdoor activities.

I am currently in the process of emailing everyone I know who either works or plays in the outdoors with the attached questionnaire. If you could spare me a few minutes to go through the attachment and simply tick the boxes, I would be really grateful.

If you know of anyone else who might be willing to spare a few minutes on the questionnaire, please feel free to pass it onto them.

Many thanks

Katherine Wills

If you’d like to take part and have your say about the contents of first aid kits, the questionnaire is below and you can send it to Kath (katherinewills@btinternet.com) when done.

First Aid Kit Questionnaire

The six most important words…

I admit I made a mistake

The five most important words…

I am proud of you

The four most important words…

What is your opinion?

The three most important words…

If you please

The two most important words…

Thank you

The most important…

We

…and the least important…

I

This very clever use of light and body shape simply wouldn’t be possible if any one member of the troupe wasn’t intimately aware of exact where the others were at all times. The also must hold the vision for what they are trying to achieve in their heads and trust their choreographer as they have no way to see the outcome in real time.

Helicopter Rescue

The trust a winchman-paramedic must have in his pilot and winch operator is complete. A mistake by either is likely to be life threatening. The clear goal, saving life, means that everybody on board knows exactly what they are trying to achieve.

Diversity Dance Troupe

A spectacular display, made possible only by trust, practice and understanding of members strengths and weaknesses.

Apollo 13

This video only really introduces the problem that the teamwork was to solve. Working shifts night and day for four days, NASA flight controllers successfully brought home three astronauts after an explosion damaged their craft and diminished their oxygen supply. Described as “the most glorious failure in history”.

Ferrari Pit Stop (7.5 Seconds)

Everybody in this team knows their roles and carries them out flawlessly. Communication is as simple as possible, raised arm means “I’m done”

Barbarians vs All Blacks 1973

Described as the greatest try of all time. Constant re-evaluation of the situation by all team members to put themselves in the right place at the right time.

Silent Monks sing Handel’s Messiah

Creative and clever output, reliant totally on each member playing their part. Impressive performance by high school pupils.

Dutifully, although with slight trepidation, I arrived, with a rather more colourful jacket and top hat in place of the more traditional evening wear. Old friends began to arrive, many of whom were mountain people, all of whom I had shared tents, boats, climbs and adventures with. In a field we changed into our finery and our adventure began.

Assembly of a small pile of equipment began, with people producing pans and stoves, candles and table cloths, boxes and bags, cutlery and crockery, folding chairs, plywood sheets and scaffolding. It was quickly divided up and disappeared into rucksacks.

Leaving the road we set of on our path. Despite the heavy, awkward loads the equipment presented, there was a sense of amusement and good humour as we took the steep path up towards the top of Tryfan. As the path gave way to scrambling the pieces of scaffolding were passed hand to hand up the rock steps and the people followed. Two hours hard work and we were on the summit.

Once there, the miracle began. The scaffolding and plywood became a table, complete with cloth, candlesticks and cruet set. Some laid it for our feast while other set to cooking the meal. Dressed as if for a country house, we dined on soup and goulash, bread and biscuits, cheese and fruit, and wine and port and watched the sun slowly set over the Irish Sea.

More photos here

Assessor: “Can you show me where we are on the map?”

Candidate: “Here, just before the resurrection ground.”

A: “The resurrection ground?”

C: “Yep.”

A: “Do you mean the recreation ground?”

C: “Same thing, isn’t it?”

A: “….”

The government today announced the suspension of the introduction of the Vetting and Barring Scheme (VBS) pending the outcome of a comprehensive review which is likely to result in re-modelling and significant scaling back of the scope of the scheme. The scope of the re-modelling process is currently being finalised and will be announced in due course.

Although registration with the VBS (due to begin from July 2010) will not now go ahead, the ISA will continue to make barring decisions on individuals and to maintain the two barring lists.

For more information on the ISA, visit: www.isa-gov.org.uk.

To view the Home Office press release visit: http://www.homeoffice.gov.uk/media-centre/press-releases/Vetting-barring-scheme

The new safeguarding regulations introduced in October 2009 continue to apply.  This is the current advice on the Independent Safeguarding Authority website:

• A person who is barred from working with children or vulnerable adults will be breaking the law if they work or volunteer, or try to work or volunteer with those groups.
• An organisation which knowingly employs someone who is barred to work with those groups will also be breaking the law.
• If your organisation works with children or vulnerable adults and you dismiss a member of staff or a volunteer because they have harmed a child or vulnerable adult, or you would have done so if they had not left, you must tell the Independent Safeguarding Authority.
  

In the meantime organisations are therefore recommended to continue to implement their existing safe recruitment processes, which should include CRB checks for relevant individuals and posts.

via Glenn Bridges @ Inner Flame

If you have food in your fridge, clothes on your back, a roof over your head and a place to sleep you are richer than 75% of the world.

If you have money in the bank, your wallet, and some spare change you are among the top 8% of the wordl’s wealthy.

If you woke up this morning with more health than illness you are more blessed than the million people who will not survive this week.

If you have never experienced the danger of battle, the agony of imprisonment or torture, or the horrible pangs of starvation vou are luckier than 500 million people alive and suffering.

If you can read this message you are more fortunate than 3 billion people in the world who cannot read it at all.

I recently read this at my sister’s wedding and I love the sentiment contained within it.

Congratulations!
Today is your day.
You’re off to Great Places!
You’re off and away!

You have brains in your head.
You have feet in your shoes.
You can steer yourself any direction you choose.

You’re on your own.
And you know what you know.
And YOU are the couple who’ll decide where to go.

You’ll look up and down streets.
Look ‘em over with care.
About some you will say, “We don’t choose to go there.”

With your heads full of brains
and your shoes full of feet,
you’re too smart to go down,
any not-so-good street.

And you may not find any
you’ll want to go down.
In that case, of course,
you’ll head straight out of town.

It’s opener there
in the wide open air,
Out there things can happen and frequently do
to people as brainy and footsy as you.

And when things start to happen, don’t worry. Don’t stew.
Just go right along. You’ll start happening too.

You’ll join the high fliers who soar to great heights!

You won’t lag behind, because you’ll have all the speed.
You’ll pass the whole gang, and you’ll soon take the lead.

OH! THE PLACES YOU’LL GO!

You’ll be on your way up!
You’ll be seeing great sights!

Wherever you fly you’ll be best of the best.
Wherever you go, you will top all the rest.
Except when you don’t.
Because sometimes, you won’t.

You’ll get mixed up of course, as you already know.
You’ll get mixed up with so many strange birds as you go.

So be sure when you step. Step with great care and great tact
and remember that Life’s a Great Balancing Act.

Just never forget to be dexterous and deft.
And never mix up your right foot with your left.

And will you succeed? Yes! You will indeed!
(98 and three quarters percent guaranteed.)

You’re off to great places! Today is your day!
Your mountain is waiting. So … get on your way!

Oh, The Places You’ll Go! on Amazon.co.uk

“For London is like prison for children, especially if their parents are not rich. Of course there are the shops and theatres, and entertainments and things, but if your people are rather poor you don’t get taken to the theatres, and you can’t buy things out of the shops; and London has none of those nice things that children may play with without hurting the things or themselves—such as trees and sand and woods and waters. And nearly everything in London is the wrong sort of shape—all straight lines and flat streets, instead of being all sorts of odd shapes, like things.”

Edith Nesbit, Five Children and It

This one, from the Howies website is one of our recent favourites, a skateboard with totemic stylings. It was created by 45rpm for Howies Deckades collection.

However, Dave from Boulder Adventures called and said he had a new gorge to explore and would I like to tag along. Jumping, swimming, climbing and sliding, all mixed up with a little adventure, of course I would!

Multiple layers of wetsuit warded off the worst of the cold as the four of us waded into the Afon Cynfal. The slow seep of frigid water in through the zips and up the cuffs caused occasional curses but, once moving, the temperature was bearable, if not comfortable.

As we headed downstream, the river quickly gorged up, with a series of waterfalls from the knee high to well overhead. Each one took careful inspection, both for safety and the extraction of maximum fun. Some provided jumps into deep pools, others slides or mini rollercoaster rides through a series of waves and drops.

It was great to be out and about, functioning as a team and exercising judgment in the stunning but hazardous environment. For two hours only two things mattered, the safety of the group and having fun.

The sides of the gorge began to steepen and narrow. We scrambled up onto one side and peered down ahead of us. The river plunged over a spectacular 40ft waterfall and then disappeared through a slot less than 3 ft wide. Glad we’d exercised caution we continued downstream.

A small foot bridge crossed the gorge and provided an ideal platform for scouting ahead. The river once again narrowed and disappeared from view. A trip along the cliff edge 100ft above the river showed a series of increasingly large and impassable waterfalls. We scrambled on until a 50ft waterfall into a pool less that 8ft wide convinced us that our exploration was at an end. As Dave put it, this river changes quickly from “gentle to mental”.

Photo: Dave Crombie, Boulder Adventures

Teaching map work is never easy and compass bearings seem to be one of the hardest topics for learners to grasp. Given an OS map to work from, there is often too much detail and to many lines that confuse them when they are first taking grid bearings.

I have used a task called Mapland a few times with significant success. By removing much of the confusing information and including only what the learner needs to take their bearing, they can concentrate on getting the technique right before transferring that skill to proper topographical maps.

The PDF for the task is linked below. There are four questions on the sheet which learners can attempt. No mention is made of magnetic deviation (GMA) as this will vary depending on where the learners are, feel free to include it if you think it will be useful.

Also, no answers are given. If you are teaching this it shouldn’t take you more than 5 minutes to work them out!

Mapland Navigation Task [PDF]

It’s licensed under the Creative Commons system so feel free to share it around. Happy Navigation!

For him it represented a series of principles which guide the decisions and behaviours of an expedition’s members in order to achieve the maximum across the team with the minimum of stress. By 1974 he’d refined the idea enough to write 17 pages on it in his seminal “Wilderness Handbook” and it continues to be at the core of NOLS courses today.

Expedition Behaviour means being prepared, on time, organized, flexible and humble; seeing the humor in everything; exercising a tolerance for adversity, uncertainty and discomfort; and putting the needs of the group and others on the same level or above one’s own needs. Some people do it instinctively, others take a while but eventually, given the reality that wilderness places in front of us, almost everybody gets it.

Nowadays, NOLS defines Expedition Behavior as the following:

• Serve the mission and goals of the group.
• Be as concerned for others as you are for yourself.
• Treat everyone with dignity and respect.
• Support leadership and growth in everyone.
• Respect the cultures you contact.
• Be kind and open-hearted.
• Do your share and stay organized.
• Help others, but don’t routinely do their work.
• Model integrity by being honest and accountable.
• Admit and correct your mistakes.

Not just applicable to expeditions, I think they have a lot of relevance to all team endeavours, don’t you?

Find out more over at the NOLS website.

-Elton John and Bernie Taupin

We all know it’s hard to say sorry. Even when we know we are wrong, or have wronged someone else, even when we know we should apologise, it can be the hardest thing in the world to do.

Maybe it’s the loss of face involved, the admission that we are failable. Maybe it’s the fact that we are making ourselves vulnerable to someone else, to scorn or ridicule. Even though we know that most apologies are accepted gracefully, we still have to find some inner strength to find the right words to say.

These Sorry Cards are designed to reduce the barriers to saying sorry. With groups of young people, I introduce them at the start of a course and let them know that they are available should the want them. If they need to apologies to someone they can come and get a card from me, no questions asked and give it to that person. If we have a base to work from I put them somewhere where they can help themselves.

By reducing the need to find the right words for the apology, and by turning it into a simple action, it reduces the feeling of exposing oneself to scorn, rejection or ridicule.

The have a number of different designs to let the giver chose a pattern they like, or think the receiver would like. You could of course create your own, or even get the group to create their own at the start of the course, in case they are needed.

Like all reviewing techniques it doesn’t work with every group, but if you have a fiery group where conflict is common, try it.

PDF: Sorry_Cards

It was midnight and my finger was hovering over the transmit button on the radio microphone. For the first time in 40 years of sailing I was about to call the Coastguard for real. Suddenly without warning the static ceased and the speaker spluttering into life.

“Mayday, Mayday, Mayday…”

Someone else had beaten me to it!

We had been racing in Cork Week and were returning the boat to her base on the West Coast of Scotland. It had been a great regatta, our results weren’t outstanding but the racing against the cream of Irish sailors had been exhilarating and the craic as lively as we had been lead to believe.

Leaving Cork we’d had 20 knots of wind from the West, pushing us home at a good speed and we arrived at Dublin harbour with enough time for a meal, shower and short nap before heading back out to make the short hop back to the UK mainland.

The forecast was good, the wind had dropped and was on our nose but it was expected to swing right behind us and strengthen. A sailor’s dream, someone up there was smiling on us! We left Dublin Bay in good spirits.

The predicted increase in wind duly arrived but as we expected it to swing round, it didn’t raise cause for concern. However, as evening came, the wind continued to rise and seemed firmly stuck in the North West. The funneling effect of the North Channel whipped the Irish Sea up and the waves started to get very big.

We had too much sail up and the foresail need to come down. However, with the bow disappearing into the waves I couldn’t send a member of the crew up there. I crawled forward myself, ducking the crashing waves and hanging on tight the lifelines. After a great deal of effort, we had a small jib on – and I was soaked from head to toe! A change of clothing inside a cabin that was being tossed around like an out of control fairground ride was not easy but raised my spirits considerably. While I was below a check of the charts showed no convenient ports of refuge so we battled on up the Straenraer coast.

By now the waves were big and black, dwarfing our vessel. With breaking tops and vertical faces, she was climbing the fronts well but crashing full square into the troughs. Soon after midnight, having been at the helm for thirteen hours, I went below and left David at the wheel. For twenty minutes I lay on my bunk and tried to rest, wedged in with a duffel bag and some sails. David was doing a great job but every time we crashed into the trough my imagination ran amok. Would the mast stay up? Would the keel bolts hang onto the ton and a half of lead suspend beneath me?

And so I decided to call the Coastguard. Not a Mayday, not even the less severe PanPan. I would call and tell them where we were and what was happening. I’d let them know our status every couple of hours and I might even tell them what I thought of their weather forecast! So there I was, finger on the transmit button, Channel 16 and the VHF set on high….

“Mayday, Mayday, Mayday. This Coastguard calling vessel Osprey*. You have sent a distress call, please confirm that you are in distress? Over.”

And so the conversation continued, although the vagaries of VHF radio meant we could only hear one side of the interchange. I noted the position of the distressed vessel as the Coastguard read it back and was alarmed to realise it was not very distant from our own. Would we be required upon to offer assistance, just as we were thinking we might need some of your own?

The speaker continued to emit half of the exchange:

“Number of people on board?”

“Could you repeat that please?”

“Could you confirm that you have two adults and TWELVE children on board?”

Twelve children, gone midnight in a Force 8 Gale. Suddenly our situation was thrown into stark perspective. We had a sound boat, four adult crew and the Coastguard had its hands full. I put the microphone back on it’s hook.

The Coastguard dispatched a lifeboat to escort the other vessel to safe harbour. “Escort” means they weren’t sinking and we wouldn’t be needed to help. Relieved, I returned to my bunk.

Through the night, the wind slowly subsided and dawn showed us the hills on the West Coast of Scotland. By eleven we were tied up in harbour and eating a late breakfast. Over our bacon butties, we all agreed that sometimes, after a little reflection, your troubles aren’t as big as you thought they were.

* name changed to protect their dignity.

LittleBigAdventure contributed by Alan Moore.

I started with a pack of 500 twelve months ago, so I’m reckoning I’ve met a lot of interesting people since then. Some of those cards sit forlorn in people’s desks and folders, many are probably in the bin but one or two have created a connection. A chance to work with someone who shares our ideals or who can benefit from our services. Someone we can help or who can help us. Or maybe, as a friend put it, I’m just a networking slut?

In this age of email, LinkedIn, Facebook and Plaxo, it’s amazing that business cards even have a place any more. But that little 8×5 card has a physical presence that is a lot more difficult to ignore than a transient stream of electrons.

I’d better go order some more…

The Yes Man

Danny Wallace
Publisher: Ebury Press; New edition edition (6 April 2006)
ISBN 978-0091896744 Paperback, 416 pages

Danny Wallace is probably best known for appearing as a slightly mad-cap, very enthusiastic comedian, presenter and guest on various TV programmes. His writing style is not dissimilar tp his stage presence.

Meeting a man on a bus one evening and lamenting the lack of excitement in his life, he is struck by the simplicity of the advice the stranger offers him; “Say ‘Yes’ more”. Taking this advice to heart, he makes a bet with a friend that he will say ‘yes’ to every opportunity that is presented to him in the next six months.

What follows is an amazing journey, both geographical and emotional as he visits people and places he didn’t know existed, runs up huge debts, gets a nursing degree, develops an attachment to a painting of an Alsatian and makes some life changing decisions. He even starts an anti-war group called “Geese for Peace”.

Presented as a light-hearted comedy, the story romps along barely pausing for breath. Some bit are laugh out loud funny, others quite touching and there is a genuine sense of anticipation as the book builds to it’s climax.

However, hidden under the comedy is a deeper layer of thought about making the most of opportunities presented to you and having a more proactive approach to life. Wallace handles these with humour but without dismissing their importance. While unlikely to change your life completely, this book may just cause you to look at it carefully and examine whether you could say ‘Yes’ more.

‘The Yes Man’ at Amazon.co.uk

Weston-Super-Mare may be full of grandmothers and bingo halls but it’s also blessed with an enormous beach. Despite the recent snow the sky was clear and we could easily see the ten miles across the sea to Wales. We wrapped ourselves up against the cold and breathed in the sharp, fresh air, which invigorated us after spending so much time cooped up in a stuffy house.

Weston beach is usually full of people on dirt bikes, windsurfers and kiteboarders. On Christmas afternoon, with the tide a very long way out, the beach was almost empty. Over an hour or so we passed only a dozen or so people, mostly couples or families out walking the dogs. It was one of those rare occasions where you have something to say to each and everyone of them, “Merry Christmas’.

Leaving the town centre behind, we meandered towards Brean Down, the promontory at the southern end of the bay. As we did so, the sun began to set behind the headland. Despite the fact that sunsets happen everyday, I rarely take the time to appreciate them or have the chance to see them in their full glory, marred as they frequently are by London’s buildings. This one was glorious.

It may not be much of an adventure, but to a city girl like me it’s a thrill to stand somewhere without crowds and take the time to watch a sunset from start to finish. Even now I’m home, it inspired me to go outside this evening and have a look at the sunset. Even buried behind London houses, it’s still glorious.

This LittleBigAdventure was contributed by Lorna Robinson.

Then one night the cloud disappeared and it was clear. No moon meant dark skies and the stars leapt out of the inky blackness. The Milky Way traversed from horizon to horizon.

Donning head torches, two friends and I walked up into the old quarries behind the village, built a fireplace from some pieces of slate and lit a fire. Under the stars we toasted marshmallows and put the world to rights. There was a cold wind but lots of layers and the fire kept us warm.

It was gone midnight when we picked our way through the slag heaps and back to our homes. Our eyes were red and our hair and clothes smelt of smoke but it didn’t matter, it was just nice to have been out doing something.

Climbing Everest, skiing to the Poles, kayaking the Stikine, these are adventures. Sometimes, however, you don’t have the time or resources for a full-on adventure.

That’s where LittleBigAdventures come in. Sometimes just doing something is enough. Explore a local stream in your kayak, spend the night out in a sea cave or turn your neighbourhood woods into a downhill track.

LittleBigAdventures are about getting out there and living adventurously when adventure seems far away. Sometimes they are as much about the people as the place. Coasteer along a new bit of coastline, abseil into a disused quarry or swim across a lake.

Just go out and do something.

And if you do, let us know and we’ll post it here. Take photos, write some words and inspire others to get out there.

See the LittleBigAdventures

“From the creators of The Dirtbag Diaries and 49 Megawatts comes a new web television project following the five athletes through the course of a single season in Pacific Northwest. A veteran climber invents a new piece of gear. A pro snowboarder searches for a way to return to the roots of his sport. A boulderer returns from a series of injuries with new perspective. A family man goes to Whistler to test himself against the mountain biking’s elite. A young sea kayaker with a troubled past sets out to reinvent his sport.”

The Season Trailer from Fitz Cahall on Vimeo.

May your coming year be filled with magic and dreams and good madness. I hope you read some fine books and kiss someone who thinks you’re wonderful, and don’t forget to make some art — write or draw or build or sing or live as only you can. And I hope, somewhere in the next year, you surprise yourself.
…I hope you will have a wonderful year, that you’ll dream dangerously and outrageously, that you’ll make something that didn’t exist before you made it, that you will be loved and that you will be liked, and that you will have people to love and to like in return. And, most importantly (because I think there should be more kindness and more wisdom in the world right now), that you will, when you need to be, be wise, and that you will always be kind.

via Makezine, picture from guilty’s flickrstream under Creative Commons

Picture source unknown, let us know!

We’ve been in North Wales all day, whittling sticks, chopping wood and building shelters as part of a stone soup bush craft session based at Boulder Adventures. Everybody has brought along ideas and we’ve shared them, improving practice and making all of us safer. Claire (above) seemed rather attached to her shelter and didn’t want to come out.

More Photos

We are pleased to confirm that we will be holding our 3rd Invitation Day on January 9, 2010 at the Link Centre in West Swindon.

The aim is to enable people aged 14-19 to come along and try their hand at a free indoor rock climbing session, and to find out about our residential course, “Fire Me Up!”. There will be an opportunity to sign up for the next course on February 2010.

This will also include a presentation about Inner Flame and a chance to hear stories and experiences from previous participants from our past courses.

Numbers are strictly limited, so please contact us as soon as possible. To secure a place, you need to register by calling us on [redacted], or email me at info@innerflame.org.uk.

Thank you!

Inner Flame are a great charity (as well as being one of our clients). Their aim is

Their  “Fire Me Up!” course is a challenging residential experience for people aged 14-18. It’s about achieving success by:

• Making positive choices
• Taking action towards personal goals
• Building skills and self-confidence

Having met some of the course participants, I can say that they have an extraordinary amount of success.

“Man cannot discover new oceans unless he has the courage to lose sight of the shore.”

Andre Gide

1. Got a degree in Mechanical Engineering from Imperial College.
2. Got married to the lovely Ruth.
3. Started a company.
4. Led the first circumnavigation of the British Virgin Islands by Kayak.
5. Climbed Mt Gioberney.
6. Crossed the Andes on foot.
7. Run the Snowdon Horseshoe.
8. Come 15^th out of 900 in the Round the Island Race.
9. Got my ML, SPA, Level 2 Canoe and Level 3 Kayak.
10. Paddled a 32ft Waterfall in the Mexican Jungle
11. Helped grow a company.
12. Bought a house.
13. Visited the most Northerly, Southerly, Easterly and Westerly points of the UK.
14. Climbed the Old Man of Hoy.
15. Became an Accredited Practitioner of the IOL.
16. Thrown some awesome parties.
17. Changed some young peoples lives.
18. Been published in a Europe-wide magazine.
19. Read over 1000 books.
20. Passed my Driving Test.

I guess I’ll have to manage 30 things in the next 10 years.

We’ve been thrilled with the response – over 50 people have completed the questionnaire and we’ve also had lots of additional contributions via email and telephone. We are also reviewing existing research and good practice, and have amassed loads of really interesting and useful information as a result.

Our next stage is to follow up the initial survey with more in-depth discussions and investigations over the coming weeks, and to this end we are holding a Discussion group on Wednesday 16th December from 10.30am – 1.00pm at the Pierian Centre in Bristol. This is a great opportunity to participate further in this project and to do some valuable networking.

If you design/deliver or purchase training which uses creative or unusual techniques to have an impact, or have experience of this as a learner, and would like to come along and share your views, please email us to book a place.

Those who participate in the discussion group will get a free place at the launch event in the new year, where we’ll disseminate the results of this research in the form of a really useful, practical book or guide. We’ll also run workshops at this event to showcase some of the ideas and techniques explored during the research project, so it’ll be an event not to be missed.

We’ll be there, perhaps we will see you?

“In Flanders fields the poppies blow
Between the crosses, row on row,
That mark our place; and in the sky
The larks, still bravely singing, fly

Scarce heard amid the guns below.
We are the Dead. Short days ago
We lived, felt dawn, saw sunset glow,
Loved and were loved, and now we lie,
In Flanders fields.

Take up our quarrel with the foe:
To you from failing hands we throw
The torch; be yours to hold it high.
If ye break faith with us who die
We shall not sleep, though poppies grow
In Flanders fields.”

John McCrae ~ “In Flanders Fields”

Anna had more pressing concerns:

“10 years? The end of the day seems like a lifetime away at the moment Glad to see you’re keeping us all on our toes, though!”

Alia was looking towards leadership (I think):

“There seems to be two parts to doing stuff – doing stuff and handling the communication needed. Will have a think.”

Adam posted it in his blog saying:

“an extremely thought provoking and memorable email” adding “Got me thinking…”

Dear All,

If you get this you have probably just turned thirty, or are about to in the next few months.

That means that it’s ten years since you turned twenty. Ten years ago the Euro was introduced, the Kosovo War started, Napster was invented, Lance Armstrong won his first of seven Tours de France and the ExxonMobil Corporation merger was completed, heralding the start of the age of super-corporations. Ten years ago, thirty looked a lifetime away.

Now it’s arrived.

You’ve all done some amazing things in that ten years, fallen in love, fallen out of love, got married, had kids, graduated, found first jobs, climbed mountains, saved lives, travelled to a hundred countries and more, invented new technologies, help people live better lives and amused the world.

I am enormously proud of my friends and their achievements. You’ve gained knowledge and skills that have allowed you to do these things and formed relationships to support and challenge you.

And it’s with this in mind we look to the next ten years. Given all you have achieved so far, what’s next? Forty is only ten years away, a lifetime from this end and a flash from the other.

The world still has problems, people still need help and technology is moving ever faster.

I set you this challenge, how are you going the make the world better in the next ten years?

Sam

PDF: 10 Years to Save the World

Edit: Some responses

Divergent Thinking

This is the production of new ideas, building on existing ideas or going in new directions. It should quickly develop a list, many of which will be useless but amongst them should be some gems.
Also known as: brain-storming, imagining, bouncing ideas around.

Convergent Thinking

Convergent thinking involves taking the large number of ideas and sieving out the useless ones, noting those that have potential and reducing the list to a manageable number.
Also know as: refining, sieving, concluding, assessing, deciding.

The Peapod

Almost all creative and innovative thought involves a series of phases, some divergent, some convergent. As you can see from the diagram below, this leads to a ‘peapod’ shape. One idea breeds many (divergent) which are refined to a few (convergent) which breed many more, which in turn are refined onwards and onwards.

Leading Creative Thinking

When leading a creative thinking exercise, the most important thing is ensure that you bring it to an end! The convergent/divergent cycle will continue forever if you let it, decide how much time you have or what you criteria for success are before you start and stop once you have reached them.

“I’m learning things. I hope I find out what they are soon.”

Mau, in Terry Pratchett’s Nation

The DJ asked him “What advice would you have for any up and coming comedians?” and the answer he gave was quite enlightening.

He spoke about Gig-Miles and Stage-Time. Gig-miles are the distances you travel to do gigs, up and down the motorways of the country, often night after night. Stage-Time is the amount of hours you spend in front of an audience. Free or paid, it makes no difference he said, what counts is the hours.

These two metrics are a measure of two things. The first is commitment, if you are willing to put in the Gig-Miles and Stage-Time, you are dedicated to what you are trying to achieve. The second is experience, the more of both of them you have, the more experience you will have gained.

In the outdoor world, our equivalents might be Sleeping-Bag-Nights or Boots-Resoled or even Thank-You-Letters-Received.

What are the equivalents of Gig-Miles and Stage-Time in your job?

Picture under Creative Commons from That Other Paper’s Flickrstream.

World Record Highest Dive (Dana Kunze 172 Foot High Dive World Champion)

A ex-soldier and Physical Training Instructor, Mike’s story was pretty incredible. After suffering hearing loss when a bomb exploded 20 feet from him in Northern Ireland, he was medically discharged and, struggling to adapt to civilian life, he found himself living on the streets of London.

An article on Paddy Boyle inspired him to sort himself out and he set out to break as many fitness world records as he could. He now holds more than 20 world records for fitness and aims to break at least 20 more.

Some of the records he holds are mind-boggling:

Fastest 10 mile road run carrying 40lb pack & wearing chemical warfare suit : 2hrs 42mins.

Longest time spent continuously cycling : 96hrs

Furthest distance covered on a treadmill carrying 120lb pack : 62km.

There is loads more information about his achievements on his website so go and marvel and, while you are there, think about donating to Help for Heroes, Mike’s chosen charity.

Right, I’m off to find my running shoes…

“You got to be careful if you don’t know where you’re going, because you might not get there.”

Yogi Berra

In 1967 a journalist is wandering round NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory talking to people involved in the Apollo missions.

He encounters a man wearing the default engineer’s uniform of a white shirt and blue tie, a slide rule sticking out of his top pocket.

“Sorry to interrupt” says the journalist, “but do you mind me asking what you your job is?”

“No problem” replies the engineer, “my job is to calculate the mass flow rate of RP-1 fuel through each of the engines of the Saturn rocket”.

The journalist dutifully writes this down in his note book and thanks the engineer. In the office across the hallway he finds another man, dressed in a dark suit. He knocks politely then asks,

“Hello, I’m doing an article on the staff at NASA and I am trying to find out what peoples jobs are.”

“I’m the Lunar Module Flight Plan Director.” says the man in the suit,  “I manage and approve all changes the the LMFP.”

Again the journalist writes down what the man says and wanders off to find someone else. At the end of the corridor is a man in NASA overalls sweeping the floor. Under the blue and red logo is the word ‘Janitor’.

Sensing the possibility of a human interest story the journalist approaches the man

“I can see you are a janitor”, he says “but what does your job involve?”

“That’s easy”, replies the janitor “I’m putting man on the moon”.

“For those who are uncomfortable with the fashionable idea that learning events don’t count unless they have tight, pre-set objectives.”

If you have an interest  in such things, please do come and join us or ask me for an invite.

From There’s Treasure Everywhere (Calvin and Hobbes) via Ivan Holroyd.

Is “Because it’s there” a good enough reason to do something? Do you want to do it to become wealthier, to be more secure, to learn something or just to get to the top?

Prepare

You need to work out what you resources you need, you need to work out a rough schedule as well. You also need to make sure you’re up to the task and have the right team around you.

Plan Your Route

A map isn’t a requirement if the terrain is easy and recognisable. The more complicated it is, and the more unknown it is, the more you need  to think about where you’re going.

Take Notice Of Paths

Paths are only there because people have done it before. You can use known good paths to your goal, you can use them as rough guides to the direction you should be heading or you can ignore them altogether. The only thing to remember is the well-trodden path is well-trodden for a reason. Is it the right reason?

Stop And Enjoy The View

Enjoy the journey. If you plough on to your summit, you can miss out on what you’ve achieved so far, and there’s nothing better for your motivation than to take stock of how much you’ve done. Take the time to resurvey your surroundings. Is there a better path from your current position that you didn’t spot until now? Are you on schedule?

The Summit

Take time to enjoy it while you are there. If it doesn’t feel satisfying, was it challenging enough?

Other Peaks

Once you’ve reached the summit you wanted, or even before you get there, are there any other peaks worth going to? You’ve already done most the hard work, so sometimes it’s only a minor detour to acheive something in addition to your original plan.

Shortcuts

There are no real shortcuts. The shortest routes are steeper, more dangerous and more difficult. The easier routes are longer, but safer.  You just have to work out how to balance the two.

The Journey Down

Even once you’ve achieved your goal of the summit, there’s still a lot of work to do to finish the job off properly. It’ll be easier than getting to the top, but it won’t be plain sailing.

Thanks to Brian Drought who wrote the first draft of this, Image from Totem staff

I started a new book (left-most black) the day I started Totem. Almost exactly 12 months to the day I filled it completely. So with a new year comes a new book.

I always start each day by writing the date and where I am. Places I have worked this year include Cherhill (the office), Cheltenham, Llanberis, Forest of Dean, Southwick, Brixham, Duchy College, Bradford-upon-Avon and Transylvania.

The first book above was from when I was at Marlborough College and contains 18 months worth of notes and the second, held together with masking tape, from Boulder Adventures amazingly contains nearly 5 years of notes.

I’m looking forward to filling my new one.

A carpenter might sometimes reach for a chisel while making a chair, but it’s not the only tool he uses. In the same way, for trainers and training managers, only sometimes the outdoors is the right tool for the job.

We work with training organisations to deliver their learning aims, or parts of them, using the outdoors as the vehicle. We are proud to be a small cog in a larger training machine.

Unlike traditional adventure education, with us it’s not always climbing vertiginous mountains and paddling raging rivers. We frequently make use of the near-doors, that natural area just beyond the classroom where lessons can still be learnt but it’s still pretty comfortable, and a cup of tea isn’t far away. Adventure is, after all, a state of mind.

Our trainers use a mix of taught theory and ‘learning by doing’ (experiential) challenges. This allows the academic learning to be reinforced by practical examples of working with others under exciting conditions.

Howies not only make really good quality clothing but their blog “Brainfood” is filled with little snippets of information that are both interesting and informative. No long essays, just a drip drip drip of environmentalism, outdoor life, sports and clothing.

The Cleanest Line

Written by the employees, friends and customers of the outdoor clothing company Patagonia. Since it’s employees include Lynn Hill and Yvon Chourinard as well as some leading environmentalists and outdoor writers it is nearly always a great read.

Paul Deegan

Paul Deegan is a mountaineer, presenter and journalist who posts thoughtful views on living and working in the outdoors. He’s also a dreadful skier.

Life in the Vertical

Mark Reeves is a climbing instructor and coach based in North Wales. His blog is frequently badly spelled and some might find his choice of language offensive but it does provide a good insight into making a living in the outdoors.

Kit Up

Inspiration and information can come from the most unlikely source. This blog, subtitled “Warfighters, show us your gear” contains posts about equipment useful to soldiers. Frequently though, soldiers want the same as outdoor people, tough, light, effective gear that does the job. It’s worth keeping an eye on simply to see what our camouflaged brethren are using to do similar things.

Steve House goes through the gear he and partner Vince Anderson used on their alpine-style first ascent of the Rupal Face of Nanga Parbat in September, 2005.

Steve House: Clothing System for Nanga Parbat

Steve House: Gear Used on Nanga Parbat

“You can’t get to wonderful without passing through alright”

Bill Withers

Jamie Neal has. Christopher Columbus has. Macaulay Culkin has.

We’d love to hear your story, comment below or mail me.

The longer version is now on our Core Values page if you are interested.

There is no way in the world that moving some barrels and planks around on a patch of grass to cross a ‘river’ marked out with ropes can ever compare to building a pontoon to cross a real river.

You can climb an artificial climbing wall, lower to the ground and feel pleased with yourself but climb a real cliff and pull over the top and stand on a summit and the achievement will feel so much more tangible.

So while lessons can be learned with barrels and planks and in indoor climbing walls, more powerful lessons can be learnt out and about in the world. Real challenge brings real reward.

Not normally a believer in serendipity or fate, I broke open my fortune cookie in the Chinese restaurant last night to receive the following;

Maybe somebody out there heard my conversation on the mountain…

Tea still plays an enormous part in everyday British life, and nowhere more so than at work. Nowadays, other beverages are catching up fast. Coffee is the frequently offered alternative but the range of hot drinks available stretches from the sublime to the ridiculous. It doesn’t matter what you, the boss, or that odd lady who does the payroll drinks, as long as you drink something.

Leaving aside the health benefits of drinking tea (green, herbal, camomile or otherwise), or even of just drinking fluids, a cup of tea is an important psychological tool.

Chinese philosopher T’ien Yiheng said “Tea is drunk to forget the din of the world” and he makes a good point. Stuck trying to solve an intractable puzzle? Give yourself space, go and make a cup of tea. You won’t stop thinking about the problem, but you will break out of the knot you’ve formed in your head. Stuck doing a boring, repetitive task? Reward yourself with cups of tea at appropriate intervals, motivate yourself by thinking “After another 200 rows of customer records analysed, I’ll have a chai latte”.

Tea is also a fine relationship builder. Need to speak to someone about a sensitive issue? Invite them to make a cup of tea and join you somewhere private. Upset someone a few desks away? Make them a “Ginger and Gunpowder Zinger” and take one over as a peace offering. Use it to establish rapport and break the ice at meetings, everyone feels better chatting over a cup of tea.

Establish a community within your company using tea. Offer to ‘make the tea’ occasionally and use it as an excuse to chat to others at their desk. Include everyone nearby in your rounds, leaving someone out of a tea run is akin to being stood up on prom night. Encourage everyone, including the boss, to do a tea run. It takes ten minutes and leaves everyone in the office a little happier.

A tea bag costs about a penny, less in bulk. Even adding in milk, sugar (to taste) and the cost of heating the water, a cup of tea costs less than 3p. In a company of average tea drinkers (3 cups a day), that’s 45p per employee per week.

Is 45p a week worth it for a more relaxed, more motivated, more tactful, friendlier employee?

Photo from Ben Haldenby’s flickrstream under Creative Commons

“”It is too constricting to say that you must always think outside the box; whether you are thinking inside or outside the box, you are still letting the box dictate your thoughts, are you not? What you are not acknowledging is the honest fact that ‘the box’ itself is figmentary, illusory. And as long as one continues to act in reaction to this perceived set of dictates, one cannot be truly original in thought.”

Erica Amelia Smith,
An Address as to the Nature of the “Proper” Uses of Technology

Let My People Go Surfing

The subtitle of this book is “The education of a reluctant business man” and Yvon Chouinard definitely falls into this category. He practices MBA, or Management by Absence which has meant that everyone in his company has to have a strong idea of what they are trying to achieve. It’s difficult to ask your boss for guidance when he’s halfway up a peak in the Himalaya.

The first half of the book deals with the history of Patagonia, from its start in the back of his truck through to being a multinational equipment and clothing manufacturer.

It should be a tale of how not to do it, with itinerant climbers promoted to senior managers and a staff that has permission to disappear when the surf gets big. However the tale reads as an adventure yarn, with a real feeling of teamwork, tolerance and ‘out-of-the-box’ thinking. Instead of despairing at the ineptitude of the participants, you realise that this may be an alternative way of doing business.

In the late 80s, Patagonia started struggling and Chouinard realised that they had overreached themselves. When he had to lay of 250 of his workers, he decided that he needed to clarify in his own mind why he was running a business. The book goes on to explain the “philosophies” that were created to guide the company onwards.

The philosophies are like a 50 page mission statement, split into categories like “Product Design” and “Environment” and are there to guide any member of the company in making the best decision for the company. While his goals won’t be applicable to anybody else’s company, the process of setting those goals will be. If you want to see how important the environment is to Patagonia, look at their philosophies. If you want to know how they expect their suppliers to be treated, looking at the philosophies.

Every business person who aspires to create, run or work in a business that isn’t a nine-to-five, cubicle farm, sweatshop should read this book.

Links to buy: Patagonia and amazon.co.uk

Can you name more than 30?

How does this affect your understanding of other peoples feelings?

¹Tony Robbins @ TED

Photo from Ben Smith’s flickrstream under Creative Commons

“The best climber is the one having the most fun.”

Alex Lowe, The American Alpine Journal

From tales of accidents and examples of extreme courage to silly stories and beginners luck, Fitz does a great job of getting to the soul of the outdoor person. He comes closer than most to explaining why we go into the hills or onto the river and push ourselves beyond our comfort zone.

There is also an environmental theme running through the episodes but thankfully this is not allowed to overshadow the stories themselves. The narration is peppered with short sections of music from wide variety of sources and frequently with audio recorded on trips and adventures.

I defy anyone to listen to these podcasts and not be day-dreaming about their next adventure.

If you have the time, all the episodes are worth listening to but a couple stand out from the crowd. “Datos Insuficientes” is an account of the first descent of Peru’s isolated Apurimac River and the high level of commitment it required.

“Anatomy of an Accident” inspects an near-miss that Cahall had on a peak in Oregon which is told so graphically that you will feel like you too have slid down 200ft of sheer ice.

Unlike many podcasts you can download mp3s of the episodes directly from the website or subscribe by RSS or through iTunes.

Resources

A set of poker chips. 200 in four colours works fine, the less you have in more limited colours, the harder the task will be.

Instructions For Tutor

Give the group a box of poker chips. Tell them

“You have 20 minutes to create a means of transferring a message from one half of the group to the other using only the chips placed on the table.

No paper or pencils are permitted.

After 20 minutes I will split the group in two and half of you will be asked to leave the room. I will give the remaining participants a 20-30 letter message that may involve letters or numbers but no punctuation, which you must pass to the other group using only the poker chips”

Facilitate the creation of the code. This is where the bulk of the team dynamics and personal development takes place as the participants try to refine their aim, then develop the code and finally to ensure that everyoe understands the code.

Use whatever means you like to capture this discussion, we have successfully used video, notes, phrases used jotted on a blackboard and having observers taken from within the group.

When they have a code, split the group into two and send half out of the room. Give the other half a short (20-30 letter) message on a piece of paper and help them encode it.

The messages are best if they have several words, and aren’t too easy to guess once you have 2-3 of the words. We’ve used short Shakespeare quotes and the names of the building we are in.

Invite the other half back in to decode it and ensure that there is no  cheating.

Swap the two halves of the group over and try with a different message.

Using it elsewhere

We have used variants of this task in a number of places.

• On a beach with different coloured stones.
• In a forest using sticks.
• On a draughts (checkers) board using the pieces.
• In a park using “whatever you can find”.
• In a mountain campsite using “the contents of your rucksack”.

Doing it outside makes it a much more physical, tactile task and adds whole new areas of discussion such as role allocation “You go and collect black stones” or even “What shall we use?”.

“This is what I love about friendships, especially climbing ones. You never know where they might lead. One day someone’s a stranger, another they hold your life in their hands.”

Andy Kirkpatrick

“While doing his national service in a Swedish infantry regiment, he trained for Alpine climbing expeditions by sleeping in a gravel pit. His tough, self-imposed programme included setting his alarm clock at random: if he woke at 3am he would walk 30km in full combat gear; if he woke at 6am, he would walk 60km. “I wanted to get used to living with the unexpected,” he said.”

The rest of the obituary further emphasises how dedicated this man was to both adventure and minimal impact techniques.

“Kropp aimed to tackle each expedition “in harmony with nature”, without support and leaving no trace of his passing. “It is important for me to leave nothing behind me on a mountain,” he said.”

You can read the rest of the obituary on the Telegraph website.

Photo from MountainZone.com.

Returning home on Sunday night I realised I was covered in bruises. There is the one on my back from falling off the board into 4 inches of water after I misjudged how far ashore I had come.  I’ve got one around my left ankle where my leash pulled tight after I let go of my board while wading out. The one on my chin is the most visible, caused by throwing myself forward onto my board with a little too much vigour.

They might make me a little bit sore but I am proud of my bruises. Really proud. They are like little campaign medals and, to me they represent two things.

The first is the fact that I was learning a new skill. Learning any new physical skill normally results in bruising, aching or stiffness. Is there anyone who has never used the phrase “I’ve discovered muscles I didn’t know I had”? These aches and pains tell us we are moving outside our comfort zone and, quite literally, stretching ourselves.

The second thing that bruises represent is commitment. We all fell off our boards a lot in the surf. However we kept getting back on them, like the adage about falling off a horse. The bruises provide useful feedback that what we did last time didn’t work, so try something else.

Bruises tell you that you are making mistakes, they represent failed attempts at something. However, a core belief of experiential learning is that if we are open minded, we learn as much from our mistakes as we do from success. So with the right attitude, bruises are badges of learning.

Of course, nobody likes getting hurt but you can bruise plenty of other things than your body. Your ego, your confidence, your cashflow, your reputation, your business plan. The good news is, like your body, all these things heal and with a bit of luck, you will be wiser as a result.

So, what have you bruised recently?

Photo from Jules Li’s Flickrstream under Creative Commons License

]]> http://www.totemdevelopment.co.uk/blog/2009/07/what-have-you-bruised-recently/feed/ 1 http://www.totemdevelopment.co.uk/blog/2009/07/annoucing-the-next-anything-could-happen-course/ http://www.totemdevelopment.co.uk/blog/2009/07/annoucing-the-next-anything-could-happen-course/#comments Thu, 16 Jul 2009 15:56:25 +0000 Sam http://www.totemdevelopment.co.uk/blog/?p=139 Totem would like to invite you to participate in our next Anything Could Happen course which will be running in September. It will be taking place in North Wales on either 11-13th September or 18-20th September. The cost is £280.

There is plenty of of information about the course at www.totemdevelopment.co.uk/anythingcouldhappen

In summary, it is an open outcome course with no fixed programme. We aim to draw together a diverse group of people, put them in beautiful surroundings, and provide challenging activities to create a powerful learning experience. It is aimed at people who are interested in their own personal development and who want to explore their own learning in an exciting and challenging environment.

Since we use Agile Programming, we can’t guarantee what you’ll be doing on the course but previously we have guided blindfolded partners; hunted foam animals scattered throughout the town; created art out of slate; abseiled and climbed; had round table debates; created codes and built a bridge across a lake.

We couple this with meaningful, engaging personal and group reflection and review to ensure that participants come away having learnt from everything they have done.

Some comments from previous participants:

“Thought provoking and loads of fun with plenty to take away to think about and hopefully apply!” -James

“A month of life packed into 48 hours!” -Eeva

“Thought-provoking; knackering but fun and challenging” -Billy

Mark also wrote a short piece about his time on the course, which you can read here.

The course fee includes all food and accommodation for the weekend, as well as the training, activities and any materials used. We will be based at the well equipped and friendly Bryn Du Mountain centre.

If you are interested in attending the course, please let us know which dates (11-13 or 18-20) you could attend and which one you prefer.

If you have any friends, colleagues or family who you think might be interested, please do not hesitate to forward this to them.

If you want to know more about this unusual course, please feel free to contact us.

” A human being should be able to change a diaper, plan an invasion, butcher a hog, conn a ship, design a building, write a sonnet, balance accounts, build a wall, set a bone, comfort the dying, take orders, give orders, cooperate, act alone, solve equations, analyze a new problem, pitch manure, program a computer, cook a tasty meal, fight efficiently, die gallantly. Specialization is for insects. ”

Robert Anson Heinlein in Time Enough for Love (1973)

The Four Hour Work Week

Tim Ferris

978-0091923723

Tim Ferriss has trouble defining what he does for a living. Depending on when you ask him he might answer: ‘I race motorcycles in Europe’, ‘I ski in the Andes’, ‘I scuba dive in Panama’, ‘I dance tango in Buenos Aires’. He has spent more than five years learning the secrets of the ‘New Rich’, a fast-growing subculture that has abandoned the ‘deferred-life plan’ and instead mastered the new currencies – time and mobility – to create a new way of living. Whether your dream is escaping the rat race, experiencing first class world travel, earning a monthly five-figure income with no management, or just living more and working less, this book is the blueprint.

Recommended by James

“Made me think about what I wanted to achieve from life aside from looking towards retirement”

Buy from Amazon.co.uk

Three Cups of Tea

Greg Mortenson

978-0141034263

In 1993, after a terrifying and disastrous attempt to climb K2, a mountaineer called Greg Mortenson drifted, cold and dehydrated, into an impoverished Pakistan village in the Karakoram Mountains. Moved by the inhabitants’ kindness, he promised to return and build a school. “Three Cups of Tea” is the story of that promise and its extraordinary outcome.

Recommended by Nick and Eeva

“Taught me not to accept the limitations and that with perseverance it is possible to achieve anything”

“A great, inspiring story”

Buy from Amazon.co.uk

Complete Prose

Woody Allen

978-0330328210

Complete Prose brings together Allen’s three outrageously funny collections, Without Feathers, Getting Even and Side Effects. A collection of 52 pieces of writing displaying Woody Allen’s own brand of humour.

Recommended by Billy

“A book that shows you that everyday life is not only ridiculous but funny.”

Buy from Amazon.co.uk

Quarantine

Greg Egan

978-0575081727

It’s late in the 21st century and bioengineering is now so common that people are able to modify their minds in any way they wish. Now, you can be whatever you want to be, and do whatever you want to do. One night, thirty three years ago, the stars went out. ‘The Bubble’  appeared in the sky, isolating the solar system from the rest of the universe. For thirty-three years, humanity has lived with the religious cults and terrorism which spawned in the wake of the darkness. We are now alone. Humanity has been cut off Quarantined.

Recommended by John

“Mind-bending ideas about the nature of identity”

Buy from Amazon.co.uk

Let My People Go Surfing

Yvon Chouinard

978-0143037835

Part memoir, part manifesto — legendary climber, businessman and environmentalist Yvon Chouinard, founder and owner of Patagonia, Inc. describes his life and his start in business as an itinerant climber selling pitons from the back of his car. Let My People Go Surfing: The Education of a Reluctant Businessman offers a look at the guiding principles that Chouinard used to build Patagonia into a global business — a business that has an environmental mission and is a fun place to work.

Recommended by Sam

“This book made me realise that making a profit was a tiny part of running a business”

Buy from Amazon.co.uk

Effortless Mastery

Kenny Werner

978-1562240035

Effortless Mastery is a book for any musician who finds themselves having reached a plateau in their development. Werner, a masterful jazz pianist in his own right, uses his own life story and experiences to explore the barriers to creativity and mastery of music, and in the process reveals that “Mastery is available to everyone,” providing practical, detailed ways to move towards greater confidence and proficiency in any endeavour. While Werner is a musician, the concepts presented are for every profession or life-style where there is a need for free-flowing, effortless thinking.

Recommended By Mark

“I’ve taken stuff from it about mental processes and performance”

Buy from Amazon.co.uk

McMafia

Misha Glenny

978-0099481256

For three years, Misha Glenny has been recording the stories of gun runners in Ukraine, money launderers in Dubai, drug syndicates in Canada, cyber criminals in Brazil, racketeers in Japan and many more. During his investigation of the dark side, he has spoken to countless gangsters, policemen and victims of organised crime while also exploring the ferocious consumer demand for drugs, trafficked women, illegal labour and arms across five continents. The journey begins with an appalling and inexplicable murder in England’s stockbroker belt and continues with stories that are often horrifying, sometimes inspiring, usually bizarre and occasionally funny. But together they build a breathtaking picture of the shadow economy that has grown so fast that it may now account for about 20% of the world’s GDP.

Recommended by Billy

“An interesting look at organised crime and how it crosses over with the legitimate world”

Buy from Amazon.co.uk

Who Runs this Place?

Anthony Sampson

978-0719565663

Anthony Sampson has spent forty years dissecting the power-structure, with unique access to people at the top, to produce his best-selling Anatomies of Britain. Now in this intensely topical book, he surveys a much more troubled scene with more anger and impatience. He looks at the whole panoply of power, from an embattled Number Ten to the murky intelligence spooks, from corporate boardrooms to banks and pension funds. Everywhere he talks to the people who really know their inside workings.

Recommended by Sam

“After reading this book, I found it a lot easier to look beyond the headlines and have a better grip of the stories that appear in the news”

Buy from Amazon.co.uk

We were blessed with sunshine and a good amount of wind which meant the racing amongst this very competitive fleet was close, intense and exciting. In this type of event there aren’t many tactics, the short courses and identical boats mean that most races are won by making your boat go faster through the water. A 1% drop in performance will cost you 60m over the race and probably about 5-6 places.

What struck me out on the water that a small yacht like the Sonata, normally crewed by 3 or 4 people, was a perfect medium for team building.

It is a high pressure environment

Yacht racing is a bit like close quarter jousting using 23 foot, wind-powered horses on a field that flows in one direction and bounces up and down. It has a complicated set of rules for defining who has right of way that require constant reference to the wind direction and an understanding of what every boat in the near vicinity is doing.

As you approach a buoy marking a change in direction on the course, you must go around it without hitting it, reset your sails or raise new ones, find the next marker and make a tactical decision about how you are going to get to it. Meanwhile ten or more boats, many within touching distance, are trying to do the same thing as you, only faster and no-one has any brakes.

At times the boats are less than a metre apart, there is frequently a lot of shouting as people claim their right to clear water and the damage if a collision occurs can run into tens of thousands of pounds. This high pressure environment demonstrates clearly that a cool head and the knowledge that your crewmates are doing their jobs are essential.

You have a clear goal

Everybody on the team understands the goal, to win this race. Everybody on the team understands how they are going to do this, by being faster than any other boat on the water that day. Since the boats are identical, everybody understands that the only way to achieve that goal is to do their specific jobs to the best of their abilities.

Everybody has a specific role to play

On a Sonata there are four roles,

The Helmsman, who is also normally the skipper, steers the boat, makes decisions about direction and sail choice and leads the team.

The Trimmer, who handles the main sail, making tiny adjustments, frequently as small as 2-3cm, to gain the maximum amount of power out of the sails to allow the helmsman to sail his chosen course as fast as possible.

The Winch Grinder, who is the muscle on the boat, pulling in the foresail every time the boat changes direction as quickly as possible to allow the helmsman to reset his course. He raises the sails and shifts his weight around to keep the boat as flat and as fast as possible.

The Foredeck who deals with anything that happens forward of the cockpit. Launching and recovering sails, making alterations to the rigging, they also move their weight to where it is most useful.

Bigger boats may have more people on board but the roles are as clearly defined and everybody knows, at each point in the race, what they should be doing.

You have a clearly defined leader

Upon seeing a person on another boat wearing a jumper that had ‘skipper’ on the back, one of the crew quipped “If you need to wear a badge to tell the crew you are the skipper, you are doing it wrong”. Clear, defined leadership is essential at sea, where not only are races won or lost but potentially lives too. The skipper has complete control over the boat and all on-board. They oversee everything going on and make the decisions, which the crew then enact.

Responsibility is automatically devolved

The skipper doesn’t have time to think about how to get the most power out of the sails or whether a fastening is attached correctly so responsibility is automatically devolved to one of the defined crew roles. He relies on his crew to do the right thing at the right time. If the crew take up that responsibility then the boat performs well, if not, they are likely to lose.

It is obvious if you are performing as a team

Since yachts are very difficult to sail single handed, if the boat is moving, you are performing as a team. If the boat is moving fast, you are performing well as a team.

You have to work together

Once out at sea, if you don’t work as a team, you won’t get home. There is nothing like rough seas or the call of dry land and the bar to persuade people to put aside personal differences and to work together. In high pressure environments it is easy to snap at someone or to take affront at an off-hand comment but for the sake of getting home, you must learn to let it all wash over you.

You can’t get away

Confronted by a high pressure environment and uneasy team dynamic, the temptation is to walk away and not go through the difficult learning process that is team building. On a 6.9m boat, you can’t go far!

Sadly, our results in the Sonata Nationals suggests our teamwork could be better but it certainly gave me food for thought.

Photo from Roberto Venturini‘s flickr stream. Used under CC-deriv license.

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.

ANYTHING COULD HAPPEN

PARTICIPANT PROFILE :

MARK MORLEY-FLETCHER

About Me:

I’m 30 years old and work for the Civil Service as an analyst; my background is originally in Theoretical Physics.  I live in London and I‘m a keen musician in my spare time, but I also spend a reasonable amount of time playing sport and other general outdoor activities.

My Experience of Anything Could Happen:

I didn’t come on the on the Anything Could Happen course with a clearly defined goal in mind – rather, I was keen to see what new things I could learn about myself in an unfamiliar learning environment; I was sure the course would throw up some interesting development opportunities that I was previously unaware of.  I also thought that a weekend of outdoor activities in Snowdonia would be enjoyable in its own right.

As such, I didn’t have any firm expectations of the course.  I guessed it would probably involve various team building activities along with some more ‘challenging’ outdoor activities along the lines of abseiling, but I wasn’t sure how it would all be tied together or how learning points would be drawn out of it.  This was another reason I was interested in the course as I was keen to find this out.

The course packed an awful lot into two days, but some of the main activities included: guiding blindfolded partners; hunting foam animals scattered throughout the town; creating art out of slate; abseiling and climbing; round table debates; creating codes on a chessboard; and building a bridge across a lake.

Each of these activities threw up interesting points, with some of the most revealing being the ones which I had initially expected to be less interesting.  For example, I didn’t feel particularly enthused by the idea of slate art, but after being left to get on with it on my own for a while I found myself really getting into it – it ended up being one of the most enjoyable activities for me.

There was definitely a consistent theme to this and it helped me realise how much I can get out of things I wouldn’t usually consider doing once I actually start to engage with them.  I also found it very interesting to compare how I approached those less familiar things with how I approached more familiar activities – I think I learned a lot about myself from the similarities and differences in approach.

Overall though, the biggest learning experience for me was the time devoted to group review after all the activities.  In the past, I’ve not been particularly inspired by discussions after various development courses; they’ve tended to identify one or two “key” points (usually identified by the leader before the exercise even started) and then moved on.  In this case the discussions were longer and I realised that the first few ‘obvious’ learning points which came up were not always the most revealing.  Reflecting within the group rather than just individually led to a lot more ideas coming through.  Also, there was no “right answer“ for us to take away and in some cases, people got different insights from the same activity.  Overall, one of the few regrets I have about the weekend is that there weren’t more hours available in the day so that we could have spent longer on these sessions.

These in-depth reflection sessions were the biggest thing I took away from the course as I determined to think about what I can learn from different situations and experiences more frequently, and to spend longer doing it as well.  On top of this I’ve come away with some more specific insights into team work – both on how I go about it myself, and how other people’s approaches can affect things too.

Overall, it was a very enjoyable weekend, packed full of all sorts of different activities (to the point where it felt much longer than just two days) which has provided me with some very deep learning experiences.  I’d recommend it to anyone who’s keen to challenge and find out more about themselves – compared to many other development courses it really has the potential to give you some very individual and personal insights.  Be prepared to throw yourself into it though; since the outcomes and learning points aren’t fixed, what you get out of it will depend on what you put in.

Despite their suspicion, curiosity overcomes one of the villager and he casually asks the traveller what he is doing. “Cooking stone soup” comes the reply. “I’ve never heard of stone soup” says the villager. “It’s the tastiest soup you’ll ever eat” says the traveller stirring the pot, “would you like some?”. Food has been short so the villager eagerly reaches out for the ladle. Just as he is about to take it the traveller pulls it away. “Actually, stone soup tastes even better with a little bit of turnip” he says, “You wouldn’t have a turnip we could add have you?”. Reluctantly the villager admits he may have and returns a few minutes later with the turnip and his neighbour, who would also like to try the soup.

“It’s pretty good” says the traveller after adding the turnip, “but it would be even better with some potatoes”. The neighbour sheepishly admits that he has some and heads off to get them. In the mean time, word has been spreading around the village about the stone soup and the local priest comes by. He asks to try the soup and is told that it is almost ready but, as the traveller explains, it “would be rounded off nicely by some meat”. The priest, who is an honest man, admits to having some dried beef put aside and agrees that if it will perfect the soup then he can spare some of it.

The traveller adds the potatoes and beef to soup and with a flourish serves up several bowls. Just as he is ladling it out, the baker comes over to see what is going on. The traveller, quick as a flash says “We were just sitting down with our stone soup, but we have no bread to eat with it”. The baker has never tried stone soup but the neighbour explains that it is the finest soup known and the baker agrees to provide a loaf of bread to eat with it in return for a bowl.

Shortly afterwards the traveller, villager, his neighbour, the priest and the baker are all sitting down around the fire with empty bowls in front of them. “Stone soup is the finest soup I have ever tasted” said the villager. “Thank-you” says the traveller, reaching into the empty pot and taking the stone out. Wiping the stone, he puts it back into his pocket and begins to pack his belongings.

Picture from NeilsPhotography under Creative Commons.

Green people are fully engaged in the discussion that’s is going on. They form the ‘yolk of the egg’ They will be sat at the centre of the group, often with a piece of paper in their hand, contributing ideas, extracting ideas from other green people and attempting to solve the problem or formulate a plan.

Orange people are following the discussion but they do not feel full engaged. They might have ideas but they won’t contribute them or, if they do, will not fight to make them accepted. People for whom the consequences of the discussion will have little effect often sit in this ‘white of the egg’. Also people who aren’t confident or who are overwhelmed by the green people will be here. They often have useful input to the conversation that will be missed unless they can be drawn into the ‘yolk’ and become green people.

Red people are totally disengaged from the discussion. They are sat at the outskirts of the group, barely even following what is going on. They normally feel totally disconnected from the topic being discussed, either because they feel they can’t change the course of the discussion or because they have resigned themselves to going with whatever the group decide. They make no attempt to contribute and often feel bitter about being sidelined.

People don’t stay within one section of the egg but drift between them as the discussion goes on. The important thing as a chairman, facilitator or team manager is trying to stop people drifting outwards into the white or out of the egg entirely.

As a participant you can be aware that the tendancy is to look inwards towards the yolk and you can occasionally glance behind you and see if there are any orange or red people who can be brought back into the discussion.

So next time you are involved in a group discussion, have a think about where in the egg you sit and where the other participants are. You might be able to help bring people back to the yolk.

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.

Camp Equipment

• 52l Rucksack
• Tent
• Sleeping Bag
• Inflatable Mat
• Head Torch

Spare/Camp Clothes

• Thermal Longjohns
• Puffy Jacket
• Spare Thick Socks

Clothing

• Thin Gloves
• Warm Mitts
• Fleece Balaclava
• Fleece Headband
• Pertex Windshirt
• Thin Fleece
• Softshell Jacket
• Waterproof Jacket
• Waterproof Trousers

Cooking and Eating

• Gas Stove
• Aluminium Windshield
• Gas Canister
• Plastic Spoon
• Insulated Mug
• Pan and Handle
• Lighter and Matches
• Sponge/Scrubber
• 1l Water Bottle

Miscellaneous

• Map
• Compass with Whistle
• OHP Marker (for writing on maps)
• Sharp Knife
• Sunscreen
• Sun Glasses
• Insect Repellent
• First Aid Kit
• Drybag with Phone and Wallet
• 2 Walking Poles

In addition I would be wearing Boots, Thick Socks, Underwear, Lightweight Trousers and a Wicking Top.

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!

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!

Name

Make your name obvious. If an employer is leafing through a bunch of CVs, he won’t notice your name if it’s in 10pt text. It should be legible, so choose a sensible font and make it big enough to read from a short distance. If you’re emailing a digital copy, don’t send yet another cv.doc, put your name in the filename.

By all means include the words ‘Curriculum Vitae’ if you wish but, if you are running out of room, they take up valuable space.

Contact Details

If an employer can’t get hold of you, they can’t employ you. Make sure your contact details are up to date and clear. Put them near the top of the CV, like in the image below so that they are easy to find and use.

Include an address where post can be sent to you and where you will receive it reasonably swiftly as contracts need to be sent out and you will almost certainly have to sign and return forms. Email is the preferred means of communication for many people nowadays so if you have an address, put it under your postal address and check it regularly. A mobile phone number is ideal if you are out and about a lot but it is worth also putting a home number where you can receive messages if you work in areas where there is little reception.

Ensure your name is obvious and your contact details are easy to find.

Qualifications

This is what will initially decided whether your CV gets kept or binned. Most centres cannot operate without appropriately qualified staff so an employer wants to see straight away which qualifications you have.

List all your national governing body qualifications, grouped by activity. If you have watersports qualifications, put them together, likewise with climbing or mountaineering. Include any ‘training’ modules you have completed as although they do not allow you to work at a higher level, they give an employer an idea of where your career is going. You should also include the dates on which you achieved the qualifications as this gives an employer some idea of your experience.

Employment History

The outdoor education industry is one of the few where having lots of previous jobs is considered a bonus. Having worked with a lot of centres/institutions shows that you have a range of experience and an understanding that there is more than one way to deliver outdoor activities.

You should start with the most recently held position and work backwards in chronological order. Include the job title and the dates during which you held the post and the job title. You should also include a short description of the role, your duties, the type of clients you worked with and the activities you delivered. Here is an example;

May 2002-September 2002
Group Instructor, Snowdonia Outdoor Education Centre

Delivering Outdoor Activities, including canoeing, kayaking, orienteering, sailing, archery and assault courses, to groups of up to 12 primary school pupils from deprived inner city areas. Pastoral duties included overnight responsibilities and character development. Other duties included equipment purchase and maintenance and general office work.

Delivering activities including canoeing, kayaking, orienteering, sailing, archery and assault courses, to groups of up to 12 primary school pupils from deprived inner city areas. Pastoral duties included overnight responsibilities and character development. Other duties included equipment purchase and maintenance and general office work.

Freelance work should be listed as such, with a list of clients and examples of activities and courses you have run. Some details of the range of clients you have worked with is a useful guide to the employer of your experience. List any relevant voluntary work you have done with the same information as above.

If you are new to the industry, or haven’t worked for many organisations, list any work you have done with groups such as the Scout Association or schools. Also, list your previous jobs, even if they are not outdoor related, your employment history can tell an employer a lot about you even if it is in another sector such as teaching of the armed services.

Education

Limit your education history to the two highest levels that you achieved. For example, A-levels and then Degree. List the highest first and include the name of the establishment, the dates you attended and a summary of the qualifications you achieved. For example;

1997-2000 Isle of Skye Sixth Form College
2 A-levels (Maths A, Art C), NVQ2 Spanish

If you have just left school, it is worth mentioning if you have Maths and English GCSEs.

Personal Interests

Your personal interests can tell an employer a lot about your attitude towards the outdoors. List your outdoor interests here, along with some idea of the level at which you do them. For example;

Rock Climbing
I took up climbing around 4 years ago and have climbed all over the UK. I lead at VS and F6a. Venues have included Stanage, Harrison’s Rocks, Llanberis Pass, Gogarth, Wye Valley, Pol Dubh and the Isle of Lewis. Overseas, I have climbed in Northern and Alpine France, Spain, Italy and California.

Try to give the employer an idea of how much you have done and how broad a spectrum it has been over. If you have been involved in a project as a volunteer, for example, conservation work or public education, include it in a similar manner.

Conservation
I have been volunteering for the BTCV for eighteen months. During that time I have been involved in three rubbish clearance projects at a local woodland and have been an assistant warden, helping the public discover these beautiful places.

List any major trips you have been on and, in particular, any you have planned or helped organise. A trek in the Himalaya with a trekking company is very different to one you have organised yourself.

Any competitive sports you have competed should be included, along with significant results or records. Don’t limit yourself to outdoor sports, include any major achievements. e.g.

I raced in two marathon seasons, one in K2 and one in C2. High points of the seasons included finishing the Devizes to Westminster race and winning at the Schools National.

References

Include at least two referees. Ideally one of them would be from your previous job, although this is not always possible. In addition to their name, put their position or job title and the organisation they work for. If they work independently, list their highest qualifications. More important to most employers is not what your referees say but who they are.

Once again, make your potential employers life as easy as possible. As well as a postal address, include a telephone number and email address for your referees, speeding up the time it takes to contact them.

Layout

Nobody expects an outdoor instructor to be a graphic designer. However, your CV needs to be well laid out and clear. As mentioned earlier, employers are interested in specific information, so lay your CV out in the order suggested above. Have clear headings and make sure you don’t cramp everything together

The font should be legible, try a sans-serif like ‘Arial’ or something that is easy on the eye like ‘Times New Roman’. Avoid script fonts, curly writing and the like.

Unless you are exceptionally talented at desktop publishing, resist the urge to ‘jazz up’ your CV with pictures, coloured boxes, wavy lines, zebra stripes etc. Bad design is worse than no design. The exception to this is a picture of yourself, which can make your CV stand out from the rest but make sure it is small, clear and shows you at your best. A head and shoulders shot is probably all you need and, as above, if you can’t do it neatly, don’t do it.

Covering Letter

Keep your covering letter brief. Describe yourself in a couple of sentences if you must, but avoid clichés and hackneyed phrases such as “I am a good team player but I am happy to work by myself if needed”. Show that you have done some research about the company, describe why you want to work for them and what makes you right for the job. Keep this to two paragraphs, it’s you CV that will sell you, not your letter.

In your final paragraph include two very important bits of information. Let the employer know the best way to contact you (home phone, mobile, email) and when you are available from. If you can start immediately, say so.

The Final Step

The most important step in writing your CV is the final one. Get someone (or two or three people) to read through your CV and covering letter and check your spelling, punctuation and grammar. Nothing looks more careless than an obvious mistake.

This article was first published in Horizons magazine July 2009.

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.

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.

Ask each person to write their name on five post its. Then get them to write five activities or concepts that you have chosen underneath that. These activities/concepts should be things that people are commonly afraid of and should be pertinent to the course you are running or the daily lives of the group. For example, a group about to embark on an adventure week might be given “Deep Water, Heights, Confined Spaces, Mud and The Dark”. There is a list of possible ‘fears’ below but try to think about what fears the group might have already.

Once they have done this, ask the group to bring their post-its up to the board and stick them onto it in the appropriate position. Explain that the numbers have the following meanings.

0 – No fear at all
1 – Mildly Concerned
2 – Apprehensive
3 – Scared
4 – Very Scared
5 – Absolutely Terrified

Once the group have stuck their post-its on the board, you can look at it as a group and discuss the results. Particular attention can be paid to those that have a lot of high or low placements or those who are mostly low with one especially high one.

Done at the start of a course or session, this provides the trainer with a good feeling for both the general ‘fear factor’ in the group and specific concerns of members. It also allows members to make their fears public in a manner which is easy to articulate and reduces the chance of humiliation when those fears surface during an activity/session. By looking at the spread, it also allows others in the group to realise when members might need support.

If possible the arrangement should be left in place and displayed during the course/session so it can be referred to when appropriate.

Possible Follow Up

After the discussion, or after the course, ask the group to move their post-its to represent how they now feel about the fears and whether it has changed at all. If it has, there can be a discussion as to why

Possible ‘Fears’

Deep water, heights, confined spaces, mud, the dark, public speaking, confrontation, creepy crawlies, betrayal, letting people down, getting hurt, technology, flying, spiders, death, crowds, clowns, responsibility, failure