Saturday, August 05, 2006
Motivational Inspirational Speaker Carole Spiers says "Weekly brainstorm that saves you from tunnel vision"
Tackling your problems with a little help from friends and colleagues
- where six minds are better than one. We call it Wednesday Club.
We live in an age where problems seem to multiply and mutate faster than we can keep track - often leaving us feeling helpless and ready to give up.
At these times, it’s especially important to avoid tunnel vision, to keep things in perspective and in proportion.
If a problem shared is a problem halved, then you should try an unofficial networking arrangement, which we call Wednesday Club.
Ideally, there should be about six of you, made up of friends and colleagues, and it is important that you should be like-minded people, but with different training and professional backgrounds - most likely to be able to provide useful tips in a sympathetic and constructive spirit.
The only rigid rule is that you must meet regularly, in order to maintain the integrity of the project and keep up momentum. Once a week is ideal, but less-frequent fixtures will work, provided that they are regular and well-attended. Group size should be around six, for credibility and manageability. You should allow an hour for the official agenda, followed by about half an hour for any follow-up thoughts, before winding-up.
Cross-pollination for fresh insights
If you’ve recruited the other members with suitable care, you’re going to find that this team is truly bigger than the sum of its parts, representing a body of expertise far more impressive than you had imagined. Someone you already knew quite well may turn out to have qualifications (or qualities) you never dreamed they had. You’ll soon find you’ve got more in common with other people than you thought. And you’ll probably find that you’ve got more to contribute than you thought too.
Getting out what you put in
The balance between giving and taking is key. You may have joined ostensibly to solve some overwhelming problem - say troubleshooting an advanced software package. Then you find that the lady who runs the florists (and whom you identified solely with tulips and carnations) has been trained on that very package, and can instantly tell you 90% of what’s been baffling you. Meanwhile she’s got a son who’s looking for a left-handed guitar. Sure enough, you’re left-handed yourself, and haven’t touched that old guitar for years. All it wanted was a good home…
Even with only six of you, it will be truly astounding just how much expertise you can pool in the way of professional experience, useful contacts, technical know-how, family wisdom, emotional support and general health and happiness.
Little rituals to spice the mix
Even an hour’s session can drag, if it does not have some fixed points to give it shape and character - like each person declaring what was the most heartwarming incident of their week, or even a semi-religious invocation, perhaps giving thanks for health and freedom.
And although there should be no official leader, there does of course have to be a convenor, who may also double as time-keeper, monitoring the meeting to ensure that nobody hogs the limelight and everyone gets value.
Carole Spiers – motivational inspirational speaker occupies a special niche as an expert in Human Development potential. She brings together the separate cultures of individual empowerment and executive management - proving to corporate business that empowered employees improve performance and output. Carole’s keynote presentations have educated and inspired audiences all over the world. She is also a high profile broadcaster, journalist and President of the London Chapter of the Professional Speakers Association.
Our publications and sales CDs have been sold globally. To sign up for our FREE success quotations http://tinyurl.co.uk/yhgv, or for more information email info@carolespiers.com to telephone +44 (0) 29 8954 1593 http://www.carolespiers.com
- where six minds are better than one. We call it Wednesday Club.
We live in an age where problems seem to multiply and mutate faster than we can keep track - often leaving us feeling helpless and ready to give up.
At these times, it’s especially important to avoid tunnel vision, to keep things in perspective and in proportion.
If a problem shared is a problem halved, then you should try an unofficial networking arrangement, which we call Wednesday Club.
Ideally, there should be about six of you, made up of friends and colleagues, and it is important that you should be like-minded people, but with different training and professional backgrounds - most likely to be able to provide useful tips in a sympathetic and constructive spirit.
The only rigid rule is that you must meet regularly, in order to maintain the integrity of the project and keep up momentum. Once a week is ideal, but less-frequent fixtures will work, provided that they are regular and well-attended. Group size should be around six, for credibility and manageability. You should allow an hour for the official agenda, followed by about half an hour for any follow-up thoughts, before winding-up.
Cross-pollination for fresh insights
If you’ve recruited the other members with suitable care, you’re going to find that this team is truly bigger than the sum of its parts, representing a body of expertise far more impressive than you had imagined. Someone you already knew quite well may turn out to have qualifications (or qualities) you never dreamed they had. You’ll soon find you’ve got more in common with other people than you thought. And you’ll probably find that you’ve got more to contribute than you thought too.
Getting out what you put in
The balance between giving and taking is key. You may have joined ostensibly to solve some overwhelming problem - say troubleshooting an advanced software package. Then you find that the lady who runs the florists (and whom you identified solely with tulips and carnations) has been trained on that very package, and can instantly tell you 90% of what’s been baffling you. Meanwhile she’s got a son who’s looking for a left-handed guitar. Sure enough, you’re left-handed yourself, and haven’t touched that old guitar for years. All it wanted was a good home…
Even with only six of you, it will be truly astounding just how much expertise you can pool in the way of professional experience, useful contacts, technical know-how, family wisdom, emotional support and general health and happiness.
Little rituals to spice the mix
Even an hour’s session can drag, if it does not have some fixed points to give it shape and character - like each person declaring what was the most heartwarming incident of their week, or even a semi-religious invocation, perhaps giving thanks for health and freedom.
And although there should be no official leader, there does of course have to be a convenor, who may also double as time-keeper, monitoring the meeting to ensure that nobody hogs the limelight and everyone gets value.
Carole Spiers – motivational inspirational speaker occupies a special niche as an expert in Human Development potential. She brings together the separate cultures of individual empowerment and executive management - proving to corporate business that empowered employees improve performance and output. Carole’s keynote presentations have educated and inspired audiences all over the world. She is also a high profile broadcaster, journalist and President of the London Chapter of the Professional Speakers Association.
Our publications and sales CDs have been sold globally. To sign up for our FREE success quotations http://tinyurl.co.uk/yhgv, or for more information email info@carolespiers.com to telephone +44 (0) 29 8954 1593 http://www.carolespiers.com
# posted by Carole Spiers @ 7:34 AM 
