I have travelled on but a few of the great and sometimes famous rivers of our world – the Zambezi (near the Victoria Falls) and the Orange Rivers in Africa, the Colorado and Mississippi in the USA and the Thames in the UK. I still need to get to the Amazon, Nile, Volga, Danube, Yangtze…
“The first step toward creating an improved future is developing the ability to envision it. Vision will ignite the fire of passion that fuels our commitment to do whatever it takes to achieve excellence. Only vision allows us to transform dreams of greatness into the reality of achievement through human action. Vision has no boundaries…
December is a time of the year when families attempt to get together, sometimes family members flying from different parts of the world to be with loved ones and close friends. It is often a time of reflection – do I have any relationships that are ailing and if so, do I need to apply…
In consulting with organisations, I sometimes hear the following statements by employees of their respective managers: “One of my colleagues always underperforms, putting pressure on the whole team, but my boss never addresses the issue” “My boss always tells us that there is nothing he can do about a particular decision as it comes from…
“In vain you have acquired knowledge if you have not imparted to others” (Deuteronomy Rabbah) My friend and former colleague, Gerrit Cloete (owner of Productivity Pitstop), spent a week at the family’s seaside vacation home to catch up with family and friends. Upon his return, he related one of his experiences with me: “I went…
Former colleague and close friend, Gerrit Cloete (owner of Productivity Pitstop), shared a true story with me last week, the same of which I, too, can’t resist telling you, especially as we bid farewell to one year and welcome another (as told by Jack Riemer of the Houston Chronicle): “Itzhak Perlman, the violinist, came on…
The history of Coca-Cola began in 1886 when the curiosity of an Atlanta pharmacist, Dr John S Pemberton, led him to create a distinctive tasting soft drink that could be sold at soda fountains. He created a flavoured syrup, took it to his neighbourhood pharmacy, where it was mixed with carbonated water and deemed “excellent”…
“Winnie-the-Pooh,” as he was originally called, first appeared in a story written in 1926 by A.A. Milne, who based the characters on his young son, Christopher Robin, and the boy’s stuffed animals. The original toy bear was named after Winnie (short for “Winnipeg”), a bear that had been adopted as a cub by a Canadian…
Gartner Inc., one of the world’s leading information technology research and advisory companies, suggests that “enterprise architecture (EA) is a discipline for proactively and holistically leading enterprise responses to disruptive forces by identifying and analysing the execution of change toward desired business vision and outcomes. EA delivers value by presenting business and IT leaders with…
“People will forget what you said and what you did, but they will never forget how you made them feel” —Maya Angelou. Isn’t it interesting that we can’t really remember the Oscar winners for the past five years, but we can remember the high school teacher that gave us special attention when it seemed that…
Work is a gift! Work is not only a means to a financial end, but an opportunity for you to express your unique giftedness in special ways. In fact, Thomas Aquinas, the medieval monk and scholar once said: “Without work, it is impossible to have fun”. Without attempting to romanticise the work concept, work almost…
Alinda Nortje, colleague and Executive Chairperson of Free To Grow, during a presentation, related her experiences of facilitating a workshop for UNICEF in a country in the Middle East – as facilitator, there is always a steep learning curve when one gets to a new context. Upon landing, the facilitator immediately goes into learning mode…
