Why it’s groovy to be in a jazz combo
Like most middle-class parents in the 1970s, my mum and dad dreamt of me becoming an accomplished pianist. At the age of seven, they shipped me off to piano...
It’s time to make workplace stress history
Let’s take a trip back 10,000 years. You’re a hunter-gatherer living on the plains, trying to provide for your young family. While tracking a deer, you hear a sound...
I’ve just killed my brand. Here’s why.
Two months ago I launched a new business. I’d spent months developing it and refining it. I’d created assets for it, a twitter account, a website, films. Hundreds and...
Editor’s Update – or “Hello Silent Bob!”
“Hey, where have you been? Why aren’t you posting as much?” OK. So it’s been a while since I wrote anything for Open for Ideas. May 19th to be...
Neurodiversity: the key to corporate creativity
Last week I wrote an article about my own brush with bipolarism and how mental illness can actually be a positive experience. It seemed to strike a nerve. It...
The Mental Health Survival Toolkit for Employers (by an Employee)
Following the article I wrote on my own brush with bipolarism, I received the most amazing email from a reader. An anonymous reader. They sent me an article but...
Losing my mental health was the best thing to happen to me
This week is Mental Health Awareness week, so I’d like to tell you a story that may make you feel a bit uncomfortable. It’s about my journey through bipolarism...
Stop thinking about people as minorities or women. We’re 360 individuals.
Katz Kiely is an organisational change expert (and a truly brilliant human being). She kindly gave me an hour of her time to have a chat about what she’s...
R-E-S-P-E-C-T. Find out what it means to your business
In the three decades I’ve been in the world of employment, I’ve only ever had disciplinary action taken against me once. And that was for disagreeing with a colleague. I...
Brexit means Crexit
I’ve always hated the term Brexit. But I’m not a fan of portmanteau words in general. You can keep your ‘infomercials’, ‘edutainment’ and ‘dramedies’. But linguistic foibles aside, I...