TWP

Flourishing in the work playground

2011-09-12T18:49:00.004+01:00

We had an idea about a year ago, we talked about it in our blog - that if we could create an environment where learning is inevitable - where our brains are in the most receptive state for development and growth, then anything is possible: adults and children learning, playing and developing skills for life together; learning from each other, teaching each other, experimenting with new ways of doing things, new ways of bringing out the best version of themselves. This is a place where we flourish.

We have created Eudaimonics - which is the art and science of flourishing. A year ago it was an idea; and idea that we didn't want to ignore, that we couldn't ignore and we wanted to know if we could make it work, if we could create something that had a lasting impact on the participants; on the schools, businesses and organisations involved and begin to create a community of adults and children who can influence those around them, and each other.

We now have 39 Eudaimaniacs - we would love to have 1 million Eudaimaniacs in the next 10 years. The exciting thing is, we see no reason why that can't happen - we know all we need is vision, passion and connections.

Are you curious? Might you want to know more? Email us at success@twpartnership.co.uk for our Eudopack.

And what did our participants get out of it?

We'll tell you more in the next blog, but here's a taster of what we noticed:

The children were developing skills for life: they found ways to manage their doubtful moments, to be resilient and to communicate with their peers and others at a level that the adults in the group found incredible for children of 10 and 11.

The adults left the programme revitalised, energised and seeing their lives through different eyes. The made some very exciting changes to their lives, which we'll share next time.

We are now getting more feedback from the participants, 3 months after our last time together as a group, and the longer lasting impact is noticeable. Next time we'll tell you just what some of those changes are for both adults and children.

To become a Eudaimaniac, you need to be either in a business, organisation or school - if you're intrigued and want to know more, email us for our Eudopack at success@twpartnership.co.uk.

You too could be flourishing.

The Work Playground

2010-07-03T12:52:00.001+01:00

We are one of the first companies in the UK to offer a totally new learning environment that brings adults and children together in the same space and allows them to benefit from the unique perspectives they offer each other.

Imagine seeing the world through the eyes of a child with its innate hopefulness and lack of barriers. Imagine witnessing an adult who is fully aware of the emotions they feel and who chooses to use them in the most beneficial way for themselves and others……just two of the unique perspectives this environment offers.

At the heart of all TWP’s work is the ethos that learning can be accelerated through playfulness. Being playful allows us to challenge the norm, challenge our own boundaries and those of others, helps us to access our creativity and allows learning to happen in a fun and safe way. So, what better way to enable this to happen than by running programmes within a school and allowing adults and children to indulge and interact in the authentic, colourful and lively space this offers?

We bring together adults from the school and corporate world and primary and secondary school students and run programmes that meet the objectives of all parties. What is unique is the blend of children and adults working together and the inverse of norms where children can quite often be the facilitators of learning.

Our programmes are always flexible, so we would work with you to understand what you would like to achieve from your programme and tailor the content accordingly. Examples of the kind of areas we cover are:

• Building emotional literacy and emotional resilience,
• Inspiring creativity, which supports the creative curriculum
• Developing citizenship
• Supporting PHSE and Key Skills
• Commercial awareness

For more information on our work or to contact us for a no obligations chat, please contacts us at success@twpartnership.co.uk or call us on 08456 122 030.

The importance of behaviours for two political parties working together

2010-05-10T16:37:00.002+01:00

I’m not sure whether this is just me or does anyone else get the feeling that the whole nation is currently holding its breath? As the Conservatives and Liberal Democrats are consumed in lengthy talks, with the occasional time out for the Lib Dems to chat to Gordon Brown, the nation goes about its business as usual with an impending sense of change hovering in the background.

This is an historic time and my thoughts are turning to the inevitable focus on behaviours whatever conclusion we finally come to.

Two leaders and parties working together, whoever they may be, will need to show and act out a raft of behaviours for the relationship to be positive.

They will need to hold each other in the highest esteem, understanding that their perspective is not necessarily the other’s perspective, and even if it is, they may both have different ideas on how to get there.

They will need to be able to stake out clear areas of ownership but at the same time encourage the free flow of communication so that everybody knows the end goal, everybody feels informed and empowered.

They will need to respect the slightly different set of values that sit at the heart of each party and learn to view them as positive forces that can add an extra dimension to their overall way of working, rather than seeing them as hindrances.

And there are many, many more. Although, clearly, the agreement on policy is paramount, the attitudes, beliefs and resulting behaviours that each party and its delegates assume will play a hugely important part in its on-going success.

The London Marathon: Testament to the incredible potential of human beings

2010-04-23T17:16:00.001+01:00

Mara Yamauchi has travelled a long and circuitous way to get to London in time for the first Virgin London Marathon, thanks to the volcanic ash cloud putting pay to flights into the UK for the last week or so. However, the Briton, who has a chance of winning the race, is remarkably upbeat, describing her journey that took six days, 5 countries, a four seat plane and more than €1000 in taxi fares as ‘frustrating’!

For others, their journey to the start line may not be as physically long-winded but metaphorically, they may be every bit and more arduous than the one Mara Yamauchi has taken.

The fantastic and humbling thing about the London Marathon is that people from every walk of life take part. In the main, the majority of people running are not elite runners. They are regular people who have Monday – Friday, 9-5 jobs, and in some cases, hardly did any exercise at all until something prompted them to change that.

A couple of stories from last year’s marathon alone, leave me teary eyed – that of a woman who barely used to move off her sofa but completed the London Marathon to raise money for The British Heart Foundation when her own daughter’s life was at risk from complications with her heart, brother and sister runners, Mark and Felicity who finished the marathon holding hands in memory of their later brother James, who died of leukaemia.

These stories bear out the facts we know – we can change our behaviour, in fact, we can achieve anything we want to if we have strong motivation to achieve it and we align our beliefs and attitudes behind that goal.

Setting a goal that you have strong intrinsic motivation to achieve, i.e. you’re doing it because you want to do it, not because anybody is making you do it or giving you a reward if you do it, ensures your motivation is high.

Coupling this with the belief that you can achieve it, even if it is a very small belief at the outset, will be enough to get most people into a position where they can start training. Flowing from this belief will come a resilient attitude that continues to support you during the hard miles of training, when the mornings and evenings are dark and your limbs are aching and eventually the small successes you achieve along the way – your first 5 mile run, your first 10 mile run, will provide you with the concrete evidence you need to grow your belief…….and almost unconsciously it’s evident that your behaviour is changing.

I know I will be in awe of everybody running the London Marathon on Sunday but some stories in particular will stick with me – I look forward to updating this blog with a handful of those next week, which I know already, will epitomise the incredible potential of human beings.

Emotional Intelligence - soft skills or tactics?

2009-10-21T16:53:00.004+01:00

In our article in the Training Zone today (http://www.trainingzone.co.uk/topic/leadership/are-you-missing-out-potential-emotional-intelligence) we talk about how being emotionally intelligent is not a soft option, and how the emotionally intelligent leader, wherever they may be within an organisation, is a power for success.

It's a tactical option to raise the game of anyone on both a professional and a personal level. Being emotionally intelligent means that we have high self awareness about what makes us function in either a really effective way or what scuppers our ability at every turn. It means we're aware of how we respond to challenges as well as success, it means we can bounce back from adverse conditions - whether they're self inflicted or 'outside of our control'.

Stuff happens all the time - sometimes it's good stuff, sometimes it's bad, and often it's somewhere in between. It's not necessarily the 'stuff' that makes our lives difficult, it's the way we respond to it.

I saw on television this week the moving and yet uplifting story of Katie Piper, the young woman who had sulphuric acid thrown in her face. She has had the most challenging few months of her life, overcoming life threatening injuries, disfigurement and pain. And yet I saw and heard a beautiful, empowered, inspiring woman who talked about her experiences with not a scrap of self-pity. She's talking about her experiences to help others realise that life doesn't have to end or be unbearable when something incredibly awful happens.

Her message is pretty much that you choose how your life's going to go - and that's as true for any other person as it is for someone who's had to face up to life changing events.

EI is about choosing your attitude in any given situation, it's about being aware of the impact our emotions and behaviours have on us and those people around us. It's about becoming aware of what really strong positive behaviours get us to where we want to be, and it's about listening to ourselves and others to see where we can really up our game.

Our emotional intelligence can be developed if we choose to - it can help us be resilient in the face of adversity, and can help us enjoy and see the possibilities in even the darkest moments.

And just imagine what being emotionally intelligent can do for us when things are going well! To have that tactic up our sleeve to draw on at any moment, to be able to bring the best out in ourselves, and encourage the best in others.

Is that a soft skill? Or is it a tactic for success, engaging leadership and huge personal growth?

To live to 100 you'll need to change your behaviour

2009-10-05T09:07:00.003+01:00

The news that children born in the year 2000 will have an average life expectancy of 100 is exciting news….particularly if you’re one of those children! It does, however, raise the question, how will the younger generation support this ageing generation? – The answer is that we are going to have to change our behaviour.

For most men and women today the retirement age is set 65 at which stage they are traditionally pensioners. Of course, there are the minority that choose to continue to work like Buster at Pimlico Plumbers who is still going strong at over 100!

Already we are beginning to see that this system is becoming outdated. There are now thousands of people retiring at this age who are fit and healthy and many whom would like to continue to work, if only in a part-time capacity, but are unable to find work and at best are somewhat bored, at worst, depressed.

The fundamental point here is that this situation is a perfect example that change happens whether we like it or not and those who succeed are those who embrace change and in many cases are ahead of the curve, anticipate it coming and adapt their behaviour accordingly.

In order to accommodate the number of people who will be able and want to work in the future, the Danish author of the report Professor Kaare Christensen at the ageing research centre of University of Southern Denmark suggests that one solution could be young and old work fewer hours over a week. ‘In a lifetime we would spend the same amount of time at work as we do now, but spread out over the years’ he says.

Whatever the solution, both young and old are going to have to change their behaviours to adapt. Children born knowing that their life expectancy is 100, will surely want to pay keen interest to their work life/balance and may want to change their career 2 or 3 times, employers will need to be open-minded about the skills and capabilities of older people, young and old people will need to work together and learn from each other, the list goes on – what an interesting world it’s going to be!

Katharine Tipper
Katharine@twpartnership.co.uk

The NHS - A little less conversation a little more action!

2009-09-28T15:35:00.006+01:00

It is Monday and I am confused already!

The amount,variety and complexity of news about the NHS is staggering. I am struggling to keep up!

Just over the weekend we have seen reported that the NHS has been placed 14th out of 33 European healthcare systems, we are facing an 'Armageddon' in terms of spending and that the Government cannot promise that the NHS will not be saved from cuts over the coming months. In addition to that we see at the recent CIPD OD conference various senior executives within the NHS organisation describing how organisational development is fundamental to successful change and must not be underestimated or excluded from strategic planning.

So, which one of these directions should we follow? Our last blog looked at the quandary between cutting jobs or creating change - recent coverage does not move me to change my view.

What I see, hear and experience tells me that no-one is looking after the future of the NHS and the people within it or the clients that it serves. Everyone, it seems to me, is debating and arguing about what needs to happen whilst no clear action is being taken.

Whatever the appropriate route, whatever tough decisions have to be made people need to work together with the right attitude, consistency and passion to save an organisation that serves us and protects our greatest asset - our people.

Cutting jobs or creating change?

2009-09-06T21:41:00.000+01:00

The news this week that the government is rejecting the advice to cut thousands of jobs within the NHS is predictable and has created a flury of commentators attacking the sense and value in hiring consultants to say the same thing i.e. to save money you have to cut jobs...

When will anyone ever recommend that to save money the organisation has to change. Change attitudes, change behaviours, change direction..?

TWP works extensively within the NHS and the themes are always the same - teams who cannot effectively manage pressure, don't have high levels of assertiveness to manage workloads, lack communication skills to articulate priorities and are led by managers who need to be developed and trusted within the organisation to make decisions and create a motivated, energised team.

The solutions to all these organisational development needs are within the grasp of the government to implement - it takes time, commitment and courage to utilise the talent within the NHS which exists in bucket loads!

The Department of Health says there are many parts of the NHS that need more jobs not less; this may well be true and I wonder how many teams are depleted due to sickness and long term absence...

If we refer to the recent report by Steve Boorman on the wellbeing of the NHS we can again see some trends about how more efficiency, team stability and productivity can be created by encouraging and fostering a workforce that is resilient, healthy and working to a common vision.

There is much to consider and no more challenging time than this to be working in the public sector but a great opportunity to create an organisation fit for the future, innovative and pioneering and optimising the fantastic talent and loyalty of every worker within the NHS!