I am lying on my bed, looking up at my ceiling, listening to The Smiths. It is 1985, maybe. Meat is Murder is on repeat on the turntable, and hours go by. My ceiling has polystyrene tiles with random zigs and zags, lines at obtuse angles, a meaningless mélange of shapes. Yet within them, staring deeply for hours at a time, I can see many strange things: animals, narratives, emotions, thoughts scattered and now ordering. I am making sense of myself. It is 1998, I am living in Japan, and still staring at the cracked ceiling, lying on tatami. My … Continue reading Staring At The Ceiling Gets Me All Quantum Up On That Thing.

Story + Narrative, The Curious Will Inherit The WorldLeave a comment

Asking “What If?” Can Raise your IQ

March 11, 2014March 10, 2014 ThisMuchWeKnow

In yesterday’s post I evidenced the growing requirement to ask questions if one is to survive and thrive in this mad, mad, mad world of ours. No sooner had I hit Publish, another piece of evidence crossed the wires from Warren Berger in this Fast Co. article. Asking big questions is where innovation comes from, and is associated with overcoming fear. John Seely Brown suggests starting with simply asking: what if? Yes, what if? Could there be a more beautiful question? Berger has other beauties to ask in his new book, and a quiz to take too, so you can … Continue reading Asking “What If?” Can Raise your IQ

The Curious Will Inherit The World, The Future of WorkLeave a comment

Questions Are MUCH More Important Than Answers. Damn It!

March 10, 2014March 2, 2014 ThisMuchWeKnow

My partner Lori is a saint, natch. Though she has every right to do so, daily, she rarely complains. Woe be hers, rarely. However, when she does, I ALWAYS have an answer at hand. Isn’t she the lucky one?! In recent times, lifelong learner that I am, I have tried to bite my tongue. When someone is offloading, they rarely need or want the answer. They want someone to listen, to comfort, to ask a good clarifying question. Not my number one strength. As a worker and colleague, same goes. Answers are easy. Everyone has an answer. But who has … Continue reading Questions Are MUCH More Important Than Answers. Damn It!

Story + Narrative, The Future of WorkLeave a comment

Simple / Complex. I’m Confused.

March 6, 2014March 2, 2014 ThisMuchWeKnow

I often get myself tangled up in the conversation about complexity, because I prefer things to be simple (I consider myself a simple fellow at heart) yet I recognize the (increasing) complexity of work/life and I am determined to manage it insofar as I can, embrace it proactively, and benefit from it. So, I am stuck with a conundrum. The ambiguities inherent in complex, complicated, chaotic, chaordic environments seems to point in a different direction to simplicity, that place I call home. How can I square this away? By looking to those who have trodden the path before me, more … Continue reading Simple / Complex. I’m Confused.

Personal Branding, Social Business, Story + Narrative, The Curious Will Inherit The World, The Future of WorkLeave a comment

Using My Online Personal Brand To Discuss Personal Branding

March 3, 2014March 2, 2014 ThisMuchWeKnow

I was recently asked to share some thoughts with young communicators in Vancouver on kick starting your career. The event is today. Upon gathering my notes / ideas together, a core one of which is working out loud, I realised that I might have already articulated my thoughts. In other words, if I work out loud, I probably have the content online, in the open, already. So, I perused just 4-5 weeks of tweets and voila! there it all was, in plain sight. This is called walking the talk. Phew. An hour in Storify later and I had a flow … Continue reading Using My Online Personal Brand To Discuss Personal Branding

The Curious Will Inherit The World, The Future of Work1 Comment

There Are Change Agents, And There Are Change Agents. It’s #FutureOfWork Checklist Time! #CAWW

February 28, 2014February 26, 2014 ThisMuchWeKnow

Fellow CAWWer Catherine Shinners has a good review of recent thinking on what organizations need for breakthrough performance via the Conference Executive Board: read her article for some detail. I will suffice here with listing the CEB checklist of differentiating competencies for high performance: prioritization, teamwork, organizational awareness, problem solving, self-awareness, proactivity, influence, decision-making, learning agility and technical expertise. I like! All of these are in reach of all of us. Attitude, and forward momentum is all that is required to get us on this road… Shinners also shared a Future Work Skills 2020 study that sees successful trends to be: sense-making, … Continue reading There Are Change Agents, And There Are Change Agents. It’s #FutureOfWork Checklist Time! #CAWW

Story + NarrativeLeave a comment

For Asthmatics, Every. Word. Counts.

February 27, 2014February 25, 2014 ThisMuchWeKnow

The incomparable Miranda July ran one of her weird and wonderful art projects last year where she asked some renowned people to share some of their email correspondence with the world on various topics, under the moniker We Think Alone. One week, the topic was I love you. Here’s what Etgar Keret had to share, on the subject of Asthma Attacks, magically: When an asthmatic says “I love you,” and when an asthmatic says “I love you madly,” there’s a difference. The difference of a word. A word’s a lot. It could be “stop,” or “inhaler.” It could be “ambulance.” … Continue reading For Asthmatics, Every. Word. Counts.

Story + Narrative, The Curious Will Inherit The WorldLeave a comment

#Unsquirrel 9: The Kids Always Have A Story To Tell

February 26, 2014February 12, 2014 ThisMuchWeKnow

Ripping out lots of small pieces of paper, each with a little narrative, each meaningless on its own, but compelling as a whole, a capture of the zeitgeist. I wonder where Lola gets it from…? ←This Much We Know.→ Continue reading #Unsquirrel 9: The Kids Always Have A Story To Tell

Personal Branding, Story + Narrative, The Curious Will Inherit The WorldLeave a comment

#Unsquirrel 8: Linguistic Semiotician

February 25, 2014February 12, 2014 ThisMuchWeKnow

I once attending film school – or video and TV production school to be precise. I met many people just like me – searching for a creative breakthrough. I was trying to determine how easy access video production and editing tools (aka Apple products) could kick start a career change. Zapher Iqbal was probably trying to do something similar, but he had a way with him that was both intoxicating and bewildering at the same time. All you need to know about him is contained on his business card: Linguistic Semiotician “Media Specialist” Oh, and: Scriptwriter Actor Director/Producer Around … Continue reading #Unsquirrel 8: Linguistic Semiotician