I so love this speech on TED because Sir Ken Robinson puts forward such a powerful argument contrasting what he sees as the current failure of the education system in the USA and his proposed alternative. I often wonder if education is being ruined by political correctness? Now don't get me wrong, I am all for behaving well and being aware of our behaviour toward other cultures, ideals, religions and the opposite sex; I just don't think people always think differently, they just know 'what not to say', and that's not the same thing. I often observe situations where I believe people are To View More >>

Don’t just sit there! Do something! Over the years I’ve been and done many things. Everyone has. In my case, I’ve been a Xerox salesman, a volunteer firefighter, and a successful entrepreneur. Believe it or not, all these seemingly unrelated personas had at least one thing in common, what I’m going to talk about today, and that is: A bias toward action. What do I mean by this? I mean, if there’s a choice between sitting in a conference room planning what I’m going to do, and getting out there and doing it, I hope that I choose action. This is not to knock planning, To View More >>

Without a doubt the currency of the Fire Service is Trust. Without it all emergency services, and especially the Fire Service, would struggle to operate. I am sure it's true in all countries that the Fire Service almost always tops the chart of "Most Trusted Occupations", and I'm very proud to be a part of an organisation with that quality. This is important, not just between us and the public but also amongst members of a crew. Our job can be dangerous and you need to be able to rely on the people you respond with, and your ability to trust their integrity and courage is essential ... If not, To View More >>

I was walking the dog this morning and it occurred to me how much of the last week has been full of paradox . In no particular order ... 1, Do you find as often as I do that food that's good for you isn't usually as good for your wallet as food that's not? 2, Business is like a snow ball rolling down a hill: it grows faster the bigger it gets. So why don't we focus on getting the small snow ball right and rolling first? 3, I was shocked to realise a while back, and was reminded often last week, that the information (learning) we most need to hear is often the stuff that irritates us the most. 4, To View More >>

LOL Ok Woo Woo moment coming up ... :-) "Choose to be Optomistic" - Dali Lama I've been given two wonderful gifts in the last few years, one being an understanding of the power of truth and the other the power of gratitude. I have to say I'm a long way from perfect, and that it was a lot easier to hear about these than it was to take advantage of them, but I can attest to the confidence they bring you. TRUTH: There is incredible power and strength in the truth, but sadly more and more society justifies "white lies" as part of life, but think about this... Those who think it is permissible to tell To View More >>

I am so often asked where I find my motivation, why do I do what I do and what is the vision I have for my life.< The truth is I'm not really certain ... Things just evolved over time ... I guess I am curious, want to have fun and grew up with the desire to do something legendary. I have great big goals for the distant future, a general idea of what the medium term will look like and a pretty good idea of what my focus will be over the next to 6 - 12 months. What surprises me most is how little some people know about themselves. They are on autopilot! Out of curiosity, I as ask them... What's your To View More >>

Well after less than a month with iPower I have moved web hosts due to their unreliability. I am sure this isn't the way they are permanently but over the last week my site was down on a number of occasions for hours, and I have lost my confidence. I am very sorry for the inconvenience caused ... grrr. One of the interesting observations is that they weren't prepared to go into detail of what the technical issue was, just each time that "it was a router and it's now fixed". I guess companies do this due to being scared of looking bad, but left with no convincing information I was forced to move To View More >>

I've always loved Body Art (Tattoos). To me they can show a strong sense of confidence while also being a means of self expression ... ... A connection to ones culture ... ... an incredible talent ... ... although not always positive, a strong demonstration of belonging ... ... and sometimes just a means to be a little rebellious! Despite my love of them, I don't have any, I worry what people might think. Does that say more about me, or the people that have them? To View More >>