A recent debate on the IOD Linkedin Forum asked whether Investors in People and ISO 9000 et al were a total waste of time and effort. Good question! Ever since the ‘Standards’ were formulated practitioners and clients have been wrestling with this problem. I cannot speak about ISO as I was never a practitioner, butContinue reading “Standard debate”
Author Archives: mappingmotivation
Lotus eaters and Myrmidons
A good friend of mine copied me in today on an email he had received that filled him with disgust. It was from a senior manager in the institution in which he worked – basically, informing them all that his work was done, time for new hands to steer the tiller, and he’d be offContinue reading “Lotus eaters and Myrmidons”
The nature nurture debate
A perennial and favourite discussion topic is the nature-nurture debate. Are values and morals learnt or do we inherit them? Do we instinctively know right from wrong or is this down to conditioning of childhood? A friend of mine recently had a debate with their partner and discovered they had very different views: one, thinkingContinue reading “The nature nurture debate”
Three tools for personal development
All growth and personal development begins with self-awareness: the self being aware of itself, becoming aware of dissatisfactions with its self, and projecting, therefore, changes that will enable it to ‘improve’. There are three primary tools of personal development that follow from this self-awareness. One, desire itself: seeing our own condition we desire to improve,Continue reading “Three tools for personal development”
Magic, Morag, motivation and Alex’s café
People sometimes ask me why there are 9 motivators. I usually reply that it is because 9 is a magic number. They look perplexed; so I explain further: it’s 3 times 3, you see – 3 is a magic number too. They may give up with me at that point. But I can goContinue reading “Magic, Morag, motivation and Alex’s café”
Lessons will be learnt 2
I explained to my audience very simply that if we understood the Tao Te Ching we might understand something about the universe. First, we needed to move away from fruitless speculation on the nature of God: as the first line says, The Tao that can be spoken of is not the eternal Tao. What wisdomContinue reading “Lessons will be learnt 2”
Lessons will be learnt 1
The other night I did a 20 minute talk at Bournemouth University for the RSA Fellows in the area (of which I am one). This had been initiated by my friend, Tim Bullock, who has the foresight to realise that with the imminent shut-down of quango-business services there may be an opportunity for organisations likeContinue reading “Lessons will be learnt 1”
Motivating England’s sport 2
Thus, getting direction right is critical, honing skills to perfection is obligatory to be a great sports person, but I think it was Linford Christie who said that at the Olympic level the training was all much of a muchness: everyone had trained the same, more or less. So, it was mental attitude that madeContinue reading “Motivating England’s sport 2”
Motivating England’s sport 1
We are currently saturated with sporting events. Sport needs management and leadership like any organisation does; and more visibly than most, professional sports people need to perform. Of course performance is exactly what my company is about, although we don’t normally deal with ‘sport’. That is, until now: the great athlete and motivational speaker KrissContinue reading “Motivating England’s sport 1”
Definitions of success
"What's your definition of success?” – is a question all coaches are asked at some time or another. Often the people asking this question claim that "no one has a satisfactory answer". In other words because they can’t answer the question no-one can. Or, probably more accurately, everyone’s answer is entirely subjective, and so invalid.Continue reading “Definitions of success”
The Mapping Motivation Series 