A colleague at work once told me a story about his mother. She was in a care home at the time and was getting a bit confused, possibly in part because of the drugs she was on, but she didn’t always know what was happening. He went to visit her regularly and, on this oneContinue reading “‘Attitudes are more important than facts’”
Author Archives: Peter Runkel
Bon courage
In English we say ‘Good Luck’. The direct translation into French is ‘Bonne Chance’, but I believe they more commonly use the expression ‘Bon Courage’. And I think they might be right. Note: photo from Cecile Hournau on Unsplash
Warmth
We went to an introductory talk on my daughter’s school walking trip to Italy. Part of the presentation was by one of the women who would be leading the group; part was by one of the local, Italian guides. The woman was in charge. She had been doing this for many years and was clearContinue reading “Warmth”
Abstention
I sometimes think we get holidays the wrong way round. It takes us the first week to destress and get into the right frame of mind, then, before we know it, we are thinking about packing up and going home. The sunshine, the food and the freedom we have briefly savoured make returning to theContinue reading “Abstention”
Perfectly imperfect
Some apples look perfect on the outside, but taste of nothing; others might look imperfect, but they taste great.
The importance of substance
I used to work for a small marketing consultancy run by an entrepreneur called Tony. The man had a confidence quite out of proportion to his ability and had an ego that needed constant feeding. “Do you remember the conference I went to the other day?” he told his fellow director, Philip. “They loved me.Continue reading “The importance of substance”
Dunning Kruger
The ‘Dunning-Kruger effect’ describes a cognitive bias which results in incompetent people mistakenly believing they are much more capable than they are. The Wikipedia entry explains that ‘people suffering from the effect: tend to overestimate their own level of skill fail to recognize genuine skill in others and fail to recognize the ‘extremity of theirContinue reading “Dunning Kruger”
Making the effort
Sometimes you have to do things you don’t want to. Sometimes the reward you get from forcing yourself to do something you don’t want to is all the greater precisely because you didn’t want to do it. On this particular Sunday, it had been raining all day. Relentlessly. I had been planning to go forContinue reading “Making the effort”
Off gridders
I am a big fan of these ‘escape the modern world’ programmes. I admire people who turn their backs on the conveniences of modern living to pursue a simpler life and get closer to nature. They give up their televisions, the central heating, the internet, supermarkets etc to live a near subsistence life ‘off grid’.Continue reading “Off gridders”
Stopping and looking
When I went for my run yesterday, I got about half way and then stopped. I did some stretches, to make it feel purposeful, but really I just wanted to stop and look. There was a cool breeze and the spring sun was out. I stood there for ten minutes or so. I watched theContinue reading “Stopping and looking”
Over resilient
I had not worked with Mark before, so did not know what to expect. It did not go well. He had not done his homework for the first call we had with the finance team, so was asking them for data that they had already shared with us and was asking questions which simply weren’tContinue reading “Over resilient”
Feedback
My former boss, Tony, had been reading the online reviews of his company on Glassdoor (an online site for employees to leave feedback on their employer). The reviews were not very flattering. Some of them were downright rude. They did not create a good impression for prospective recruits, Tony had decided, so he’d started addingContinue reading “Feedback”
The queue
I was in a queue in the coffee shop. A very smartly dressed elderly woman walked in and cut across the front of the queue and went to the first available till. There was not an ounce of self-consciousness. She acted as if it were her right. Not one of us in the queue saidContinue reading “The queue”
Commute
Every day on my commute into work, the train passed Earlsfield Cemetery. There was a bare strip of land alongside the railway line, and slowly but surely, day by day the strip of land filled up … I now work from home. Note: Photo by Edward Howell on Unsplash
Underthinking
Some of us suffer from overthinking. We think long and hard about things, blow them up out of all proportion until they become impossibly complicated, to the point of overwhelming us, sometimes before we’ve even got started. There is a lot written on the topic and many people freely admit to struggling against this badContinue reading “Underthinking”
Shy decorator
Some time ago I got a firm in to decorate a couple of rooms that needed sprucing up. The decorator himself was a shy, very quiet little Irishman. He hardly spoke a word and answered my questions in mumbled monosyllables. But he was a great decorator. He was obsessive and perfectionist, making every effort toContinue reading “Shy decorator”
Nice guys finish last
We have all heard the expression ‘Nice guys finish last’. Well, I guess that could be right (although some dispute it), but there are two parts to that equation – ‘where we finish’ and ‘being nice’, and, in life, we get ‘points’ for both those things. So, we should all try to finish as highContinue reading “Nice guys finish last”
Riding a bicycle
“Life is like riding a bicycle. To keep your balance you must keep moving.” Albert Einstein We need to keep going, that’s the most important thing, pushing ourselves out of our comfort zone to tackle the next challenge. If not, we get bored. That’s how it works. We need to push ourselves, but not tooContinue reading “Riding a bicycle”
Opposites
“The trouble with the world is that the stupid are cocksure and the intelligent are full of doubt.” Bertrand Russell Tony gets it wrong Tony is a self-made man. He runs his own, small marketing company. He made good money from it. In the boom years. Tony is quick to make decisions. He sees theContinue reading “Opposites”
Think-running
Lots of people find running boring. To make it bearable, they need to listen to music or to the radio through their phones. Or they run with someone they can talk to. Or they just don’t go running … I don’t find it boring at all. I suppose I must enjoy my own company, mustContinue reading “Think-running”
