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June 5, 2018

The Originality Trap

This blog is not totally original.  Nor are any of the blogs I have written since Can Scorpions Smoke began in January 2012.  In fact,..

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March 29, 2018

The smell of analogue – Dialling back digital

This blog was written on an old typewriter.  It was a lovely experience but, if for any reason, you cannot read the image above, there..

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January 22, 2018

Throwing talent into the void. The improvised Concept album

As the audience hush in anticipation I realise that I am witnessing something very special. Something historic. I am at a very intimate gig by..

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January 15, 2018

Bad drawings, telegraph poles and paradoxical learning

In his beautiful book, “The Five Invitations” Frank Ostaseki tells the story of a workshop he was running in the rural North West USA.  Whilst..

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December 5, 2017

Captain Beefheart and his Magic Blog

In 1969 the late Don van Vliet, otherwise known as Captain Beefheart, set out to create an album that was the opposite of music. Intentionally..

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November 28, 2017

The man who loved dragons. When rhetoric meets reality.

Once upon a time there was a man who loved dragons.  He had pictures of dragons on every wall of his house.  He had dragon..

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November 20, 2017

If you can’t fix it, feature it

Ned Crowley had a problem.  Having taken a sabbatical from the world of advertising to make his first feature film he found himself running out..

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August 14, 2017

The Imperfect Portrait Experiment

I’m all too familiar with Imposter Syndrome. The feeling that I am doing something that I really am not qualified to do and that it..

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July 25, 2017

Dancing with my inner critic – TEDx RTW

In February 2016 I wrote a blog about an MI5 style investigation I had began into my inner critic.  I was surprised to receive many e-mails..

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February 11, 2017

Medusa in Reverse – Rehabilitating spontaneity

Head of vile serpents, Avoid her furious gaze, Lest ye turn to stone. Greek legend tells the story of Medusa the Gorgon, a monstrous creature with hair..

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November 17, 2016

Does your work require earplugs? Protect your creative stereocilia!

Deep in our inner ear are a collection of hair cells called stereocilia.  Like long blades of grass swaying in the wind, they bend back and forth as..

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October 10, 2016

Fail…happy. That afternoon with Keith

September 1st 2014 – the deadline I had set myself had finally arrived. Three years earlier I had attended my first week of training with Theatre..

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May 12, 2016

How old do you have to be to do a bad drawing? The lost adventures of Yappy Dog

This is Yappy Dog. A friendly canine who used to go on all sorts of adventures circa 1981-1983.  I’d forgotten all about him until recently when..

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June 30, 2015

Trout starvation and silent contracts: On networks versus communities

I’ve never been that fond of conferences. I remember right back at the beginning of my corporate career the familiar cycle of excitement and anticipation..

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June 6, 2015

Meeting Mormo. Refreshing the parts other masks cannot reach.

I noticed I was feeling rather anxious as the weekend of 16th May approached.  I’ve learnt over the years that, even if my head tells..

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January 30, 2015

“Creative” versus “Creating”: Lessons from the Elders of Surrey

Even though I use it on a daily basis, I find the word “creative” to be a little problematic in helping people and organisations to..

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December 11, 2014

Lose the first reel! Start before you’re ready

I used to be a serial procrastinator!  I admit that I still put  things off rather than do them right away, but my procrastination nowadays..

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November 24, 2014

Stop thinking outside the box! All you need is NOW!

I feel slightly reluctant to challenge the much used creativity/innovation mantra “think outside the box” as I’m sure it has helped many people to break..

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December 18, 2013

Beautiful Imperfection

I wish I could draw like a 6 year old.   It is a personal development goal I take very seriously.  People who know me..

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September 19, 2013

Death of the doodle – Does a digital age scrub out the scribbles?

Over the last 12 months I’ve been working with a number of corporate graduate groups – bright young things, early to mid 20s with boundless..

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July 23, 2013

“No” Kills Children! Preserve your “Yes” family tree.

A couple of months ago I found myself on stage at the London Comedy Store with seasoned Improviser and TV/film star Neil Mullarkey, giving a..

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June 24, 2013

Bob Bromley’s Big Problem – A blog on innovation inspired by Dr Seuss

Bob Bromley was an important man, he wore an important tie He worked in important offices that were way up in the sky His company..

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June 7, 2013

Leap then look: How long is your “look first list”?

I’ve recently become intrigued by the phrase “leap then look” – a twist on the sage advice to “look before you leap” and a way..

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March 3, 2013

The Giraffe Project

On 3rd September 2012, as I walked from the south to the north side of the Thames via Hungerford Bridge, I realised that I was..

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January 28, 2013

The Pet Shop – Taking the power of play seriously

One of the great things about working in a home office is that my creativity mentor, my 5-year-old daughter, sometimes pops in to see me and..

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January 21, 2013

Melted borders and inconsistent Grandmas – Talking creativity with chef Eric Gower

I love the question “I wonder what would happen if…?”   Having spent many years procrastinating or finding logical reasons as to why to say..

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December 16, 2012

One big adventure: How a simple metaphor has inspired my year

As I reflect on 2012, the year I started this blog, the year I decided to give my own business a go, the year I..

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November 19, 2012

The demise of the curious question?

A consultant I know recently asked me to help him come up with an ‘icebreaker’ for a workshop he was running. He’d previously attended one..

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November 12, 2012

Boiling Cabbage – the pitfalls of being overly reductionist

Imagine you go to a party. You spend the evening chatting with old friends and meeting new friends. You eat, drink and dance. You exchange..

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November 3, 2012

Say YES – because Everything’s an Offer

There’s always a lot of scaffolding in London. There’s less now than just before the Olympic games but there is still a lot. There are..

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October 29, 2012

Art through the eyes of a 5 year old – Another lesson from my creativity mentor

I’ve long been fascinated by the artwork of young kids.  I often say to people “I wish I could draw like a 5 year old”..

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October 22, 2012

One person walks onto a bare stage: A helpful start point for Organisation Design?

You may be familiar with the swan analogy.  You know, the one that people use to describe how their apparent calmness and gracefulness belies the..

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October 13, 2012

CPR for the imagination

I’ve always been slightly underwhelmed by innovation. That isn’t completely true – I’ve been blown away by innovations themselves but have been consistently underwhelmed by..

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October 2, 2012

Meet Pluggy – My Creative Anchor

It was through an act of technological desperation that I discovered the power of a creative anchor!  It was probably the tenth time that somebody..

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September 21, 2012

Procrastination – the mortal enemy of creativity

At least three times a week I walk from Waterloo station, over the Thames at Hungerford foot bridge and zig-zag up through the streets to..

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July 19, 2012

A lesson from my creativity mentor

Those of you that have seen my conference talks will know that my 5 year old daughter is my creativity mentor. A long time ago..

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May 29, 2012

When the concrete ends – you’ve arrived

I spent this weekend in the middle of nowhere, up a mountain in Spain with 50 other folk who hadn’t met each other before but..

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May 21, 2012

Be Obvious! Be Altered!

Be obvious – be altered! Since my two worlds of organisation consulting and improvisation started to overlap around 3 years ago I’ve drawn many lessons..

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May 19, 2012

Strictly come shuffling – Bringing more improv into conference design

A new blog on designing conferences with more space for spontaneous conversation that I wrote for my lovely friends at Relume can be found here:..

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March 20, 2012

“Airplane Mode” – downtime for creative minds

I had a dream on Sunday night that may have changed my life. Well, it has changed me for the last couple of days since..

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March 9, 2012

Obsessing about furniture!

I seem to spend a lot of my time, whilst designing workshops or group sessions, thinking about furniture. In fact, the room, the environment, the..

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March 1, 2012

Painting your unique masterpiece

I have a love-hate relationship with one of my favourite books. I love it because it is fabulous, makes me smile and inspires me to..

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February 9, 2012

Make it worse…make it worse!

For no reason whatsoever, other than childlike curiosity, I’ve become interested in a new mantra of “Make it worse…make it worse!” as a way of..

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January 28, 2012

The Powerpoint Pendulum

It’s cool to say “I hate Powerpoint” at the moment.  If you have a presentation to make you get kudos for saying “I don’t need..

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