28 January 2008

I like 2008

Mat says:
I like 2008 much better than 2007 already, I just got a new agent, and finished my new play...
And another friend told me yesterday that she got a pay rise the day after she heard of 200GR8!

23 January 2008

Style is a subjective thing...


Here's a little gem I received by email. It has no real relevance to success or potential, except for serving as a reminder that it's good to unwind and poke a little harmless fun every now and then :-)

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22 January 2008

The remote control of leadership

"The test of leadership is not to put greatness into humanity, but to elicit it, for the greatness is there already."
- John Buchan

Like wisdom, leadership is often mistaken as a quality that only some people possess. When we look for leaders to lead others, we look for particular developed skills and attributes - perhaps extreme competence in a certain area like sport or a technical skill, confidence or charisma.

But leadership is a quality that everyone is capable of and displays at some point in their lives. When was the last time someone you wouldn't think of as a leader suggested seeing a movie, having coffee or dinner with friends, or doing something, however small, differently at work? That's them displaying leadership qualities.

Even deciding to change the tv channel is leadership.

The 5 tasks of leaders are to:
  • develop a positive future vision (dream) - "I want to watch a different programme."
  • incorporate the vision into daily life (think) - "I need the remote."
  • sell the vision to others (talk) - "Hey you guys, you'll really enjoy this programme."
  • take calculated risks with the vision (do) - "Let's just watch it for five minutes." Click!
  • involve others with meaning (share) - "Hey, isn't this a great show?"
Adapted from “Becoming a Leader of Leaders” by Warren Bennis

So next time you're looking for someone to fulfill a leadership role, you might seek to put faith in a burgeoning couch potato and see what potential you find beyond the remote control...

If you'd like to know more about leadership and potential, contact us at Diversityworks.
 

20 January 2008

The tyranny of success?

"The philosopher George Santayana (I think) once said that if you do not learn from the mistakes of the past you are doomed to repeat them. This is true but so also is the following:

If you learn from the successes of the past you are doomed to be trapped by them.

Success always stops us thinking."
Edward de Bono (15 October 2007)

Positive thinking can have negative consequences

"There's a huge difference between positive thinking and constructive thinking. You are standing in a market-place and a car parks on your foot. Positive thinking suggests that you make the best of your enforced immobility. You look around and appreciate the architecture. You watch the stallholders and human nature. You inhale and appreciate the smells. You chat to children who gather around. Constructive thinking suggests you make an effort to get the car shifted."
Edward de Bono, in New Thinking for the New Millennium

This story illustrates that thinking positively can actually keep us in negative situations. In order to move on and achieve our potential, we need to think constructively, not positively.

If you'd like to know more about constructive thinking and potential, contact us at Diversityworks.
 

18 January 2008

What is wisdom?

Realising potential is dependent on expressing wisdom. Most people think that some of us have wisdom and some don't. That's not true. We're all wise. But some people are better at understanding and expressing wisdom than others.

Wisdom is really just the sum total of the experiences, attributes and learning we accumulate through our lifes, individually and collectively. Put together, they offer realisations about ourselves, others and the world. The more we create our future based on these realisations, the wiser we become and the more we reach our potential.

Neale Donald Walsch, in Conversations with God, talks about "being the greatest version of who we really are." That's about living at full potential.

If you'd like to know more about your wisdom and potential, contact us at Diversityworks.

16 January 2008

Fostering a spirit of teamwork

From an email received:
Fostering a spirit of teamwork is critical in times of change. The key element is trust. Trust for the leader and trust for each other.

There is a wonderful story from the play, Some Folks Feel the Rain; Others Just Get Wet, that truly captures how people really feel about working together. Here it is...Enjoy!

A man was lost while driving through the country. As he tried to reach for the map, he accidentally drove off the road into a ditch. Though he wasn’t injured, his car was stuck deep in the mud. So the man walked to a nearby farm to ask for help.

“Warwick can get you out of that ditch,” said the farmer, pointing to an old mule standing in a field. The man looked at the decrepit old mule and looked at the farmer who just stood there repeating, “Yep, old Warwick can do the job.” The man figured he had nothing to lose. The two men and the mule made their way back to the ditch. The farmer hitched the mule to the car. With a snap of the reins, he shouted,

“Pull, Fred! Pull, Jack! Pull, Ted! Pull, Warwick!”

And the mule pulled that car right out of the ditch.

The man was amazed. He thanked the farmer, patted the mule, and asked, “Why did you call out all of those names before you called Warwick?”

The farmer grinned and said, “Old Warwick is just about blind. As long as he believes he’s part of a team, he doesn’t mind pulling.”

14 January 2008

Economists in search for keys to happiness index

From the Mail & Guardian online:
President Nicolas Sarkozy's talk of creating a new growth and well-being index for France is part of a mounting global campaign that many economists believe will shape civilisation and democracy in the 21st century. Sarkozy presented his recruitment of Nobel prize-winning economists Jospeh Stiglitz and Amartya Sen to work on a quality-of-life index.
Read the story online »
 

13 January 2008

Sir Ken Robinson: Do schools kill creativity?

This is my favourite from TED.com:


Sir Ken Robinson makes an entertaining (and profoundly moving) case for creating an education system that nurtures creativity, rather than undermining it. With ample anecdotes and witty asides, Robinson points out the many ways our schools fail to recognize -- much less cultivate -- the talents of many brilliant people. "We are educating people out of their creativity," Robinson says. The universality of his message is evidenced by its rampant popularity online. A typical review: "If you have not yet seen Sir Ken Robinson's TED talk, please stop whatever you're doing and watch it now."

More about Sir Ken Robinson »

Recommend books for 200gr8

Check out our list of gr8 books for 2008 on the right - have you read any of them? If you have, why not submit a review (just add a comment to this post)? Or perhaps you have read others you'd like to recommend - let us know...

12 January 2008

I am gr8ful to be free from an abusive relationship

Reader LePoet says:
"I am gr8ful to be free from an abusive relationship - a relationship where my cre8ivity has been stifled & frowned upon for the last 5 years. I left 17 Dec 07 & haven't looked back!

My plans for 200gr8 are to make a comeback as a Performer; develop my photographic skills in taking portraits (eventually doing nudes); to learn to dance the tango - no mean feat when one lives with CP, so I can incorporate dance in my performance ; and to explore using paint on canvas as a further cre8ive outlet!"

I believe in the healing power of humour and art

Reader Joyologist says:
"I believe in the healing power of humour and art. I believe people perform to optimum in high trust environments where they are rewarded for having fun doing what they love. I have a vision for 2020 that we will be experiencing an intimacy revolution! By that i mean we will be communing at a deep level. I have been able to experience this intimacy with the physical being of human form all my working life, initially with my nursing and more recently in creative expression working with women with breast cancer. When we shine we pave the way for others to shine."

How to change the world

"I have reached the conclusion that I lack the power to change the world, or any significant part of it. I only have the power to change myself. And the fascinating thing is that if I decide to change myself, there is no force in the world that can prevent me from doing so. It is just my decision and if I want to do it, I can do it!. Now the point is that if I change myself, something may happen as a consequence that may lead to a [little] change in the world."
Manfred Max-Neef

10 January 2008

Plan your year

For the first time last year I set annual goals and objectives. At the beginning of this year I was able to review them, seeing clearly what I'd achieved and, where I hadn't done what I'd planned, benefiting from the learning I'd gained. This year I'm able to continue last year's success by setting even more focussed objectives to continue long term goals, and change or set new goals that leverage my learning. It's been a great affirmation of potential. I've also been reminded of the power of intention and how physically writing one's intentions make them so much more potent.

09 January 2008

What is happiness?

Dylan says:
"Happiness is not about having what you want. It's about wanting what you have." - Anonymous

07 January 2008

Remember New Year all year

Carol says:
"It's easy to forget the positivity and hope that fills the world at New Years. Imagine if we remembered that feeling and lived it all year, rather than being sucked into the stress and angst of work and relationships."

Balancing greatness and gratefulness

It's only a matter of moving the "e" to get from "grateful" to "greatful" and back again...

The Law of Attraction advocates focus on the outcome we want and trust in the universe to arrange itself in order to create that. The Secret outlines a 3-step process:
1. Ask for what you want.
2. Expect the Universe to answer.
3. Be ready to receive what you want.
The first two are about creating "greatness". The last is about "gratefulness", not retrospectively but in advance. Many philosophies, and very few religions, know what gratitude really is. It is about being thankful for what is.

The secret to creating the future is being thankful for what you want, as if you already have it.

What is gratefulness?

Definitions of grateful on the Web [Source]:
  • feeling or showing gratitude; "a grateful heart"; "grateful for the tree's shade"; "a grateful smile"
  • affording comfort or pleasure; "the grateful warmth of the fire"
  • feeling or showing appreciation for kindnesses or benefits; thankful.

grate·ful adj
1. having the desire or reason to thank somebody
2. giving pleasure or comfort (archaic or literary)
Encarta® World English Dictionary © 1999 Microsoft Corporation. All rights reserved. Developed for Microsoft by Bloomsbury Publishing Plc.

What is greatness?

Definitions of "great" on the Web [Source]:
  • relatively large in size or number or extent; larger than others of its kind; "a great juicy steak"; "a great multitude"; "the great auk";
  • of major significance or importance; "a great work of art"; "Einstein was one of the outstanding figures of the 20th century"
  • remarkable or out of the ordinary in degree or magnitude or effect; "a great impact"; "had a great stake in the outcome"
  • a person who has achieved distinction and honor in some field; "he is one of the greats of American music"
    extraordinary or outstanding; "You did a great job on your term paper."

great adj
1. with exceptional talents, or having made remarkable achievements
2. very significant or important
3. powerful and influential
4. very good or pleasing (informal)
5. extreme or more than usual
6. very large and impressive
7. large in number or with many parts
8. doing something often, enjoying something very much, or being a very good example of something
9. able to do something very well, or very skillful with something (informal)
10. larger or more important than others of the same kind
11. very useful or suitable for a particular task (informal)
12. used to emphasize how much of a quality somebody or something has (informal)
13. lasting a long time, or covering a long distance
14. pregnant (archaic)

n
1. somebody whose fame or influence has proved to be long-lasting
2. the principal division of a pipe organ

adv
very well (informal)
Encarta® World English Dictionary © 1999 Microsoft Corporation. All rights reserved. Developed for Microsoft by Bloomsbury Publishing Plc.

01 January 2008

Welcome to 200gr8.com

200gr8.com is a social and creative entrepreneurial whim. It's one of those organic, creative ideas that one can't quite remember having. It's a hobby. It's a way of one doing something metaphysical to make sure one has more chance of having a good year. It's a social experiment. It's just another .com blog. It's the beginning of a movement. It's made an impact on everyone who has read it. This blog has the potential to be anything. But then, doesn't everything? Doesn't everyone?

2008 has the potential to be anything we choose too - so let's make it gr8 :-)
© 2008 Philip Patston & Diversity New Zealand Ltd (unless quoted or otherwise attributed). All rights reserved.