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products of our environment
Looking in the wrong direction
“Look in the opposite direction to the oncoming traffic” doesn’t sound like the best piece of advice you could give someone about to cross an eight lane road in the middle of Beijing, but it’s surprisingly effective. The theory is that by showing the oncoming traffic you’re not paying any attention, the onus is with […]
Chinese lessons: part II
May 22, 2012
And so it begins, in earnest. Chinese lessons. Official Chinese lessons. Not Chinese lessons in a park, on a bench, with whoever has decided to take it upon themselves to teach me the Mandarin for Beijing Duck this week. No, I’ve enrolled at The Hutong School in Sanlitun. A proper school, with a proper syllabus, […]
Country folk
May 18, 2012
Thirty adults. Fifteen kids. Three rustic dwellings. One pizza oven and a dog. The pizza oven was an unexpected addition (as was Dan Dan the dog) to what was a fantastic couple of days up at a small village near Simatai last weekend. Naturally, the pizza oven, not being indigenous to these parts*, was knocked […]
Posted in: China, Great Wall
Chinese lessons: part I
May 11, 2012
I’m not in the habit of talking to old men in parks, but sometimes you have to buck the trend and go with it. And so it was on Sunday, whilst sitting, reading by a lake in Solidify Lake Park, that I became embroiled in a conversation with an elderly Chinese gentleman. By conversation, of […]
Sunshine on a rainy day
May 8, 2012
Shiny, glitzy, sparkling – that’s what Hong Kong is supposed to be like. But when I looked out of my window at midday, reviewing the notes from the previous night’s focus group, it was so dark that it looked like it was ten in the evening! Rain, rain and more rain – interspersed with a […]
Everything’s dangerous here!
April 12, 2012
“Everything’s dangerous here!” said Joely, leaping to safety just in time to avoid the small, energetic bundle of fur that was the captain’s Jack Russell as it made its way to the back of the boat docking outside the restaurant. Perhaps this time, her worry was unfounded – but with tales of shark attacks and […]
China: Day one…
March 27, 2012
…I’ll be honest, expectations weren’t high on moving to Beijing. But they weren’t low either. Because somewhere in the swirl of last minute meetings, with clients and friends, baby Leo being ill and trying to sort out all the practicalities of the move, I’d somehow managed not to set any real expectations at all. That […]
Personal Branding Online
January 22, 2012
Reputation matters, it’s why large organisations spend so much time and money to build, manage and maintain theirs and why the results can be so devastating for companies and individuals when the tide turns against them. Once tarnished, a reputation can be incredibly difficult to rebuild. Whilst it’s always been like that, the advent of […]
The boy who cried unique
June 3, 2011
I read the words this morning, “Company X is truly unique…” and immediately stopped reading. It’s not the only word or phrase that seems to elicit that response these days. Strong visceral reactions (or, conversely, complete apathy) often accompany the sighting of “truly global”, “innovative” and other such platitudes – especially when appended with “truly.” […]
Posted in: Communications
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An Unweeded Garden 
May 29, 2012
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