"Now this is not the end. It is not even the beginning of the end. But it is, perhaps, the end of the beginning." – Winston Churchill For England this is the end of the Euro Championships. They played well , but not well enough and overall the side that pushed forward more won out in the end and it was deserved. England were certainly not disgraced, but Portugal's persistence… Read More »It Ain’t Over – Til Its Over
"I knew I wanted to be bigger than Persil washing powder" – Victoria Beckham (Posh Spice) England are through to the quarter finals of the Euro 2004 football tournament and by the time you read this they will have played that game against the host nation Portugal. I will at this point either still be in a state of euphoria or in a funk for a few more hours –… Read More »What Do You Want to be When You Grow Up?
"Progress is great, but its gone on far too long" – Ogden Nash I spent the early part of this morning listening to a very interesting Canadian, Jim Carroll, who is a futurist. The topics he covered were far and wide, but it really made me think not just about where I am going or where Square Peg is going but also the future that my children will have. In… Read More »The Future Is………
"Toronto is like New York run by the Swiss" – Peter Ustinov Fortunately England were not run over by the Swiss, I can still eat Toblerone as England's workmanlike performance ensured a flattering 3-0 win and on to meet Croatia on Monday on what will be a deciding game to advance to the quarter finals.
Preparation is everything. Noah did not start building the ark when it was raining" – Warren Buffett As I write this I am just about to start watching the second of England's three qualifying soccer matches at the 2004 European Championships. If they do lose to the Swiss I really am not eating Toblerone again.It was interesting to read, after the disappointing two goals in the last 3 minutes victory… Read More »The Power of Preparation
"Football is not a matter of life and death, its much more important than that!" – Bill Shankly This weekend saw the start of the European Football Championships and a bi-annual occurence in my house (whenever the World Cup or Euro's are on) that I go 'soccer' crazy in the hope that one year England will repeat its feat from 1966 of winning the World Cup or some other trophy.… Read More »Its Only a Game
"If someone thinks they are being mistreated by us, they won't tell 5 people, they'll tell 5000" Jeff Bozos – CEO Amazon.com I am pleased that summer has truly arrived in the past few days even if it is often with hot and sticky weather, but it does also mean that the area is filled each week with many interesting and stimulating activities that go on.One such event this past… Read More »Juggling Customer Service?
“Insecure managers create complexity” – Jack Welch I came across an interesting article this week about the use of simulated work environments to assess people for certain positions. (The link to the article is in the "Whilst you are surfing" section). It was something I used in the UK with a number of recruitment clients as part of the selection process. It certainly highlights to all of us how prepared… Read More »Give us a job!
"There is no reason for anyone to have a computer in their home" Ken Olsen – Computer Designer and founder of Digital Equipment I have just completed a full day's training with my own coach, which was entirely via a telephone line and the web. Originally the workshop was meant to be in New York which would have involved at least 2 days including travel etc.The technology that we have… Read More »The Lost Art of Communication?
"And when it rains on your parade, look up instead of down. Without rain there would be no rainbow" Gilbert Chesterton We just had a long weekend here in Canada and as with many bank holidays that I remember from the UK this one was a wet one also! We had many inches of rain and with two young children you can go stir crazy in a house very quickly.Luckily… Read More »Rain Rain Go Away