Hi everyone The SG Chronicle is for graduates of the Shifting Gears programme and others with an interest in our work.

Comprising a mix of ideas, culled articles, thoughts, and links, each item is connected to the central theme of 'Creating meaningful shifts in how we deal with ourselves and others'. The content also covers aspects of leadership and management.

To a large degree, this focus involves on-going work to lower our prejudices, extend our horizons and enhance our skills.

I am keen to see the SG Chronicle evolve in response to your contributions, so please email your your thoughts and views to ian@tcln.co.nz.

To be alerted to new items as they are posted and/or share your views with other, like-minded people, email ian@tcln.co.nz to join our 'SG On-line' group.

Best wishes
Ian Oldham
Author - Shifting Gears materials

sg chronicle archive

If a link to an article is no longer valid, please let me know. I may have a copy filed away.

sg chronicle

Send your comments, ideas, contributions to ian@tcln.co.nz

Items removed from the bottom of the list are placed in the archive file.

Let your unconscious mind work it out
A recent study showed that 'Sleeping on complex decisions' was the way to go (refer SG Archives 10 January 2004). This new research takes things a little further and gives pointers on what is required for the sub-conscious mind to work things out for you. more...

Reflection on listening. People and organisations seem to be happy to invest time, effort and money following formal/legal procedures used to deal with things, such as a grievance. They even congratulate themselves on how well they 'dealt with the opposing forces'. What seems to be missed is that a spot of true listening might have avoided the whole thing. Perhaps it is to do with the need to justify what we get ourselves into. The catch: listening requires me to get my filters under control (you know, the ones that judge, assume, label, generalise, give advice . . .).

Want to dig deeper into how the brain works, free will, perception?
Have a look at Vilayanur Ramachandran's 'The Emerging Mind' (BBC 2003 Reith Memorial Lectures). more...

Look after yourself
For most people there is a discrepancy between their chronological age and how well the body and mind have aged. The web site ''RealAge' helps you to determine what this difference in years is and things that you can do to improve (redress!) the situation . . . more...

Engage and learn
"Every time you engage in something you learn from it." Jack Canfield.

'Plan A' (and B and C and . . . )
2400 yrs ago, Plato commented that "Everything is becoming, nothing is". Besides reminding us of the ever changing state of the world, Plato's alerts us to becoming overly attached to what we are currently doing.

It is easy to act as if what is happening to us at this moment is 'forever' when we know full well that everything around us is growing, decaying, coming into existence and passing away. Yet, despite this knowledge, people (and through them groups and organisations) often do not give conscious thought to 'What next?' in their work and personal lives.

Perhaps having a 'Plan B' helps us to let go of our 'attachments' and move on.

Process -a flash of the blindingly obvious
"Failure to attend to process (how things are done) perhaps explains why seemingly inexplicable things go wrong". (Participant at a recent Shifting Gears workshop).

The need to find 'problems'
Curiously, many people do not want to know about problems. They see them as evidence of failure, something to be hidden, not to be discussed in polite company. Yet, on a personal level, or as a manager, problems are treasures - you need them.

How else, other than by solving problems, can you demonstrate that you or your organisation, is improving? No problems to solve - no chance of improvement. Dead in the water. The worst thing to hear is "no problems, everything is fine" - scary stuff.

Note. Naturally, one hopes not to keep on 'solving' the same old problem.

Responsibility
"Everybody is responsible to everyone for everything". (Dostoyevsky-“Capital State").

The friend who drew my attention to this, waxed somewhat lyrical as she observed, "If he is right and this is true, what does this mean we each need to do! Even if he isn’t right, maybe we should act as if he is!"

Filters or augmenters?
At a recent SG workshop, a participant observed that maybe when we see 'As it is', not only do we see what we want to see, we also create what we want to see. We augment what is available with our fears and fantasies thus creating our experience.

That may not matter too much except that we then act upon it as if it were real.