What I learned over the last week is something I am profoundly grateful for.
Two small illustrations:
I am fortunate to live in a Warwickshire village and walk my dog daily on the footpaths across the fields nearby. This being the UK in early March, sunshine has been in short supply but in a sunny interlude it looks – and indeed really is – very pleasant.
It was not always like that. For my dog walk takes me across the site of – possibly – the largest ever battle in England, on October 23rd, 1642. On that day and into the night, some 20,000 men lost their lives, thousands more injured. The footpath I walk on is known as the Red Road: so called as on that day 380 years ago it ran red with blood.
The accuracy of the statistics can be debated, the human suffering is not in doubt.
This was the first battle of the English Civil War, and the result was inconclusive – one reason why the war continued for another 9 years, with battles across the country.
Today it is peaceful, and I enjoy the freedom to walk across it.
Last Tuesday I was training a group of managers in London – face to face, so went there on the train. But not on the Tube (Underground) that day, due to industrial action. It was a wet day, so I found a bus to take the largest part of the journey across ‘town’ (as we in England describe London).
The return journey was even wetter, so I tried the bus in the reverse direction. The traffic was very heavy, I could have walked it quicker, but at least it was out of the rain. Well, it was for a while: my bus only went the length of Regent Street before the service was terminated early at Oxford Circus, still some distance from my rail connection. Having lost faith in the buses, I walked – in the rain. It took nearly 40 minutes, and I missed my planned train, making it about a hour more travel than usual.
Yet because of events in Ukraine, and my reflections on those events, I felt fine.
I was still free to walk in the rain. The streets of London are really quite peaceful, despite lots of people and traffic. I walked past my favourite bookshop – Daunt Books – just being there makes me feel good.
I was grateful I was somewhere peaceful, and I was free to enjoy it.
Hopefully my work will help managers manage their teams better so they and their colleagues can work freely and peacefully. (And without conflict: I am training them on Appraisal next week).
I hope your work is enabling others to live peaceful, free lives.
I feel we are still grappling with what to do about Ukraine and how to prevent further destruction and bloodshed. Yet we know the vision: one day Ukrainians can walk peacefully and freely across their fields and through their streets.
We may not all be working with people from the Ukraine this week, but the vision remains
Buzzword of the Week – Amortisation
Definition – Writing off an intangible asset investment, such as goodwill, over the projected life of the asset. Amortisation is the intangible equivalent of ‘depreciation’.
Alternate View – Has other definitions in different contexts. Why we cannot depreciate intangible assets defeats me. Probably best known for being the ‘A’ in EBITDA (Earnings Before Interest, Tax, Depreciation & Amortisation –a previous Buzzword), and let’s admit, EBITD is really difficult to use.
Coming Up…
Its second Friday so it’s HR Hot Topics with CIPD Coventry & Warwickshire – Friday 11th March, a free discussion on the hottest HR issues. https://www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/online-cipd-cov-warks-hr-hot-topics-networking-meeting-tickets-272998625237?aff=ebdsoporgprofile