Curious definition of stress
Posted by Lee-Anne Ragan | Filed under Change management & wellness, Conflict resolution
I went to a talk at my kids’ school the other night about drug abuse prevention. Interesting material and great presenter. One of the things that caught my attention was the presenter’s definition of stress. Before I tell you what it was, what’s yours? Definition of stress that is. The dictionary calls it “a state […]
Tags: change management, drug abuse, emotion, learning, strain, stress, tension
Fail forward
Posted by Lee-Anne Ragan | Filed under Change management & wellness, Communication, Conflict resolution
When Albert Einstein was asked what the best source of invention was he replied ‘mistakes’ (as heard on Terry O’Reilly’s Age of Persuasion). The only time we don’t make mistakes is when we’re sleeping (found on an IKEA postcard). Why then do we deny mistakes? Cover them up? Hide from them? Are embarrassed by them? […]
Tags: age of persuasion, albert einstein, cbc, cbc radio, change management, ikea, invention, learning, mess, mistakes, perspective, terry o'reilly, training & development
Leaving behind Tim Hortons at the Olympics
Posted by Lee-Anne Ragan | Filed under Change management & wellness
This is the view that greets me most mornings as I start my volunteer shift as a NOC assistant for the 2010 Vancouver Olympics. Tim Hortons on the sidelines. Cups of caffeine left behind, lined up along the garbage can, as we weave our way through security into the athlete’s village. No liquids allowed. There’s […]
Tags: 2010 olympics, celebrate, change management, olympics, perspective, routine, tim hortons, time, vancouver
Best case scenario
Posted by Lee-Anne Ragan | Filed under Conflict resolution, Creativity & innovation
“Your mind will automatically go to the worst case scenario. So practice the best case scenario.” Wise words from my massage therapist. I love when my attention is caught and held by something that shakes up my preconceptions. That highlights patterns of thinking that I wasn’t aware of. When my synapses sparkle. With all due […]
Tags: amygdala, awfulizing, best case scenario, change management, creativity & innovation, jill bolte taylor, learning, lizard brain, seth godin, stroke of insight, worst case scenario
Start small & think big; creme brulee over soya sauce
Posted by Lee-Anne Ragan | Filed under Change management & wellness, Creativity & innovation
A taste of two worlds. And a time honoured lesson. I was trying to put soya sauce on my sushi the other day and having a devil of a time. The little package of soya sauce didn’t have a small pre-cut in it designed to make it easy to open. While yesterday my taste buds […]
Tags: 4 hour work week, change management, creativity & innovation, creme brulee, four hour work week, learning, marie morin, perspective, tim ferris
Myles Horton & the Olympic Flame
Posted by Lee-Anne Ragan | Filed under Change management & wellness, Communication
Myles Horton was a famous adult educator in the Appalachian mountains. He rode the rails with the hobos and learned valuable lessons from them, lessons that I’m applying during my volunteer work at the 2010 Olympics. Fire was valuable to the vulnerable men who hitched a ride by train. Fire kept you warm. It protected […]
Tags: 2010, change management, creativity & innovation, hobos, learning, long haul, myles horton, olympic flame, olympics, training & development, vancouver
Stress relief a la country music & dill pickles
Posted by Lee-Anne Ragan | Filed under Change management & wellness, Communication, Humor & comedy
In my last post I talked about my first day on the job, doing job training for developmentally delayed adults when I was 17 years old. I learned a lot about expecting the unexpected there. From helping an elfin older lady named Cookie do up her bra to customizing stress relief. Stress. It’s a killer, […]
Tags: change management, country music, creativity & innovation, developmental delay, pickles, stress, stress management, Wellness
My extended quirky to do list part 7 – to’odle
Posted by Lee-Anne Ragan | Filed under Change management & wellness, Communication
My last 6 posts describe an extended, quirky to-do list tool that I use in my corporate training (click here to download a copy for you to use). It has 5 parts: – to do, to continue doing, to stop doing, to not do, to done (no, the last one’s not a typo) (here’s a […]
Tags: accomplishment, because we can, change management, corporate, dragon's den, fatboy slim, forum f, forum for women entrepreneurs, four, four hour work week, new year, progress, resolutions, success, tim ferris, to do, training & development
My extended quirky to do list part 6 – my to done’s
Posted by Lee-Anne Ragan | Filed under Change management & wellness, Communication, Travel
My last 5 posts describe an extended, quirky to-do list tool that I use in my corporate training (click here to download a copy for you to use). It has 5 parts: (I love that out of the 5 categories only two are about adding things. Can we collectively breath a sigh of relief?) – […]
Tags: accomplishment, africa, british columbia, celebration, change management, danielle laport, e-series, forum for women entrepreneurs, kool and the gang, learning, nairobi, skiing, tanzania, training & development, uganda, united nations, white hot truth
Arlene Dickinson: We’ve come a long way …. baby?
Posted by Lee-Anne Ragan | Filed under Change management & wellness, Communication, Humor & comedy
Last night I listened to business owner, entrepreneur and TV star Arlene Dickinson of the Dragon’s Den at the Forum for Women Entrepreneur’s Gala Event. Her captivating journey to entrepreneurship is made more impressive by her humble beginnings. Years ago, being a single mom with four kids to feed made getting cash through the door […]
Tags: arlene dickinson, branding, cbc, change management, dragon's den, entrepreneurship, forum for women entrepreneurs, fwe, gender, leadership, learning, passion, training & development, vintage, vision