I started a business more than a decade ago based on ‘giving people good-times.’ Since then I have researched and read many books about happiness, well-being and what it is to be human. In essence I have been seeking the answer to the question ‘What is it that drives us?’ And I first wrote about this on LinkedIn I have learned the definitions of pleasure, contentment and joy and in so doing I have discovered that the word pleasure…
Tag Archives: productivity
The way work really happens
A colleague called me from a bus this morning to tell me she’d be unable to make an 8.30am meeting because the “traffic was at a standstill”. The fact she had left her home – a mere 19 kilometers from the office – at 6.30am that morning still did not guarantee she’d get to work on time. After sitting on a bus for almost two hours, she decided to get off and walk the remaining distance; eventually arriving at the…
Where I do my best work – Anywhere
The only thing that is constant in my life is being on the move. I was asked by LinkedIn to share ‘where and how’ I work… Maybe this request was inspired by Marissa Mayers demand for the Yahoo employees to stop telecommuting and come to the office. [I think she may well have been taken a little out of context. I know the importance of feeling a part of the team – and if I am out and about the…
Four thoughts on creativity
Over the years I have had many people say to me “what a fantastic idea RedBalloon is..” often followed by the statement “I was going to do something like that” or “I wish I’d thought of it.” Ideas and creativity are critical to the success of any venture. I was in Utah last week at and Entrepreneur Organization conference and the opening speaker was serial entrepreneur Josh Linkner. He opened his presentation with a US business story about the Dollarshaveclub.com…
Creativity creates the competitive edge
With Christmas rushing headlong towards us – last years innovations are now in full swing at RedBalloon. As we get, bigger, older and more established the last thing we want to do is forget what made us the award winning, innovative business that we are. One thing I do know is that innovation can come from anywhere and everywhere – inside and outside and organization. So when my colleague Kristie shared what she learned at the recent Creative Innovation conference…
Two Steps towards Success
Now before I even start talking about ‘success’ let’s define it. Everyone has a different definition of success. In fact I think success is like the notion of beauty – it is in the eye of the beholder. To some it is wealth to others it is a state of contentment. When I was in my twenties I thought success was being able to buy a pair of shoes without looking at the price tag…. In my thirties success was…
Coming Up this Week 13 August 2012
Some weeks you feel that you move the game forward, others you stand still, and sometimes you go backwards. I was running a two speed life last week – working very productively on project work – but I had a melt down in my Outlook, lost my calendar, contacts and tasks – as well as double up on emails… and yes of course I have back ups – but all these things take time. It was the weirdest thing looking…
Eight Tips on Productivity vs One simple addage
I am quietly musing to myself – laughing on the inside really. I sat down to start this blog on 3 June… more than a month ago – and it’s all about productivity. There is no doubt that I needed to attend the lunch to launch the Ernst & Young Productivity Pulse Survey. Of course I listened with big ears, the challenge of course is what did I take out of the presentation – and how will it make a…
Three Productivity Tips
I was part of a panel asked to present on our top productivity tips yesterday. Often we don’t really know what we do that keeps us productive – it is innate. I thought of my own productivity such as writing down physically the three things I must get done in a day before I go home; or is it turning off email so I can focus on producing what I want to do rather than responding to other people’s agenda. …
Coming up this week 12 December 2011
Last week at RedBalloon we were full of the joys of Christmas. The IT team hosted our final company meeting of the year and were massively creative with their festive theme ; including beaming in their colleague Dave from Perth to have him appear in a cut out Santa via Facetime – (I guess you had to be there). As part of the planning process and moving my role to be Founding Director I needed to update my job description…
Imagine running a business based on fun - that's what I decided to try when I left a very serious corporate career in marketing to set up RedBalloon...
