Over the last week, I found myself doing some painting outside and for one section I had to clear away some cobwebs before beginning the work.

I didn’t give it any thought until the next day when I was walking by the same section and noticed that the beginnings of a small cobweb was in the very place I’d cleaned.

It made me reflect that nature truly is adaptive.

Twenty years ago I was a young executive working with a large multi-national and I was keen to make an impression. At one point I was given responsibility to bring new robotic technology into an aspect of the business. It was exciting but also challenging as there were multiple challenges to making a success of the project.

The very first ‘Inspire Me’ weekly email was in October 2008 – when the financial world had collapsed.

During that time, and over the following years I worked with many leaders as they navigated through turbulent waters – and we learned many things together.

But one of the most important take-aways from that time is the value of pain and disruption. There is always something to be gained in such a time, because when we are disrupted, the edge of possibilities available to us opens up.

Last Friday (23rd January) I was facilitating my annual planning workshop, BluePrint in the Glenview Hotel, Wicklow. As usual the event attracted a diverse mix of people and I’m always interested to see who comes.
For this particular workshop it turned out that everyone in the room was working for themselves