Extreme Teaming

Amy C Edmondson and Jean Francois Harvey have a book on lessons in complex and cross-sector leadership named Extreme Teaming.

You have probably heard of the manager who hires people who are like him which makes life simple but means there will be gaps in skills and a lack of challenge. this book takes this further and suggests you go outside your organisation to have your team enlarged by people who are not on the payroll. Their insight might be valuable.

Extreme teaming was used in the successful  mining rescue in Chile 2010.
If you are looking for a refresher or some new ways to have an effective team this book might just help. Published 2017.

Results? too early

It is too early to summarise the questionnaire results and in any case i still would prefer to have many more take part, however it is clear that there is a desire for communication across the highlands. I have found a link in Caithness- Love North-, which is doing a good work. Anyway one desire is to have a daily devotional link or prompt to study a passage with the coming together of "results from study".

If you like this idea please come back in the future to see what is on offer or add a comment to this post.

I would appreciate if you could share to your Highland friends this site.

I also hope to put up video and links to other supporting material.

How much? The price of toilets in the north?

 Recent quote from the mother in law....

"How is it we can spend 2.5 Billion on a vertical space travel site in Sutherland but we cannot find the money to keep the toilets open at places like Durness! I cannot understand it!"


and the Answer please...? 


Council are putting aside 2.5 million. The 2.5 billion relates to the overall project.

 BBC response to recent announcement

Guardian on same topic

"The Mannie" under fire (*)

Fire fighting teams over the last few weeks have been dousing fires above Golspie. The fires could have been started due to the dry weather...some suggest it could be something more sinister. The Duke of Sutherland has always had a a mixed reception here in Sutherland. In fact over the years there has been signs of the monument being tampered with in a bid to fall the statue which can be seen for miles around- almost all of East Sutherland.  It stands as a reminder of the Dukes work... for others a reminder of the Highland clearances.

Signs of bravery and pulling together has resulted in the fire being contained. We have a thought for those who are suffering from the aftermath. The smoke the smells but even more the mountain bike business that will surely suffer from this fire.

* The Mannie is the local name for the statue above Golspie raised in memory of the Duke of Sutherland by supporters, and not encouraged by local crofters.

Paula White comment

 Paula White, wants to tighen borders.
In an interview about immigration in the USA last week Paula, said the following...

By Kamau360 - Own work, CC BY-SA 3.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=22145649

"I think so many people have taken biblical scriptures out of context on this, to say stuff like, 'Well, Jesus was a refugee,'" White responded. "Yes, He did live in Egypt for three-and-a-half years. But it was not illegal. If He had broken the law then He would have been sinful and He would not have been our Messiah."




"They care for the children," said White, who's also the senior pastor at New Destiny Christian Center in Apopka, Florida. "Not just three square meals, psychiatric care, clinician, medical care, chapel, events, schooling, language, and love."

Full link to "Christian Post"

Who is Paula White Wiki 

Culzean castle Ayrshire

Culzean Castle  Is a National Trust for Scotland premises

I visited the castle recently and was struck by the condition of the site. I felt the history was not very well presented. But there were at hand several guides to explain more details as they recited dates and information that folks will not remember. Have you noticed these places  where there is an air of " I know it all". 

I suppose we are all experts in our own field. ( By the way laptop still working)

 Now Culzean is not pronounced as here.   Well not in Scotland where the "Z" is silent. as in Dalziel. 

The castle is well set out for visitors wih good parking and an open feel as you head for the gates to the various premises. There is a walled garden, pictures below. The book shop was well stocked with second hand books but nothing for me to grab that covers my interst. Robet Adams castle is super.

 Walled garden plants

Culzean castle

Some views from recent visit.

Come back tomorrow.

Blue screen and its not the sunny sky.... happy ending

 I was going to tell you about a short trip to Ayr....



Just when you are settled and things are going good it all falls apart well that's what happened PC wise over the last few weeks. I had a skype meeting for Thursday in the meantime an update from Windows which had an effect on my Skype. the sound was wrong and sometimes not working I tried plug in phones bluetooth phones and the Laptop speakers. But to no avail Next was to bring out the old PC which I keep updated for emergencies like this. It gets all the updates Monthly.

So I fire it up and then when i go from sound to video on the Skype ...i get the blue screen.

 Today I am back with Current machine working fine after some sound adjustments ..and keep the blue tooth set away from the machine.

 The old machine was different.

"Unexpected kernel mode trap"..Blue screen.
So what now ...Because I have been updating monthly I am able to carry out a "fresh start" which is a new installation of Windows direct from the Website to the old machine.

That means no corrupt files from before being carried forward.
It also means  reinstalling all apps and software including anti virus

It takes a while but I was able to carry out other tasks while monitoring the progress.

This morning we are back again with skype working on both machines.

Advice
Always take the updates even if there can be challenges. 
Consider reinstalling Windows 10 with a fresh version including all the updates. Sometimes works out quicker.
Take back ups and use cloud drives as extra backups.

Ayr ...Maybe tomorrow.

Chief operating officer

I bought this book at the end of last year. with the view of a role I was contemplating south of the border. Jennifer Geary has pulled together some good stuff and compartmentalised into  16 areas of interest or concern.  it covers all you need to know or to watch out for.

Sometimes, the role of COO is to oversee change, sometimes to establish a set up or even to consolidate a growth period. This book accommodates all these situations. So from safeguarding to HR or facilities to strategy she covers it well. 

Published 2017

Seasons will pass me by ...I get up

Sun beating down has become a regular occurance in Perth with temps  in the good side of 20 for a few weeks. We can get used to this however the rain is required and I heard there was rain further North yesterday. Lovely how we have changing seasons. just when we were getting down with winter the season changed and this year it seemed so quick. planting out and then going to seed due to the heat.

A question, if you had created the seasons would you have had 4 or just two?

Is Academic freedom in jeopardy...?

The most recent Cambridge papers looks at Academic freedom and hints to a    

widespreed perception that academic freedom is under threat. Tom Simpson wites a reflective piece which can be downloaded for reading. In fact you may what to register for future papers that come out quarterly.

The latest Cambridge paper  

Another plea....

Hi This is another plea to engage in my questionnaire and to ask others who live in the Highlands to complete it. Thank you