Following the decision to allow product placement on ITV I've decided that it's about TIMEX the physis GAP followed suit and crossed the FORD FIESTA 1.2 GL into the world of revenue. And why not. After all, development does not come cheaply, in terms of personal POWERGEN. As we like to say at the Physis GAP HQ - why go in straight lines when you can DYSON round a corner with ease??
I'm off for a snack, currently sponsored by Mrs Physis Gap's CHOCOLATE BROWNIES.
Do let me know if this new policy gets in the way.
Sunday, 13 September 2009
Tuesday, 8 September 2009
Dodgy Statistics
The first 'Physis Gap' poll has now closed and the votes have been counted. People were asked to relate their own physis to food and we have learned that a whopping 57% of respondents opted for'fillet steak' and a further 43% went for 'bacon sandwich'.
So this makes the winner: Meat. By a considerable margin. Bad news for salad.
And the most interesting thing for me is that I've learned to ask better questions in polls. My own learning is up 100%!
So, it would seem that physis can be measured, even in osbcure food-related ways.
I'm now thinking of what to do for the next poll.
Any ideas out there?
Please do let me know, I'm off for a sausage-burger. Yummy.
So this makes the winner: Meat. By a considerable margin. Bad news for salad.
And the most interesting thing for me is that I've learned to ask better questions in polls. My own learning is up 100%!
So, it would seem that physis can be measured, even in osbcure food-related ways.
I'm now thinking of what to do for the next poll.
Any ideas out there?
Please do let me know, I'm off for a sausage-burger. Yummy.
Sunday, 6 September 2009
Camping
Well hello again and my physis is back from its Summer break, nicely tanned and raring to go.
So raring in fact it has decided to go camping, which is something of a major breakthrough, given that my general hatred of camping is well known.
Hatred is such a strong word I should find something better perhaps...let's try loathe. Me and camping are like cows and motorbikes. They just don't go together.
However, having had a fun time away in our caravan and seeing my eldest son enjoy camping out in the garden I decided that it was time to roll up my feelings and do the decent Dad thing and take him away for a weekend under canvass. With this in mind I spent last night with him by way of practice and we had a fun time, apart from the cold and the general misery of being in a sleeping bag on hard ground.
My physis needed to start small, which is always a good tip if you want to go in a direction and need to find a way to get started.
So we will go away in the next few weeks and I will keep you posted.
In the mean time, don't be surprised if you pass a Friesian on a Yamaha... vroom, vroom, moo, moo!
So raring in fact it has decided to go camping, which is something of a major breakthrough, given that my general hatred of camping is well known.
Hatred is such a strong word I should find something better perhaps...let's try loathe. Me and camping are like cows and motorbikes. They just don't go together.
However, having had a fun time away in our caravan and seeing my eldest son enjoy camping out in the garden I decided that it was time to roll up my feelings and do the decent Dad thing and take him away for a weekend under canvass. With this in mind I spent last night with him by way of practice and we had a fun time, apart from the cold and the general misery of being in a sleeping bag on hard ground.
My physis needed to start small, which is always a good tip if you want to go in a direction and need to find a way to get started.
So we will go away in the next few weeks and I will keep you posted.
In the mean time, don't be surprised if you pass a Friesian on a Yamaha... vroom, vroom, moo, moo!
Thursday, 6 August 2009
Facebook Badge
Isn't it clever how the wobbly old world wide web keeps growing and developing. You would think by now that the donkey that turns the wheel which powers the whole thing would need a rest.
Hmmm...I bet those clever web people have two donkeys! That would be smart thinking.
And as clever things go, you might be interested to know that if you click on the Facebook Badge on the right hand side you can send me a message via, well, Facebook.
Just wait for the donkeys to complete their change over though.
Hmmm...I bet those clever web people have two donkeys! That would be smart thinking.
And as clever things go, you might be interested to know that if you click on the Facebook Badge on the right hand side you can send me a message via, well, Facebook.
Just wait for the donkeys to complete their change over though.
Friday, 31 July 2009
Fat Manufacturing
I'm writing this in the garden, to give my physis a boost by changing the scenery for a bit. The sun is shining mightily, a gentle breeze is tickling the back of my neck and the butterflies are happily slurping up their lunch on one of the many flowers that I don't know the name of.
My physis likes to get away from the confines of the office in order to see the world from a new perspective and in the spirit of new perspectives and a bit of physis fun feel free to have a look at www.fatmanufacturing.com, which not only has some witty comments about the real world of work, has helpfully just started to advertise my first book.
Given that Lean Manufacturing is a well established set of skills, designed to reduce waste, improve processes, heal the sick and cure the lame I think that it's highy appropriate to poke fun and explore the world of the anti-Lean.
So, if you're stuck in Lean hell, give your physis a break, click on the link and enjoy yourself.
Cheers!
My physis likes to get away from the confines of the office in order to see the world from a new perspective and in the spirit of new perspectives and a bit of physis fun feel free to have a look at www.fatmanufacturing.com, which not only has some witty comments about the real world of work, has helpfully just started to advertise my first book.
Given that Lean Manufacturing is a well established set of skills, designed to reduce waste, improve processes, heal the sick and cure the lame I think that it's highy appropriate to poke fun and explore the world of the anti-Lean.
So, if you're stuck in Lean hell, give your physis a break, click on the link and enjoy yourself.
Cheers!
Wednesday, 22 July 2009
Are You Stopping You?
I hold my hand up and admit that sometimes it feels hard to keep going when the world doesn't want you.
Hmmm... let's reframe that - the 'world' doesn't know me and currently some specific people do not want to buy the management training that I can offer. That already feels more positive.
To continue... and other people might want to buy things that I don't currently offer. This feels more like it. All I have to do is find them and offer them new things.
And I have.
I've just sold a TA based coaching programme (which I haven't written yet) to a client who liked the idea of formal accreditation (which I don't have yet).
Hooray for me! Reframing the situation, that is changing the conversation I was having with myself, has engaged my physis and spurred on some growth.
And now my physis is asking for a cup of tea, so I'm off to look after it.
Hmmm... let's reframe that - the 'world' doesn't know me and currently some specific people do not want to buy the management training that I can offer. That already feels more positive.
To continue... and other people might want to buy things that I don't currently offer. This feels more like it. All I have to do is find them and offer them new things.
And I have.
I've just sold a TA based coaching programme (which I haven't written yet) to a client who liked the idea of formal accreditation (which I don't have yet).
Hooray for me! Reframing the situation, that is changing the conversation I was having with myself, has engaged my physis and spurred on some growth.
And now my physis is asking for a cup of tea, so I'm off to look after it.
Thursday, 16 July 2009
The Power of Fun
Organisational change can be hard work.
It's even tougher when there's a gap between the amount of physis you have available to you and the amount you need to be successful.
I stopped a coaching session recently with a General Manager because the energy in the room was about as go-getting as you might expect to find in a Gentleman's dining club on a hot Friday afternoon after a good luncheon and bottle of claret.
If you're dragging yourself to work then the chances are you'll change nothing. My client (divorced with two children) was having no fun at home and he was working hard at keeping going, which sapped his energy, which meant he had to work harder to keep going... not great when the business was looking to him for assertive, enthusiastic, creative leadership.
He needed to make some personal changes to narrow his personal physis gap, in order to narrow the organisational physis gap.
So, we stoped talking about work and focused on him instead and what he could do to get more fun in life. Join a club? Do some sport? Take up a new hobby?
He chose a hobby. Dating.
He joined a dating agency, put his physis first for once and went out for some fun.
And when I saw him again a few weeks later he proudly showed me round the shop floor, pointing out all the recent improvements, mentioned that he had personally secured £100,000 of new buiness and, with a sparkle in his eyes, revealed that he was having fun.
Lots of it...
It's even tougher when there's a gap between the amount of physis you have available to you and the amount you need to be successful.
I stopped a coaching session recently with a General Manager because the energy in the room was about as go-getting as you might expect to find in a Gentleman's dining club on a hot Friday afternoon after a good luncheon and bottle of claret.
If you're dragging yourself to work then the chances are you'll change nothing. My client (divorced with two children) was having no fun at home and he was working hard at keeping going, which sapped his energy, which meant he had to work harder to keep going... not great when the business was looking to him for assertive, enthusiastic, creative leadership.
He needed to make some personal changes to narrow his personal physis gap, in order to narrow the organisational physis gap.
So, we stoped talking about work and focused on him instead and what he could do to get more fun in life. Join a club? Do some sport? Take up a new hobby?
He chose a hobby. Dating.
He joined a dating agency, put his physis first for once and went out for some fun.
And when I saw him again a few weeks later he proudly showed me round the shop floor, pointing out all the recent improvements, mentioned that he had personally secured £100,000 of new buiness and, with a sparkle in his eyes, revealed that he was having fun.
Lots of it...
Monday, 13 July 2009
The Age Gap
Here's a thing. Reading the BBC News today, apparently moves are afoot by HM Govt to bring forward a review of retirement age, with a view to scrapping the age limits for compulsory gardening and bridge playing.
Good thing too, when the world is full of people with flowing physis who still enjoy their work.
A case in point... I met with my mentor today who was laughing at making new business investments and working as a Chairman aged 64.
The punchline is this - that was 14 years ago and he's still in business.
And he's a great mentor as well.
Good thing too, when the world is full of people with flowing physis who still enjoy their work.
A case in point... I met with my mentor today who was laughing at making new business investments and working as a Chairman aged 64.
The punchline is this - that was 14 years ago and he's still in business.
And he's a great mentor as well.
The Interview Story
Can physis be increased by new learning, or is it fixed?
My thinking is that physis is like a generator and that the outside world can influence it. All motors need fuel and all need to be serviced. However, unlike an actual generator it can't be switched off, although it can run sluggishly.
Given that people are different, so our generators work at different speeds, prefer different fuels, are more or less fuel efficient and need servicing at different intervals.
Can learning be fuel? Could be... for some people. Here's a story of someone who's physis was helped by prior learning...
A colleague went for a job, was kept waiting for two hours after the interview and after the other candidates had all departed was told.... that he had failed.
"Hmmm...." he replied calmly, "what do I need to do to be successful next time?"
Impressed with his attitude, the client explained what he needed to practice and offered him another interview at a later date.
By the way, my physis does love a bit of apricot pie....did I mention that already?
My thinking is that physis is like a generator and that the outside world can influence it. All motors need fuel and all need to be serviced. However, unlike an actual generator it can't be switched off, although it can run sluggishly.
Given that people are different, so our generators work at different speeds, prefer different fuels, are more or less fuel efficient and need servicing at different intervals.
Can learning be fuel? Could be... for some people. Here's a story of someone who's physis was helped by prior learning...
A colleague went for a job, was kept waiting for two hours after the interview and after the other candidates had all departed was told.... that he had failed.
"Hmmm...." he replied calmly, "what do I need to do to be successful next time?"
Impressed with his attitude, the client explained what he needed to practice and offered him another interview at a later date.
By the way, my physis does love a bit of apricot pie....did I mention that already?
Monday, 6 July 2009
Into the Gap
So, where does the 'gap' fit in? Why not just call the blog physis?
Good questions and let me explain.
During a TA (Transactional Analysis) workshop a few years ago our tutor drew the Script Matrix and left a small gap where the Parental inputs ended and our own Ego States began. Realising this gap didn't have a name I called it 'the physis gap'.
Translating this into non-TA language; the Big people, who are significant to us as we are developing, influence us. We are given messages about how to do things, how not to do things and what we should do to keep ourselves safe. However, we also tend to filter these messages. Our own sense of 'self' sometimes gets in the way of the messages and accepts, rejects or changes them.
In short, one way of looking at 'the physis gap' is that it is the tiny nano-sized gap between where the world stops and we begin.
Very small and (I think) crucially important.
Given that you can't see the gap, one way to know it's there is to look at adult siblings, who have grown up with the same Big people around them. They will often have been exposed to some of the same messages and it's likley that they will have interpreted them in slightly different ways. Check out your own family, or think about yourself. What do you notice?
The second gap, I would like to suggest, is more straightforward and equally as valid.
I think that there is also a gap between the amount of physis we have currently pulsing through our bodies and the amount we need to grow into the next stage.
When we look at the businesses around us that are having tough times, why is it that some are heading for destruction, whilst others in the same market are making changes that will see them through to future success? Perhaps organisationally the successful ones simply have more collective physis and therefore more force to change, grow and develop. This of course begs lots of questions...
...And there is a final gap, which I call the 'apricot pie gap'. This is the space I have already made in the pie in the fridge and in this case I will now depart, in order to widen the gap, and myself in the process.
Good questions and let me explain.
During a TA (Transactional Analysis) workshop a few years ago our tutor drew the Script Matrix and left a small gap where the Parental inputs ended and our own Ego States began. Realising this gap didn't have a name I called it 'the physis gap'.
Translating this into non-TA language; the Big people, who are significant to us as we are developing, influence us. We are given messages about how to do things, how not to do things and what we should do to keep ourselves safe. However, we also tend to filter these messages. Our own sense of 'self' sometimes gets in the way of the messages and accepts, rejects or changes them.
In short, one way of looking at 'the physis gap' is that it is the tiny nano-sized gap between where the world stops and we begin.
Very small and (I think) crucially important.
Given that you can't see the gap, one way to know it's there is to look at adult siblings, who have grown up with the same Big people around them. They will often have been exposed to some of the same messages and it's likley that they will have interpreted them in slightly different ways. Check out your own family, or think about yourself. What do you notice?
The second gap, I would like to suggest, is more straightforward and equally as valid.
I think that there is also a gap between the amount of physis we have currently pulsing through our bodies and the amount we need to grow into the next stage.
When we look at the businesses around us that are having tough times, why is it that some are heading for destruction, whilst others in the same market are making changes that will see them through to future success? Perhaps organisationally the successful ones simply have more collective physis and therefore more force to change, grow and develop. This of course begs lots of questions...
...And there is a final gap, which I call the 'apricot pie gap'. This is the space I have already made in the pie in the fridge and in this case I will now depart, in order to widen the gap, and myself in the process.
Sunday, 5 July 2009
Welcome!
Welcome to The Physis Gap!
In case physis is a word you're not used to (I'm sure it's a great Scrabble score, but life is just too short to bother checking) then let me explain. Basically physis means force for growth. The ancient Greeks wrote it up in their blogs as:
"A force of nature which eternally strives to make things grow and to make growing things more perfect" (Berne, 1968, p80).
In her 1992 TAJ (Transactional Analysis Journal) article Petruska Clarkson described it as "the ongoing process of change."
I have also heard it described as our 'life force' or the 'force that keeps us growing and changing'.
So, my thinking is that physis is a pretty good thing and I'm interested in it.
We all have it and I wonder if some people have more or less than others, if organisations have it as a differentiator for greater succes, or stagnation and ruin. And I wonder that when times are tough our physis splutters and coughs a bit.
Times are tough now and my thinking is to explore physis (or lack of it) in the world around us. So the purpose of this blog is to capture thoughts, stories and ideas and see where we go.
And as it's my birthday today and I love bithdays the next place I'm going to is the fridge to eat a delicious piece of home cooked birthday-apricot-pie. The ancient Greeks also wrote on their blogs that it's the best food in the world. They were right!
In case physis is a word you're not used to (I'm sure it's a great Scrabble score, but life is just too short to bother checking) then let me explain. Basically physis means force for growth. The ancient Greeks wrote it up in their blogs as:
"A force of nature which eternally strives to make things grow and to make growing things more perfect" (Berne, 1968, p80).
In her 1992 TAJ (Transactional Analysis Journal) article Petruska Clarkson described it as "the ongoing process of change."
I have also heard it described as our 'life force' or the 'force that keeps us growing and changing'.
So, my thinking is that physis is a pretty good thing and I'm interested in it.
We all have it and I wonder if some people have more or less than others, if organisations have it as a differentiator for greater succes, or stagnation and ruin. And I wonder that when times are tough our physis splutters and coughs a bit.
Times are tough now and my thinking is to explore physis (or lack of it) in the world around us. So the purpose of this blog is to capture thoughts, stories and ideas and see where we go.
And as it's my birthday today and I love bithdays the next place I'm going to is the fridge to eat a delicious piece of home cooked birthday-apricot-pie. The ancient Greeks also wrote on their blogs that it's the best food in the world. They were right!
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