Thank you also to the huge numbers of you who have contributed to the Great Interactions blog over the past couple of years- for many it is the first time you have written publically about your work and what a fantastic read it continues to be. Well done to all of you and if you haven’t had a go yet then perhaps you should make a New Year Resolution to do so… everyone has interactions that are worth sharing with others.
I have made a few New Year Resolutions myself and they involve three of the facilitation skills: listening, observing and being creative.
Firstly, as Sarah mentioned in her blog the Here to Hear consultation was an excellent experience for both of us. As a talker and not a listener it was a quite a personal challenge! I am resolved to build on the experience and to further develop my listening skills.
Secondly, as part of that I am also committed to visiting more in 2015 and will use the opportunities to not only listen but also observe local practice. I am always on the lookout for stories that bring MacIntyre to life and of course in reality they are happening all the time but often colleagues are unaware of what is so good about what they are doing on a day-to-day basis.
Thirdly, I want to learn to be more creative. The external world to MacIntyre remains extremely challenging and a fundamental part of my role is to help MacIntyre to steer a successful course. Often this involves ensuring we continue to do the things we do well but it also involves us trying out new things. I read a book recently: Flex: Do Something Different by Fletcher and Pine in which it demonstrates that we all need to find ways of flexing our ways of working or indeed just being to be more effective at achieving our goals. It suggests the evidence support strategies which take small steps but being consistent- sounds just like what we say in our Great Interactions training!
For those of you who are interested I have started a blog which I have titled Cairn Stones: http://cairnstones.org/ (right click on link and click open in new window to read blog) it is quite reflective and written with an external audience in mind but it based on the good work I observe around MacIntyre.
Finally I should like to thank Gwenne for her inspiring and tireless support of the Great Interactions blog- if she knocks on your door to write something be reassured you are in good hands.
Best Regards
Bill Mumford
CEO MacIntyre