Monday Morning Musings

Morning Team.

I hope you all had a nice weekend and Happy Halloween!

Here is what was going on in my world (and head), from last week:

What I LEARNED

Last week was half term, so I wanted to take a few days off work and spend time with the family. Having time off from work is so important for us all, to not only get away from our laptops, but to have the space to time to do the things that we enjoy away from work.

It also reminded me of something I learned from the Samsung Leadership Development Program that I completed last year, and that is the notion of the importance of utilizing our Default Mode Network. I’d never heard of this before taking the course, but the default mode network (DMN) is a system of connected brain areas that show increased activity when a person is not focused on what is happening around them. Research shows that it is especially active, when one engages in introspective activities such as daydreaming, contemplating the past or the future, or thinking about the perspective of another person. Unfettered daydreaming can often lead to creativity and coming up with new ideas to approach problems. So not only was it great to spend quality time with the family, it was also great to subconsciously think about ways to tackle some of the challenges we face day to day.

With this in mind, please make sure you all take time for yourselves, and make sure that you use your holiday allocation in order to recharge and access your Default Mode Network.

What I LIKED

I listened to this Podcast on the way over to Madrid on Thursday to see Bea so wanted to share. I’m a big fan of Rory Sutherland, as I find his views and take on advertising and the world around us really interesting. This podcast features himself and another ex-adman called Bruce Daisley. The conversation is a really interesting one as they discuss the notion of resiliency during and post pandemic, and how it’s the collective cohesion of a strong culture and team environment that enables resiliency for indivuduals. They have an interesting discussion about hybrid working, and the impact that this is having on staff as well as the business themselves.

Final thought

No quotes, or images this week. I wanted to share a picture I took from my time off instead. Autumn is one of my favorite times of the year, as I love going for long walks in woodland areas, and take in the tree’s as their leaves all start to change their colours. It’s a great reminder on the power of mother nature and how we are lucky to have 4 distinct seasons that make the environment around us so different, and how we need to protect it.  

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Thank you for reading and I hope that you have a successful and fulfilling day.