Whilst hiking on the northeast coast of Japan, I happened to cross a small train station at the back of a fishing village. I used the men's toilet. This photo was taken of the toilet and shows a scenario where a father could demonstrate to his son how to use the toilet. As world leading behavioural expert Dr John Demartini asked on The Mojo Sessions Ep 101, "What are your actions demonstrating?" Kids are always watching and how wonderful is this, that a father can actually demonstrate to a young boy exactly what's required when in a men's toilet. This is an insightful reflection on the importance of actions over words, especially in the context of parenting. It's a beautiful and concrete example of how everyday situations can become teaching moments, and another reminder for all of us, that we are constantly being observed, especially by those who look up to us. ​

That was a sound you heard often in a library when somebody was speaking loudly. The library was a place of knowledge, study, learning, reflection and well ....quiet. Today finding a little quiet is a rarity and a precious thing in a library. Today it's groups of people catching up, mothers groups with toddlers, tutors instructing students, and this week even a sales guy set up making sales calls so the whole library could hear Mark's conversations. I recently interviewed Sarah Boyd author of Turned Down the Noise on The Mojo Sessions (details below) - it's so relevant in a noisy, overstimulated world where silence has been abandoned in the library and the so called quiet carriage of the train. A saviour has been my Loop Earplugs.  They are not digital, just like a normal set of earplugs, but they muffle sound. I use them all the time... on flights, the library, the quiet carriage of the train, concerts, loud environments. The amazing thing is you can still hear a conversation with another person, but it muffles the outside noise. Interesting technology. I was skeptical until I tried them. Anyway, I take them to the library now! GB

Gallup recently released the results of a very large poll of workers from across the world. They asked a question "What's the most important attribute you need from your company owner?" The results will surprise. The number one response by light years was Hope. Hope comes from having a clear picture of what's ahead for the company, a leader knowing the steps to take in order to capitalise on that future, having a set of values or behaviours that will direct the team in the right direction and a clear understanding of why they do what they do.
Many company owners have it in their mind, but it's not published. In Adelaide recently during my keynote a company owner said. "When I think about the future and what I can see, it excites me. I can feel it rising in me." This lady could viscerally feel that vision in her whole body. It was an inspiring moment and certainly helped emphasise my point about a dream, a North star, or call it your vision, for the business. 
Drew Ginn, a member of the famous Oarsome Foursome once said to me "If not you, then who? If not now, then when?" This company leader had previously never really sat to think about the future and the possibilities for the company. She had never taken time to sit down and visualise what it looks like, and when she did she had a visceral feeling within her whole body.... true excitement that gives people HOPE! Thanks to Ron Smith for the pic. 

​Train time is my creative time. Sometimes I have a 3 hour trip in front of me and it's creative bliss. When I saw the partnership planned between shared workspace provider Industrious and high-speed rail company Brightline to bring coworking to the rails, I had transit envy. Recently the Florida-based high-speed rail service Brightline launched a partnership with the shared workspace provider to turn parts of its railway stations and even entire train cars into dedicated co-working spaces The co-working spaces are available in many USA railway stations now and there's also bookable train cars you can set aside for business meetings or private events whilst on the rails. With the frustration we all face with the airlines I think a lot of people would turn to rail travel if we had stations and carriages adapted for business on the move. To get off a train with co-working facilities and lob into a shared workspace at Central Station in Sydney... my creative heaven. Oh, and there is uninterrupted wi-fi thanks to Starlink. GB

​The interview was set up with a guy that was said to be the world's best productivity leader. He was late for the interview. Before we take on the advice of so called opinion leaders or experts we first need to look under the hood as to who they are, what they've achieved, do they live by their standards and do they have the cred to influence the behaviour of others? In this day and age with so much information floating around we need to inject a dose of reality into how, what and who we listen to, and the advice we consume. There's an old saying "be careful when a naked person offers you a shirt." In a recent interview with Harvard Psychiatrist Dr Blaise Aguirre, he said "don't take advice from someone you don't want to be like." Thanks to Sebastian Herrmann for the pic.

Early afternoon in a café in Surry Hills Sydney, I've had my quota of coffee for the day so I ordered a lemon and ginger tea. A pot was delivered to the table and we continue our conversation. It wasn't until I've had three or four mouthfuls that it occurred to me that this was not the normal tasting lemon and ginger tea that comes with a teabag. Curious, I opened the lid and as you can see it was chockablock full of real ginger chunks and lemon pieces. I've now been back to this café five or six times for a cup of tea. Most cafés when you order a tea, give you a teabag, hot water and a pot. That's the expectation, that's the norm, the construct. It's only the few who will go the extra mile to give you something that is fresh, full of flavour, takes a little more effort, but it's so much more satisfying and creates a small point of difference in the endless sea of cafés in the surrounding streets. ​

CEO: "The culture is toxic, we are working on changes." 
ME: " Perhaps we start with the first 25% to get to the tipping point of change, based on Malcolm Gladwell's recent book The Revenge of the Tipping Point?"
CEO: " I've read it, great book"... Then why aren't you doing it?

Why? For many we want the next thing. We don't read, listen or watch... then detach, consider, set a strategy for the takeaways and then execute our learnings ......before we consume the next supposed silver bullet.

In the case with this CEO we are setting out to change the whole culture, to change the whole business at once. Instead I think Gladwell's approach, which is so well researched and curated for the company owner who wants to make change to customer perception, employee engagement, leadership teams, is to start with the first 25%, get them aligned, and then you are setting up the tipping point. 

​In fact, Barry O'Reilly (Ep 312 The Mojo Sessions who wrote Unlearn), said to create a culture of Unlearners, start with the first 11%, that's where I would start... identify your first 11%, work hard at alignment, then use the first 11% to influence and progress to the first 25%. 
Thanks  Алекс Арцибашев for the pic. GB

Walking into a coastal resort, it's mid morning, I'm there to check out conference facilities for an upcoming event. You can picture the drive up drop off zone, ceiling fans, open spaces, couches... tiled floors, typical of beach resorts. I went straight to the resturant to check their scrambles eggs. Why? ‘You can tell how good a cook is by how well he does the simple things," says Marco Pierre White in White Heat. Under the cloche I found dry, hard, rubbery eggs cooked too quickly over high heat ...not appetising, hard to eat. I believe that the eggs and breakfast spread tells you all you need to know about the conference facilities, the food they serve and the COFFEE! It's a representation of the standards set by management... about what's acceptable. The conference rooms were in keeping with the eggs. 
Thank you Jakub Kapusnak for the pic. GB

Creative sessions happen every day, everywhere... in home offices, meeting rooms, boardrooms and conference facilities. Quite often people give up too quickly. Your best ideas come in the last third of your ideas. The first third are the obvious things everybody's doing. The second third is starting to dig down now and look for associations.The last third you've exhausted all the obvious things now you're drawing down and perhaps pulling together incoherent ideas where you're grasping at straws for something else to put onto your list. Brainstorming as invented by Alex Osborn and Sid Parnes back in the late 50's at NASA, is about building big lists. Inspiration reveals itself after you get all the obvious stuff out of the way. So hang in there. Whether you're at home or in a boardroom, if you're in a creative session hang in there, keep digging and keep writing up ideas. The gold is just around the corner. Thanks to Priscilla Du Preez 🇨🇦 for the cool pic. ​

It was mid afternoon as I was fixing a barbed fence line when a Ute drove past me on the dirt road. The back window was down and young Jack yelled out "Hey, Gary." I put down my pliers and smiled. Whilst most are getting from point A to point B, Jack took the time to make my day. It's the small things. Want to slow time? Notice the small things. How it feels to have a baby's hand in yours, getting a smile from a stranger, the first drop of rain on the roof, the smell of a good fresh coffee in the morning, a full moon, the crackle from a fire, the smell of fresh bread, the anticipation in the eyes of a puppy wanting you to throw a stick, or the sound of a loved one asleep breathing ….catching the little things is truly living in the present. When time flies, we no longer are catching the little things, the little fleeting moments. The easiest way to do it is to use the senses... see, hear, smell, taste, or touch something, just for a moment but notice it!
Thanks Nicholas Ng for the pic. GB

Normally I don't sit on the window seat. Last week on a Virgin Flight I did. I had a perfect view of the luggage throw. You lock feet in place and by just pivoting from your hips you are able to hoist the luggage from the aircraft belt to the trolley... must have been say...3 metres.  Virgin's mantra - "Bring on Wonderful". I doubt the guy who owned the rather expensive set of PING Golf Clubs that I watched being thrown onto the trolley would think it's wonderful. A former Virgin employee said to me when I spoke about this during my keynote on brand "Standards/mantra/values/ mission have to flow right through the organisation, top to bottom".
Too often it is a nice poster, a good campaign, a sign on the wall, a page in a culture doc, but that is where it stops. It takes work, intention, and a plan to engage the whole team ...and today many/most employees and customers can see through advertising kumbaya.
The luggage throw is a likely inclusion at the LA Games in 2028.... wonderful!

Singer songwriter Nick Cave's son Arthur died in a tragic accident in 2015. In his book Faith Hope And Carnage, Nick Cave was asked if it was hard to start writing again after the loss of his son. He said it wasn't so much hard to write, it was hard to pick up the pen. It's the start, the desire to actually do it and start it. This is such a beautiful sentiment for most who never start. It's not the event itself. It's actually picking up the pen. It's not the workout, it's getting to the door of the gym to work out. It's not being healthier, it's leaving the biscuit on the conference table at morning tea. It's not the writing of the proposal, it's the opening of pages and typing the first word. 📚 It's not the walk or run, it's putting your first shoe on. So... pick up the pen. This is a fascinating read. Raw, vulnerable and the story of trauma through the eyes and heart of a poet. ​

The runner: "I've got a hamstring problem, I am going to see a physio to get my hammie treated". 
Me: "Are you sure it's your hammie?"
Quite often we treat the symptom not the cause. We go to the issue at hand and don't take the time to go upstream to establish what the root cause is.  We see it in medicine. I am sick... ok, take this. It's not why are you here, what's the cause of this situation, your lifestyle, habits, nutrition, lack of movement, stress, overwhelm, workload. Late for meetings? Why? Poor planning, no prioritising, lethargy, historically we always start late (leadership and standards), everyone else is late (extrinsic validation). Going upstream is an important thinking tool. The Japanese leader would ask the why question 5 times to get to the real cause. Most ask the question once (if any) and treat the symptom. Turns out the upstream cause of the hammie issue lay in their shoulders... tight shoulder, caused the body to be out of whack, so then hips out of whack, tightens their glute, tightens the hammie, strains hammie. Look for the cause before treating the symptom.
Thanks to Annie Spratt for the pic.

American rapper Rakim, is one half of golden age hip hop duo, Eric B. & Rakim. He is widely regarded as one of the most influential and skilled rappers of all time. In his book "Sweat the Technique", Rakim said when he wrote a lyric he wanted not just the applause, but to educate. 
How often are people on socials, even on Linked In, posting for applause? Rarely do we find people sharing to educate or add value to the reader.  Most post, the few write. Rakim sets the bar... do we post for applause or do we really believe what we share can educate? It's a useful audit. Wait till people start to rationalise this one!