Ed Dowding

Month: August 2010

Year 34: we have sighted land

I think it’s safe to tell you what’s going on, now. Enough of the elements are firmly in place. We’re setting up a small-holding in West Lexham, Norfolk, on 2 acres of land. We will be suppling food to, and helping out with the development of, the new sustainability centre which is being developed there, ...

Boomerang trade

The UK currently exports 131,000 tonnes of chewing gum to Spain, only to import 125,000 tonnes back again. We send 3,300 tonnes of cuddly toys to New Zealand, only to bring another 2,400 tonnes back again. One person in the US will, by 4am in the morning of 2nd January, have been responsible for the ...

4 steps to handling emotional or conflict conversations

The four steps, when used in “self-expression” mode, work like this: To observe without evaluation, judgment, or analysis, To express feelings which these observations evoke, To express needs connected with these feelings, (optional) To make a specific request of another person to help meet an unmet need, and to enrich life of everyone involved. Essential ...

The TED Commandments – rules every speaker needs to know

Thou Shalt Not Simply Trot Out thy Usual Shtick Thou Shalt Dream a Great Dream, or Show Forth a Wondrous New Thing, Or Share Something Thou Hast Never Shared Before Thou Shalt Reveal thy Curiosity and Thy Passion Thou Shalt Tell a Story Thou Shalt Freely Comment on the Utterances of Other Speakers for the ...

Problems with paradigm change

If changes tend to happen as large paradigm shifts, then does trying to transition simply slow things down? When jumping to a new paradigm, does the new model have to be widely known before the jump, or simply known by enough people? If the existence of the old model – one which has proven to ...

Mottainai

Mottainai  is a Japanese term meaning “a sense of regret concerning waste when the intrinsic value of an object or resource is not properly utilized.” The expression “Mottainai!” can be uttered alone as an exclamation when something useful, such as food or time, is wasted. In addition to its primary sense of “wasteful,” the word ...