Clik here to view.
Fairness is a Double-Edged Sword
In my work as an Executive coach I usually ask my clients to take the VIA Character Strengths test. The test gives you a list of your top five character strengths or ‘values in action’. I have observed...
View ArticleClik here to view.
Who runs your life?
In this brilliant TED talk, Daniel Kahneman talks about the tensions between our experiencing self and our remembering self. Daniel Kahneman – The Riddle of Experience v Memory He says that our...
View ArticleClik here to view.
Effective Decision Making
Sometimes we have to make important decisions where the ‘right’ answer is unclear. I would like to suggest this process for making for those tricker decisions: 1. Which of your values are relevant in...
View ArticleClik here to view.
How to Pitch an Idea (or, How ‘Dragon’s Den’ Relates to ACT)
Dragon’s Den is a show where budding entrepreneurs pitch their ideas to a group of successful business people in the hope of winning some investment. The show fascinates me. I love spotting academic...
View ArticleClik here to view.
Using ACT in Career Change
Why do bright, motivated people get stuck in their careers? I’ve spent the last 10 years or so thinking about the issue and working with people who are stuck in this way. I write about this in my other...
View ArticleClik here to view.
How Believing You Will Be Successful Leads to Success..or Not
If, like me, you watch ‘The Voice’ or ‘Dragon’s Den’ or ‘(Insert Country you live in here) Idol’ or any similarly painful and joyful reality TV show, you will have heard competitors proclaiming that...
View ArticleClik here to view.
The Different Motivational Properties of Values and Goals
When committing to a new course of action it’s useful to distinguish between values and goals because they have different motivational properties. Goals can be achieved. This is why they motivate – we...
View ArticleClik here to view.
Noticing How Desire Can Pull You Away From Your Values
When does desire pull you away from your values? It might be the impulse to buy more stuff that you don’t really need; watch TV instead of doing some exercise; let work dominate your life; make poor...
View ArticleClik here to view.
(How to) Stay on The F*****G Bus
I recently came across Helsinki bus theory, an interesting metaphor by the photographer Arno Minkinnen which is usually applied to creativity. Being a big fan of bus metaphors, I started using it with...
View ArticleClik here to view.
ACT and conscious evolution Part A: Why cant we get our act together to...
We live on a planet completely transformed by humanity. Our impacts upon the planet are so great that scientists have now coined a term for a new geological age – the Anthropocene. We are changing...
View ArticleClik here to view.
Why Organisations Should Measure Psychological Flexibility
What should we measure to predict job performance? Organisations spend millions of pounds each year measuring cognitive ability as well as various personality dimensions – and they are right to do so....
View ArticleClik here to view.
The Hard Thing about Hard Choices
Many times in Executive coaching the person I’m working with is facing a difficult choice. Do I take job A or B? Should I spend more time at work or with my family? How can I work with a difficult...
View ArticleClik here to view.
A Letter to The Escape Tribe
For regular WWA readers, some context. I’ve been working as one of the Faculty at the brilliant Escape School, in particular an amazing Tribe of 50 people who have been on a 3 month journey to get...
View ArticleClik here to view.
What Can You Do When You Feel In Over Your Head?
Many leaders are feeling ‘in over their heads’. The organisational landscape has become volatile, uncertain, complex and ambiguous (VUCA) and it can often feel so challenging and overwhelming that we...
View ArticleClik here to view.
The Incredible Tale of Leicester City Football Club…and the (Limited) Power...
“Following today’s devastating result for the national team, I take full responsibility for the most unfortunate choice of coach, which has resulted in such a poor image of the national team being put...
View ArticleClik here to view.
Avoiding Stuckness With Values
[This is from a series of posts written by Rob Archer and Rachel Collis in reply to a reader who felt that values were actually keeping him stuck]. Right from the start, the ACT model made sense to me,...
View ArticleClik here to view.
The ACT Approach to Handling Anxiety Like a Human Being
Everyone is anxious right now and frankly, why wouldn’t we be? But it’s worth remembering that humans are constantly anxious. Here are five reasons why, followed by five ACT-based techniques to handle...
View ArticleClik here to view.
A Guide to Lockdown for Other Parents, from a True Parenting Expert
Anyone who knows me or my children will know that I am definitely both a relationship and parenting expert. For example, before I proposed to my wife I felt I need to list all of my imperfections...
View ArticleClik here to view.
The Marginal Gains Handbook – Practical ideas to survive and thrive in the...
We are delighted to release VERSION 2 of this free, practical guide of evidence-based ways to survive and thrive in the age of Coronavirus. DOWNLOAD HERE This version includes improved ideas for...
View Article