January 25, 2011
This short article from Carlin Flora makes a number of worthy points about our fear of failure, particularly its relevance to the world of work. Unless we learn to embrace failure (whether it’s led by an unavoidable mishap, moral lapse, or a risk miscalculated), we remain snugly tucked inside our…
January 13, 2011
I have an analogy I use with artists and arts organisations when we work on strategic planning. I have friends who play golf. A lot of golf. They extol its merits and try to convince me to join them on the green. Invariably this fails as I don’t like golf,…
January 19, 2010
Somehow I missed this fascinating discussion on the differences between amateur and professional in the arts over at Andrew’s blog. It’s not a new conversation but the nuances are different in a community where there is less state support for the arts than we are accustomed to in Ireland. The…
January 4, 2010
Quite a lot if this Newsweek article is to be believed. In September 2008 English singer Billy Bragg performed at something called the Big Busk. After posting the chords of the songs he would play on the Internet, he invited all comers to bring their guitars. Some 3,000 did, strumming…
December 29, 2009
It’s that time of the year again when newspapers do their end of year round up and we review the past year and hope for a better one next year. I’ve never been one for making new year resolutions preferring to look at every day as the beginning of a…
December 29, 2009
Stefana Broadbent’s research suggests that the internet and technology is increasing our capacity for emotional intimacy. We may have 100 people on our ‘buddy lists’ or Facebook pages but we in fact only talk in detail with a handful of people. New technologies enable us to keep in touch across…
December 1, 2009
Charles Dickens left behind one, and only one, manuscript for “A Christmas Carol,” the tale he wrote in 1843 of an unfeeling rich man and the boy who pricked his conscience. Kept under lock-and-key for much of the year at the Morgan Library and Museum, the manuscript is not widely…
November 18, 2009
Situated among the countless arts organizations in New York City are enclaves of passionate culture hounds who gather under the auspices of psychoanalytic training institutes. “There are approximately 38 (such institutes) in Manhattan alone,” notes Alan Grossman, LCSW, director of the NY Counseling Center’s Training Institute. Joan Erdheim, PhD, President…
November 4, 2009
From the School of Life Money, Aristotle felt, needed not one virtue, as one might expect, but two. The virtue of Generosity deals with every day amounts. It tells us it is mean not to tip and spendthrift to buy shoes we will never wear. The virtue of Magnificence (as…
July 1, 2009
I’m currently facilitating a series of conversations with Ireland’s theatre makers on ideas about a new policy for theatre funding. My client is the Arts Council of Ireland and I’ve been privileged to have been involved in many of these types of consultations in the past. The current financial climate…
