Purple Patch Blog / Learning and development

The good, the bad and the ugly

Ben Buet takes a look at the lessons learnt from the World Cup.

So another World Cup goes by with another disappointing end for England. Yet again the England football team over promise and under deliver, something you will not see happening at the purple palace. Why is it every time there is a big tournament our expectations grow massively and the “world class” players all seem to fall to pieces?

There are many theories as to what it takes to be successful. And there are many different areas that need to click so that you can be a winning team. In my observation here are just a few - and it’s the same both on and off the football field:

Continue reading Comments (1) 12 July 2010

Make it simple – before it’s too late

One of learnpurple’s values is ‘Make it simple’. This is very important when it comes getting the job done.

I should stop there really because that would be practising what I’m preaching here. Or maybe I should Twitter this instead? However there is little point pointing out the obvious if you’re not going to back it up with some examples and ‘how tos’.

So why do I feel compelled to write this blog? Because we all have to fit more into less time, yet many people still over-complicate things unnecessarily. Add this to the fact that that the world moves faster; information whizzes around at the speed of light; customers want better, faster; employees are more challenging to manage. People feel they are working harder but with less to show for it. Maybe we’re heading for some sort of implosion. Or at least a lot of stress and disappointment through failing to get things done.

Continue reading Comments (1) 5 July 2010

The Big Personality Test

Newest to the purple palace, David de Banke - Business Development Manager, takes a look at the personality profiling phenomenon.

How does your personality shape your life? Can it dictate whether you are in the right job, make or break your relationship, influence your health and even how long you'll live? Last weekend saw the BBC’s ‘Child of our Time: The Big Personality Test’ hit our screens, and made for great viewing.

As well as exploring the progress of a group of children who Professor Robert Winston has been monitoring for the last 10 years, the programme invited our nation to take part in an online personality test. Over a quarter of a million people took the test (myself included) and the results were revealed and explained in a brilliantly ‘viewer-friendly’ way. It marks the biggest ever investigation into the personality of the nation.

Continue reading Comments (2) 8 June 2010

Facedown bringing business up

Jon Reed looks at the phenomenon of facedown, tipping points and making things sticky.

Last week I was travelling back from Dublin reading a local Irish newspaper (which I always make a point of doing when I’m in another country... helps expand the mind!) and I stumbled across a story that really made me think either the world or I had gone mad!

The Irish Independent had reported a new craze linked to Facebook and Twitter where thousands of people all over the world are taking pictures of themselves laying down with their hands by their side in weird and wonderful places. Apparently it’s known as 'facedown'; a craze whereby ‘highlights’ includes a young man laying 'facedown' in a cheese counter in Tesco. Others balance on road sign, goalposts - you get the idea... According to the article, the idea came from an idea to ‘mess around’ with the regular concept of a tourist photo.

Continue reading Comments (0) 2 June 2010

Until the fat lady sings

Jodi Goldman discusses effective meetings...

Last weekend my friends and I hit Soho’s fantastic “Karaoke Box”.

Unlike regular karaoke, which offers the prospect of ritual humiliation in front of hundreds of strangers, “Karaoke Box” allows you to wail away in a private booth. This makes for a far less intimidating experience, not least because everybody tends to belt out every single song that comes on!

But as the night progressed I realised that the observation of some unwritten rules might have led to an even better evening. When a meeting I was in today started to resemble my karaoke night (minus the rum and coke), my mind returned to these rules…And I realised that they applied to both situations!

Continue reading Comments (3) 24 May 2010