aiden choles

I've often wondered why I don't pledge allegiance to one particular theoretical framework, set of practices, or tools when engaging with people and organisation's. I've wondered if it is because I'm a child of post-modernism. This is probably true, but Dave has just mentioned the concept of bounded diversity as a guiding philosophy behind building the Cognitive Edge stable of methods. This helps me understand my approach.

The idea is that there is no universal method or tool that can applied in practice, but that each philosophy, tool or practice has its own application within the boundaries of a particular context.

I like this. Context is very important in deciding what tool or technique to use.

Example ...

3M was renowned for its innovation and some time back took on 6 Sigma as a process engineering for cost effectiveness. The end result was that it thwarted its culture of innovation. Instead of throwing out 6 Sigma as useless too, the new CEO created some boundaries and took it our of product development and research divisions. He knew it was a useful tool, but only in specific context.

You can listen to a great BusinessWeek podcast on this very example.

And so, barely an hour after posting on the power situation, I chatted to David O'Sullivan on 702 about my post and had the Council spokesperson respond to my comments. I now have power ... hm, one wonders if a butterfly flapped its wings?

I've been threatening to write this post for the last 6 days. Thankfully, today, I have managed to find a plug socket (spouting electricity) and an internet connection. That's a whole lot more than I've had at home for the last while thanks to the infamous sub-station fire 6 days ago. Besides the luxuries of electricity and a hot shower I managed to source today, the death of an elderly couple due to generator fumes inhalation over the weekend has prompted me ever more to write this.  read more »

I had the pleasure of spending a few minutes last night being interviewed by long-time mate Mike Stopforth for his social media and marketing podcast, Amplitude .

You can find it and listen to it here .

We have all been in situations that have elicited our "true colours". They are events that move us into a space where we are hardly able to rationalise our response. My most recent event of this nature was on Thursday evening at a Break-Away session with a client.

Picture it ...

Five star Guest Lodge in the serene Magaliesburg. A slightly-inebriated group of well-to-do clients who have just finished a meal starter that would have made the Queen's chef jealous. Then ...

A beggar-tramp shows up at the door. Clothing in tatters, booze in hand and a cough that had a 10-foot radius. He wants to come in. He can see the great food we're eating, but mostly stares at our wine glasses with a deep far-away look of longing. Before we know it, he barges in through the door as someone exits to try and get rid of him. With arthritic haste he swaggers over to a table and grabs someone's wine glass, chugging it back quicker than I believed. By now the Client Boss is up in arms and tries to get him out. The venue staff climb in as well - rather unsuccessfully. He sneaks in through another door. They usher him out again. He sneaks in again.  read more »

Okay, okay, so I decide to post a cheeky little soliloquy on how you may have missed me for lack of posting on this very site.

Well, the powers-that-be of electronic goods chose to smite my laptop shortly after that sardonic attack on people who apologise for being absent from their sites for extended periods.  

I've learn't my lesson. Thankfully Dell helped me out a lot. Kudos to them for a great website and service.  

It has been a while since I have posted on this website. I apologise that I am back. I have been tempted to apologise for neglecting your content-needs, but nay.

There have been many things, for which you can be grateful, calling for my attention over the last few weeks - many things that have taken up my time, my energy and my intellectual resources. But, I am now back - and I sincerely apologise.

I do trust that you have enjoyed the silence and that it has allowed you some free time to read the sites of those who apologise for being away for so long.  

I'm embarrassed.

I've just finished watching an iconic South African journalist lose some serious credibility ... publicly ... in my eyes at least. The typically acidic Debora Patta has just anchored an edition of ETVs investigative programme 3rd Degree that took a hard look at South Africa's very own Enron-type scandal ... and she did a piss-poor job.  read more »

I don't have any grandparents (except for one really funky step-grandmother). Two thirds of them died before I was born, and the last died when I was in school. Cancer ... a real problem in our family. Grandpa Ken was the last to go. I remember vividly his journey - fraught with pneumonia every winter, prostate cancer was eventually the killer. I remember many visits to the hospital thinking that this visit was the last and he'd be gone soon. I remember how he stuck on to his life. As a resolute accountant and ex-British soldier, he hung on. And he hung on. It was painful. There were times we had wished he would just let go, and rest.

Standing at his deathbed, I had remarked to my mom how much Grandpa Ken had held on. She reflected on how different the story was with her mom (his wife), and how quickly and easily she had journeyed to her final rest. She said, "It's like she knew where she was going, and that made it easier to go. But it seems Grandpa Ken doesn't have the same assurance".

This memory surfaced today as I listened to Redi Direko talk about Baby Amillia who is the fourth smallest baby and earliest surviving premature baby.  read more »

I have just returned from completing Photogrpahy SAs Jozi Photomarathon. 12 hours, 12 themes, 12 pictures. Gosh, it was tough! Firstly because shooting a subject you don't choose is perhaps the more difficult photography task I've attempted, and secondly, trying to tell a story in that picture, according to someone else's theme, is even tougher (never mind the fact that the guys from Photography SA chose some of the most bizarre themes).

I have posted the 12 shots I entered (and some others that I had to cull) here. You can also see all the entries here.