Can't - it would seem we and computers do have something in common

Next time you say you "can't" do anything you might want to remember that, since it confuses website search engines, it's no wonder it confuses your mind.

Let me explain - you'd think it would be easy enough to find the above book on online book sites?

Fuelled with the enthusiasm you'd expect from me as book launch got close, and the knowledge that Can't see the wood for the trees was being stocked by many a bookseller, I was disappointed I couldn't find it - just nil returns and being told there was no such book etc.

"How will anyone find it" I cried.   

Thankfully I eventually did find my book, with many successful searches being via other word searches, for example Alison Smith, Wood for the Trees, and Landscaping your Life. (Which means of course you can buy the book on all these sites Amazon.com, Amazon.co.uk, 
Goodreads, Barnes and Noble, WHS, Waterstones, Deep Books, Inner Traditions, IndieBound, & Findhorn Press *)

The searches just didn't understand nor accept can't!

You know me I love a good metaphor - and this is SUCH a great metaphor. 

When you say you can't do anything, just like a computer, we're going to get a big juicy nil return. And I'm not sure that's what we want when we use that word.

• I can't swim fast
• I can't market myself 
• I can't find the answer 
• I can't get unstuck
• I can't get back on track 
• I can't etc

When I'm moaning about the weights my personal trainer has just increased, and I am saying "I can't do that", he often replies with "You mean you won't even try!"

He's right - like us when we use the word can't the website searches gave up and didn't even try! It's as if we get bored before we even get to the end of the sentence, and move onto another conversation!

The problem is, these are all statements where we're looking for an answer or alternative solution, and a nil return isn't going to give us that.

Which means, if we really do want to shift a situation we need to get clearer about what we do want.

• I want to swim quicker
• I want to learn how to market myself better, or find someone who can do that for me 
• I want to find the answer
• I want to get unstuck 
• I want to get back on track 

Which then instils within us a desire to develop an action plan to achieve the goal. 

Even I can not is better than I can't as I support the belief that we can't compute not either - for example try not thinking about an elephant and let me know how you get on.   

Without the not at least it means we've translated the words to:

• I can swim fast
• I can market myself 
• I can find the answer 
• I can get unstuck
• I can get back on track 

Which would have us finding ways of making it a reality.

As I say often in this blog WORDS HAVE POWER. You have a choice every day therefore whether the words you use help or hinder you achieving your objectives. **

Which of course that is what Can't see the wood for the trees is all about - using the words we're using to describe being stuck, and using the landscape contained within them to get unstuck.

Always happy to come and conduct a word audit for you or your teams to help you dispense with those unhelpful and downright barrier building words - coaching, speaking and training too.

Alison Smith
Landscaping Your Life 
Unlocking the patterns that are holding you back

You'll find our more about, the book here, and the book launch where we visited four Fife landscapes here.

* Amazon UK's search has now learnt it needs to accept the full title, and when you start typing Can't see the wood for the trees it comes up as an option (which the geek in me find very satisfying).

** Posts written about the unintended consequences of the words we use include: No Pain no Gain, Juggling balls or spinning plates, life got in the way, treading water, needing to be on the same page as others, turning over a new leaf, testing the water and even following our dreams.

Comfort Zones

Just when the caterpillar thought her life was over she began to fly!

How often do we resist change and yet once we get there conclude it's where we needed to be.

When I was writing about being out on a limb I realised that once we're describing it as 'being out on a limb' we've passed the point of no return - there is no going back.  So why do we resist for so long - the aim must be to notice we've passed the point of no return and let go.

This Rumi poem seems to fit too:

Try not to resist the changes that come your way. Instead let life live through you. And do not worry that your life is turning upside down. How do you know that the side you are used to is better than the one to come? Rumi

Here's to accepting life as a butterfly.

Negativity begets negativity

Yesterday when I wrote about reflections I realised there's another insight that can be gained from reflections.

• Negativity begets negativity 
• Positivity begets positivity

That is other people can't help but meet the energy with which we're entering into a conversation or relationship with them with. They may try for a while but if we're consistent with our behaviour sooner or later they'll just give in and do the same as us - or leave!

It pays therefore to consider the quality that is most supportive of the outcome you want and demonstrate that. I'd suggest very rarely does negativity help us achieve our objective, and yet so often when things start to go wrong it's our first choice!

Reflections

When water is very calm we can often see reflections of nature around it - whether that's mountains, sky,

or greenery

Have you ever noticed that other people often act as our personal reflection? That is those we admire are demonstrating traits we ourselves have. 

Consider for a moment how that statement might be true. Who do you admire, and how may you share positive traits with them?

Of course the same can be said for those who frustrate and annoy us. How might the 'annoying' trait that someone demonstrates also be a trait you yourself have? Not so easy to accept I know, and yet often very true.

Sometimes, however, our annoyance can arise from a desire to be more like the other person. For example selfishness may be something we need to embrace, and do more of rather than less of. Someone demonstrating selfishness will annoy and frustrate us therefore, because a part of us would like to be more like them.

Just something to think about next time you admire or get frustrated with another - ie what is your judgement of the other person telling you about yourself.

Balance can be found anywhere

As I start a very busy 3 weeks of training as The Purchasing Coach I realise I need to remember this advice I often find myself adding to tweets of rock balances.

Balance can be found in any situation.

That is no situation is without the opportunity to find balance within it.

I'll let you know how I get on!

Letting go

At this time of year I get quite a few butterflies in my office. They generally flutter about the room and then head back off to the window.

The common trait as they search for the open window (at the bottom) is they head up to the top panel of glass. They then come down, and then get stuck between the 2 panes of glass. Once they stop trying so hard and relax they fall through the very small gap between the two panes as this video shows.

Next time you're stuck in a situation it might be useful to consider there may be less obvious options available that require no effort at all. 

Do come visit me on YouTube or Facebook for more on #Landscapingyourlife.

Extra Motivation

My favourite phrase, I believe by Guillaume Apollinaire, says:

"Come to the edge" he said.
They said "We are afraid"
"Come to the edge" he said.
They came. He pushed them.
And they flew.

This quote has never been so apt as it was this morning as I watched fledgling seagull twins (see picture of them with one parent) as they were fed by their parents. They’ve not long left their nest and for the next few weeks they will spend much of the time on the ground being fed by their parents as they learn to fly. As in previous years their initial flying attempts are over walls and more hop like than flight, and will go on for many days/weeks as their confidence and flying and feeding skills develop.

This morning I realised, however, that they could perhaps fly sooner if they had sufficient motivation. A third chick appeared and the parents of the twins made it very clear it was not welcome and were attacking it. I could not believe the flight this chick then took – over the road, over gardens aerial acrobatics at it’s very best as it was chased by one of the parents.

I wonder how often in life we all need that extra motivation to get moving?

Are you getting enough perspective?

Perspective is very important if we want to be able to clearly understand where we are to plot a course to where we want to be.

The answer to how far away is the rock in the picture from my house in Burntisland, and therefore, how long will it take me to walk there, and how long will I have to do that safely, are very difficult to determine from this picture from the window at home. 

You might be able to establish some of the answers when there are people, or horses as in this photo, standing next to it when the tide is out - as it's only then I realise it's bigger than it looks.

Perspective also comes from being able to see the rock in context, as shown from the top of the hill at the back of Burntisland in this picture:

Or from different angles and at different times of the tide. 

Or, perhaps using maps is the only way to get a better understanding - at least that provides an accurate scale.

It's only after all this information is known and compared and analysed that the answer to "how far away is the rock?" is: further away, bigger, taller and wider than I first thought. Only then that I can accurately determine how to deal with the situation. Which in this case involved walking there an hour before low tide as demonstrated by this video blog I recorded once I got there on having the right tools for the job.

How can you get more perspective on a challenge in your life? 

Alison Smith

Landscaping Your Life
Inspiring change inside and out

PS: I think perhaps those who designed this poster should perhaps read the blog too, and understand what perspective would look like for 'best days out'. 

I know the pictures show Burntisland to be a great place but I worry for the rest of Scotland if the best day out would be had from coming here! Then that's just from my perspective - kidlets might enjoy the fair and the beach.

Talk - don't write

Much of my work involves improving communication so I wondered when I saw this picture what can we take from these bees?

A big warning I suspect that we're often too quick to commit something in writing. How often have already difficult relationships escalated due to a hasty email being sent and the other person misinterpreting what was written?

If you were sending a letter and came to this post box you'd certainly think twice before posting it. I suggest we need to do the same when we send emails. Especially when what we're communicating is important to us or the other person.

Who do you need to pick up the phone and speak to rather than send an email?

Alison Smith
Landscaping your Life
Inspiring change inside and out

Are you using all your senses

Not all causes to problems are obvious which is why you need to observe all the clues that are available to help point you in the right direction.

In the video above I use the movement that we can see in the field of wheat to determine where the wind is and the direction in which it's headed. You can also hear the impact of the wind as I speak as it's picked up by the video recorder. I remember sitting in a tent in a gale and hearing the wind approaching as it moved through the adjacent avenue of trees.

In a situation you'd like more clarity on what can you observe (see/hear/feel) to help you get to the root of the problem?

Alison Smith
Landscaping your Life 
Inspiring change inside and out

Don't keep doing the same things

Don't keep doing the same things and expecting a different answer.

I was laughing as I told my personal trainer about this video blog (best turn the sound down a little if you want to listen to it.) and quick as a flash he asked, rather knowingly I have to say "so what does that mean for you?" 

After doing a Mutley impersonation the answer was:

• Drinking too little water and wondering why my head is mush and energy is lacking
• Eating the wrong things and wondering why my head is mush and energy is lacking
• Going to bed late and wondering why my head is mush and energy is lacking
• Sitting at the PC for too long and wondering why I can't string a sentence together 

Just as I say in the video blog if I know what the outcome will be then doing the same thing over and over won't get me a different outcome. If the outcome is an unwanted one then I'd better start making different choices. 

Where in your life do you need to start doing something different in order to facilitate a new outcome?

Alison Smith

Landscaping Your Life
Inspiring change inside and out

Impatience does not serve us

I've spent a lot of time in traffic over the last couple of days and have encountered a number of unhelpful outcomes of impatience:

• Frustration - I was getting very impatient with the guy in front of us this morning driving at 10 mph slower than I wanted to. My extra speed would have come to nothing once I got into this queue - and in that 5 mile stretch would normally only have saved me 2 minutes! 
• Being delayed further - When faced with this queue this morning another guy in front of us turned round to take what we felt was a short cut (In the hope of coming out of a junction at a point 10 cars in front of us) - I smiled when we came out 5 cars behind us. 
• Causing undue stress in others - Overtaking when there's insufficient space and time to do so safely.
• Injury or worse - There's too many tributes along the side of the road - many I'm sure caused by actions arising from impatience.

Every week on the A9 here in Scotland there's reports of accidents, and at least monthly fatalities. It's a normal A road interspersed with dual carriage way. The hills are long, however, and as it's the main route north it has many lorries slowing down progress. There are multiple signs telling you how far till the next dual carriage way and there's lay-bys for lorries to pull over into too. Yet drivers still allow impatience to motivate unhelpful behaviours that might lead to any one, or all, of the list above.

I wonder what nature has to teach us about impatience?

During a coaching session in June, as we walked down this path, the client shared that they were frustrated with the speed with which things were progressing on a project they were working on.

I asked them to look around and consider how much of what they could see would have been here less than 8 weeks previously. The answer of course was very little of it. The bare trees and perhaps the grass. I'm sure the path ahead would have been illuminated with light from above and not covered in growth. If we'd come here every day for every one of those 8 weeks I'm not we'd have seen much difference each day. Yet within that time so much would have changed.

Next time you get impatient try remembering the outcome you're wishing to achieve and realise you're still headed towards it - many of the behaviours I've seen demonstrated on my travels recently may just stop you achieving your outcome at all!

Alison Smith
Landscaping Your Life
Inspiring change inside and out

The solution is right in front of you

I had fun today walking out to the black rock in Burntisland as low tide approached. The fun came from the video blogs that presented themselves from the landscape as I walked. My favourite is this one - perhaps because of the laughter. I've only uploaded 2 others onto my YouTube channel for now. They join others there that take learning from the landscape to provide insight to our day to day challenges, whether in business or personally.

I'm busy planning my next trip out into the landscape so I can bring back more learning for business leadership. Happy to arrange for you or your team to join me to work on real situations that require transformation - email alison@alisonsmith.eu or do call me +44(0)7770 538159.

Alison Smith
Landscaping Your Life
Inspiring change inside and out 

Are you prepared

It's interesting how often in life when we're climbing a metaphorical mountain we forget to be prepared and set off without even the essentials. You wouldn't if you were climbing a real mountain.

Alison Smith

Landscaping Your Life

Inspiring change inside and out 

Joining up the dots

I was working at home today with my office looking out onto the street. I saw the courier with what I assumed to be my Amazon order drive past the house 3 or 4 times.

I've seen it before - they see No 1 (on the left of this picture) and No 11 (on the right) and then wonder where numbers 3 to 9 have gone! Then continue to drive around the block a few times thinking they'll find it - or the satnav will.

Some visitors click on quicker than others where my house (No 3) is located. It's certainly easy when you know.

As ever always looking to draw analogies between life and the work I do - I realised I'm great at joining up the dots to find out what you're missing and what's stopping you from achieving your goals.

#Justathought

Alison Smith

Landscaping Your Life

Inspiring change inside and out

Don't cut corners unless its safe to do so

On the road if you cut corners you might get away with it. Sooner or later, however, there will be another vehicle on the same part of the road as you. In other words an accident is assured at some point.

I'm not saying I don't cut corners. There's a lovely bit of road between Grantown on spay and Forres near Inverness in Scotland that twists and turns. It's a gorgeous piece of flat moorland and there's complete visibility of the road ahead. Which means I can cut corners to smooth my journey, maintain my speed whilst being safe, and yet know with confidence that I won't meet other vehicles. Yet when driving the same road at night the ability to do that disappears. 

When training or coaching on category management I can hear myself 15 years ago when delegates say "it's too much" "I don't need a process" "that doesn't apply to my category" "I know that already". They're sitting there, as I did then, believing that cutting corners is the way to go every time.

What I've learnt in the intervening 15 years is that when I rigorously apply best practice tools and techniques to a category, in other words when I've not cut corners, I've delivered the most innovative value unlocking category strategy. 

I'm a control freak and hate being told what to do. I want the flexibility to go with the flow, be spontaneous and be able to react to what's happening. In the past I'd assumed that rigorous application of best practice tools and techniques would mean I'd have to give all this up. I now realise I don't. I can have my cake and eat it. 

What I realise is that the process, those tools and templates are guides only. A checklist if you will of what I need to be thinking about. A checklist I need to apply intelligently to the category, organisation, country, supply market and suppliers in hand. 

Of course I won't spend months gathering the data if spend, market complexity and risk is low. Of course I won't do something because it's in the process if it doesn't apply. Of course I won't complete that template in PowerPoint if the information is already conveyed elsewhere in Excel. 

What I will do is rigorously consider each part of the process. If I choose to cut a corner I'll have decided, as I do on the road near Forres, that it's safe to do so. I'll have decided that at this time, with these road conditions, in this weather, today, in this vehicle, with me driving, with the other road users, it's ok to cut the corner. Its okay to miss something out. The decision, however, may change the next time I need to make it. 

For me having a checklist ensures I don't cut corners without knowing it. It also means I deliver more value to the organisation - which can only be good? Even if once in a while I can hear the old Alison muttering about it.

Before you next cut any corners please make sure it's safe to do so.

Alison Smith

Landscaping Your Life

Inspiring change inside and out

Do you want to be a tadpole for ever

I was watching a programme on the TV at the weekend and they shared that frogspawn will not develop if there are insufficient resources in the pond to allow the tadpoles to thrive. They hang back until the conditions are right. They continued to speculate whether frogspawn could survive over winter or if they hadn't taken their chance to emerge before Autumn they would die.

Would you be prepared to take the risk - hang back and hope you survive the frozen winter's ice? Sometimes the conditions might not be perfect, they might not be what we'd wished for but as the presenter said "who wants to be a tadpole for ever?"

Where do you need to just "go for it"?

What purchasing has in common with gardening

How much do you know about purchasing - and I don't just mean the banging your hand on the table shouting "Lower Lower". I mean the 90% of the work that was undertaken before that discussion with a supplier took place.

Unless you've had some purchasing training or read purchasing books I assume you may know more about gardening than you do about purchasing. Why - because whilst you may not be a professional gardener most of us at some point or other have had a garden, visited gardens, watched the multitude of gardening programmes, read gardening books, visited garden centres (if only for a cuppa) or simply sat in someone elses garden. That's a whole lot more exposure to effective gardening than purchasing. 

Here's why I think we can learn alot about purchasing from gardening:

Why do you want a garden?
Just as a garden might be low or high maintenance, for children or adults, for BBQ's, games or for lounging then purchasing has the same considerations. No use putting in place a garden that’s high maintenance if you’ve not got enough gardeners.

It’s nothing without design
Once you know why you want a garden you still need to consider the design and management of the garden. Will you have one gardener or a number and who’s in charge. Will you be needing a greenhouse and who will have keys for the tool shed? What type of plant will you be putting in that shaded area at the end of the garden under the trees unseen from the house - it had better be a plant that doesn't need much care and attention.

What’s in your tool shed?
It’s not only about the number and types of tools in the tool shed but maintenance and replacement of them too. In some smaller gardens it might be ok to use the spade for many different uses but once the garden gets bigger and certainly once the garden is open to the public then the maintenance of the garden will become more important and more specialised tools are needed. You don't have to look far to see all the multitude of new tools available and realise that whilst many might be more for show many can and do save time and your plants. 

Plant selection
Even for each type of plant there are different varieties each with their own unique characteristics – some needing direct sun, other partial shade, some needing nutritious soil and other being happy with their roots in clay! Matching the variety of plant to the characteristics of your garden is essential in ensuring the plants flourish and the time needed to care for them minimised. Of course once you know what variety you want and have decided whether you’ll grow them from seed or not you then need to decide where to source them from.

You’ve got to have a Greenhouse
If you live in the UK then there will be seeds and even plants that need some TLC first. Time in the greenhouse to get more hardy before they’re planted out into the garden. Sometimes when we unexpectedly end up with snow or frost in May, or the west winds threaten a gale force, we may need to bring plants in. When did you last review the performance of your suppliers and consider how your actions are contributing to how well they are flourishing?

Planting
You might be lucky and a plant might survive if you just dump it in a corner and forget about it. And whilst that might seem unthinkable in a garden it’s certainly what many businesses do to suppliers – no perfect position, no careful planting out, no watering, no feeding, no staking. Plants will certainly survive and flourish and even multiply if given the right care and attention - suppliers too. 

Garden Maintenance
We’ve all heard about jack’s bean stalk or the perils of Japanese knotweed - maintenance is certainly needed to ensure the plants stay within the area originally designed for them. Turn a blind eye and weeds can take hold and smoother or even kill other plants. It’s also useful to have someone with knowledge about plants doing this otherwise it’s easy to uproot a perfectly healthy plant and leave the real weeds behind.

In conclusion
Healthy supplier relationships are no different to healthy plants – next time you start thinking about introducing a new supplier just think about whether you have the skills and environment that will enable them to flourish in your organisation.

Alison Smith
Landscaping Your Life and The Purchasing Coach too

Grow Dammit

You really wouldn't expect the flowers in this picture to grow just because we told them to - words are completely useless without action - and appropriate action at that. 

To flourish we need to ensure that the plants have access to the right conditions for them - light, soil, warmth, nutrients, water etc. The last thing we'd do is buy a new plant and just pull it out of it's container and dump it in a corner and hope that it grows - so why expect suppliers to?  

Alison Smith

Landscaping Your Life and The Purchasing Coach too

A card of this picture taken by Susan Bergstrom can be purchased by following the link below Picture Source: redbubble.com via Alison on Pinterest

Are your suppliers running riot like Japanese Knotweed?

Every gardener understands that seeds need time in the greenhouse, lawns need mowing, weeds need to be pulled and to never plant Japanese Knotweed. Yet many business managers often forget to feed, weed and/or prune their suppliers. And yes most managers at some point in their career realise they've planted a Japanese Knotweed and realise, too late, the error of their ways.

So before you plant your next supplier just make sure you understand the nature of the plant and variety you've selected: How much care and attention will they need, in what conditions do they flourish, what will make them wither and die and will you be able to easily transplant them when they get too big!

Alison Smith

Landscaping Your Life and The Purchasing Coach too