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280 | 365 Post No Bills

Ironically I was walking to a meeting with our lawyers and saw this sign.

I thought about showing them and telling them not to post me a bill.

Wishful thinking...

279 | 365 Charities

Headed off the the Waikato Stadium for the Charities Commission Forum.

Learnt a lot and have lots of action points and questions for the four charities I am involved in.

278 |365 Energy

Energy amazes me.

Take coal or gas and set fire to it (energy), convert that energy to electricity (energy), turn on a switch at home and the heater comes on (energy).

In the industrialised world, using unsustainable fuels were the norm. Then they built huge power stations like this one at Huntly. After all you need energy to make energy.

Nowadays we have more and more clean options like wind or geothermal, which is even more amazing.

On cold winters days like today’s. I am really thankful for modern energy.

277 | 365 Family Night

We have family night (meeting) on Sunday nights.

As you can see from the photo the kids are 100% engaged the whole time and really enjoy the interaction and discussion that we have.

276 |365 Experiential Learning

Kyla's class (Room 23 at Rototuna Primary) have with the encouragement of their teacher become quite the social entrepreneurs. They went busking on Saturday and did a car wash on Wednesday all to raise money for help “save NZs native wildlife.”

Very cool learning for them across a whole range of areas from team work, to organisation, to volunteering.

Well to Miss Kateley. Awesome initiative.

275 |365 - Confidence

Took J to his first school disco. He was eally shy and he reminded me of me. It was really interesting to watch him slowly build in confidence over the course of the night.

I was thinking about how confidence often comes from experience. The more you do something, the more you push into areas that are hard, the better you get at things.

I would describe myself as a very shy person, socially at least. Over the years I have pushed myself to meet new people, to ask questions and as time has gone on I built in confidence.

Realised that I will need to teach J some of these skills as it took me way to long to discover them.

274 |365 Christchurch Airport

Flew Air NZ, Hamilton to Christchurch return today. I love flexible flights and Koru club.

273 |365 Banana's

Sometimes we completely forget that we import simple things like banana’s. We purchase them with very little thought to the origin or the people who produce them.

We say we care about things like poverty or the environment, but its mainly lip service. Actually purchasing only products that make a difference for the causes we believe in. Well that’s another story.

272 |365 Things that annoy our wifes

This is Luke. He is the winner of the ‘Best Practical’ at the Hitachi Asia Pacific Technician Competition.

This is Luke’s ‘look’. The one that reminds Laura just how luck she is to be married to him.

:-)

271 |365 Model Employee?

This is Puss in boots and one of my kids stuffed toys. You squeeze it and it says statements like
“No problemo boss”
“I thought you just said we were done doin things the stupid way”
“You have engaged my valuable services”
And appropriate for the day of the photo “I hate Mondays”

270 |365 Big or small we move 'em all

What else is there to say?

269 |365 Abnormal and Non Standard

It’s late in the afternoon on Saturday and I head outside to hunt down the photo of the day. I chat to some of my neighbours who are washing cars and preparing for the next days travel, ‘normal things’. Then I head over and start taking photo’s of a tree because I like it’s lines and it reminds me its winter.
 
Compared to the normal things I am decidedly abnormal, nonstandard and strange. But then aren’t we all. Each one of us is created completely unique. Not one of us is normal or standard.
 
It is easy to forget that each person you meet is unique.
 
Each one has different strengths, desires, pasts and presents that make them who they are.
 
Our goals should be to value the uniqueness of individuals rather then try and make everyone normal.

268 |365 Overnight Fog

Had a super productive day on Friday, albeit an early start.

Clearing my inbox, is like clearing fog. It brings a crisp fresh feeling that makes me more productive and better leader.

267 |365 Motherhood

Michelle’s leaving, after almost 5 years at agoge to be a mum! Go Mich, enjoy the new season of life, you'll be an awesome mum!

266 |365 A night at the library.

Went to watch Talia and schoolmates at the Rototuna Primary School production. Really well done!

265 |365 Transformers

Nick tries to figure out a schizophrenic toy, first its a man, then a jet, then a man again.

264 |365 Design and Builds

If ever there was a great example of businesses not being able to predict the future it would be this one. In this photo, I was at a meeting at Link-up Paint Supplies, but when it was first built it was made to be a courier depot for CourierPost. I happened to be the Operations Manager at the time.
 
The inherent problem with ‘design and build’ developments is they can take a number of years to design and build them. In this time business can change significantly. In CourierPost’s case it grew significantly from the time they said yes to the time they moved in, and it was too small before they moved.
 
I’ve experienced the same thing at Agoge. From both businesses I’ve learned that moving into existing buildings can reduce the risk of getting it wrong, but there is always trade offs.

263 |365 Pegs

Simple in design. Functional in use. Cheap to produce and meets the users requirements.
 
My experience with IT projects over the years is that they generally lack these basic requirements. We could learn a lot from pegs.  

262 | 365 Super Coach

Last year I coached my daughter’s 8-a-side hockey team and I thought I did a half decent job given I had absolutely no knowledge of hockey prior to becoming coach.
 
This year her team has two very talented and very experienced coaches, Neil and John, who have played, coached and lead hockey for years.
 
Let me say, there is an extreme disparity between my coaching and theirs in developing the skills of the entire team. Oh, and they win more often than not.
 
It turns out that leadership skills and experience make a good coach. Not one but both. Yet often in business or other organisations we expect people to “coach” when they have little experience or leadership.
 
Little wonder the team members don’t develop.

261 |365 Daddy Date

On Friday night headed out on a Daddy date with my beautiful girls to Agora Goes Live to hear Stu Strawbridge and Edwin Derricutt.

260 |365 A New Day

Not every sunrise will be as beautiful as this one.
 
Not every day will be the best day of your life.
 
But today is a new day.
 
Seize it!
 
Make the change you have always wanted to make, even if it’s only for today. And if you fail… tomorrow is a new day again and you can give it another go.
 
May your day today be beautiful and full and alive.

259 | 365 Wiping Out

Sometimes in life we see opportunity coming like a wave of success. Like surfing we seize the moment, drop-in and catch the wave. We are stoked because the ride is exhilarating and for that moment we feel like we have found our sweet spot.
 
Without warning, the wave changes and we wipeout as it all comes crashing down around us.
 
Then we have two options. Give up and become a spectator, or head back out for another attempt. Catching another wave will take effort, time and patience. Like most things there will be an element of being in the right place at the right time.
 
But at least you will again get to enjoy a few moments of exhilaration that those who merely watch from pier will never experience.

258 |365 Success fades

Went in search for the Addington Coffee Co-op, took a wrong turn and ended up driving past the old abandoned Wood Bros flour mill. A quick google search reveals “The mill opened in 1891 and was powered by steam, lit by electricity and serviced by the railway line next door. The storage buildings pictured here were built in 1924. By 1936 it had the largest output of flour in the South Island. In 1970 Wood Bros Limited sold the mill complex”.
 
Wood bros no longer exists as a company.
 
It’s a reminder that even the most successful companies of their era, like the people who run them, will eventually fade away.

257 |365 Me

 Half the man I think I am.

256 | 365 - Donuts #2

Brought the family a completely unhealthy Sunday afternoon lunch. Pies and Cream donuts, which brings back so many NZ childhood memories from a time pre-fastfood chains like McDonalds.

255 |365 Donuts #1

After the excitement of the unpacking and the loading of the batteries, Jayden takes hold of the radio controlled car gifted to him by the grandparents.

He places it on the floor, applies the throttle and does skids, donuts and figure eights.

Can’t wait until he gets to drive a real car.

254 |365 Making Music

Kyla is learning to play the clarinet and with each practice she gets better and works on more complicated music.
 
Music is a beautiful thing. Coming home to hear her practicing and to her our home filled with music is splendid.
 
It’s a treasure.

253 |365 Waiting

Waiting for a response can be like watching a clock slowly tick the seconds by. It can be frustrating and annoying when action is not happening. We can feel like we are wasting precious minutes, hours and days.
 
At the moment I am waiting on a person to enable me to take the next step in a project. Because it’s a collaborative effort, I can’t go any further with the project without this persons help.
 
I am starting to resent the waiting.
 
Tick
 
To get annoyed.
 
Tick
 
Then I realise, I need to get over myself. For 2 weeks, I reacted slowly, I was the time waster, I was the one being waited on. My slowness made this persons response time harder.
 
I realise that I do this often. Fast to expect action, slow to act.

252 |365 - CBC Elders

Graeme and Campbell settle in for our weekly meeting and the crazy guy pulls out the camera and takes a picture. Graeme said he can’t understand Facebook and would never go on it. Little did he know...
 
Privilege to serve at CBC with these two brothers, friends and warriors.

251 | 365 Winter has arrived

It’s winter. The 1st of June brings the official change in season, then the season lives up to its reputation and delivers rain.
 
With the darker days comes much difficulty and a lack of energy for my 365 project. 251 days down, 115 to go.