Issue 2: Leadership behaviour good & dishonest, a latter-day da Vinci & one risk of flying cracked by a 17 year old...
Welcome to Issue 2 of Sparks & Kindling, a periodic digest of the things that have been fuelling our thinking at Where There’s Smoke over the last few weeks. Most are recent articles but we may drop in a few noteworthy classics. We hope you find it stimulating and hopefully useful too - let us know your thoughts.
18 behaviours of emotionally intelligent people
A couple of contrasting articles to kick off with this time. The first outlines characteristics of emotionally intelligent people, behaviours it strikes us that should not only be more valued in all our leaders but also are extraordinarily helpful when it comes to problem solving and developing new ideas.
Gizmodo
Why rich and successful people are often dishonest
The second article looks at more of the “dark side” of success, suggesting that competition may not be the force for good it is often portrayed to be as it can engender unethical behaviour in ‘winners’ and actually impede progress. A useful counterpoint to the first article.
The Guardian
Inside Grayson Perry’s sketchbook
At wts towers we do love Grayson Perry (even if our shelves are not heaving with his wonderful pots, more’s the pity). Along with his ability to articulate what it means to be an artist and his council on staying on the effing bus if you want to achieve originality and success, his notebooks now provide a glimpse into a creative process which even for him remains incremental. It’s always worth remembering that we should give ourselves the creative room to make mistakes before committing to the labour intensive version.
New money & mental health policy institute launched
On a slightly serious note this is shout out for a project which we believe could be life changing for a great number of people in the UK whose mental health puts them in the way of serious financial harm. No doubt many of the ideas will also be beneficial for the wider population too.
And finally...
ted.com
How germs travel on planes…and how we can stop them
Where to start….. a deceptively simple and cheap solution to a real world problem? Another reason to feel anxious on those silver cigar tubes with wings we like to call planes? Watch in under 5 minutes a 17 year old inventor once again showing us that the kids have got our backs.