tmc continues to expand and develop - latest update

And now we'll pause for these brief messages...

I've long advised my clients: in a time of change, even if you've nothing to say, you gotta say that there's nothing to say...

Rather than leave the tmc blog to languish, I am writing this post to let readers know that there will be a short interruption in regular posting over the next few weeks, so that the posts that do appear will do so on a more sporadic basis.

Ultimately, the blog will migrate to the soon-to-be-launched tmconsultancy website though it's not yet clear what will happen to the content already posted on this blog and the subscriber list that it's attracted. When those decisions have been made I will be sure to alert subscribers to any changes that will affect them.

In the meantime, a short reading list
To keep your nimble minds occupied, below are links to some recent stories that I've found to be of interest. Who knows, they may yet become blog posts as well but for the moment I offer them for your edification and amusement.

We learn more from success than failure - which supports a central tenet of solution-focused practice: it's important to emphasize when things go well and what people do right instaead of dwelling on what's wrong/barriers/obstacles/blamestorming, etc.: http://web.mit.edu/newsoffice/2009/successes-0729.html

Old folks tend to be happier folks (see the original press release with a link to the research article here) - essentially as people grow older their experiences enable them to put things in perspective and de-dramatize things that might otherwise seem to be a Very Big Deal. This is similar to the process of how we accumulate the consolation prize of old age: wisdom. In a previous post (What are you thinking? Choose Wisely!) I talked about how people tend to become the way they consistently behave, or: momentary states can become enduring personality traits.

Finally, a recent paper by authors at the consultancy McKinsey & Co. entitled The Irrational Side of Change Management is, I think, a laudable effort at explaining why rational change management models fail to grasp the inherent complexity of human behavioural interaction. Or to put it plainly: people ain't machines. They don't have "levers" and "drivers" or even pumps and pistons, though they do have hearts and legs, and are happy to engage the latter if the former aren't (but that's another article). The McKinsey piece works because it acknowledges two systems at work in human decision-making...though rather than "irrational vs. rational" let's substitute emotional limbic and rational cortical - the two systems that run in parallel (or sometimes competitively) in the brain.

OK happy reading and more news as it develops!
(NB: You can also follow me on twitter for occasional updates on tmc doings.)
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