Collaboration - Viv McWaters

Where ‘YES!’ leads

November 18, 2014

Early mornings are not my best time. People I used to work with joked that no-one should talk to me before 10 am. Bit rough, I reckon. So you will understand that dragging myself out of bed at 5 am to attend breakfast meetings in Melbourne, was, well, a touch out of character (this included […]

Change, and strategy, and creativity – another take

July 29, 2014

I love this! Change as creating. Did I mention how much I love this? Congratulations to Karen Dawson, Julie Huffaker, Ian Prinsloo, Sarah Moyle, Andrea Grant and Leonardo Spinedi, and Laila Woozeer. Lucky people to have had the opportunity to work and play with each other and at the fabulous Banff Center in Canada. Jealous? […]

But what would you do instead?

February 19, 2014

That hoary (yes, I like to use archaic words sometimes, it sets the scene for the post I’m writing) old saying (and yes, I know hoary and old mean the same thing and so this is a tautology – it’s about emphasis) , “If it ain’t broke, don’t fix it” is often used as an […]

A few thoughts about what it’s like to be a free agent gleaned from John Hagel’s talk

February 17, 2014

When John Hagel started speaking about the dark side of technology as mounting performance pressure, the inevitable comparison with others and the pressure to keep up, I found myself nodding in agreement. John Hagel, co-author of The Power of Pull and co-founder of the deliciously paradoxically-named Deloitte Center for the Edge, is back in Australia […]

Researching applied improv – a project for 2014

December 19, 2013

Even a cursory look at this blog will reveal my interest in improvisation. It started with Playback Theatre and ranged far and wide around different improvisation styles. Most improv happens on the stage, in theatres and bars. I enjoy this type of improv performance AND I’m also interested in how it can be applied off […]

Better meetings

December 9, 2013

As I write this, it’s Monday morning in my part of the world. Have a look at your diary for this week. How many meetings are scheduled? Are they all necessary? Are you looking forward to them? Will they be worthwhile? Do your meetings look somewhat like this picture? Maybe you can cancel just one […]

What I’ve learned about life from “Guy Dangerous”

October 3, 2013

My father-in-law was a keen card player. We’d sit around and play cards as a family. This was new to me. I wasn’t from a card playing family, so I had to learn quickly. At the end of each hand, he’d peer at me over his glasses and ask me something like why I played […]

Better meetings

April 29, 2013

This is such an exciting collaboration – and most of it has happened while I’ve been sleeping! Regular readers will know that I’m pretty keen on bringing meetings to life, and that Johnnie and I have published a book. We also offer face-to-face workshops to share our ideas and approaches (the next one is in London […]

Creative Facilitation – the Book!

January 9, 2013

Exactly two years ago, I spent six weeks with my ankle in plaster after an operation. With nothing better to do, I wrote a book. This week, we’re releasing it into the wild. Johnnie Moore wrote significant parts that I’d forgotten, edited my clumsy words, challenged my thinking and was there throughout the whole process, […]

The essence of every new day

January 1, 2013

It feels a bit like pressing the restart button, this first day of January. An opportunity for new beginnings. It’s both a relief, and a little sad, to say farewell to another year, and also exciting to anticipate a new year. It captures the essence of every new day – to carry forward what we […]