Flexible Thinking Forum

I initially had a good laugh about the story of the embarrassment caused by UK Foreign Office document on the forthcoming visit in September by the Pope to Britain.

The report contained ideas for the Pope to launch a new ‘Benedict’ condom, visits to abortion clinic and blessing a gay marriage.

But then I got annoyed, even angry, that the media – and the wider world – is promoting ignorance of the creative process.

News that a study by Texas A&M University that brainstorming could be counter-productive is welcome in at least bringing the subject of how you go about creating ideas under the spotlight. The real fundamental is that a vast majority of people don’t know how to manage getting the most out of their creativity and when [...]

It is rather appropriate that ‘Stupid Aid Day’ is on Thursday April 1st- – and offers all of us the chance stupidity in the world at large.

By stupidity we don’t mean low intelligence but rather the bureaucratic, ‘the Computer says No’ moments and other examples of stupidity in the world – whether it is the global financial crisis or the latest example of ‘healthandsafetyitus’.

If you have an example of stupid thinking please let us know at our special campaign web site, www.stupidaid.com.

This is not about making fun of people (although some may deserve it) rather it is about providing practical help to tackle the pressures of modern life.

My book ’Overcoming Stupidity’ contains advice to help anyone wanting to stand up to unhelpful telephone call centres, bureaucracy gone mad, or when confronted with unhelpful ‘jobsworths’.

The furore in the news over British Airways implementing a charge of up to £60 for choosing your seat on a flight has overlooked two key issues. The first, is one very close to home to me. I do a lot of travelling, particularly through work. Now, people who know me will hopefully vouch that [...]

A good friend of mine teased me about the extra mural activity at the notorious West Ham v Millwall game last week, and included a quote from an eye witness to the unfortunate events.

‘A 29-year-old owner of a kebab shop said he closed his premises in nearby Green Street for two hours. He said: “All hell broke loose – it was very frightening.”’

Now, in my new book I have created the term ‘kebabonomics’ to describe commercial enterprises which seemed to flourish, or at least surface and survive, in the least attractive of social environments.