12 Do you know what matters to you?
‘Your work is going to fill a large part of your life, and the only way to be truly satisfied is to do what you believe is great work. And the only way to do great work is to love what you do. If you haven’t found it yet, keep looking. Don’t settle … Your... Continue reading→
Broadcast Magazine: Comment Piece 2
Psychologist Janet Evans explains how to create the right environment for development Our industry depends on individual creativity, but can it sometimes be hostile to it? As Sophie – a TV drama producer - says: ‘As far as you can you have to protect your creative from everything else going on round them. You need... Continue reading→
11 What happened there?!: Some practical measures
In my last two articles I looked at why some of us are more anxious and emotionally vulnerable than others, how these characteristics result from a combination of our genes and upbringing, and how they play out in the workplace. In this piece I want to consider some practical measures you can take to mitigate... Continue reading→
Broadcast Magazine: Comment Piece
In an industry we’re all passionate about, it can be hard not to take conflict personally – but psychologist Janet Evans suggests taking a step back. Joe, a TV producer, is about to start work on a series with a famously ‘difficult’ presenter. Tom has a reputation for getting upset, shouting at the crew, and... Continue reading→
10 How the emotional imprint of our childhood can disrupt our working lives
A man’s subconscious self is not the ideal companion. It lurks for the greater part of his life in some dark den of its own, hidden away, and emerges only to taunt and deride and increase the misery of a miserable hour. PG Wodehouse, The Adventures of Sally Tell me what you fear and... Continue reading→
9 The Troubled Personality: why some of us find work, and life, particularly stressful
‘My mind is always at the highest DEF-CON level possible, but the truth is that I can’t control everything. I wish I could. Instead, I meticulously plan and worry, and imagine the worst case scenarios for everything …’ The comedian, Susan Calman in her autobiography, Cheer Up, Love: Adventures in Depression with the Crab... Continue reading→
8 A Bit More About the Creative Personality – high sensitivity and empathy
Me who am as a nerve o’er which do creep The else unfelt oppressions of this earth… Percy Bysshe Shelley: Julian and Maddalo Fiver: ‘There isn’t any danger here at the moment. But it’s coming – it’s coming. Oh, Hazel, look! The field! It’s covered with blood!’ Richard Adams: Watership Down The trouble with a... Continue reading→
7 Troubled Visionaries: the Creative Personality
I recently went to an exhibition of John Singer Sargent’s paintings at Tate Britain. Sargent was a portraitist famous not only for his ability to capture the essence of his sitters but also of the lavish Edwardian silks and velvets they wore. When you look at a Sargent close up you see a simple abstract... Continue reading→
6 The Amazing Associative Machine
‘I don’t know if I actually said Eureka, but that Eureka moment really did happen……I suddenly realised that there was a door in front of me that I didn’t even know existed that had suddenly swung open’ Sir Alec Jeffries on DNA-based identification The unconscious intuitive, ‘Visionary’, mind is at its most magical when it... Continue reading→
5 So, Can You Trust Your Gut?
‘Were there things we should have done differently? Unquestionably. But, you know, I would struggle to itemise them all before you now in a hierarchy, I’m afraid.’ Boris Johnson at the Covid Inquiry, 6 December 2023 As we saw in the first article of this series on decision-making, many problems require a classical approach: that... Continue reading→