A brief history of time: engineer runs away to the circus

November, 2001 ish: Awarded engineering degree

October 5, 2009: Audition for circus school. 

October 14, 2009: Offically accept an offer to study for three months, full time, at the Greentop Circus in Sheffield. 

October 14, 2009 (approximately 30 seconds later):  Much high-fiving, ecstatic silly-dancing and general excitement.

October 14, 2009 (approximately 1 hour later):  Wondrous marvelling at the crazy journeys life can take.

Filed under: Uncategorized , Change, Circus, Creativity, Engineering, Hero's Journey, Lateral thinking, Left brain right brain, Letting go

Creativity and collaboration in engineering: conference in 2010

Engineers influence almost every part of the physical world, meaning their roles in climate change have huge potential.    This conference in mid 2010 will examine how engineers move from doing to influencing through creativity and collaboration.

If you are interested in being a part of this in any way, please add your comments or email me at rachael.westheafer@yahoo.com

Filed under: Uncategorized , Creativity, Creativity in engineering 2010, Engineering, Left brain right brain, Sustainability

Q. What did the arts graduate say to the engineering graduate?

A. Do you want fries with that?

That was the joke when I was at uni.  Back in the early 90s, if you wanted to get yourself a job after university, you did a sensible degree –  like engineering.  It was generally assumed that if you were (foolishly) inclined to choose an arts-inspired major instead, you were headed for a career in teaching.

We engineers congratulated ourselves on how practical we were, how good at problem-solving.  ‘Engineering teaches you to think’ we were told.

Engineering, however, seems to attract a particular type of thinker - logical and linear – and so, of course, this approach is perpetuated through your studies and even once you enter the workforce because you are surrounded by linear logic. 

Logical and linear is undoubtedly useful when it comes to getting things done.  The problem is that critical thinking isn’t really a part of the training and so the tendency is to keep solving things the same way you have done – logically and linearly.

As you may be aware (!) we have a couple of fairly major crises that need solving – end of civilisation and so on.  Engineers have such a capacity to be a part of that change.  They (we?) influence almost every part of the physical world. 

“We can’t solve problems using the same kind of thinking we used when we created them”.  (Albert Enstein)

To come up with the best solutions, engineering logic needs to be combined with true collaboration, holistic systems thinking, and a creative design approach.  Combine the best of the arts with the best of engineering and we might have a chance.

Filed under: Uncategorized , Creativity, Engineering, Getting it, Lateral thinking, Left brain right brain

£20/day – getting over chronic fatigue

In my last post about my grand quest to live and travel Europe on £20 a day I touched on the meaning of money. Running out of money, or not having ‘enough’, is such a normal fear in the society that I am (and possibly you are) part of, that I think we rarely question what we are actually afraid of.

The link to chronic fatigue? Several years ago, when I finally accepted that, for the better part of ten years, I had been struggling to get out of bed, I over-hauled my life: I ended a relationship; changed jobs; worked less hours; swapped intense exercise for ballet and pilates; took vitamins; ate better; and generally took a good hard look at how I wanted to live my life – including financially.

For the first time, I questioned why I was so keen to buy loads of property and retire young (at the time, it seemed such an obvious thing to want). I realised I wasn’t particularly happy with the way I earnt money (I was an engineer!) and so the prospect of working full time until 65 was very unattractive; much better to work very hard and have it all over and done with by 35.

The catch: I had to work my arse off for the next ten years!

The years since have been a journey exploring my life balance, including how much money I want and need. Mission £20/day has taken me a few steps further down this path.

Filed under: Uncategorized , £20/day, Change, Chronic fatigue, Getting it, Living well, Sustainable living

Relationships, chaos theory and the end of the world.

Hands up anyone who has stayed in a relationship that was ‘pretty good’.  A job that ‘wasn’t bad’?  Eaten a chocolate croissant (or two) just because it was there?

And hands up anyone who looked for a big conflict to force themselves to change?  Picked fights so it was easier to leave your partner because they just don’t understand you?  Left a job when your boss suggested for stress leave?  Ate more brown rice after a bikini-shopping experience drove you to mass chocolate brownie consumption?

It’s so much easier to change when it’s all gone to shit, right?  (A self-confessed expert who has left way too many relationships way past their use-by date, only left a career in engineering when chronic fatigue meant I couldn’t get out of bed and am still, at 30, learning that 3 chocolate brownies in one sitting is not good for me.)  Once you leave the job/relationship/bad habits there is space to explore more of what you really want.   To grow.

Which came first -  the desire to change, or the push? 

So how does this look for groups of people and to the world?   Back in the day, it was mammoths threatening your tribe.  We invented (er, at a guess) weapons.  1000 years ago perhaps your village was under threat.  Behold the castle and the moat! In modern days your country was under threat.  Enter stage left technology and (attempts at) international diplomacy. 

The world as you knew it was under threat and you adapted.  Survival. 

Now it’s climate change and the end of the earth and global humanity as our world.  We are now capable of ‘getting’ that our world goes beyond ‘me’ (OK, we all know the exceptions), beyond our family, our city, even our country.  If we keep going like we are, our world as we know it will descend into chaos.  And oh my we can’t have chaos.  Anything could happen. 

Based on the two minutes I have spent studying chaos theory over coffee and a custard tart, chaos always proves to be non-random. 

We’re always on the edge of chaos because chaos is just one milli-step ahead of what we know right now.  We’re scared of change because who knows where it will lead?   (Kylie Minogue – wisdom in ‘Better the Devil you Know’?!)

But if chaos beyond our control means the end of the world, we fight tooth and nail to make sure it doesn’t overcome us.

Some questions for a Friday night:

Is the chaos real, or something we dream up to force (inspire?) change. 

Is chaos really non-random and analyse-able, or are we just so keen on analysing everything that we can put anything into a mathematical model, just to feel ‘ordered’?

How do we progress without the need for chaos?

Which came first – our desire to progress, or creating the chaos that moves us to progress?

Filed under: Uncategorized , Change, Chaos theory, Climate change, Getting it, Sustainability

£20/day – 3 months in and an interesting turn of events

When I embarked on Grand Mission £20/day (see rules in previous posts) three months ago, I’m not sure that I really considered that it would ever be anything more than a learning experience and an opportunity to flaunt the moral position that loads of money isn’t critical to living well and, actually, it’s much better for the environment blah dee blah dee blah.  I certainly didn’t think that I’d be in a position where I had to cut my spending to £10/day because I had no money!

I’m averaging £22/day, which I don’t think is too bad, considering I have had weekends to Oxford, Cambridge and Stratford-upon-Avon and a splendid 12 days travelling between Paris and Toulouse.

Time and space for whimsical reflection in la ville rose.

So what has taken me from decadent sun-drenched lounging in the midi-Pyrenees to near-broke in such a short time (apart from some over-priced TGV train journeys and feeding a chocolate brownie addiction)? 

1. A few tough questions about what I really want to do with my life and the decision to pursue them.  

2. The restrictions of a working-holiday visa that only permits me to work in the country for a limited time, and my desire not to squander the time and opportunity on just any income-generating activity.  (Don’t let me start on the irony of the immigration rule that forbids me from starting a business that employs people and create jobs…)

Almost everyone embarking on a new business goes through giddy highs of inspiration against the desperate panic of uncertain cashflow.  I figure you either succumb to fear and give in to a normal job, or you battle through it and come out the other end with a new world view.

I’m most interested to see where I end up!

In the meantime, and as food for thought, some of the interesting experiences of temporary broke-ness:

• Giving my last (and when I say last, I mean pretty much literally) 45p to someone begging opposite the Ritz. 
• Realising how much fear I have of running out of money when, really, what is the worst that can happen?
• Wondering how it feels to blog about running out of money.

I might let these sit with you and I’ll write more about them later.

Filed under: Uncategorized , £20/day, Credit crunch, Letting go, Living well, Sustainability, Sustainable living

The hidden cost of cheap air travel (The Times and moi sort of agree)

What air travel will never offer - buskers and drunken pole dancing

I got excited when I saw The Times had a double page story on the hidden cost of cheap air travel.  ‘At last!’ I rejoiced, ‘The world has seen sense.  A £30 flight to Mallorca doesn’t justify the damage to the Earth.  Train travel will be embraced, prices reduced so it’s accessible to all, and the world will be saved!’. 

As you may have already intuited, this wasn’t QUITE the angle this particular Times journalist was taking.  No, the hidden costs include such outrageous-ness as extra fees if you make a mistake with your booking etc. etc. etc.  (To be honest, I didn’t read the whole thing – hence vagueness.)

A few pages later I read an editorial ruminating that bargain flights have taken the luxury out of travel.   In 2009, a vacation abroad starts with queues, the RyanAir experience and wearing three coats so your hand luggage looks smaller.  A call to old times, the writer begged!

I personally prefer trains to planes (though getting to London from Oz sort of required a plane).  It’s easier; there’s more space (a necessity rather than a luxury when you’re nearly 6ft); train stations are fun; you get to see the countryside; and I can pretend I’m Julie Delpy in Before Sunrise.  You don’t have to pretend to listen to the safety message; and you don’t have to be scared by the implications of the safety message.  The environmental benefit is an added extra. 

I like what The Times is saying (since it agrees with me!).  Perhaps we’ll put a bit more thought into our holidays.  Jetting off for just a weekend will be a bit too much hassle.  We will learn to slow down and take a train or boat and the journey there will be part of the adventure.  

Bit like the financial crisis showed us that striving for continuous growth not only has fundamental economic weaknesses, but isn’t too great for the planet either.

Read about low carbon travel at loco2travel.com and seat 61.  (Nope, I don’t work for either of them!)

Filed under: Uncategorized , Climate change, Getting it, Living well, Loco2Travel, Seat61, Sustainability, Sustainable travel

Swine Flu – benefit #1

When it comes to being sick at the office, I’m a bit of an Auntie Jane: if you’re coughing and spluttering, go home and dose up on hot lemon and chicken soup.  Battling on at work when you’re full of phlegm says, ‘I’m too important to take the day off’.   Auntie Jane says consider your friends and colleagues!

Now that the influenza strain is prefixed with ’swine’ quite frankly, sounds pretty gross, we’re all a little more conscious about keeping our germs to ourselves.  Yay, says Auntie Jane.

Filed under: Uncategorized

Having it all on £20 a day – the rules!

My quest to experience London and surrounds on £20 a day has very strict rules!

The figure doesn’t include rent, but it must cover all bills and travel and I am not allowed to become a hermit on a rationed diet – I must have a life.  My definition of ‘a life’ may differ greatly from yours (dear reader) and thus I write, as evidence, my intentions thereof:

• While I’m living in London (the other side of the world), I must enjoy my time here and take advantage of opportunities to do cool stuff and travel to lovely places.
• I will continue my sports and activities, which tend to be on the expensive side, such as corde lisse.
• Enjoy great food.
• I am to live as ethically and sustainably as I can, which means I:
• Buy organic, local and unpackaged as much as possible.
• Pay what things are worth – no shopping in Primark or wheedling unfair bargains.
• Take the train to holiday destinations.  No cheap flights!

Your thoughts (dear reader) are most welcome.

Filed under: Uncategorized , £20/day, Getting it, Living well, Sustainability, Sustainable living

Capitalism is the new activism: big business and media lead the way to social and environmental change

Late last year I had the pleasure of meeting with Sophie Tranchell, Managing Director of Divine Chocolate  and an activist at heart. Armed with management experience in the film industry, Sophie arrived at Divine ready to merge her passion for social transformation with good business sense, understanding that the market has the power to bring about massive change and that creativity and communications are the key to people’s hearts.

Divine, to me, is a work of marketing and campaigning genius. Divine – and the stalwarts that supported its mission – made fair trade chocolate sexy; now everyone’s doing it, even Cadbury. Divine’s ‘Like Love Only More So’ campaign (St Luke’s) uses straplines such as ‘like a whirlwind affair, only more ethical’.  Who can resist ethics if the side dishes are chocolate and romance?

Do consumers ‘get’ what it means when advertising entices them to purchase a fair trade cocoa product? I doubt that most would understand the message this seemingly simple choice sends to suppliers.  The choice has a huge impact, not only for the farmers in the Kuapa Kokoo co-operative who supply Divine’s cocoa, but as a flow-on effect to farmers and workers who will benefit down the track from the increase in demand for ethical products.

Leading change in such an emerging market  is where big (or at least medium-sized) business has its place in sustainability transformation: business doesn’t need everyone to get it for change to happen.  Entrepreneurs don’t wait for governments to get it enough to legislate (and even if they did, it probably wouldn’t happen fast enough).  All that is needed is a group of dedicated people who know how to get a message out to the world and make things happen.

Much maligned as the antithesis to sustainability, advertising and media are finding their place in the new world of urgent social and environmental change, offering what is generally lacking in environmental purists and social activists: the understanding that hard facts and finger pointing aren’t enough to yield results; you need to understand people, to appeal to values and to emotions and you need to get the right message out in the right way to lots and lots of people.

I felt sorry for the young couple in Franny Armstrong’s recent film, Age of Stupid, who had to deal with community backlash when they attempted to establish wind farms in England but I did think that their approach was somewhat lacking. If a community doesn’t want what you are offering – even when they know it will save the world – then you’re not selling it right.

Communications company Clownfish makes sustainability impact assessment part of their clients’ marketing strategy.  To their clients they sell the business advantage of positive environmental and social impact.  They help them implement changes and measure achievements.   They then use the proof to help their clients sell their success, and the sustainability message, to the world. 

Web 2.0  gets this message out to the masses. Most importantly, though, it allows you to listen to how the world responds.   Two-way engagement is part of good branding and marketing, whether you’re selling soap or recycling.  The ‘Not Stupid Campaign’ (of which Age of Stupid plays a big part) is a brilliant example, uniting communities all over the world and motivating them to demand their governments step up and deliver at the UN climate change conference in Copenhagen in December.  Unilever’s successful Dove brand ties ‘true’ self-esteem and beauty to its products, and opened up debate about ethics in the beauty industry.    Future Gov Consultancy  uses digital media to help organisations understand the benefits of strategic thinking and true community engagement. 

These groups blend strategy, technical knowledge and people know-how.  They are finding creative ways to get people to listen.

These are the people who ‘get it’.

If you’d like to read more about creating systemic change, read Donella Meadows’  Leverage points : Places to intervene in a system.  Strategic sustainable communications, especially when its related to big business, hits almost all of the leverage points.  More about this in future blogs. 

Filed under: Uncategorized , activism, branding, Change, Climate change, Clownfish, CSR, engagement, fair trade, FutureGov, Getting it, Intervention points, Social media, Strategy, Sustainability, Sustainable business