29 February 2012
Being Present in Your Collaborations: The Second Circle of Patsy Rodenburg
Serendipity can be a wonderful traveling companion, and on a recent journey she took me to meet Patsy Rodenburg (figuratively, of course).
Patsy is one of the most highly regarded voice coaches in the world, and has worked with actors like Judi Dench, Ian McKellen, and Daniel Day-Lewis. She is also an author of such books as Speaking Shakespeare, The Actor Speaks, and The Second Circle. One of the reasons I was drawn to her was that her ideas are not just relevant to the acting world, but to all us – in our relationships, our work collaborations, in our classrooms.
By Terence Brake
This week I picked up a new book called This Will Make You Smarter edited by John Brockman (New York: Harper Perenial, 2012). Who wouldn't pick up a book with that title. Mr. Brockman is the founder and publisher of the online science salon known as Edge.org .jpg)
In a December 2011 report for the University of Phoenix Research Institute, the Institute for the Future investigated the key drivers influencing the world of work, as well as identify the proficiencies and abilities needed across different jobs and work settings (1). While 2020 was used as a prediction point, many of the skills are critical, right now.
I’ve worked with some dreadful managers in my time – control freaks, narcissists, abusers, etc. - and so it’s easy for me to be cynical and dismissive about people who think we can be free and happy at work. What a radical idea!
Many years ago, I was asked by my first of two fathers-in-law, why someone (not me) would spend time and money studying the hind legs of a frog? My retort was that maybe - someday - that seemingly trivial knowledge could solve a tricky hydraulic problem on the space shuttle. Whether that ever happened, I don't know, but he eventually bought into my argument, and later claimed it as his own. That's life!