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There are some things in the world that are meant to be fluffy: kittens, toys, towels, dandelions, bunnies, Santa's beard. You will notice that my hair is not on this list; especially when I've spent some money to have a sleek, smooth blowdry.
Yet here I sit, fluffy haired, exhausted from the epic nature of my journey from work to home - if "epic" can appropriately be applied to traversing a mere 10 kilometres.
All week, people have been complimenting me on my smooth locks. Curls and ringlets had been framing my face for the last month. The first appointment I made upon my return to the big smoke was with my hairdresser. Urgent magic was required to cover my - ahem - grey. I decided that straight hair would be a nice change. With the weather in Melbourne being bone dry and all the rain falling in the north I thought my investment would last a week.
Today as was sitting at my desk deeply engaged in a telephone conversation, I looked up. I suddenly panicked, thinking I had been swallowed into some kind of fluorescently lit hell where time has no meaning and it was actually midnight. It wasn't. It was 5:10pm. It just looked like midnight. Ah, the gods were playing with us for their pleasure, causing a downpour and throwing in some wind right on going home time.
My journey home involves a short walk to the unsheltered tram stop through many lanes of cars; a ride on a tram; navigation of one of the busiest tram stops in Melbourne to walk across to Flinders Street Station; a train ride and then a seven minute walk home from the local train station. It sounds like a lot when written like that, but usually it's fine.
Today it wasn't fine. Today my hair went fluffy.
In my handbag I always have a compact umbrella. My rationale is that I'll always be prepared in the event of unexpected rain. Melbourne's reputation for changeable weather has been well earned, so this is a good thing to do. Except for one thing - compact umbrellas are useless when it does actually rain. This level of incompetence is elevated to pointlessness when the rain is accompanied by wind.
Now my hair is fluffy.
If that wasn't enough to deal with, I arrived at Flinders Street station with soaking trousers and feet. Luckily, I also travel with a pair of thongs in my handbag so my beautiful, expensive shoes are not ruined in heavy rain. According to the information provided on the screens in the station, I only had to wait about 8 minutes for a train home. I entered the station at about 6:10pm but only boarded the 6:32pm train at 6:38pm. I had been waiting on platform twelve for the train that never came.
Then we had the opportunity to participate in one of the practical jokes that Metro Trains likes to organise occasionally. I've been in this one before: the screens tell you to go to platform ten. After a couple of minutes, an announcement tells you that the train will now be leaving from platform 12. The commuters heave a sigh and scramble over to the other platform. Upon arrival there, an announcement says that the next train leaving from that new platform is to a completely different destination from the one you were expecting. All staff have disappeared from this platform. The screen has gone blank and there are no announcements being made. As you confer with other commuters, you hear the faint sound of an announcement being made back on platform ten informing any passengers who are left on platform ten that the train there is in fact the train that everyone who is now on platform twelve is expecting over there!
To make it even more fun, you organise this prank to occur during a downpour so everyone is wet, cold and cranky and the platforms are super slippery. If you only make announcements at the last minute this adds excitement as people ignore the warnings not to run and run to catch a train.
As I finally walked home from the station I was grateful for my thongs but also struggling to keep them on my feet. There was so much water I thought they might float away from under my feet. This is what I experienced in Darwin during a tropical downpour. At least the rain there was warm. The rain in Melbourne is not warm, even in the middle of summer.
At least my house isn't flooded and I have a warm shower, clean dry clothes and a warm bed for the night. But...my hair is fluffy.
25 Şubat 2013 Pazartesi
What's changed in two years?
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Lately I've been noticing my reactions to situations and thinking about how differently I would have reacted two years ago. As I contemplate that, I am grateful that the situations that cause me to think about this are happening now (when I am better equipped) and not two years ago.
For example, last week I was doing some work for a client in the building that I used to work in. There are training and meeting rooms on one of the floors in the building so I go there fairly frequently. Not long after I finished my full time employment, I had to visit this building for some work. As I approached the building and contemplated going in, I had what I now know to be a panic attack - fast, shallow breathing, elevated heart rate, clammy sweat, hot flush of rash creeping up my neck and a feeling of general terror. Four years have passed since then and I can now look back and read all the signals about what was going on at that workplace which I couldn't see at the time. Reflection point number one.
Last week as I walked into the building, one of the people with whom I used to work came out of the building. She said hello and asked me what I was doing there. I responded with the facts, "I'm working with a client."
"Oh which client? What are you doing?"
"I'm working as an actress doing corporate roleplay for senior leadership development in one of the banks."
"You're kidding!?" (Where is an interrobang when you need one?)
And there they hung, those words.
Most artists will know the common urging from people who aren't artists about it being time to get a real job. It might be phrased as "your acting/art/music etc is wonderful, but can't you just have it as a hobby so you can go off and get a real job?" The concern about the real job is usually strongly tethered to the need to earn money.
Two years ago I would have felt the panic rise in expectation of the impending judgement. This time I didn't. This is my work and I make a good living.
I said: "Actually I'm not kidding. This is my work and I make a very good living out of it."
She reacted, quickly seeking to retract. It was as if she suddenly realised what that statement actually could mean.
We both ended the conversation. As I walked to the lift I contemplated my reaction. I'm pleased that I was able to stand up, proudly, for my work and not allow it, and me, to be dismissed, but reading back on this, I wonder how I will come across. There is more context to the relationship with this particular person that I'm not prepared to lay out here and I don't know whether it's relevant.
This is but one example. I'm finding in the project I'm managing where I'm back in an office for a couple of days a week, that I'm being confronted with everything I don't like about that environment. There is some good stuff too, but apart from the work itself, I'm being regularly confronted with the things that are challenging.
With another round of leadership development conversations coming up with another client (I'll be facilitating), it's timely that I am refreshing my experience in a hands-on leadership role.
I recently found myself needing to have an honest conversation with a member of the project team. As I prepared for it, I could hear myself coaching myself from the sidelines. A couple of years ago, my reaction and ability to handle that person would have been quite different. I would have dealt with the situation, but I think it would have taken longer and the landing have been less comfortable. For everyone.
The value of reflection is something that artists understand and practise - it is essential to artistry and artistic process, regardless of the art form. Lately, I'm hearing about reflection in the corporate setting and in medical training. It makes me happy to see the wisdom of artists permeating other disciplines. Lately, reflection has given me the opportunity to learn a lot about myself and my growth and how I'm going in my business (which is still less than two years' old.). I was very pleased to notice that I'm better suited to consulting than being attached to one office and one organisation. Thank goodness I made the right decision!
What have you reflected on lately? What are you noticing?
For example, last week I was doing some work for a client in the building that I used to work in. There are training and meeting rooms on one of the floors in the building so I go there fairly frequently. Not long after I finished my full time employment, I had to visit this building for some work. As I approached the building and contemplated going in, I had what I now know to be a panic attack - fast, shallow breathing, elevated heart rate, clammy sweat, hot flush of rash creeping up my neck and a feeling of general terror. Four years have passed since then and I can now look back and read all the signals about what was going on at that workplace which I couldn't see at the time. Reflection point number one.
Last week as I walked into the building, one of the people with whom I used to work came out of the building. She said hello and asked me what I was doing there. I responded with the facts, "I'm working with a client."
"Oh which client? What are you doing?"
"I'm working as an actress doing corporate roleplay for senior leadership development in one of the banks."
"You're kidding!?" (Where is an interrobang when you need one?)
And there they hung, those words.
Most artists will know the common urging from people who aren't artists about it being time to get a real job. It might be phrased as "your acting/art/music etc is wonderful, but can't you just have it as a hobby so you can go off and get a real job?" The concern about the real job is usually strongly tethered to the need to earn money.
Two years ago I would have felt the panic rise in expectation of the impending judgement. This time I didn't. This is my work and I make a good living.
I said: "Actually I'm not kidding. This is my work and I make a very good living out of it."
She reacted, quickly seeking to retract. It was as if she suddenly realised what that statement actually could mean.
We both ended the conversation. As I walked to the lift I contemplated my reaction. I'm pleased that I was able to stand up, proudly, for my work and not allow it, and me, to be dismissed, but reading back on this, I wonder how I will come across. There is more context to the relationship with this particular person that I'm not prepared to lay out here and I don't know whether it's relevant.
This is but one example. I'm finding in the project I'm managing where I'm back in an office for a couple of days a week, that I'm being confronted with everything I don't like about that environment. There is some good stuff too, but apart from the work itself, I'm being regularly confronted with the things that are challenging.
With another round of leadership development conversations coming up with another client (I'll be facilitating), it's timely that I am refreshing my experience in a hands-on leadership role.
I recently found myself needing to have an honest conversation with a member of the project team. As I prepared for it, I could hear myself coaching myself from the sidelines. A couple of years ago, my reaction and ability to handle that person would have been quite different. I would have dealt with the situation, but I think it would have taken longer and the landing have been less comfortable. For everyone.
The value of reflection is something that artists understand and practise - it is essential to artistry and artistic process, regardless of the art form. Lately, I'm hearing about reflection in the corporate setting and in medical training. It makes me happy to see the wisdom of artists permeating other disciplines. Lately, reflection has given me the opportunity to learn a lot about myself and my growth and how I'm going in my business (which is still less than two years' old.). I was very pleased to notice that I'm better suited to consulting than being attached to one office and one organisation. Thank goodness I made the right decision!
What have you reflected on lately? What are you noticing?
Overcrowding isn't just on the trams - how about the platforms?
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One of my new routines is catching the train to Flinders Street and then catching the number one tram to South Melbourne beach which goes down St Kilda Road. The tram stop is between Flinders Street Station and Federation Square and must be one of the busiest spots in Melbourne.
The staff at that stop do an incredible job announcing trams and helping commuters find their way to where they are going. I wrote this post last week about the fabulous announcements made by one of the staff at this stop.
At 8:30 this morning it was so busy there was a queue to get onto the platform. People were standing in the middle of the road between the tram tracks and the cars stranded because the platform was completely full.
As the lights changed, more and more people crossed the road to stand in a precarious line. I wasn't able to take a photo this morning, but I did take a photo of the crowd on the platform last week. Double or triple the number of people and you start to get the idea.
From memory there are about nine or ten different tram routes that all feed through this stop. There is bound to be a lot of people wanting to access the stop. It was recently upgraded (in the last couple of years?) but I think it is now unsafe. The trams had to negotiate their way out of the stop very slowly to avoid collecting a waiting commuter on the way!
I've been wondering what the answer is. Holding bays on the footpaths, so that only the people boarding trams that have arrived - or about to arrive - are allowed to wait on the platform? Remodelling the stop to make it longer, so that it can hold more people? Perhaps a combination of these approaches so that both the long and short term are addressed.
The other problem is about being able to move along the platform to get to the tram you want to catch when it does arrive. This morning I waited in the queue to get onto the platform. As a wave of pedestrians crossed the road, they didn't join the end of the queue, they just blended in with the clump of people. No one was moving forwards. As a tram arrived people did move forward, but then there was the problem of the people exiting the tram who were added into the crush already on the platform. Many disembarking from the front door solved this by stepping directly onto the tracks and walking off that way.
The number 1 tram I wanted to catch this morning (I missed one while I was stuck waiting in the queue off the platform) was third in a line of trams, so I had to make my way to the opposite end of the platform. I quickly fell in behind two men who were doing the same thing. Half way through my trek, someone started to push me from behind. I turned around and asked them to please not push me. They pointed at the tram and said they wanted to catch that tram. I pointed out that that was what we were all trying to do and we just had to make our way patiently.
It's not just the traffic, the likelihood of being run over by a tram, but the likelihood of frayed tempers and surging crowds that also worries me. Thankfully Melbournians are generally well trained and well behaved in crowds. In their desperation to get to their destination, someone might do something silly
The day after I took the photo above, I noticed a man taking the same photo. I remarked on this to him.
"Yeah, well I'm from Tasmania and I've never seen so many people!" was his response.
I know that I might sound like a shock jock, but what's it going to take to fix public transport infrastructure like this? A death?
The staff at that stop do an incredible job announcing trams and helping commuters find their way to where they are going. I wrote this post last week about the fabulous announcements made by one of the staff at this stop.
At 8:30 this morning it was so busy there was a queue to get onto the platform. People were standing in the middle of the road between the tram tracks and the cars stranded because the platform was completely full.
As the lights changed, more and more people crossed the road to stand in a precarious line. I wasn't able to take a photo this morning, but I did take a photo of the crowd on the platform last week. Double or triple the number of people and you start to get the idea.
 |
| Dangerously crowded tram platform in Melbourne CBD ©divacultura 2013 |
I've been wondering what the answer is. Holding bays on the footpaths, so that only the people boarding trams that have arrived - or about to arrive - are allowed to wait on the platform? Remodelling the stop to make it longer, so that it can hold more people? Perhaps a combination of these approaches so that both the long and short term are addressed.
The other problem is about being able to move along the platform to get to the tram you want to catch when it does arrive. This morning I waited in the queue to get onto the platform. As a wave of pedestrians crossed the road, they didn't join the end of the queue, they just blended in with the clump of people. No one was moving forwards. As a tram arrived people did move forward, but then there was the problem of the people exiting the tram who were added into the crush already on the platform. Many disembarking from the front door solved this by stepping directly onto the tracks and walking off that way.
The number 1 tram I wanted to catch this morning (I missed one while I was stuck waiting in the queue off the platform) was third in a line of trams, so I had to make my way to the opposite end of the platform. I quickly fell in behind two men who were doing the same thing. Half way through my trek, someone started to push me from behind. I turned around and asked them to please not push me. They pointed at the tram and said they wanted to catch that tram. I pointed out that that was what we were all trying to do and we just had to make our way patiently.
It's not just the traffic, the likelihood of being run over by a tram, but the likelihood of frayed tempers and surging crowds that also worries me. Thankfully Melbournians are generally well trained and well behaved in crowds. In their desperation to get to their destination, someone might do something silly
The day after I took the photo above, I noticed a man taking the same photo. I remarked on this to him.
"Yeah, well I'm from Tasmania and I've never seen so many people!" was his response.
I know that I might sound like a shock jock, but what's it going to take to fix public transport infrastructure like this? A death?
What's the point of all this feedback on myki?
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I'm on the customer experience panel for the myki ticketing system. My motivation for spending time on this is that I am a committed public transport user and I believe in contributing to my community to make things better.
Each week I try to participate in all of the tasks requested. I dedicate my time to this and take it very seriously, participating sincerely and honestly.
Sometimes I feel like I'm beating my head against a wall as changes seem to take such a long time to be made. Sometimes I wonder if changes ever will be made. The wheels turn very slowly.
Public Transport Victoria regularly provides news and updates in response to our feedback. Most of the time it's unremarkable. Occasionally I read something and think "oh, I'm glad they fixed that!". This week I just sat and shook my head.
Not long ago we had specifically been asked about how myki calculates fares and applies defaults. Apparently the panel's feedback must have suggested that they are complex and hard to understand. The essence of the message provided back to us was there's plenty of information about how it's done and here are all the places where you can read it!
Or on the subject of most people preferring to top up at a myki machine, their response was to tell us they will be launching a campaign to tell everyone about the other ways.
Perhaps out of context some of the impact of these communiques may be lost, but I worry that they are missing the point. If the default position is to defend the system as it stands, rather than thinking about how customer concerns could actually be addressed, I can not see how any aspect of the system will be improved, or what the point of the whole exercise is.
One of my friends today thanked me for continuing to engage with the underperformers who are running Victoria's public transport, saying I'm doing everyone a favour. I'm no longer sure about that because the result seems so lacking.
Each week I try to participate in all of the tasks requested. I dedicate my time to this and take it very seriously, participating sincerely and honestly.
Sometimes I feel like I'm beating my head against a wall as changes seem to take such a long time to be made. Sometimes I wonder if changes ever will be made. The wheels turn very slowly.
Public Transport Victoria regularly provides news and updates in response to our feedback. Most of the time it's unremarkable. Occasionally I read something and think "oh, I'm glad they fixed that!". This week I just sat and shook my head.
Not long ago we had specifically been asked about how myki calculates fares and applies defaults. Apparently the panel's feedback must have suggested that they are complex and hard to understand. The essence of the message provided back to us was there's plenty of information about how it's done and here are all the places where you can read it!
Or on the subject of most people preferring to top up at a myki machine, their response was to tell us they will be launching a campaign to tell everyone about the other ways.
Perhaps out of context some of the impact of these communiques may be lost, but I worry that they are missing the point. If the default position is to defend the system as it stands, rather than thinking about how customer concerns could actually be addressed, I can not see how any aspect of the system will be improved, or what the point of the whole exercise is.
One of my friends today thanked me for continuing to engage with the underperformers who are running Victoria's public transport, saying I'm doing everyone a favour. I'm no longer sure about that because the result seems so lacking.
Pondering artists' impressions and corporate gobbledygook
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After dinner on Saturday evening, I walked with my friend to the Yarraville train station. As we crossed the tracks, a man came towards us. I was cautious until I noticed the police van parked nearby. There had been an assault in the vicinity on the previous Sunday morning and police were seeking information.
We were shown an artist's sketch and asked we recognised the man. This is the first time I've been directly asked this question. I've seen pictures on television, but it felt more significant when asked directly. I carefully studied the picture. I needed to get past my initial idea that it wasn't a real person - it's the idea of a description of a person. Then I said that I didn't recognise him. I also studied the picture because I wanted to be able to recognise him if he's buying milk at the supermarket.
After leaving my friend to catch his train back to the city, I walked back to where my car was parked on the other side of the tracks, feeling cautious and self-conscious about the fact that I was walking alone.
I think it's an amazing skill to draw someone from someone else's description. How do you get specific enough in the description to come up with anything other than a picture of a generic humanoid? Whenever I have been asked to describe someone (or myself) it seems to be a list comprising gender, hair colour and style, eye colour, height and clothing, which is fleeting. I'd love to know how the artists do it.
*****
On a different subject, I was bathed in corporate speak this morning while I was on a job. People were seriously saying things to me like:
Whatever happened to plain, direct communication? What the hell is an "uptick"? Is it one word or two?
I thought about a police artist trying to sketch a suspect in a situation where that suspect worked for a big corporation and spoke Manager.
"He was a senior leader who understood the value proposition of customer service. I liked him. He gave me an uptick on my appraisal and on passed the news to his leader who circled back and value added with me. Yeah, I liked him."
"..."
"Oh, he was 180cm tall, brown hair, brown eyes, looked after himself, you know? Sharp suits."
Tough gig.
We were shown an artist's sketch and asked we recognised the man. This is the first time I've been directly asked this question. I've seen pictures on television, but it felt more significant when asked directly. I carefully studied the picture. I needed to get past my initial idea that it wasn't a real person - it's the idea of a description of a person. Then I said that I didn't recognise him. I also studied the picture because I wanted to be able to recognise him if he's buying milk at the supermarket.
After leaving my friend to catch his train back to the city, I walked back to where my car was parked on the other side of the tracks, feeling cautious and self-conscious about the fact that I was walking alone.
I think it's an amazing skill to draw someone from someone else's description. How do you get specific enough in the description to come up with anything other than a picture of a generic humanoid? Whenever I have been asked to describe someone (or myself) it seems to be a list comprising gender, hair colour and style, eye colour, height and clothing, which is fleeting. I'd love to know how the artists do it.
*****
On a different subject, I was bathed in corporate speak this morning while I was on a job. People were seriously saying things to me like:
- We're looking for an uptick on that.
- Let's circle back on that.
- What's your value add?
- I understand the customer service value proposition.
Whatever happened to plain, direct communication? What the hell is an "uptick"? Is it one word or two?
I thought about a police artist trying to sketch a suspect in a situation where that suspect worked for a big corporation and spoke Manager.
"He was a senior leader who understood the value proposition of customer service. I liked him. He gave me an uptick on my appraisal and on passed the news to his leader who circled back and value added with me. Yeah, I liked him."
"..."
"Oh, he was 180cm tall, brown hair, brown eyes, looked after himself, you know? Sharp suits."
Tough gig.
24 Şubat 2013 Pazar
Watch BMW Engineers Test a Group of 2-Series Coupes and Convertibles
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It's a little late to sing the jingle bells, but oh, what fun is it to slide in a rear wheel drive coupe…eh? We're singing to the tune of a group of BMW engineers who seemed to be enjoying themselves in 2-Series Coupe and Convertible prototypes in Sweden, despite the freezing weather.
VIDEO
It's a little late to sing the jingle bells, but oh, what fun is it to slide in a rear wheel drive coupe…eh? We're singing to the tune of a group of BMW engineers who seemed to be enjoying themselves in 2-Series Coupe and Convertible prototypes in Sweden, despite the freezing weather.
The cloth- and hard-top iterations of the new 2-Series will sit right below the recently announced 4-Series models as the most affordable way to get into a two-door sports car from BMW when they arrive in the market in about a year or so from now.
Underneath their differently shaped sheetmetal, you'll find the same platform architecture, technology and plenty of interior bits from the 1-Series hatchbacks.
Expect a raft of 1-Series engines in the new 2-Series models, stretching from 2.0-liter turbocharged gasoline and diesel units with up to 215-horsepower (unless BMW uses the same 240hp 2.0-liter turbo from the 328i) to a 3.0-liter turbocharged straight six with more than 300hp. An M version will follow down the line.
Given that the second-generation 1-Series is offered with all-wheel drive, we see no reason why BMW wouldn't make xDrive available on the coupe and convertible models as well.
Video Credits: CarPix for CarScoop
VIDEO
2014 Jeep Cherokee Officially Revealed, Let the Face Naming Begin…
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After someone sneaked out a few pictures of the new 2014 Cherokee from Jeep's factory and unloaded them earlier today on Jalopnik, Jeep thought that it might be a good idea to release a shinier set of professionally edited and produced images to show us its new mid-size SUV at its best.
After someone sneaked out a few pictures of the new 2014 Cherokee from Jeep's factory and unloaded them earlier today on Jalopnik, Jeep thought that it might be a good idea to release a shinier set of professionally edited and produced images to show us its new mid-size SUV at its best.
If anything else, the new 2014 Cherokee that replaces the Liberty in North America and its namesake in other parts of the world, needs to look its best with that - how shall we put it delicately, awkward looking face, which we don't know if it reminds us more of a modern-day Pontiac Aztec or a catfish with some serious indigestion problems...
In addition to these photos, Jeep tells us that the 2014 Cherokee will make its world premiere at the New York International Auto Show at the end of March, and that it sets "a new standard with even more best-in-class capability, exemplary on-road driving dynamics, and fuel economy improvements of more than 45 percent versus the outgoing mid-size SUV model."
We've heard that the new Cherokee is built on the same CUSW platform as the Dodge Dart, which has its roots in the Alfa Romeo Giulietta, while Allpar reported that engine options are likely to include a 3.2-liter V6, and a choice of four-cylinder units.
We'll get to know more details in the coming weeks, but until then, feast your eyes on the Cherokee gallery and share your thoughts in the comments area.
PHOTO GALLERY
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