Zen and the culture of pruning

The Skype meeting was tedious and I found myself checking FaceBook. Checking FaceBook out of the corner of my eye; one can never look away from the camera during an online meeting. A discrete click, a sly scroll and ‘Pruning is cultural not scientific’, that’s worth a...

Facilitation in a time of change

– the control of exotic vegetation on Auckland’s volcanic cones The volcanic cones of Auckland were taken from the Māori about 150 years ago; the cones were and are considered ancestral mountains, they are Tūpuna Maunga. During those 150 years, Māori had...

Value in Risk

Of the over 20 or so definitions of risk that exist by far the simplest is; the possibility of losing something of value. In terms of managing risk for health and safety, risk is defined as the likely consequence of a hazard, combined with the likelihood or...

Welcome to the High Court and have a nice day

I have just spent the past two and a half days in the High Court; not as a cleaner or a criminal, but as an expert witness. I have provided evidence in Court before, but not the High Court; this was just a job that just happened to be in the High Court – not a bother....

Roots and the meaning of life

I’m not sure why, but work is all about roots at the moment – roots, roots and more roots; or fewer roots as the case may be, mainly because developer X has had them surgically removed with an excavator. The main problem with roots is that we don’t know always know...

Re-purposing trees?

If you find yourself in Hawaii with some time to kill [April 30], pop along to the Sheraton, Waikiki and take in the Western Chapter Conference – there is a great line-up of local and international speakers, and I’ll be there as well…  I get to give...