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tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-69822038243344537922018-08-29T04:43:27.350-07:00My Management ExperimentTroy firstname.lastname@example.com:blogger.com,1999:blog-6982203824334453792.post-8416228447167796502015-07-28T14:09:00.000-07:002015-07-30T16:53:04.945-07:00Are you Really an Agile Team?mymanagementexperiment.com

Easy to Understand but Hard to Apply

Many of us claim to be Agile teams. Our team made this claim until a colleague (Brian Keirstead) challenged us on how we were ignoring some basic practices of Scrum. Here are some of the reasons why he pointed out that we weren't a Scrum team:

We had a single 15-20 person team

We did not have a formal Sprint Planning

Our backlog was scattered across a couple of excel spreadsheets

We did not force-rank our backlog

We had QA operate as a separate phase (sometimes in the next sprint)

As much as we agreed with him, we argued that we were necessarily different. We needed to adapt the Scrum framework to suit our needs. "We need to make the framework work for us!!".

Looking back, I can admit that this approach is flawed. Scrum is a really simple Agile project management framework. If you are first starting out with an Agile team it's likely you don't know - what you don't know. The easiest way to learn is by doing... until it becomes "muscle-memory". Much like learning any skill you need to first learn the rules before you break them.

The Pain Means Your Growing

Many of us mistake the pain of learning is a signal that we're doing it wrong. Our pain in adopting Scrum revealed the following:

Organizational impediments are sometimes phrased as "the way we do business"

Team work does not always come naturally

Saying NO is not easy, but important

Time-boxing is crucial to empirical analysis

The Way We Do Business

When we broke the 15-20 group into 2 separate teams there was a lot of resistance. We complained that we weren't able to see the big picture. We believed that our large complex app required an equally large team.

The reality was that we failed to articulate a clear concise strategy. Having a big group was our way of hiding this fact.

We also did ad-hoc "Planning" as we were stealing a Kanban style of taking on stories continuously. However we did not put strong WIP (Work-In-Progress) limits in place, or craft stories to be all equal in size. As a result we...

often slammed QA with large number of stories

were unable to forecast a release date

did not operate as a team on a focused goal

But There's an "I" in Agile!

Developer culture often focuses on the brilliance on an individual, a hero ... a "Rock Star" developer. Having smart, motivated and intelligent people is a good thing. However, no individual should cast a shadow so large, that it leaves others in the dark.

Standup's started to reveal how poorly coordinated we were. We often spent the whole day not talking to each other. We had a habit of measuring success by completing our individual user stories.

By having a dedicated Scrum Master we were challenged to learn how to work together towards a common Sprint Goal. Once teams began to really gel, we saw a dramatic increase in velocity. But more importantly, we really started to love working with each other. To this day, we point to our team mates as one of the best reasons we love our job.

Rebel Scrum Master

There was a period of time that developers were not empowered to voice concerns and make changes. To give teams more autonomy our Scrum Masters were encouraged to say "no" a lot:

"No" to having Managers/Leads at Retros

"No" to having 20 people interrupting a 15-min standup

"No" to ad-hoc requests mid-sprint to aren't aligned with the Sprint Goal

By giving the Scrum Master permission to play the bad cop, teams could properly focus on the Sprint. Once we got the basics we didn't require the largely defensive role of the Scrum Master.

To quote Ken Schwaber "...a dead Scrum Master is a useless Scrum Master". It's can bean easier pill to swallow making many small changes - over large swooping ones.

Empiricism not Imperialism

Often at the end of a Sprint, we'd let a story roll over until the next day of the sprint. By focusing on "getting credit" for the work on the sprint, we were hiding problems that we needed to be solved. In this example, we needed a clear "Definition of Done" that included QA verification. The fear of missing a sprint prevented us from learning.

As Star Wars taught us so well, fear is a great source of learning. Luke Skywalker was taught this fact when he pleaded with Yoda to train him. "I won't fail you! I'm not afraid!".

Yoda - a seasoned Scrum/Jedi Master saw Luke as young and naive. "Oh! You will be.... you will be."

Unlike in the movies, it isn't an Evil Empire that is standing in the way of your teams success... it's likely just a very common aversion to pain fear and failure.

Troy Danielhttps://firstname.lastname@example.com:blogger.com,1999:blog-6982203824334453792.post-87859522290100898502015-07-26T09:02:00.000-07:002015-07-26T09:03:49.935-07:00What Motivates Your Team?

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How do you know what motivates your team?

I value curiosity, freedom and acceptance. It's an easy mistake to make decisions based on your own motivations - but what about your team? What motivates them? How do you, as a leader make decisions that align with their motivations?

I'm a huge fan of Jurgen Appelo's Management 3.0 game "Moving Motivators". It is deceivingly simple and incredibly insightful. It's a really simple tool that takes very little time to explain.

It starts with the following 10 cards that can be remembered with the acronym CHAMPFROGS:

Curiosity

Honour

Acceptance

Mastery

Power

Freedom

Relatedness

Order

Goal

Status

You can the download the below cards from the Management 3.0 website.

Here are the 2 steps I take with my team:

Rank your motivations from least to most important

record these rankings to skip this step in the future

Consider a recent change and how it affected your recent motivators

move it up if it was positive

move it down if it was negative

The game addresses how complex our motivations are. There cards are a colourful way to give your team a language to consider what intrinsically motivates them.

It also is a great way to visualize how some things are more important than others. Jurgen derived these 10 motivators from various reputable resources (Daniel Pink, Steven Reiss, Edward Deci).

Non-Confrontational and Effective

When reviewing these cards with another person, it can be non-confrontational as you are facing the cards and not each other. A simple example with a co-worker may be, "How did moving from a large 20 person team to a small 5 person Scrum team affect your motivators?".

Personally, I did this exercise with my team and found myself surprised by what I learned. This tool allowed my team to speak specifically about what the found de-motivating and why they found it so. It also removed the need for us to debate on the change itself. We focused solely on their motivations and how it affected them.

It's also a great tool when you bring something up - and it doesn't affect motivations at all. You don't need to talk about it.

I created the following 2 minute video to help illustrate how to play the game and why it is valuable:

I'd encourage anyone to try it out with their team, co-workers or even their managers. More interesting that the tool itself... is the dialogue it generates. I hope you find yourself as surprised as I was by learning what motivates your team.

Troy Danielhttps://email@example.com:blogger.com,1999:blog-6982203824334453792.post-40863590194804468382015-07-22T06:16:00.000-07:002015-07-22T06:16:06.963-07:00How to Build a High Performance Teammymanagementexperiment.com

Culture-fit doesn't need to be Voodoo Magic

Having a team with cross-functional skills is fundamental for Agile teams. Culture-fit can push these teams to a higher performance. This doesn't need to be a "from-the-gut" activity. Here are three steps I have taken to build teams with the right culture fit:

Select individuals with similar core-values

Pair "Professors" and "Entrepreneur" within a team

Ask individuals privately who they enjoy working with

Core-Values

Jurgen Appelo describes core values as "the ones that come naturally to you. Without them, you wouldn't be yourself." -https://management30.com/product/workouts/create-value-in-your-organization/

The challenge I found, is that if you ask someone their core values... they either may not know, or may tell you what they'd like to be true. I've found the the "click-down" tool to be a great way to interview your team and learn what really makes them tick.
http://managementexperiments.blogspot.ca/2015/07/experimenting-with-11s-ready.html

Professors and Entrepreneurs

I have no shame in admitting this is stolen right from Spotify's playbook. The basic idea is that the Professor wants to get it done perfectly ... while the Entrepreneur wants to get it done quickly.

"There is a healthy tension between these roles, as the entrepreneur tends to want to speed up and cut corners, while the professor tends to wants to slow down and build things properly. Both aspects are needed, that's why it's called a healthy tension." - https://dl.dropbox.com/u/1018963/Articles/SpotifyScaling.pdf

With Spotify's setup, they have the Product Owner and Chapter Lead play these roles. However, we found success in setting up our teams who had natural inclinations as either a Professor or Entrepreneur.

This healthy tension would generate solid intelligent debate about applying "best practices" and balancing out the need to be "results-oriented".

This works really well once you've found individuals who share similar core-values. If this is lacking, what could be a healthy debate between a "Professor" and "Entrepreneur" may instead be demotivating and disempowering.

Ask Them

Although this may seem obvious, it can easily be a missed step in forming new teams. While you would want to avoid a conversation about "who's the better developer?" ... it can be a fairly neutral conversation to ask "who do you really enjoy working with?".

The emphasis of the conversation is on personal preference - not performance.

Troy Danielhttps://firstname.lastname@example.com:blogger.com,1999:blog-6982203824334453792.post-13009772606373031542015-07-18T12:34:00.002-07:002015-07-21T21:25:24.494-07:00Your Agile Mindset is Limited
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We're Great - And You Are Not

In the book Tribal Leadership, David Logan speaks about 5 distinct cultural stages we see in organizations.

Stage 1 - Life Sucks

Stage 2 - My Life Sucks

Stage 3 - I'm Great ... And You Are Not

Stage 4 - We're Great.... And You Are Not

Stage 5 - Life's Great

Stage 1 organizations are very uncommon and are only seen in prisons and criminal organizations.

David Logan points to the DMV (Department of Motor Vehicles) as an example of workers working at a Stage 2 cultural level.

Approximately 50% of workplace culture operates at Stage 3. Stage 3 culture sees competition amongst employees as means of increasing overall performance. Many successful organizations operate at this cultural stage. However, the Agile/Lean movements have shown how teams can out perform individuals.

Many Agile teams and companies operate at Stage 4, but still identify it's greatness in comparison to other teams. Agile teams within large corporations can be seen as religious zealots. You may here them speak about "how waterfall is foolish", or how other teams "just don't get it". This cultural level is high-performing - but is still limited.

Stage 5 cultures operate at a level of "Life is great".  There are a precious few organizations that fit this mold. Zappos and Morning Star are often pointed to as examples of organizations operating at this level.

We've had the good fortune of meeting Doug Kirkpatrick who was there in it's inception of Morning Star. Here is Doug's TED talk on his experience with Morning Star and how they have no bosses and are entirely self-managed.

In Fredric Laloux's book "Re-inventing Organizations" he describes 5 paradigms that directly relate to these 5 cultural stages:

Level 1 - Impulsive Red (Wolfpack)

Level 2 - Conformist Amber (Army)

Level 3 - Achievement Orange (The Machine)

Level 4 - Pluralistic Green (The Family)

Level 5 - Evolutionary Teal (Whole Living Organism)

The following video describes these paradigms, examples of organizations that apply them, and the impact of taking on each paradigm.

https://vimeo.com/121517508

The easy conclusion is to aspire for your organization to be a "Level 5". However, as David Logan points out in his book "Tribal Leadership"... "you can't skip a step". Upgrading your organizations existing culture means starting with where you are.

Someone in a Level 3 culture needs to be valued for their individual contributions before extending into a team. As well, Level 4 cultures are a necessary stepping stone for most organizations, before considering a self-managed team. Lastly, Level 5 is not sustainable unless we have learned the language of Level 4.

Regardless of where your organization is, it's important to speak the language of their current stage. The book "Tribal Leadership" offers a great deal of examples and tools to help upgrade your organizations culture.

Personally, I've been fortunate to get the support of others that have been through similar transitions and transformations. Whether they are Scrum Masters, Agile Coaches or seasoned Executives, there is no shortage of people who are willing to share their passion for creating truly excellent organizations.

Troy Danielhttps://firstname.lastname@example.com:blogger.com,1999:blog-6982203824334453792.post-51182907763918121172015-07-09T01:01:00.003-07:002015-07-09T01:01:44.086-07:00Tribal Leadership - 21 Day Challenge

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Tribal Leadership - 21 Day Challenge
http://www.culturesync.net/21days/

This 21 day daily exercise was painfully exciting and rewarding. It's been a fundamental part of my growth in learning to lead. This description taken from the sign-up page describes it best:

"It's free, but it's not easy. It requires that you watch a short (3 minute) video each day, and take the action that's required. The actions require courage and commitment—two characteristics all leaders share. "

I came out of the challenge with a few really helpful tools including "Click-Down" and "Mountains and Valleys".

An example of a growthful challenge is the "Reputation Challenge" on day 6. It's a simple exercise where you "Find three people whose opinion of you is important and ask 'what is my reputation?'".

A key value of this exercise is that "Managers Derail Because they are not Managing Reputations".
Troy Danielhttps://email@example.com:blogger.com,1999:blog-6982203824334453792.post-2159041382644001982015-07-05T05:51:00.002-07:002015-07-07T18:02:39.184-07:00Big Ego's and Star Trek

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That's a lot of Ego

Transactional Analysis is a very accessible theory of modern psychology. It's been a great tool for me to engage in "Adult-to-Adult" conversations. The following 10 minute video is a great introduction to the concepts.

It's an obvious statement to say that Leadership is largely about people. However, attending Greg Witz's Leadership workshop was a great way to learn by doing. As pre-work, we were asked to have our colleagues answer multiple choice questions to determine what our predominate ego states are.

For myself, when I'm feeling creative and generating ideas
I gravitate towards "Spontaneous Child" ego state. When working with others I sometimes find myself in the "Nurturing Parent" ego state.

This works great when we're in a pinch and need to rally the troops towards a common goal.

However, I've learned that this can sometimes trigger negative reactions. For example, the "Critical Parent" ego state may see the "Nurturing Parent" or "Spontaneous Child" as either insincere or manipulative.

In these interactions, I find it's more productive if I stick to the "Adult" ego state - focusing on results and facts. It's a deliberate choice on how I communicate, without changing who I am.

As a Star Trek geek, I noticed many examples of the various ego states in the show. I've tried to find video clips that demonstrate how various ego states start out, and change through the interaction.

Hope you enjoy them as much as I do.

Critical Parent and Angry Children

Worf plays the "Angry Child" ego state often. Picard demonstrates how a little "Critical Parent" ego state can provide a healthy challenge to the "Angry Child".

Spontaneous Children, Angry Child and Adult

Q provides lots of examples of the "Spontaneous Child". Picard starts with a little "Angry Child" and closes with some "Adult". I'm not personally advocating for using the "Angry Child" as demonstrated, but it provides some context on how the "Angry Child" could cut to the chase especially if a "Spontaneous Child" is being disruptive. Equally important, it's interesting to see how Picard quickly follows up with an "Adult" ego state.

Withdrawn Children, Nurturing Parent and Adult

Here, Deanna Troi starts as a "Withdrawn Child", and Guainan comes in with with a mixture of "Spontaneous Child" and "Nurturing Parent". Guainan moves the dialogue to a close with them both engaged in an Adult-to-Adult conversation.

Angry Child, Critical Parent and Adult

In this scene Data takes command of the Starship Enterprise. Worf unproductively challenges Data frequently with his "Angry Child" ego state. Data pulls him aside and initiates with a strong "Critical Parent" ego state and closes with Adult.

Troy Danielhttps://email@example.com:blogger.com,1999:blog-6982203824334453792.post-42780316684913901062015-07-03T03:13:00.002-07:002015-07-03T03:14:10.119-07:00Experimenting with 1:1's

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Creating a Healthy Work Environment

I've had inspiring managers and horrible managers. They have all dramatically influenced my health and well-being. These experiences have taught me that a healthy work environment is a result of hard work. And a crucial element of this hard work is experimentation.

I want to create a work environment where people are surprised by their own potential. An environment where we respectfully challenge each other to play at the top of our game. Since change is inevitable - continuously learning through experimentation is vital.

Here are a couple of simple experiments that we've been running with my team during our 1:1's.

Moving Motivators

"Management 3.0 #Workout" is fast-becoming my favourite management book and resource toolkit. Moving Motivators is a really simple exercise that I've done in my 1:1's with my team, but you can use it with your colleagues or even in retrospectives.

It's a simple way to prioritize from a set of 10 "motivators".

...and then have a dialogue about how change impacts your motivations.

Here are a couple of references to the game that should help get you started:

https://management30.com/product/moving-motivators/
http://noop.nl/2011/09/moving-motivators-free-exercise.html

Click Down

In the "21-day Tribal Leadership Challenge" David Logan introduced the "click-down" tool with 2 simple steps.

1. In a conversation with a co-worker, listen for a word that would be "blue and underlined". That is, if you were to "click on it" it would take you to additional content. For example your co-worker may say "I am really frustrated with how this sprint is going."

2. Ask an open-ended question about that word to elict a deeper conversation. For example, you may ask "Why are you so frustrated with how this sprint is going?"

You would repeat steps 1 and 2 until it becomes "uncomfortable" or difficult for the other person to answer. When you get to that place, you've usually stumbled onto their core-values. It takes a bit of practice to make sure you make it part of an organic part of your conversation.

Read more about this and listen to David Logan here:
http://www.triballeadership.net/core-values/click-down

Final Note - Bringing Devices into 1:1's

When I first started holding 1:1's with my team I'd bring my laptop into the room and take notes. I found that screens would put up walls in our dialogue and broke up the natural flow of the dialogue. I've still bring my laptop occasionally to 1:1's, but use a pen and index cards to capture notes.

This also allows me to pay closer attention to others, by jotting down notes as they speak. Instead of being burdened by follow-up questions or "click-down" words... I'm able to more closely focus and listen to what they have to say.

Troy Danielhttps://email@example.com:blogger.com,1999:blog-6982203824334453792.post-84068754382749313452015-06-30T21:01:00.000-07:002015-11-06T03:48:19.579-08:00My leadership toolkit

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A simple toolkit

I've got a crappy memory. To compensate I carry around index cards while away from my computer, and transcribe my notes onto my GTD (Get Things Done) text file. It's archaic, but I've found pen and paper are far more natural and keep conversations fluid.

I take with me little "cheat sheets" of discoveries that have become a part of my leadership toolkit. Feel free to download the toolkit here. They fit nicely on the back of index cards.

Lead yourself

"Lead yourself, lead your superiors, lead your peers, and free your people to do the same. All else is trivia." - Dee Hock (founder of Visa credit card association)

It's very easy to wear the hat of an expert especially when in a position of authority. However, I've found it's not terribly empowering for my colleagues if I wear that hat too often.

I've taken the approach of learning with my team by sharing my cheat sheet. The objective is for them to "lead themselves" instead of depending on the conventional role of the manager. Depending on their varying levels of interest, I go into detail about each tool and give them copies upon request.

About the toolkit

The three gaps were described by Stephen Bungay in "Art Of Action" point out "Gaps" leaders face with Plans, Actions and Outcomes. The red text below is how we incorrectly respond to a gap. For example, when responding to the "Knowledge gap" we incorrectly respond by providing more information.

The green text is how we should respond. For example, with the "Knowledge gap" we should provide clear direction in the form of "What and Why".

The 7 levels of delegation are described by this short 3 min video. By having a model to describe how authority is being applied, it helps set expectations on how much influence we all have on the decision.

Transactional Analysis was introduced to me by leadership guru "Greg Witz" during his leadership training course. The diagram below speaks to how we can move into "Parent, Adult or Child" ego states when communicating with colleagues, friends and family.

In short, when communicating with each other we move unconsciously into various ego states. The goal is to return the dialogue back to an "Adult to Adult" conversation. This article speaks about transactional analysis in more detail. At the risk of over-simplifying a simple example can be an interaction you may have with a "Withdrawn Child". The "Nurturing Parent" ego state could bring them back to the conversation into an Adult-to-Adult conversation. To get a true sense of how this works I'd highly recommend signing up for a Witz leadership training workshop.

Dynamic Coaching is an approach to supporting your team depending on their various levels of them being "Willing and Able". I've applied the ego states within each quadrant to help shape how you can approach your colleagues depending on where they are, and if they need support.

The last tool is an extension of Bungay's three gaps, speaking to how leaders can provide strategic intent to increase Alignment without sacrificing Autonomy.  It's often seen that Alignment to be in opposition to Autonomy. Either "do as I say" or "do whatever you want". Bungay's challenge this assumption.

The below card shows how a leader can provide clear direction by focusing on the "What+Why". This frees your team to figure out the "how" by aligning with the leaders strategic intent.

Troy Danielhttps://firstname.lastname@example.com:blogger.com,1999:blog-6982203824334453792.post-70089863776624140772015-06-26T19:28:00.000-07:002015-06-26T19:28:17.581-07:00Whispering Wednesdays
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Moving to an Open Space

Our department recently moved to a large open space without cubicles. We've been given large tables, chairs, whiteboards and a beautiful 8th floor view of the Toronto airport.

It's been an experiment in creating better face-to-face collaboration and increased productivity. For the most part we're happy with the move.

There have been occasions where individuals have wanted to have a quiet space to focus and get work done. Our new office space was not conducive to a quiet and focused space.

Driving to work, I'd listened to Jason Fried in an interview on the CBC.

He spoke about how the modern workplace does not support getting work done. (Jason Fried is the co-founder of 37 signals and the author of the book "Rework").

Here's the interview if you are interested on "Why Work Doesn't Happen at Work":

http://www.cbc.ca/player/Radio/Spark/ID/2250896998/

In the interview he proposed the idea of just taking one day and treating the workplace like a Library.

We decided to experiment ourselves by creating a "Whispering Wednesday" on the first Wednesday of the 2 week sprint.

Experimenting with Whispering Wednesday's

I presented the idea to the team and they were willing to give it try. We had a single simple rule: Keep your voice down so that it would be loud enough for someone sitting beside or near you.

We even designated a "Librarian" that was given permission to shush the heck out of anyone that had forgotten the rule. After the day had passed, it was hard to tell if the experiment was a success. So we decided to ask the group if they'd like to try it again. Survey Monkey came to the rescue:

Having such a close tie in the results I decided to ask for more feedback in our 1:1's.

For the most part, the teams for valued being able to speak openly and freely more than having quiet time.

However we all agreed to try it again, to accommodate individuals needing quiet and focused time. There were still a few members that craved a quiet space.

So, for the next iteration we revised "Whispering Wednesday" to occur in a designated quiet room. Instead of asking whether we'd like to try it again in two weeks, the question was asked "What kind of impact was Whispering Wednesday for you?"

As a result, we now occasionally run a Whispering Wednesday with a designated room... and have found a healthy balance between the needs of the few vs the large group.

What I've learned so far

Experimentation is crucial to a healthy workplace. Equally as important is that we measure changes to see if they positively impacting our department.

And lastly, by measuring and sharing the results of experiments, the team is more willing to take risks as they are a clear part of the rationale behind the decision making.

Troy Danielhttps://email@example.com:blogger.com,1999:blog-6982203824334453792.post-9496033393354597582015-06-24T02:57:00.001-07:002015-06-24T02:57:19.587-07:00The "hot seat" experiment
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Difficult Conversations Workshop

Our development team recently attended a whole-day workshop about "Difficult Conversations". I setup the workshop because we were facing challenges when trying to voice concerns with each other and external departments. The objective was to give the team tools to communicate effectively with various personality styles.

Asking a Difficult Question
A few days later, in our weekly department meeting I decided to stretch myself and give the department permission to ask me any difficult question they'd like.

To select the question, I stole techniques I learned from a recent "Spark the Change" conference I attended here in Toronto. I took the following approach to help the team find the most important "difficult question".

Individuals were asked to quietly generate questions/topics (One per sticky)

The stickies were put up on whiteboard and grouped into similar areas of concern

Everyone went to the board and was allowed to "dot" a sticky with a vote

Individuals were allowed to vote 3 times for their favourite questions (3 dots)

Once everyone voted, the topic with the most "dots" was selected and I sat myself into in front of the team to address their "difficult question"

Here's the source material from Steve Rogalsky that introduces the science behind brainstorming and how "silent brainstorming" to allow all personality types contribute equally.

http://www.infoq.com/presentations/Silent-Brainstorming

Employee Engagement and Retention

The selected topic was "How do you keep turnover low and how do you retain people?". It was a relevant and topical question - as we just had an experienced member of the team resign. I sat down in front of the group and immediately felt awkward and uncomfortable. Many long pauses as we tried to dig in. It was not going smoothly.

I attempted to jumpstart the conversation with some facts on our current retention rates, how they compared historically in our department, how they compared to other companies. I spoke to how "I felt good about where we stood" in light of a Developer's recent resignation.

Interestingly, someone from the group pointed out that I didn't answer the question. The question remained, "how do you keep turnover low and keep good people?". On top of which, half the room was not engaged in the conversation. I had answers, but had no way of knowing if they were right answers.

I felt the value of the conversation diminishing. I attempted to energize the group by speaking about the culture, changes recently made and how this was making for an engaging environment that would keep turnover low. As I soon quickly realized that we weren't making progress, I decided to take on a different tactic. I'd ask them what would make them quit... and what makes them stay.

Ask Them (anonymously)

Survey Monkey is a great tool to get anonymous feedback. In the end we decided to simply ask the department - "what's keeping you here?", and "what would cause you to leave?". The following incomplete sentences were presented:

Our work/life balance...

Our technology stack...

The work we do (i.e. user stories)...

The product we are building ...

Our codebase...

Our culture...

Our company's stability...

My compensation...

My advancement opportunity...

My manager...

My co-worker(s)...

My squad/team...

The survey allowed them to select a value from 1-5 with the values reflecting how they'd complete the sentence:

(1) ..is bad enough to make me quit

(2) ..is not great

(3) ...is okay

(4) ...is good

(5) ...is so great it keeps me here

What I learned from the experience

It was clear after going through this exercise that having the right answer is not as important as having the right question.

The results of the survey were also very insightful. It allowed us to see what behaviours we should continue to support and what issues to immediately address.

As painful as sitting in the hot seat was - I would gladly do it again. By putting myself out there my team recognized that I was committed to being transparent and answering their concerns directly.

For future meetings, I would revise the large group discussion to a few smaller groups of 4-7 each. This may give the smaller groups opportunity to discuss more openly amongst themselves, and allow them to speak to me more comfortably.

The most important result was in finding the right question, and allowing the team to answer safely and anonymously.

Troy Danielhttps://email@example.com:blogger.com,1999:blog-6982203824334453792.post-42260300160063811712015-06-22T03:13:00.001-07:002015-06-23T15:50:01.500-07:00Tribal Council Meeting
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Creating the Tribal Council

I'm a geek that's been in the Software Development field for about 20 years and have worn many different hats. The manager hat is still quite new. Fortunately, peers of mine recommended a book "Management 3.0" that has been my life jacket in rocky waters.

I've come to agree with the author Jurgen Appelo - that "Management is Too Important to Leave to the Managers". I found myself wanting to share the work with colleagues in the team. So I created a 15-minute "Daily Sync" with a few Senior Developers, QA and Scrum Masters. The goal was to be as transparent as possible with topics like:

organizational impediments

upcoming decisions

challenges the department was facing, etc,etc.

As time passed the meeting matured into a 15-minute Tribal Council meeting. I was looking for ways to share the decision making of the department through the "council members". I wanted a way to expose myself to a small group of individuals, while learning how to manage the bumps in the road together.

Bumps along the way

One of these "bumps" resulted from my decision-making that was behind closed doors - with team members one-on-one. An especially notable example was how I created a new team by reshuffling existing members. I had been making team membership decisions in the past with some disruption, but as the department grew so did the discontent. Many developers wondered how these decisions were getting made, and what was the rationale. Needless to say this was not particularly empowering for the team.

Finding Delegation Poker

Not feeling good about the incident, I pulled the book "Management 3.0" and found myself looking at "Delegation Poker" as a possible way to involve the department in decision making that didn't totally disempower me, but empowered the team.

Here's a quick how-to video I created on Delegation Poker:

Delegation Poker at the Council Meeting

I immediately brought the tool into the council meeting and played the game with the scenario "Who gets to decide on team membership?". I selected "Level 3 - Consult" while many council members selected 4,5 and 6. This led to a healthy discussion about how these decisions get made and the impacts to the department and the individuals on the teams. We all came out of this discussion with a better appreciation of the impact and moved into a "4 - Agree" level for this type of decision going forward.

Being Transparent about Council Decisions

Having a large department, we see the Council meeting as a means to self-organize the department. We're still experimenting with ways to ensure high levels of transparency with the whole group, while balancing the need to have effective conversations with a small subset of individuals.

The council members are also responsible for gathering input before they make decisions to ensure proper representation of their vote. We've also built a public JIRA workflow board with the discussion topics, comments and decisions that resulted.

We're stealing from Holacracy to define and roll out "Roles". We're expecting that roles will clearly describe the accountabilities of the council members, along with the many other hats we all wear on the team. More to come on this later.

What I've learned so far

Small break-out chat's with individuals can easily lead to mis-communication. By exposing myself to a larger group (i.e. the council meeting) there is a consistent message and a shared understanding. Regardless of good intentions, making changes can be disempowering if transparency is lacking.

Last but not least, as a manager I find it important to experiment with leading practices. It's clear that I can't "get it right" the first time. It has helped having an attitude of experimentation that allows for learning to be an ongoing process.

Troy Danielhttps://email@example.com:blogger.com,1999:blog-6982203824334453792.post-55360545771193658422015-06-13T08:05:00.002-07:002016-04-03T06:09:48.365-07:00Where do I start?mymanagementexperiment.com

An overview of 3 books that have provided me some practical tools to experiment and learn how to manage a contemporary software development team.

I've been a Software Developer for the better part of my 20 years of professional experience. I've recently taken on the role of "Manager" and quite frankly have little experience with Management.

So in place of experience I've been experimenting. I'll describe some of the "tools" I've been geeking out over that I've lifted from the following three books:

"Tribal Leadership" by David Logan

"Management 3.0" by Jurgen Appelo

"Art of Action" by Stephen Bungay

They've been absolutely invaluable and a source of inspiration in my daily work. I've been able to create a decent toolkit which allows me to continuously experiment to gain experience. If you are in a similar position, I hope the following articles to get your started with your experimentation.

Tribal Leadership - by David Logan
Dave Logan describes how all we naturally form "tribes", how this occurs in the workplace, and the 5 stages of Tribal Culture.

Here's his TED talk on the subject:

A simple read on the concepts:
http://emergentbydesign.com/2012/06/28/a-step-by-step-guide-to-tribal-leadership-part-1-the-five-stages-of-tribal-culture/

As well there's a great 21 day challenge you can take that takes you through practical exercises to gain insight about yourself:
http://www.culturesync.net/21days/

Management 3.0 - by Jurgen Appelo

In his book Management 3.0, Jurgen Appelo provides tools that really engage your team and increase collaboration.

I had the pleasure of meeting Jurgen Appelo at a conference here in Toronto and thanked him for my favourite tool "Delegation Poker". It's a great tool to have a non-confrontational dialogue about authority. It's very similar to the game of "Planning Poker" (If you're an Agile Junkie):

https://management30.com/product/delegation-poker/

Another favourite is the "Kudo Box" which is a great way for peers to recognize each others contributions:
https://management30.com/product/kudo-cards/

Art of Action - by Stephen Bungay

This book is the absolute best kept secret that my colleague (Brian Kierstead) at work has called "The Calculus behind Agile". I stumbled across it when looking for how Spotify learned how to increase Alignment, without sacrificing on Autonomy.

Here's an article on Spotify's agile engineering culture:

https://highfive.com/blog/how-spotify-built-one-of-the-best-engineering-cultures

We had the pleasure of talking to Simon Fawkes, a management consultant who describes the core concepts within the book:
https://youtu.be/yoFVPpo1eEE

The video does a great job describing the "3 gaps", our usual reactions and how we should approach three gaps.

To get you introduced to the concept of "strategic intent" heres a great RSA video by David Marquet:
https://youtu.be/pYKH2uSax8U

Troy Danielhttps://firstname.lastname@example.com


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Alison Wonderland
Genres: college electronicdj fairs special events
About Alison Wonderland:
Recently having one of her sets described by Annie Mac as "the best party set i've heard in a long time" the wide-eyed, dodo racing, rabbit chasing girl of Lewis Carol's opium induced fantasies has officially been superseded.
This Alison didn't fall down anything; she jumped head first down the rabbit hole and landed straight on the decks. Armed with turntables, a killer vibe and an open mind, Alison turns countless dance floors across Australia into your favourite kind of Wonderland: more beats, less croquet.
Beginning with a background in indie and classical, Wonderland's best card is her eclecticism. Throughout her youth she toured Europe as a principal cellist for the Sydney Youth Orchestra and later played bass in a successful local indie band.
After inking a global deal with EMI, Wonderland released her debut compilation record - "Welcome To Wonderland" mid 2012, while her much anticipated first original's album is due out very soon! If the success of her remixes is anything to go by the record is set to be a game changer.
Wonderland has performed in LA at the official Grammy's Afterparty, all throughout Ibiza on top of MOS and the Brit Awards Afterparty in London. In Australia she has torn up main stages at Splendour in the Grass, Falls Festival, Southbound Festival, Stereosonic, Field Day, Parklife (nationally), Good Vibrations Festival, Harbourlife, Sydney Fashion Week, Future Music Festival, Coaster Festival, Secret Garden Festival and more, not to mention her sellout headline national tours.
Since 1988, Prime Source Productions, Inc. has served as an agency for buyers in corporate entertainment booking, meeting planning and private entertainment as well as an entertainment booking agent and producer of talent, negotiating on your behalf for your private and corporate event, fairs and festivals. We provide corporate entertainers, speakers, sports celebrities and comedians to make your event successful and memorable.
Prime Source Productions, Inc. is a full service talent booking and production company that is recognized industry wide as a premier resource for talent booking, complete turn-key live concerts, contract and artist rider negotiations and management, live event production including sound, lighting, backline, etc. and onsite event management for business meetings, event productions, corporate event entertainers, conventions and private events, fairs and festivals. Our relationships with national talent agencies along with Artists and their management companies offer our clients the most current information regarding any artist of interest, including pricing and availabilities.
Unless you are an experienced entertainment buyer, most people don't know how to book or hire entertainment. Prime Source Productions, Inc. stays current on artist tours, their future tour plans, and most of all if they make logistical and financial sense for your event.
As an entertainment producer, entertainment consultant and event organizer for special events of all sizes, we do not serve as the exclusive agent, representative or management of any artist. We work for our clients as their representative to contract the Artists, procure production and fulfill the Artist's rider requirements and help our clients produce or oversee their event resulting in saving our clients money!
If you would like information on how to book or hire Alison Wonderland for your next corporate/private event, fair, festival or concert, click on the Request Booking Information tab below and one of our booking agents will be glad to help.
I Want You
Get Ready
Calm Down

subset: commoncrawl


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Stone Shower Panel,Granite tub surround,Granite shower tray
Stone Shower Panel
Granite Shower Panel
Marble Shower Panel
Travertine Shower Panel
Limestone Shower Panel
Bathroom Show Tray
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Limestone shower trayBashroom Tub Surround
1)Material: Granite, marble and other natural stone
2)Color: White, yellow, red, green, black, coffee and so on
3)Finishing: Anti-slip process, for example, horned, sandblasted, antique, masaic.
4)Size: 40"X40"X2" / 102X102X5CM (custom size acceptable)
5)Style: Welcome customers' designs
6)Packing: Foam--woodencrate
Delivery Time: 15~20days since your confirming ordering.
Origin: China
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Copyright © 2010 Wholesale lots. All rights reserved. Contact Us:firstname.lastname@example.com
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Flash with Admin site
Budjetti $100-300 USD
Need Flash website with an ability to update text fields,photos and load Video And news thicker ,remotely through CMS/XML
Site Includes:
two languages-other is RTL ,short Intro,30 product Galleries-thumbnails ,video shots , and animated headers at different categories,up to 15 categories.
Please , send me -3 of your best flash with admin designs.
Only,serious People Please, rest time waster skip this RFP.
You would need to handle all fla files after moneny is payed for your services.
As I am outsourcing the work, you wont be allowed to publish site at your Portfolio or any website-you must agree with this condition.
Selected Provider would get more work from us on a long run.
I don't do escrow, I need to see work first.
sample of site and style I am looking for -is attached at the link .


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New Ocean Painting – Room with a View
Those who follow my little blog may notice that I've been somewhat absent from posting anything. That is because I've been hard at work trying to hit a painting deadline. The Artists Network holds an annual competition and at the last minute I decided to enter it. They have a section for beginners and since I am a beginner I decided to enter that competition. Besides the main competition has some amazing artists submit work and my work does not even come close to that. I entered the Animal/Wildlife bracket.
started painting again a few weeks ago after a six week break from shoulder surgery. I cannot lift my hand without alot of effort so for now I am restricted to painting small canvases. So I decided to do a grid painting of an anemone with a solitary clownfish in it. My friend Gus is known for his stunning grid paintings and I must say that that inspired me to do one of my own for this competition. I had alot of fun painting this, feel I learned alot and noticed improvement from my previous work. Keep and eye out for more grid paintngs!
Check out the full piece along with details of each panel in my gallery.
Ocean Paintings Weekly Twitter Updates on 2009-04-26
- Setting up a Facebook business page to display my art. #
- Making some good progress on letting people print my fish wall stickers. May be able to launch next week. Stay tuned! #
- Doing a little early morning painting. #
- Getting ready to enjoy the beautiful weather in the park. #
- yay! made my first zazzle sale of this bickering clownfish coffee mug: http://tinyurl.com/cacsdw #
Fish Posters, Canvas Prints, Cards and More!
Since original artwork is expensive, I wanted to create some ways for people to purchase my artwork at a much more affordable price. My wall stickers, which is still being set up, is one way. The other way is through an online store called Zazzle. Zazzle allows anyone to upload their own artwork or photographs and place them on everything from coffee mugs to t-shirts to shoes. I set up my store this last week and called it Ocean Paintings by John Stires. Now people can purchase everything fish: fish cards, fish postcards, fish stamps, fish t-shirts, and fish posters!
Take a look around the store and leave a comment with what you think.
|Fish Posters and Canvas Prints
|Fish Cards
|Fish Postcards
|Fish T-Shirts
|Fish Cups and Mugs
|Fish Stamps
Ocean Paintings Weekly Twitter Updates on 2009-04-19
- Uploading orchid show pics to my blog. Very reef-esque #
- Setting up a Zazzle store. More fish art and designs for everyone! #
- my new pink spotted goby is making my tank dusty. #
- Just posted some more new products to zazzle: http://www.zazzle.com/johnstires. This place is cool! #
- Woke up to a bunch of new Ocean Paintings followers! Thanks for following! #
- Just saved 200 sq ft of rain forest with Tropicana: http://tinyurl.com/ct8hon #
- Found a good Zazzle plugin for my blog! Now I can have a store: http://tinyurl.com/co9h5a #
- welcomes uniquecorals, some really awesome corals here: http://twitter.com/uniquecorals #
- @aquariatweet great timing. was just looking for tips on fragging. thanks! in reply to aquariatweet #
- FWD: If you ra pet luvr and havent heard of HR 669, earn about it NOW: http://tiny.cc/L1S0q, http://tiny.cc/TZWBO #
- Watching my website traffic climb is satisfying. It's like a game! #
- Check out my new zazzle store for fish posters, greeting cards, t-shirts and more! http://tinyurl.com/cvjbpb #
- Cool one of my products just got added to Zazzle's Best for the day: http://tinyurl.com/d2qshn #
- oh wow didn't know Zazzle's best got my art on the homepage for the day! http://www.zazzle.com #
Corals, Anemones, and Orchids?
I visited the NY Botanical Gardens this last weekend to catch the orchid show. I must say, this was quite a treat; the orchids (and botanical garden in general) were beautiful. It was a rainy day, but that didn't put a damper on things, instead it created a nice setting for photos! I'm not a professional photographer, but I'm pretty happy with how they turned out.
While taking photos I realized how similar plants (especially cactii) are to corals. It is a common mistake for people not familiar with corals to think they look like plants, but those of us who have taken care of them for years, pretty much dismiss this idea because we think, "obviously one is a plant and the other is an animal". Looking at it from an artist's perspective I thought it would be cool to juxtapose plant life with ocean life. I think it would prove for some intriguing artwork. I'll add it to my long queue of things to paint.
Enjoy some of these pics from the orchid show! And for those artists who need some flower or plant reference, feel free to use these images for studies or what have you. The orchid show images are all up for free use, commercial or whatever. If you want to give me credit for something that is great. Or just link to my blog.
65 Photos
Ocean Paintings Site Joins Twitter – Come Tweet with Me
Just a short note to let all my blog readers know that I just joined twitter.
What is twitter?
"Twitter is a service for friends, family, and co–workers to communicate and stay connected through the exchange of quick, frequent answers to one simple question: What are you doing?"
Twitter is the up-and-coming tool that is all the craze with the Internet kids. Actually it has been around for quite a while and just keeps getting bigger and bigger. It's a good way to get quick updates from all your friends and family. The Ocean Paintings Twitter is mainly a marketing tool to help spread the word about my reef fish artwork and fish wall stickers, so if you want to follow me to get updates on my artwork, my decals and my aquarium, then stop by twitter and follow me!
If you don't want to join twitter but still want updates, you can do that too! Just come by this blog every once in a while and read the side bar of my site that says "Twitter Updates". You can also join my email mailing list and get a weekly digest of them to your email along with my other blog posts.
Ocean Art by Marcelo Tatsuyoshi Kato
I came across a wonderful ocean artist named Marcelo Tatsuyoshi Kato. He does stunning paper sculptures of fish in the sea. His work has an amazing texture and simple beauty that instantly draws me in.
Every once in a while I spend some time scouring the internet to see what artists are doing in the world of under the sea paintings, and mostly I come across fish artwork that does not appeal to me. Marcelo's work fascinates me. First of all, his composition is whimsical and playful. Marcelo does not like to copy the living world so through his work he creates his own, called Marcelost World. The second thing I like is that he uses paper as a medium, an ironic choice for a subject that soaks and quickly destroys paper. Finally I love the movement he creates with his work.
Take a look at his gallery on Etsy or download his wallpaper. It will definitely brighten your day.
New Ocean Wall Stickers – Wrasses and Triggerfish
my sticker gallery. This round I created some Triggerfish and Wrasses. Both types of fish are very popular amongst saltwater aquarium enthusiasts, however few of them (especially triggers) are beneficial to reef aquariums. I personally have never had Triggerfish or Wrasses in an aquarium, but I do appreciate their exquisite beauty.
Triggerfish have a very comical, unique look. They are diamond/oval shaped fish with a unique dorsal fin. Most apparent are their large teeth which are use for crushing stony corals and rocks. One of the most popular triggers is the clown trigger.
Wrasses are some of the most eye-catching fish in the sea. They come in a wide variety of shapes and colors and exhibit interesting behaviors like burying themselves in the sand. The leopard wrasse shown here is one of my personal favorites.
Keep an eye out for more fun fish decals by subscribing to my email list. Also I plan to have a link to the store up soon.
Painting Fish and Corals Again!
I have had alot of time to think about some new projects so I am excited to get back into painting again. Keep an eye out for my upcoming clownfish work.
To make things easier you can subscribe to the blog and receive an email everytime I make a post.
Fish Wall Stickers in a Bathroom
So now between my aquarium, my paintings and decals in my bathroom visitors may begin to wonder about my obsession with reef fishes.
You are currently browsing the Ocean Painting blog archives.


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Quick question, I need some oil for my ST ahead of driving to France this weekend. What oil have you been using in yours? Getting a little muddled betweenwhat they mean by Dexos 1 and the manual mentions a few different grades to use.
Learner Driver
Drift King
Street Racer
Advanced Bmw driver
New Driver


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Medical travel insurance. What is it? Do you need it?
If you are among those who have had a bad experience trying to get travel insurance to cover your medical conditions, then you'll understand that it can be a worry. Will the cost of it make going away too expensive? Will you be penalised for having common conditions? Will your family have to pay more because you have a medical condition?
Buying travel insurance can be frustrating. It's one product you need but don't want. And there are so many providers all seemingly offering the same thing. Or are they? Will it pay to shop around or go with your bank cover or something cheap from the telly? Can those kinds of policies cover what you really need?
In this blog post we aim to put the record straight. We'll explain how medical travel insurance works and how we, at World First, can help you get the very best medical travel cover you need.
So what exactly is medical travel insurance?
It's actually just a normal travel insurance policy but with extra cover added on for your medical conditions. And it's important because it will ensure you are properly covered – and especially from those conditions you declare in your policy - when you travel.
What we define as a medical condition is anything that affects your health. It could be something that is seemingly trivial and doesn't bother you on a day to day basis or something major that means you need constant medical care, medication and vigilance. It could be angina or cancer, pregnancy or depression.
Our social media man Tristan Rothwell, himself a sufferer of depression, recently wrote a blog post about travel insurance for people with depression that you may find handy if you have depression and are looking to travel.
Why do I need it? And why is it so important?
Medical travel insurance is vital. Why? Because when we cover you we need to know all the facts. So if you are ill or unwell when you are away we can cover it knowing everything about your medical history.
And the simple fact is that if you were abroad and became ill and needed treatment for a condition you already had but didn't tell us about, our underwriters would refuse to pay your bills. It doesn't happen very often but when it does the results can be devastating, especially when you consider how expensive it can be to be treated in Europe or the USA for seemingly simple conditions.
So don't be annoyed with us when we ask you lots of questions about your medical history. We need the detail; to be able to offer you the right cover. We know it happens! But if we didn't ask then we wouldn't be doing our job properly and therefore wouldn't be able to offer you the cover you need - so we can be there if or when you need us.
One thing we see often is people forgetting to declare conditions they have had for a long time and live with – so it's off the radar. But they end up travelling uninsured as a result. Or, worse still, they end up cancelling their trip because of their undeclared condition and are unable to claim the cost back. This is awful and worth remembering.
We've also seen a rise in friends and family crowdfunding for friends who are stranded in a foreign hospital having incurred huge medical bills because they didn't declare a previous illness.
Is medical travel cover going to cost a fortune?
Sometimes it is going to cost more, yes. Our premiums are worked out on the basis of risk. Having said that, you may well be surprised at how little some medical conditions can add to the cost of a policy. In many cases it's just a few pounds. And we will never penalise anyone in your party or family who is travelling with you – because everybody screens individually.
Hypertension or high blood pressure, for example, is a common health problem, especially in older travellers, but it doesn't always lead to a high premium. However, it must be screened.
What is a health screening?
Screening is simple. It's not a full medical with a man in a white coat. It's just a set of questions that we ask to gauge the severity of a health problem or illness. It doesn't take very long, although this will depend on the severity of your condition or whether you have more than one health condition.
The screening system we use is called "Protectif". It is based on the medication you take rather than the conditions you have and offers a much accurate assessment than a lot of other insurers are able to offer.
Why can't you just give me a quote?
When it comes to medical conditions and health problems it's not so straight forward that we can just give someone a quote. It is vital we ask the right questions to make sure you get the cover you need.
We do appreciate that going through screening can be a pain, but without it we wouldn't be able to find out the facts and offer you a reasonable premium based on what we know. If we only had half the facts about a condition, then it'd be likely that your premiums would be higher anyway. And if we didn't know about something you'd not be covered. So either way, you could lose out.
Over the phone or on the internet. Which is best for you?
We know that not everybody wants to go through all the questions online and that some people still prefer to speak to a real human. That's okay. We understand. Just call us on 0345 90 80 161. We are open between 0900 and 1730 Monday to Friday and between 0930 and 1600 on Saturdays.
What health conditions will medical travel insurance cover?
At World First we offer comprehensive cover for thousands of medical conditions, from angina and cancer to HIV and heart disease. Thanks to our screening we are able to cover many conditions that other insurers won't. In fact, we often find people come to us because they have been refused cover elsewhere. Even if your condition is rare we can often help where other companies have been unable to.
So try us. We'll get the right cover for you. And at a price that's fair.


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Welcome! — fairy stamp set
Guest Design Team Video: Fairy Garden Wreath
Posted by Donna Jackson on
Hello Cratfer's welcome to guest designer Donna Jackson's first video, enjoy the tutorial as she creates this lovely Autumnal Fairy wreath. Items used: Moss wreath form Faux moss covered rocks Hot glue Orange Daisy flower heads Moon Fairy Stamp set Faux Mushrooms Items to similar to that used in the video available in store Spatula Faux Autumnal leaves Thank you for reading, please leave a comment below.. Donna Jackson
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- Tags: Autumn, Daisy, Donna Jackson, fairy, fairy stamp set, Moss covered rocks, Moss Stones, Moss Wreath, mushrooms, wreath


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JOHN BALL (d. 1381), an English priest who took a prominent part in the peasant revolt in 1381. Little is known of his early years,but he lived probably at York and afterwards at Colchester. He gained considerable fame as a preacher by expounding the doctrines of John Wycliffe, but especially by his insistence on the principle of social equality. These utterances brought him into collision with the archbishop of Canterbury, and on three occasions he was committed to prison. He appears also to have been excommunicated, and in 1366 all persons were forbidden to hear him preach. His opinions, however, were not moderated, nor his popularity diminished by these measures, and his words had a considerable effect in stirring up the rising which broke out in June 1381. Ball was then in prison at Maidstone; but he was quickly released by the Kentish rebels, to whom he preached at Blackheath from the text, " When Adam delved and Eve span, Who was then a gentleman?" He urged his hearers to kill the principal lords of the kingdom and the lawyers; and he was afterwards among those who rushed into the Tower of London to seize Simon of Sudbury, archbishop of Canterbury. When the rebels dispersed Ball fled to the midland counties, but was taken prisoner at Coventry and executed in the presence of Richard II. on the 15th of July 1381. Ball, who was called by Froissart " the mad priest of Kent," seems to have possessed the gift of rhyme. He undoubtedly voiced the feelings of the lower orders of society at that time. See Thomas Walsingham, Historic Anglicana, edited by 41. T. Riley (London, 1863—1864) ; Henry Knighton, Chronicon, edited by J. R. Lumby (London, 1889—1895) ; Jean Froissart, Chroniques, edited by S. Luce and G. Raynaud (Paris, 1869—1897) ; C. E. Maurice, Lives of English Popular Leaders in the Middle Ages (London, 1875) ; C. Oman, The Great Revolt of 1381 (Oxford, 1906).End of Article: JOHN BALL (d. 1381)
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Let's go camping! The Camping Set includes a tent, a camper, a cup, a kettle, a backpack, a guitar, a lantern, sleeping bag, a log, a fish, a tree ,and of course the campfire.
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Whoever has walked through the countryside, whether wandering for fun or traveling by necessity, has undoubtedly at some time taken a trail that existed before, trails blazed by who knows whom. Some, if they are often used, are highly visible because no vegetation grows on them; others, in grassier or less often used areas, show slight traces of preview footsteps, barely sufficient to serve as orientation. In any case, we are less interested here in the configuration, consistency, or even quality of these trails, as in how they are generated. In most cases, they appear out of necessity, linking places or towns, and, naturally, the idea is either to make them as short or as safe as possible, or to follow the most scenic route. Essentially, therefore, the formation of a trail is a question of optimization. But since we are discussing trails that were not designed by any engineering or architecture firm, but which arose spontaneously in the countryside, this problem cannot be resolved globally. In reality, the problem is not even understood as such, but rather the result of a chaotic, non-lineal process.
In a first phase, different pathways arise at random. As more people walk through the area they gradually add increasingly efficient alternatives, here finding a shorter way, there an easier one. Over the course of time the earliest pathways, since they are no longer used, begin to disappear, once again becoming overgrown with grass, fading away by the work of nature. The trail emerges, then, both due to the traces left behind by all of those walking boots, and to the disappearance from lack of use, of less interesting alternatives. At any given moment, the trail is the result of a collective, unplanned action's impact on the environment. Moreover, the great majority of those who, with their footsteps, create these trails do not communicate among themselves, do not establish any kind of plan, nor do they previously define rules of behavior. They do not know each other, and often do not even care to do so. They all simply act upon a given environment, using elements that the environment itself provides for them.
In its apparent triviality, this example of trail-blazing serves to show that it is possible to draw up the map of a territory in a way very different from the conventional method. Without the benefit of any cartographic tools, a map arises out of the environmental experience itself.
In ants, trail formation is based on a process of deposition and evaporation of pheromones. These pheromones are made out of a chemical element, a kind of a scent, which simultaneously has the property of being agreeable to the ants – that is, to stimulate them – and that of being able to fade away over time.
The deposition of pheromones is an easily understood phenomenon, since it functions like Ariadne's thread in the Minotaur's labyrinth. An ant wandering about at random leaves behind a trail which enables to find the way back to the nest. However, should the ant find food, it will go back by the same trail depositing more pheromones and thus making the trail more clear-cut. Any ants passing by will find a stimulus stronger than their own trails, and soon they will all merge into one of those troops of hundreds or thousands of ants that we see so often. Meanwhile, the trails with a lower level of pheromone, to which no other insect has returned, disappear; that is, they evaporate. This is very important in terms of optimization. Let us suppose that the aforesaid ant troop was following a trail that was not the shortest route between the nest and the food. And then a single, less obsequious ant (because a stimulus is just a stimulus and not an order) finds a shortcut.
Two things happen: on this route the pheromone deposition is higher, and on the other, which takes longer to travel, pheromone evaporation is quicker. Then some ants begin to prefer the new route, and soon thereafter they perceive that the shortcut is more stimulating.
This process of pheromone deposition/evaporation, which represents a kind of environmental computation, really creates a kind of map very different from the ones with which we humans are familiar. In social insects, who draw their spatial memories on the environment the map is collective; it is not inside the head of any individual. In other words, there is no centralized control, no predetermined plan, no command. Everything happens through simple, individual, local behaviors, able to collectively produce a general behavior. Moreover, ants do not directly communicate among themselves. They do so through a message deposited in the environment; i.e., indirectly. The pheromone deposited by an individual has an effect on the activity of another individual. This process has been given the name "stigmergy", from the Greek stigma, mark, and ergon, work.
Engaging in some intellectual fantasy, we can say that it is as if reading a book provided us with an unavoidable stimulus to write another book, and so on. Actually, this is not such a bad example, because very probably our cultural production functions in this way. For some people, ideas are exciting, and lead to the appearance of new ideas (1). An aesthetic experience affects us so much that we feel impelled to paint a picture, too.
Stigmergy comprises a mechanism that, in collective terms, leads to the appearance of a map made by all of the agents involved. Ant trails emerge, they are not the result of a previous plan, or an order, or any kind of intentional act. Each ant really does nothing more than act on her own limited, local scale, without ever perceiving the map that appears as a result. But although each individual lacks this capacity, the colony seems to act as a whole. This is so much the case that the swarm can be seen as an independent entity, a higher level of life, possessing a collective intelligence (2).
The simplicity of these mechanisms enables us to easily transpose them to the world of computers, contributing to the resolution of many complex problems, and introduced a new vision of complexity itself.
Today, virtual ant colonies are used in multiagent systems, such as the Internet or mobile phones, or which require self-organizational capacities, as in robotics. However, their scope is much wider than that. We now have models that are able to explain individual and crowd behaviors in human beings, social organization or cultural evolution. Or things as difficult to quantify as taste or consensus.
These models are tested and simulated in computers.
In 1995, Dante Chialvo and Mark Millonas (3) stemming from Marco Dorigo's first ant algorithm presented an version ble to reproduce the behavior of ant colonies in trail formation. Essentially, the algorithm simulates ant perception, movement through the environment, a capacity to recognize pheromones (stimuli) and to deposit it, as well as accumulation and evaporation over time (iterations). The pioneering experiment was conducted in a monochromatic environment i.e. without any previous stimuli. Even so, out of nothing, and after a few iterations, a collective map emerged.
We should highlight that both the pheromone trails and the resulting map are based, in the computers, on levels of grey. In reality, each ant alters the pixel level where it passes. To simplify further: darker means more pheromone, lighter means less.
The environment of these ants can thus be seen as a landscape with mountains and valleys, filled with very high peaks and very low canyons.
In 1996, based on the model by Chialvo and Millonas, Vitorino Ramos (4) developed a new idea and created a new algorithm. Instead of working on a monochromatic base, he decided to introduce an image. In one of these experiments, we set loose a (virtual) ant colony onto an image of Kafka's face. In other words, a stimulated landscape.
The colony adapted to this environment, creating a cognitive interpretation of it. But then, after a few iterations, Kafka's face was removed, and substituted by an image of a red ant head. Something like pulling the rug out from under someone's feet, and replacing it with another one with a different design pattern. In the following iterations, Kafka's face remained as a sort of memory of the colony, until it gradually adapted to the new image. This memory, shared by all the ants, introduced a higher-level dynamic into the model. Something that, implicitly, we can call culture.
Paths in the woods, ant trails, and their respective artificial models are based on the same mechanism that we are trying to understand here: stigmergy. The concept was introduced by Pierre-Paul Grassé (5) at the end of the 1950s, in studies that he carried out on social insects, to describe a particular form of indirect communication among individuals. It can be defined as a particular example of environmental or spatial synergy. The alteration of an environment by an individual sparks a stimulus in other individuals who, in turn, tend to intervene in (and modify) this environment. Termites use this mechanism to build their enormous clay cathedrals.
In the first phase, the insects randomly deposit little balls of clay impregnated with pheromone. The formation of a pile stimulates other termites to add more clay, and the higher the piles, the greater the stimulus. Little mounds are abandoned. Some columns grow and come together until they touch, forming arches. The result is an intricate and very solid structure.
As we can see, this system can be applied both to cooperation mechanisms in animals and to urban, social, cultural or political phenomena. The formation of cities is based, to a large extent, on processes of self-organization and stigmergy. Streets, houses, squares appear as the result of a construction/ destruction process in a constant give-and-take of interests and expectations, the products of individual actions and of temporary collective consensus. Even when we consider planning and political decision-making, the development of a city, as a whole, results from the activity of multiple agents, all of whom act on a local level. In a wider context, the cities themselves can be seen, for the human race, as high peaks of social pheromone (stimuli) able to attract everything and everyone around them. In cultural production, there is also a clear stigmergic effect. The cultural pheromone is a simultaneously quantitative and qualitative stimulus. In other words, in culture we never start from a monochromatic environment; on the contrary, whatever approach we take, we will always have an environment loaded with memory (pheromone peaks). From this point of view, contemporary cultural production is characterized by the reinforcement of certain trails and the abandoning of others, in a permanent reconstruction of the collective cognitive map.
This model's interest clearly resides in the fact that, for the first time, it is possible to understand cultural evolution without the need to emphasize moral or ideological concepts, aesthetics or ethics, beauty or intentionality.
[1] Tarde, Gabriel (1890) Les lois de l'imitation (2001) Les Empêcheurs de penser en rond, Paris
[2] Bonabeau E., M. Dorigo, G. Théraulaz. Swarm Intelligence: From Natural to Artificial System s. Santa Fe Institute in the Sciences of the Complexity, Oxford University Press, New York, Oxford, 1999.
[3] Chialvo, Dante R., Millonas, Mark M. "How Swarms Build Cognitive Maps" . In Luc Steels (Ed.), The Biology and Technology of Intelligent Autonomous Agents , (144) pp. 439-450, NATO ASI Series, 1995.
[4] Vitorino Ramos, Filipe Almeida, Artificial Ant Colonies in Digital Image Habitats – A Mass Behaviour Effect Study on Pattern Recognition, Proceedings of ANTS'2000 – 2nd International Workshop on Ant Algorithms (From Ant Colonies to Artificial Ants), Marco Dorigo, Martin Middendorf & Thomas Stüzle (Eds.), pp. 113 – 116, Brussels, Belgium, 7 – 9 Sep. 2000.
[5] Grassé, P. – P. "La Reconstruction du nid et les Coordinations Inter-Individuelles chez Bellicositermes Natalensis et Cubitermes sp. La théorie de la Stimergie: Essai d'interprétation du Comportement des Termites Constructeurs" Insect Soc. 6 (1959): 41 – 80


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19 Jun
"The City We Want" is an initiative intended to give the people of Framingham a voice during the transition from town to city through a series of community forums.
All of our local business owners are invited in a discussion of the future of Framingham and its local businesses. Participants are invited to join and discuss things that work under the current form of government, things that are best left behind as we transition, and any new ideas that could be incorporated into Framingham's new form of government.
The event will be moderated to ensure that everyone has a chance to share their ideas and their concerns, but this will be a group led discussion.
This is a public event to take place here at Sofá Cafe June 21st 2017 at 7pm.
For more information about the event check it out "The city we want" Facebook Page .
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I officially love Spring.
The sunshine, the warmer weather, spending time outside and all the new possibilities that come from seeing new life emerge from a cold winter.
Such potential.
Here are a few lovelies l want to share with you today.
So many creative + inspiring possibilities it just makes you want to create,
nurture and nest.
x Mummafox


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Nearby Sarlat is a pretty market town which has some of the best-preserved medieval buildings in France. Further afield is the picture postcard village of La Roque-Gageac, one of the most photographed sights in France.
Find a holiday
Nearest Lake: 10km
Nearest River: Dordogne 7km
Nearest Town: Sarlat 6km
Nearby Towns:
Nearby Sarlat is a pretty market town which has some of the best-preserved medieval buildings in France. Further afield is the picture postcard village of La Roque-Gageac, one of the most photographed sights in France.
If you prefer a more relaxing adventure then follow the educational trail at Prehistoparc to learn all about early man and life thousands of years ago.
Big or small, old or young, Indian Forest Perigord is a popular attraction with people of all ages. It is a forest adventure course sure to test your nerves but suitable for everyone because of the variety of courses.
Visiting the nearby town of Sarlat should one of the first stops when staying at La Palombière: it is a beautiful town sure to tempt you with its inviting bistros and shops which line the authentic medieval streets. It also has excellent markets where you can immerse yourself in the local culture.
If you want to leave it to the fish to make a splash then L'Aquarium du Perigord Nord is just the other side of Sarlat. It is a great family attraction with touch pools and divers swimming with the fish and for extra fun there are also reptiles and mini golf.
Quercyland in Souillac is perfect for water fun. There are curly whirly slides and chutes, as well as inflatables, cars and lots of other activities which are sure to be a hit with the children.
A must-do on any French adventure is a trip to a local château. There are two châteaux not too far from the parc - Chateau Fénelon and Chateau de Milandes. Wander round at leisure and be transported to a bygone era. For a really memorable experience visit Chateau de Milandes at night and see the full beauty of the castle from a hot air balloon.
The village of La Rouque-Gageac is stunningly beautiful. It is said to be one of the most photographed places in the whole of France, so don't forget your camera!
Every year hundreds of musicians from across the world arrive to participate in one of the great classical music festivals, with numerous concerts taking place over the summer. The Romanesque church of Vézère serves as one of the principle venues for the festival.
The Strawberry Festival is held annually in the town of Beaulieu-sur-Dordogne on the second Sunday in May and attracts both locals and visitors alike. There is everything from markets selling strawberries to strawberry related products and local delicacies, but the main attraction is the audacious building of a huge strawberry tart! St Avit Loisirs is a great parc located near to this quirky festival. 2019 dates to be confirmed.
Twirl your way through the medieval streets of Sarlat on International music day. This beautiful market town is a real feast for the eyes and the ears, with music to suit everyone from jazz, blues and rock, to country. You'll find musicians in the squares throughout the town and also in the streets - it's the perfect musical rendez-vous!
This vibrant international festival of dance and music brings together people from a range different cultures to showcase their national dances and costumes. Artists gather from all over the world. Stamp your feet to the Spanish flamenco, dance along to Colombian music and marvel at the colourful costumes.
La Palombière is located in unspoilt countryside, just waiting to be explored by bike or along the Dordogne River.
|3 km from site
|Adventure Course
|4 km from site
|15 km from site
The Dordogne is famous for its castles, caves, châteaux and medieval villages, with beautiful panoramic views and deep cut river valleys all around you. This rich landscape is also dotted with historic farms, natural woodlands, forests, walnut groves and traditional villages of honey-coloured stone. In spring, the fields are full of poppies and wild flowers, not to mention the warblers who have just returned from their winter migration to warmer climes. In spring and summer, a host of multi-coloured butterflies waft across every path, and you may also spot dragonflies and kingfishers along the river edges, making this a truly wonderful walking destination.
To help you make the most of your walking in the region, we've 6 suggested routes for you.
Suitable for all ages. Some are also suitable for pushchairs (listed on terrain information for a particular walk). Total distance of track does not exceed 10km. Flat or gentle hills. No steep sections, no scrambling. Can include up to 200m of ascent/decent. Adequate signs at majority of intersections. Walkers need no previous experience but are expected to exercise normal care regarding their personal safety, especially in tidal zones.
Walking route name
Difficulty level
Highest Point
Height Change
Walking Time
|Eyrignac Gardens and Around
|12.5 km
|291 m
|172 m
|4.5 hrs (approx.)
|15 minutes drive from parc
|Le Moulin de la Tour
|9.5 km
|224 m
|114 m
|3 hrs (approx.)
|2 minutes drive from parc
|Sainte Nathalène to Saint Vincent Le Paluel
|5.5 km
|240 m
|133 m
|2 hrs (approx.)
|2 minutes drive from parc
|Le Paluel Woodland and Village Circuit
|10.7 km
|226 m
|128 m
|3.5 hrs (approx.)
|10 minutes drive from parc
|Saint Crépin and Carlucet
|10.8 km
|117 m
|278 m
|4 hrs (approx.)
|20 minutes drive from parc
|River Dordogne
|12.2 km
|116 m
|82 m
|4 hrs (approx.)
|20 minutes drive from parc


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Myanmar and the World Bank Group have agreed to a two-year extension of a partnership that will promote growth in rural areas, improve nutrition, health and education services, build infrastructure and create more jobs, state media reported on 25 June.
The renewal of the Country Partnership Framework (CPF) that began in 2015 is to help the country develop, especially in poorer rural areas. It was Myanmar's first full, nationwide strategy to improve development and human capital in 30 years.
The decision to extend the partnership is in keeping with Myanmar's mission of responsible development, increased infrastructure and the betterment of its people, officials said.


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Elena Vaenga
On March 27, the famous Russian chansonniers Elena Vaenga will perform solo concert onstage of Fesco Hall.
She was aficionada of music from her childhood; she wrote her first song when she was eight years old. After Vaenga entered theatrical department, but after studying for two months she abandoned it and headed for Moscow to record an album. It wasn't released and its songs were recorded and performed by other singers. She rose to real fame after releasing her album "Belaya Ptitsa" which featured such hits as "Zhelayu", "Aeroport", "Taiga", and "Chopin". As of now, her discography includes night studio albums.


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April 20, 2011 18:41 ET
CALGARY, ALBERTA--(Marketwire - April 20, 2011) - Whitecap Resources Inc. ("Whitecap" or the "Company") (TSX:WCP) is pleased to announce that it successfully closed the previously announced plan of arrangement (the "Arrangement") with Spry Energy Ltd. ("Spry"). Pursuant to the Arrangement, Whitecap acquired all of the issued and outstanding common shares of Spry for $130,898,000 in cash and the issuance of an aggregate of 8,228,023 common shares ("Common Shares") of Whitecap. Whitecap also assumed the debt and working capital of Spry, estimated at $36.0 million as at March 1, 2011.
Whitecap is also pleased to announce that following the completion of the Arrangement, Mr. Donald Cowie joined the Whitecap board of directors.
The Arrangement was partially funded through a subscription receipt bought deal public financing (the "Offering") through a syndicate of underwriters co-led by GMP Securities L.P. and National Bank Financial Inc., and including FirstEnergy Capital Corp., Macquarie Capital Markets Canada Ltd., Casimir Capital Ltd., Cormark Securities Inc., Haywood Securities Inc. and Peters & Co. Limited (the "Underwriters"). Pursuant to the Offering, Whitecap issued 22,000,000 subscription receipts at $6.80 per subscription receipt (including 2,000,000 subscription receipts issued pursuant to the exercise by the Underwriters of their over‐allotment option) for gross proceeds of $149.6 million. With the closing of the Arrangement, trading in the subscription receipts will be halted at the open of markets on Thursday, April 21, 2011 and will remain halted until the close of business that day, at which time the subscription receipts will be de-listed. In accordance with their terms, each subscription receipt was deemed to have been exchanged for one Common Share upon the closing of the Arrangement and the proceeds of the Offering were released from escrow.
Whitecap Resources Inc.Grant FagerheimPresident & CEO(403) 266-0767Whitecap Resources Inc.Thanh KangVP Finance and CFO(403) 266-0767(403) 266-6975Whitecap Resources Inc.500, 222 - 3 Avenue SWCalgary, AB, T2P 0B4
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poverty; meaning of poverty
What is poverty is the question posed to me by a curios child in quest of knowledge. I got dumbfounded for about two minutes before saying a word. I thought I was alone in this situation until I asked a close the same question and notice how confused he became immediately.
He managed to muster the following phrase 'poverty is a disease that is killing millions of people'. The UN has a way of measuring poverty. Poverty can be measured with per capita income, the amount of dollars spent, the living environment, etc.
No matter how it is measured, poverty is an unpleasant condition where an individual live below the normal standard of living of people. Though, what is 'normal standard of living' is relative. The richer countries may have a higher standard of living while poorer countries will have a smaller standard of living.
The signs of poverty from country to country may vary but, the factors listed below are common signs of poverty.
Inadequate water: inadequate water supply in a society is one of the symbols of poverty. Good and safety water supply aids good health of the people of every modern society. It will help improve the living condition of the people of a society and help people save money that would have otherwise been spent on treatment of ailments and purchase of drinkable water. These monies when spent will contribute to the rate of poverty in a country.
Poor infrastructure: the use and availability of poor infrastructure in a society is a sign of poverty in a society. The answer to the question 'what is poverty' can be answered by looking at the level of infrastructure in a society.
Poor education: poor education is a major symptom of poverty. Basic education is the right of every child and would be considered abnormal in cases where it is not given to the children of a society. Denying a child the basic education is part of what constitutes child labour.
Lack of job: unemployment is a sign of poverty I a modern society. A society that cannot provide jobs for her citizens is considered poor.
Lack of food: as food crisis make headlines these days, a country that cannot adequately cater for what her citizens eat is considered poor.
Greed: the desire to acquire more and more asset within a short space of time especially by leaders is the pillar of poverty in a community. Resources that would otherwise be used to take care of the need of people rather go to the private pocket of individuals when greed is a noticeable character of leaders in a given society.
Absence of credible election: a country will have no choice than to face the harsh consequences of poverty when credible election is not conducted. Poor election is a major cause of poverty in a society.
Poor management: poor management of resources is an important ingredient to poverty and suffering in a giving society. A country that lack managerial skill is prone to be among the poorest country of the world.
Reliance on single resource: single resource like; petroleum can dry up at any time. So, a country that relies heavily on one resource is liable to have more people that live below poverty line. In fact, it is a crime for a country to rely on a single resource for the running of the operation of government. Sources like taxation should be explored to escape the trap of poverty.
The best solution to the problem of poverty is to tackle the causes of poverty. Authorities should channel resources in the right direction so as to effectively handle poverty.
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More than a decade ago, I changed from living a more "interior" life as an artist to an "exterior" one; one where I functioned in a more customary work environment. My surroundings changed, too. Instead of the familial comfort of my studio, I entered the bleak suburban landscape of the university. The drive to and from this place several times a week caused a physical pain for at least a year. One day during the Lenten season, after driving this route and pulling my car into one of the numberless repetitive spaces, I lowered my head to the steering wheel and cried from self-pity. I wrote this poem in tribute to the geese.
This is the season of abstinence.
Violets, white cotton, dried and crumpled
lay lifeless in a nook, a dark wooden drawer.
Poles and wires crucify the penitent
to the black concrete highway.
Beneath the spinning wheels
I am found.
This is the season of repentance
for sins of shadow play,
reflections against the lost colors
of comfort.
Metal and plastic globes illumine
a landscape littered with
shopping centers and cheap
I am found looking
straight ahead.
Geese rise above macadam and mortar
"I am the resurrection and the life."
©1997 Tina Hudak


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Be&D Kan Kan ToteDecember 20th, 2012 by aclazaro
I know that what I'll be featuring here today is a little bit out of season but this Be&D Kan Kan Tote is worth discussing! No wonder some of the hottest Hollywood celebrities are so inlove with it, they are even using it upto date. The Kan Kan tote is large and roomy enough to hold files, a laptop or even a baby as seen in the photo. It is designed with delicate ruffle panels on both sides, suede and signature hardware accents. The best part of it for me is the fact that you can actually wore it in 2 different ways, hand held or over your shoulders because it comes with a detachable strap. Price tag is a worthy $1,390 and is available in cream, navy or black. Check it out at be&d.com.


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Agnosticism, Atheism and Non-religion
Agnosticism is the faith system associated with material science (physics) and strict mathematical logic. It is a non-exclusive faith system in that it can be paired with any other number of religious beliefs at the user's discretion.
Agnosticism holds that while spiritual things may exist, there is no conclusive evidence to be found in the material world for believing so. This is strictly distinct from another faith system, atheism, which holds that there is conclusive evidence to be found in the material world for believing that an intelligent spiritual force does not exist. There are some atheists who believe that while nothing intelligent exists in the spiritual realm, there is a spiritual realm nonetheless; these people are pantheists. A few people think nothing of spirituality at all; this group might be called non- religious.
Belief in spirits almost always includes a belief that the spiritual realm and the physical realm will, on occasion, interact with each other. Agnosticism is a faith system which actively seeks this interaction. A person who looks for evidence of the interaction is an agnostic; if the evidence is convincing, then presumably the agnostic would change belief system to whichever religion exposed the interaction between realms'. The evidence is not convincing, then the agnostic would remain agnostic.
Note that an agnostic is not an atheist, but that an agnostic might convert to atheism in the same way that conversion to any other religion is possible: the agnostic would need to find convincing evidence supporting the adoption of that faith system.
There are no universally known scientific tests for disproving the existence of spiritual things; therefore, atheism is a religion based on faith.
There are atheists who have found sufficient evidence of spiritual things despite knowing, that there are no deity figures within the spiritual realm. These pantheists are not categorized, but some religions which have branches, 'teaching of an all-pervading non-sentient force include Buddhism, Hinduism, various primal faith systems, and branches of neopaganism such as druidism, shamanism, and Wicca.
Many people who are professed atheists are upset due to perceived injustices perpetuated by religious organizations. A common belief of atheists is that all Known religions must be invalid by virtue of their causing mankind more harm than good. There are statistical tests for supporting this claim; however, such tests will never be conclusive and will always have a certain obvious degree of subjectivity in their interpretation.
Some atheists chose their belief out of simple personal preference, preferring not to elaborate on causality. This habit can be found in all religions, and is not unique to atheists.
Some people have a total lack of faith system, neither believing nor disbelieving in a spiritual realm but they are few and far between. The fact that these people are so rare is a matter of intense curiosity. There is strong evidence supporting the notion that there is something inherent in the human design which makes practically all people question whether or not a spiritual realm exists, if they doubt its existence at all.


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We have sample dresses available for you to try before you place your order, you can try out a few of the different dress designs or have a styling session to see for yourself the huge variety of looks you can create with just one dress. You can select the style and size of the sample dress you'd like to try, unfortunately you can't request a specific colour but you can request colour samples.
There is a charge of £20 to cover the cost of postage, packaging and cleaning per dress (there are additional postal charges for international shipping). It is your responsibility to cover the cost of return postage via a tracked delivery service. Should the dress be returned in a damaged condition, not returned or lost in transit unfortunately we will have to charge you the full cost of the dress.
Dresses are sent out for a 7 day trial, a sample dress request will be processed when we receive it so please let us know if you would like to request specific dates to have the sample dress. Click below to order samples:
For further information please contact us


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View Prepared Made Curtains
Go for mobile shades within the bedroom for exceptional insulation and light management options. The West Elm set we examined was one I bought for my own bedroom just before starting this guide. Nyamache – I do enjoy our master bedroom since we have redecorated it. Glad you preferred it, too. In our exams they produced a dark photograph that confirmed the definition of the curtain, but did not light up brilliant white, just like the West Elm curtains.
Among the curtains we examined, akin to those from IKEA and Walmart, had no lining in any respect and nonetheless blocked more light. So ~ because the home we're in is a leased house, I do not wish to spend a ton of money on rods and curtains. Blackout curtains value more than conventional curtains, however for the people who want them most, it is going to be worth it. A greater workday is proceeded by a better evening's relaxation, even when that evening's relaxation occurs through the day.
Fashionable curtain design with fashionable scarf constructed from brown silk cloth its blackout curtain, fashionable brown curtain distinctive design 2013, modern silk curtain scarf design for windows. In case you are interested with issues to do with curtains, try how one can Accessorize Curtains with 15 Rope and Tassel Tiebacks We certain you'd find it irresistible as a result of we did.
I do love puddled curtains however we now have numerous dogs (dog hair) so it's a challenge. My eating room for the time being is wanting very unloved as I've taken down the heavy green velvet curtains. We predict the Sebastian curtains would also hem extra easily and neatly than the stiffer Emery panels or the flimsier Eclipse Samara and Fresno panels.