Soft Skills

June 27, 2018

Leadership and the power of metaphor

As a general rule it’s important to avoid ‘mind reading’ or assuming you know what another person is thinking, writes Dave Rawlings. At first sight…

January 1, 2018

Facing the future

Dave Rawlings helps get around that perennial problem……….When resolution is not enough! Are you looking forward to 2018 in hope and anticipation or in fear…

August 24, 2017

Moving on up the evolutionary scale

When challenging ideas take root old assumptions wither, writes Dave Rawlings. When popular uprisings swept North Africa and the Middle East in 2010 and populations…

July 25, 2017

Life and politics: a war of words

Political parties create conflict, always highlighting the differences between them. There’s no political advantage in finding common ground, writes Dave Rawlings. An earlier article has…

June 14, 2017

When worlds collide

Taking the beliefs of others on board, trying them on as a temporary experiment, is the key to understanding their view of the world, writes…

May 16, 2017

You say you want a revolution

Populists have succeeded in making people feel that they belong to a group that feels what they feel, writes David Rawlings. The wave of populism…

April 18, 2017

Déjà vu – again

David Rawlings reflects on what happens when you try to make sense of something that you can’t understand. We’ve heard quite a bit of witness…

March 16, 2017

I like the way I map things out

When you think somebody is being irrational, cruel or stupid it’s useful to ask yourself a simple question, David Rawlings says. ‘What must the world look…

February 28, 2017

When the worm turns How we reinforce past choices

David Rawlings poses the question: if the reality of “control” turns out to be different from the promise will people change their minds? Left-wing or…

February 10, 2017

One step at a time The DNA of success

Change management specialist Dave Rawlings poses the question. Have you lost the ability to try new ingredients and different methods? In his book The Greatest…

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Drama like England’s World Cup win simply does not happen in cricket
It was a little after 8pm, on a glorious summer’s evening with the old ground scarcely able to believe what it had just witnessed, when Eoin Morgan, the 32-year old Irishman from Rush in County Dublin, did what no other England men’s cricket captain had done before. He lifted the World Cup, made of silver gilt but far more precious than that, high above his head in celebration and by so doing he placed himself and his team at the apex of England’s sporting pyramid, alongside the other glory boys of 1966 and 2003. The Times, July 15

Johnson to seek Trump trade deal in first move
Boris Johnson wants to make resetting relations with President Trump one of his first acts in Downing Street by travelling to the US to negotiate a post-Brexit trade deal. The former foreign secretary is ready to fly there as soon as possible if he wins the leadership contest to try to secure a limited agreement in time for his “do or die” deadline of October 31. “The key to the whole thing is the US. If we get a trade deal with America we will be very quickly in the market for other deals. It encourages others to realise that we mean business,” an ally of Mr Johnson said … Allies of Mr Johnson said that he would meet Mr Trump in the US within two months of becoming prime minister. An official visit is being considered at about the time of the UN general assembly on September 17 but some believe he will visit even sooner. The Times, July 15

Post-Brexit trade pact with US may take time
The international trade secretary, Liam Fox, has said a post-Brexit trade arrangement with the US may take longer to agree than some people hope, after reports that Boris Johnson would make this a priority if he becomes prime minister. Fox said potential complications could include different rules across American states and the start of the presidential electoral cycle. He also stressed that no deal could be agreed before the UK formally leaves the EU. Fox told BBC Radio 4’s Today programme there had already been six meetings of a trade working group with the US to examine the issues. “One of the things you have to remember about the US is that not all trade policy is actually done at the federal government level,” he said. “A great deal of the trade policy is done at the state level, particularly in the non-tariff barriers to trade, things like regulation.” The Guardian, July 15

Jeremy Hunt pledges to do all it takes to rescue precarious Iran deal
Jeremy Hunt vowed to save the imperilled nuclear deal with Iran as he suspended his leadership campaign to “do what it takes” and discuss it with his European counterparts today. The foreign secretary had planned to send a junior minister to Brussels to the foreign affairs council, at which Iran is top of the agenda. However, the precarious state of the deal persuaded him to attend himself, an ally told The Times. Mr Hunt spoke over the weekend to Mohammad Javad Zarif, the Iranian foreign minister, signalling a compromise offer in which Britain would ensure that Gibraltar released a detained oil tanker if Iran guaranteed that it would not deliver its cargo to Syria. The Times, July 15

Northern Ireland set for direct rule to aid Brexit
Direct rule will be imposed in Northern Ireland within the next three months to see through Brexit, ministers believe. Senior Conservatives believe that only a delay to the exit date from the European Union or the restoration of the Stormont assembly would prevent the British government from taking control of the province. It has been reported that senior civil servants in Belfast fear that they are being asked to make decisions that were once made by members of the Northern Irish assembly. Sources said that such judgments, over security and the economy in particular, would become more complex and increasingly political once Britain left the EU. The Times, July 15

China economy grows at slowest rate in 30 years
China’s economy grew at its slowest pace in almost three decades in the second quarter as the fallout from the trade war with the US offset Beijing’s efforts to stimulate the domestic economy. GDP grew at 6.2 per cent year on year, the National Bureau of Statistics said on Monday. The figure, which was in line with analysts’ expectations, was lower than the 6.4 per cent growth rate reported for the first quarter and 6.6 per cent for full-year 2018. The growth rate was the lowest since the NBS began calculating its current series of GDP data in 1992, at the beginning of China’s long bull run. Most of the weakness came from exports, which contracted in June, and from declines in housing construction and other indicators of investor sentiment. Indicators for domestic consumption, however, firmed up in June compared with May. Financial Times, July 15

Trump aims racist attack on congresswomen
Donald Trump used racist language on Sunday to attack four progressive Democratic congresswomen, telling them to “go back and help fix the totally broken and crime infested places from which they came”. The US president did not name his targets, but the attack was directed at a group of liberal congresswoman who have had a run-in with the House speaker Nancy Pelosi and are sometimes referred to as the “squad”: Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez of New York; Ayanna Pressley of Massachusetts; Rashida Tlaib of Michigan; and Ilhan Omar of Minnesota. Only Omar, who is from Somalia, was not born in America. Pressley is African American, Tlaib was born to Palestinian immigrants and Ocasio-Cortez comes from a New York-Puerto Rican family. The Guardian, July 15

Boeing 737 Max jet may not fly this year
The Boeing 737 Max is likely to be grounded until January as fixes to the jet at the centre of two catastrophic crashes are yet to satisfy all safety requirements, according to officials and union leaders. The process of developing and certifying new software, then training pilots to use it, has been delayed repeatedly, with airlines struggling to cope with frequent revisions to the timetable during the exceptionally busy summer. Boeing, the world’s largest aerospace group, is valued at $198 billion. It builds commercial and military aircraft, missiles and space technology. The 737 Max was its bestselling commercial jet. The Times, July 15

2m workers could receive for statutory sick pay
Two million low-paid workers could receive statutory sick pay for the first time as part of reforms aimed at supporting people with health conditions in the workplace. Currently, employees must earn at least the equivalent of 14 hours on the minimum wage to qualify. But the government is looking at whether to extend eligibility to those earning below this threshold. There could also be more help for those returning to work after sick leave. The government will launch a consultation on Monday. BBC news, July 15

Underused ‘Degree apprenticeships’ lack info
Few school leavers are aware they can gain a free university education through an apprenticeship, according to a survey, even though the scheme has existed since 2015. Four out of five of almost 1,000 students questioned online and through focus groups by Universities UK, which represents higher education institutions, admitted knowing “little or nothing” about degree apprenticeships. Fees for these qualifications are paid out of the apprenticeship levy. Employers with annual payrolls above £3m contribute the equivalent of 0.5 per cent of their wage bill to this pot to fund workplace training for organisations of all sizes. More than 100 universities have signed up to provide degree apprenticeships, including Cambridge and members of the Russell Group of leading institutions, including Warwick, Exeter and Queen Mary University London. Financial Times, July 15

‘Poverty link’ to youth violence – London mayor
New figures from Mayor of London Sadiq Khan show what he says is a clear link between poverty in the capital and the rise in serious youth violence. The data shows that the poorest areas of London are most likely to experience the highest levels of serious crime among youngsters. The data comes amid fears that the end of the school year could see a rise in knife crime across major cities. Mr Khan says he is funding 43 summer projects for vulnerable youngsters. He is also appealing to the government for more cash. London has experienced a rise in killings since 2012 – and 2018 was the worst year on record for the city for a decade. BBC news, July 15