On Thursday 27 November, I’ll be part of an author panel at the IABC Queensland and Change Management Institute’s Annual Book Fair end-of-year event. It’s a practical, down-to-earth event focused on the realities of writing, creativity, and working with people through change.
Sometimes all you need is a structure to help you see your work with clearer eyes. ‘Rose Bud Thorn’ is one of my favourite (and simple) ways to help people visualise what’s working, what’s challenging, and what’s emerging next.
Before the year races to the finish line, here’s a chance to pause, rewind and notice the scenes you may have rushed past – the ones that shaped your year in ways you didn’t realise.
Recently, I spent time with other business owners at The Experience, the Basic Bananas business retreat, running two Maverick Minds sessions. At first, like most conferences, we were just a room full of strangers. But once people got up, moved around, and began sharing stories, everything shifted.
Working with my Shift Your Thinking digital cards, the conversations went deeper. Clarity sharpened. Insights surfaced.
One participant, Sarah Joyce from Mariner Boating Holidays, later recorded a short reflection about what clicked for her in the session.
Some ideas arrive fully formed and ready to go. Others hover for a while; you can feel them, sense them, but you can’t quite pin down the detail. It’s a sort of pre-verbal knowing when an idea has already taken shape inside you, but it hasn’t yet found its voice.
It’s also like seeing something through a soft curtain. The essence is there, even if the edges are still coming into focus. I’ve started thinking of these moments between people as Diaphanous Conversations, and they’re worth paying attention to.