The Architecture of Happiness

"It is in books, poems, paintings which often give us the confidence to take seriously feelings in ourselves that we might otherwise never have thought to acknowledge."

"What we seek, at the deepest level, is inwardly to resemble, rather than physically to possess, the objects and places that touch us through their beauty."

Alain De Botton (The Architecture of Happiness)

'Towers' sketches

Strategy for Creating Excellent Teamwork

The following six areas provide an holistic overview of success

Belonging -
Each person in the group needs to develop an understanding of:

• the context of the group i.e. is it a subsection of a bigger group or does it operate in isolation?
• the purpose of the group i.e.what is the group for?
• the responsibilities of the group i.e. what is the group expected to do?
• the constituency of the group i.e. what are the roles within the group and their responsibilities?
• the hierarchy of the group i.e. who has overall responsibility for success?
• the quality control of the group i.e. who determines whether the group has been successful

Relationships - 

Each person in the group needs to:

• have a voice within the group i.e. have the chance to communicate their opinion
• take responsibility for their communication i.e. focus on clearly stating opinions that are intended to improve success
• listen carefully to the opinion of each member of the team i.e. genuinely value what others have to say
• treat each person as an equal recognising that it is the responsibilities of the roles which are hierarchial and not that any individual is more important than any other
• be willing to change their minds if someone else suggests a better process
• allow for differing levels of skill and understanding

Quality - 

Each person in the group needs to:

• develop a clear understanding of what constitutes excellence in the work produced
• develop a clear understanding of what constitutes excellence in teamwork 
• develop a clear understanding of what constitutes excellence within their own responsibilities
• develop an understanding of goals associated with the overall group task
• have the opportunity to develop their own goals within the tasks
• develop an understanding of how and when success will be measured
• be encouraged to mark their own progress towards the achievement of their goals
• take responsibility for their own self-motivation
• take responsibility for their own learning

Creativity - 

Each person in the group needs to:

• have the opportunity to experiment and explore options in achieving their responsibilities
• have the opportunity to offer suggestions of alternative processes
• have the opportunity to solve problems
• record their experimental processes in order to share solutions successfully
• be willing to change processes should a better solution be discovered

Planning - 

Each person in the group needs to:

• develop an understanding of the resources available
• develop an understanding of how the resources are being used
• develop an understanding of the timeline and deadlines associated with the tasks
• stay informed of changes to the use of resources
• take responsibility for the management of their time, space, equipment and materials
• take responsibility for their personal energy levels and general wellbeing
• take responsibility for each persons' health and safety

Contribution - 

Each person in the group needs to:

• have the opportunity to contribute to the success of the task
• take responsibility for helping others be successful in their tasks
• make a continual positive contribution to the team morale
• find ways to add value to the process and the product
• maintain a focus on what the product contributes to those who will benefit from it
• support others in the team who are struggling with their tasks

The following four elements outline how each individual can be personally successful in the above

Earth

Each person needs to:

• fully accept their current level of experience, ability and motivation
• fully accept themselves as they are now

Water

Each person needs to:

• fully accept every other person's level of experience, ability and motivation
• fully accept the environment and task as it is now

Air

Each person needs to:

• identify and maintain focus on the direction in which they are heading with each task
• identify and maintain focus on the direction in which they are heading personally

Fire 

Each person needs to:

• identify the next action towards the successful achievement of the task
• undertake the next action with enthusiasm, determination and self-motivation

Rothko - Yellow and Gold

10 Questions for Transformation

The following 10 questions are designed to help transform any given set of circumstances:

Awareness

What would have to be different in order to help you:
1. feel a greater sense of belonging?
2. develop better relationships with the key people involved?
3. focus more on what you personally value?
4. use your creativity more productively?
5. make better use of your resources (money, space, time, energy)?
6. make a bigger contribution to the happiness and development of others?

Responsibility

To transform this situation, what do you need:
7. to accept about yourself?
8. to accept about others and life?
9. to set as a compelling goal?
10. to take action on now?

The Cloud of Unknowing

Because he [God] may well be loved, but not thought. By love he can be caught and held, but by thinking never.


The Cloud of Unknowing 14th Century

This blog is designed to be a personal journey into what I am passionate about. It will become a respository for everything that seems of quality. What I am searching for is the Golden Soul. The Golden Soul is me in my purest form. It is me in total harmony, me in total inspiration, me at my best, me in the moment. It is me centred, flowing, free and passionate.


The cloud of unknowing is a nice term. I seek clarity but instinctively feel that clarity comes from intuition rather than intellect. Not knowing is as important as knowing. I am in a battle - a fight between intellect and intuition. I feel my job is to use my intellect to understand what I find, but use my intuition to do something creative with that.


As David Lynch says, I am doing this to 'catch the big fish'.


I am hoping that I can use Pamela Howard's three design categories to guide this:


Conceptual - it has to have meaning
Aesthetic - it has to be beautiful
Practical - it has to have application


So, here we go into the cloud of unknowing in search of the golden soul