Dear Reader, Sometimes, what we've been searching for is right under our nose ... As I approached the milestone of 300 episodes of "workshops work", I took a step back to reflect on how you and other listeners access the knowledge hidden in all these conversations. For 300 weeks, I’ve been creating maps and summaries, trying to make the body of work easier to navigate. But recently, I stumbled upon something beautifully simple: the Buzzsprout search function. With just a keyword, you can find...
9 days ago • 3 min read
Dear Reader, When was the last time you asked for help? It’s a question that often hits closer to home than we’d like to admit. Many of us avoid reaching out—not because help isn’t available, but because it feels vulnerable. I know this feeling all too well. In early 2021, fresh off the first NeverDoneBefore festival, I found myself in a whirlwind of emotions. The event had been an extraordinary success—so much so that participants were buzzing with ideas for what could come next. They...
23 days ago • 3 min read
Dear Reader, In the afterglow of the NeverDoneBefore (NDB) Festival, one thought remains very present: The relevance of guiding principles or organisational values in driving our culture and everyday decision-making. Because let's be honest: We’ve all seen company values displayed proudly on walls, websites, or meeting slides. Inspiring? Maybe. Impactful? Rarely. Too often, these words remain ornamental, detached from the daily decisions and interactions that shape an organisation’s culture....
about 1 month ago • 2 min read
Hello dear Reader, All emotions involve vulnerability, but some emotions carry more risk than others. One of our general routines as as facilitators is to ask participants to open up and share. It's basically our business to encourage emotional honesty. And sometimes we forget into what complex territory we step into and invite them to — especially in corporate spaces, where being genuine can sometimes backfire. In corporate environments, I often hear emotions like “frustrated,”...
about 2 months ago • 3 min read
Hello dear Reader, When was the last time you gave yourself permission to truly disconnect and recharge? As I prepare to head off for a 10-day silent meditation retreat, I wanted to share some reflections with you. And don’t worry, the newsletter and 1-page summaries will continue as usual—I’ve scheduled everything in advance, so you won’t miss a thing. 😊 I'll be gone for 10 days of silence, 10 hours of meditation each day, without speaking, reading, or writing. I signed up for this in the...
about 2 months ago • 3 min read
Hello Reader, As a podcast host, facilitator, and community builder, I interact with many people, and I’ve realised that some bring out the best in me, while others drain my energy and make me feel insecure. Have you noticed how some people’s presence makes you feel small? It could be a colleague, a friend, or even a client. You leave the interaction feeling diminished, questioning yourself, and drained of the energy you usually carry. It happened to me this week. I received an email from a...
2 months ago • 3 min read
Happy Friday Reader It’s happening! The last-ever NeverDoneBefore Festival is just around the corner, and I wanted to share a little more about what makes this one truly special. Will it be huge? You might be thinking – with all the buzz around it being the final edition – that we’re hosting hundreds of people. But here’s the beauty of NDB: it’s not a massive, impersonal event. We keep it intimate. Think of it more like a close-knit gathering where everyone gets to know each other, connect,...
3 months ago • 3 min read
Dear Reader, We often hear the phrase in self-help books: What gets our attention will grow. In fact, I have it stuck on a note right next to my screen. But what about the things we don’t focus on—the ones we brush aside, believing that sweeping them under the rug will somehow preserve our fragile sense of harmony? The truth is, these unnoticed moments can quietly swell until they become unreasonably large, disrupting our lives far more than we anticipate. Today, I want to write about the...
3 months ago • 3 min read
Dear Reader, As facilitators, we often talk about the importance of creating space. But how do we balance sharing our own voice with making room for others? And how can we tell when our contributions invite or unintentionally silence those around us? This is where the concepts of “crowding in” and “crowding out” come into play. Inspired by economic theory, these terms initially describe how public spending can either attract private investment or decrease it. Thomas Lahnthaler recently...
3 months ago • 3 min read