ARRC Yellow Awards….. can strike anywhere at anytime

A funny thing happened after the presentation I gave at the 7th Australian Stream Management Conference…  this image about ‘hanging out with yellow rather than blue people’ really seemed to resonate with people.   A yellow person generally sees opportunities rather than challenges, is optimistic about life, has positive hopes and dreams for the future, and is basically a nice person to be around.

Now I know there are a lot of yellow people working in river restoration, and I encourage you to hang out with these individuals, rather than the ‘blue people’ who tend to see the worst in situations, who complain, whinge and drain your emotional (and often physical) energy.

All of us feel blue some of the time and this is completely normal, but it becomes a problem when this becomes the norm rather than the exception.  Interestingly, an ‘emotional contagion’ sets in, so if we hang out with people who are ‘blue’, then we will also start to take on those characteristics and ways of seeing the world. This can be reflected in the culture of an organisation with language, behaviours and ‘the norm’ becoming very negative, essentially a toxic environment to work within.

As I said in my presentation, by hanging out with the ‘yellows’ you are valuing yourself and boosting your ‘yellowness’.  You can also be ‘yellow’ for others in your organisation who need encouragement, and when dealing with ‘blues’, always fortify yourself with plenty of contact with ‘yellows’ so that you can maintain your optimism and continue to feel good about what you do.

The ARRC will now be presenting ‘Yellow Awards’.  These awards can strike at anytime and will be given to those people who exhibit ‘yellowness’……stay tuned to the next blog where the first winner will be announced (and if you want to nominate someone please get in touch).

Siwan

WHY do you do what you do? Take the time to think about it…..

The 7th Australian Stream Management Conference finished on Wednesday and I had a wonderful three days of reconnecting with people, sharing ideas and having great conversations.  I was also lucky enough to be asked to give a keynote presentation on the Human Impact of Managing for Extremes which I hope to be getting on to You Tube, as a number of people said how much they enjoyed it.

One of the most thought provoking parts of the presentation was about our need as human beings to have a central purpose in our lives.  Yet,  in the hurly burly of daily life we talk about WHAT we do and HOW we do it, and get more and more removed from WHY we do what we do.

Simon Sinek is a pin up of mine on this topic and the link to a fabulous presentation he gives in the TED talk series is provided here for you to follow.  I really encourage you to grab a coffee (what else!) and take the time to watch what he has to say.  Start with WHY

I revisit this video time and time again as I find it helps me focus on what I am really here to do.  Let us know what you think, and if you have watched any other inspirational speakers send me the links and we can pass them on to others.

Siwan

True Tales of the Trout Cod – New Website and Publications

As I drift back through the years and think about my fishing in the Murrumbidgee, I can only say that it may not have been heaven, but  it was next door. — Noel Denson, Tumut

We are thrilled to be able to link you to the new True Tales of the Trout Cod website and publications.  Our team has been working on this project for the past nine months and we are delighted with what we have been able to develop.

Few people today can envisage the bountiful fish life that once existed throughout Australia’s Murray–Darling Basin. To get a true picture we have to look to the past, and Will Trueman has done just that with “True Tales of the Trout Cod”. This amazing collection of family stories and accounts of fish in different regions of the Basin, is combined with journal entries of notable explorers and settlers, rare and obscure historical references, newspaper articles and photographs from local families.

“True Tales” is an invaluable piece of work that provides a greater understanding of the fish and our rivers in the past, and the changes since European settlement.

Individual river histories have been developed into booklets for the Murrumbidgee, Goulburn, Lachlan, Mitta Mitta, Upper Murray and Lower Murray.  These booklets can be freely downloaded or hard copies ordered from the MDBA.  There are also twelve videos featuring Will talking about each of the different river histories, as well as stories about Aboriginal fish management and what Will believes are the opportunities and challenges for MDB communities, both human and ecological.

We hope you enjoy this collection of material.   We have created a range of different communication products to appeal to different audiences.  Please share them widely, as the knowledge Will gives so freely will become  enriched with the insights and experiences of others.

If you are coming to the 6th Australian Stream Management Conference please drop in and see us at our display stand as we will have all the products from the project freely available.

Siwan, Nerida, Richard, Vikki, Will, Melissa, Phil, Heleena and Allison

True Tales of the Trout Cod

Seasons Greetings and Best Wishes for the New Year

All the very best to you this Christmas season, we thank you for your support and hope to continue to exist in 2012, though this will depend on securing funding to keep our work going.  For the past eighteen months everything you see on this website has been done through volunteer labour and, to be honest, this is not sustainable.  We are hoping to get some support for our work in 2012 but we really need you to help us with ideas, support and a commitment to collaboration and knowledge sharing.

We are ending 2011 reasonably cheery as we believe what we are doing is worthwhile and we love working with people who are passionate about our rivers.  Rest, refresh and reinvigorate yourselves over the Christmas break and we look forward to working with you in 2012.

We would like to say a particular thanks to those that have worked as part of the ARRC team over the past year – Vikki Bell, Allison Mortlock, Melissa Gabelle, Matt Moore, Peter Rennie, Graham Durant-Law, Richard Snashall, Bruce Boyes, Sandra DeSouza, Phil Price, Ian Rutherfurd, Peter Davies (WA) and Leith Boully.

Siwan and Nerida

Know your networks

Understanding the formal and informal communication networks in your organisation is crucial to managing successfully.

The ARRC works with organisations and people across a number of different disciplines.  Recently we have been developing a partnership with Graham Durant-Law, who specialised in social network analysis.  This is a fascinating area of work, and we are finding that when this analytical tool is combined with qualitative evaluation techniques, an in-depth and much more insightful understanding is gained about how relationships and networks in an organisation are helping or hindering the achievement of goals.  Graham has provided us with an introduction to social network analysis that we hope you find interesting….

With businesses increasingly operating with an evolving and interconnected series of networks, the need for analytical techniques to understand these relationships is growing. Social network analysis views relationships in terms of network theory, with each network made up of individuals or organisations and their interdependency. The resulting structures are often very complicated, but when analysed can reveal knowledge flows, relationships and social capital in an organisation, as shown in the map below.

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