Thursday, February 12, 2009

Friday's Cocktail Leadership

Hello.

Simple word isn't it, but it hasn't been around for long. The first entry of the word 'hello' in an English dictionary is not until 1883. Although credited by some to Thomas Edison when he invented the telephone, according to the Oxford Dictionary (and the old faithful Wikipedia), it is an alteration of hallo, hollo, which came from the Old High German "halâ, holâ, emphatic imperative of halôn, holôn to fetch, used especially in hailing a ferryman."

It also connects the development of hello to the influence of an earlier form, holla, whose origin is in the French holà (roughly, 'whoa there!', from French là 'there').

We've been told by HM that the above is far too much information on one single word to include in this Friday posting, so here is some other things to distract you and make you look like you're working in case the people from HR walk past.

Welcome to the regular Friday posting that has nothing to do with law firms, technology, knowledge management, or anything really. It is simply designed to give you five minutes of meaningless information that you may one day find useful. Oh come on...you've got five minutes don't you?

Mouse in your house? As the cold winds blow in Europe, this is the time of year when little visitors sneak into your house to find warmth and comfort from the elements. Yep, we're talking that cute little mouse that visits. If you're not a fan of the furry little fella, consider a trap like
this one. Don't say we didn't warn you though.

We have a special mention to Ms K from DLA who we caught up with at
Tart Bar this week, and another shout out to Baps and Bob's gardening gal who joined us. We were also lucky enough to catch up with old Grumpy Barr, his patient other half and Barr2.0 at Detroit Bar, and Insead's newest student at Kong in Paris.

You know how we feel about
Innovation - if you're looking to show the firm just how clever and innovative you are, why not tell them how you've single handily been able to invent the transparent computer screen, then demonstrate it to them to see the reaction. We've not thought of how you can tell the partners this will make them money, but we're sure you've got time to think of something before April 1st.

Still confused about what to do while counting your redundancy cash?

We think sitting at Sydney airport and counting the number of returning Australian lawyers who have been let go from London firms is always a good idea, as is keeping a tally of the number of 'guru' support staff who'll think about hanging their shingle out.

More satisfying perhaps is spending your time (and sharing your expertise and skills) volunteering. This
link and this one should help.

If you're bored, read
Sway by Ori & Ron Brafman and try to see how fast you can think of a project you've been involved in which could have been a case study for them.

We're off now - final hello to Mr Milford, Mr White, Mr Northcott and the new/tall Miss Tikit who we saw time with this week. Congrats to TressCox's new head of marketing, and also to the sparkling new global head of everything in London.

Goodbye. Simple word isn't it. It originally had its origins.....

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