3 mistakes most people do in career transitions

Those of you following me in Twitter or LinkedIn already know that only last week I began a new job at my university, transitioning from research role to a role of lecturer in environmental policy where my job will consist of teaching, research and service. Given many people have flagged to me how teaching often […]
The 4 kinds of people you need for breakthrough success

So for those of you who read my last blog post on creativity, it might have seemed somewhat superficial. Some of you might be asking so what if there are assumptions about creativity and the lone genius, how is that going to help me to get more creative? Well the good news is that now […]
De-mystifying Creativity: the real strategy to empower the creative you

My latest book purchase is Allen Gannett’s The Creative Curve: How to Develop the right idea at the right time. I came across this book first on one of my favourite podcasts Learning Leader (episode 268) where Ryan Hawk interviews guests and tries to help us to understand how to reach and attain excellence in […]
Why sound decision-making is ultimately about how you deal with surprises

We often focus on key decisions and are interested in how top performers, such as CEOs and top athletes, make decisions. Apparently, all we need to do is to model their behaviour, glean into their secrets and then implement these in our lives. Research into decision points in particular (what major decisions people have taken) […]
How to create leadership and innovation at work place?

I have just finished reading Richard Feynman’s book Surely you are joking Mr Feynman!” It’s a unique book in explaining how one of the great minds in physics thought about life, and more importantly how he maintained an innate curiosity and often questioned the very basic assumptions of physics in order to better understand the […]
Why peer review should be fun but can make you cry

The life of an academic is very much focused on and surrounded by the process of peer review. With peer review, I mean making and receiving comments on manuscripts that we have written or have been asked to read and assess for scientific journals. Most of us review papers for scientific journals in the hope […]
Is 1.5 degree goal an illusion?

This past week has been quite eventful given that major issues have been either discovered or experienced when it comes to climatic changes. Japan has been experiencing significant floods with never before seen rain events while cities around the word have reported having broken all time heat records. A new study published in Nature used […]
How to measure leadership and adaptation in 3 dimensions

This past week I had the chance to spend time with some really amazing women who are the next generation of great minds, critical yet equipped with a good sense of humour. In one of our conversations we spoke about leadership and self-perception, and how when we embark on self-development (or start dating), we need […]
3 defining features of Adaptation Futures 2018

This week I attended Adaptation Futures conference, a bi-annual conference that is attended by people who work in climate adaptation science, policy and practice. This conference was particularly interesting given that it was held in Cape Town, South Africa, that is going through a severe drought. At some point it was not even clear whether […]
Time for a new paradigm in capacity building?

This week a news item caught my attention, an interview piece with Saleem Huq, the director of International Centre for Climate Change and Development. The commentary focused on the issue of capacity building, climate finance and how this is being dealt with in the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change. This is often a […]