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Shaping the future > Soap Box
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You may have picked up from the words we have used on this web site that experience and knowledge is the foundation of our business and we're always searching for ways to encourage staff to communicate and recycle their experieneces.  Communication helps us to create new connections and improve our understanding of the markets we operate in and the world we share with our colleagues and our clients.

Our Soap Box will give you a taste of one of the methods we use to faciliate communication within the firm.  Each week a member of staff will write an article, no more than about 500 words, on any subject.  This could be work related or something totally unrelated.  Below are some examples of "The Calvis Bulletin" that we'd like to share with you.

It’s dinner Jim, but not as we know it… - by Chris LeesUse SHIFT+ENTER to open the menu (new window).
Jim and Jane lived happily in their spacious suburban semi with their children, Claire (14) and Clive (10). Jane was a successful architect, and the family had enjoyed a period of comfort and affluence. Jim had recently returned to work part-time after a career break to look after the children...
“Globalization” at a local level - by Chris LeesUse SHIFT+ENTER to open the menu (new window).
I hear a lot of people talking about “global solutions”, “global service lines” or just plain “globalization”, and I wonder how many have stopped to think about what they really mean. Of course, superficially they are talking about providing a consistency around the world – as Barclays once put it in an internal campaign to encourage their staff to follow standards, “where ever you touch us, it should feel the same”...
Matrix Management – Heaven or Hell? - by Cathy MacNamaraUse SHIFT+ENTER to open the menu (new window).
Ok – so your normal day at the office involves working on five separate projects, which are controlled by five different people, who have five different views on what is achievable by “EOP” Friday.  This is either a chance to spend all day doing nothing whilst looking good…
Doorway stopping syndrome – by Steve MarshallUse SHIFT+ENTER to open the menu (new window).
I want to tell you about a dreadful problem that is troubling more and more people in our modern world.  I also want your help in dealing with this problem.  Please do not stop reading just because I ask for your help.   As the world becomes more difficult and crowded we must all be prepared to help each other...
Making a cup of coffee – by Chris TooleUse SHIFT+ENTER to open the menu (new window).
We previously discussed the general absurdity of how the human body has evolved to what it is.  The cause of this was a growing wonderment of how we actually manage to get anything done at all, given the complexities of controlling such a strangely-structured entity.  Let’s carry on where we left off, and look at what’s involved in going and getting a cup of coffee...
Irony - by Craig TookeUse SHIFT+ENTER to open the menu (new window).
I'll start with a comedian and Alanis Morissette.  A couple of years ago I came across a TV show in which a comedian from this side of the pond was on stage in Canada, giving the inimitable Ms Morissette a good grilling over her song 'Ironic'...
Climate Change - by Mark GrayUse SHIFT+ENTER to open the menu (new window).
Have you noticed that more and more media attention is being given to the subject of climate change? London's free newspaper pages are now dedicated to the subject and each day new thought provoking information is being reported from around the world...
My typical weekend - by Mark GrayUse SHIFT+ENTER to open the menu (new window).
It definitely feels like if there's a chance of immersing myself in a problem, or completely missing a deadline because I just plain forgot, or finding myself in the middle of a misunderstanding that I'm pretty sure I didn't cause, then I'm there, centre stage...
Excuse me, what happened to my taka dahl..? - by Steve MarshallUse SHIFT+ENTER to open the menu (new window).
Whether we like it or not we all spend our lives managing projects.  From organising the weekly food shopping to moving house, we live through a series of activities that usually conglomerate into groups with some overall identifiable aim in mind.  I call these projects...