Richard Hodge

20 April 2021

39. Life in motion

Richard Hodge

20 April 2021

Sunday dinner. A weekly ritual connecting our family in three locations. The conversation moves to privilege of birth, statesmanship and expected behaviours of those in high position. I’m at once engaged and soon detached, hearing myself fall into arguing with my grandson, Cameron.

My detachment sparks a realisation: Liminal states are common. Whenever we let go of a state of being that no longer serves us and evolve to a new state of being, we move through a liminality in time, space and mind.

Richard Hodge

1 December 2020

38. Viable Hierarchy

Richard Hodge

1 December 2020

Sitting between two Generals, briefing the results of experimenting with priorities for $60B+ of investments.

I see his Deputy streaking ahead in the briefing paper.

He interrupts.

Richard Hodge

20 November 2020

37. Regenerative Management

Richard Hodge

20 November 2020

I was first fired at a timber mill in the 1970s. “Nothing personal,” said Rhys the mill manager, “Last on, first off here.” Loyal to the WW2 diggers. Great blokes.

“Don’t worry,” Dad said. “He’s done you a favour. You just don’t know it yet.”

Richard Hodge

13 November 2020

36. From Little Things Big Things Grow

Richard Hodge

13 November 2020

You hear ‘agile’. What do you think? New processes? Kanban, scrums, stand-up meetings? A big bank? Jargon?

I hear agile, I imagine a gymnast, a goalkeeper, or a boxer. A person, at once fluid in movement, ready in position, nimble afoot with reach, power and impact.

Richard Hodge

6 November 2020

35. Life Centred Design

Richard Hodge

6 November 2020

Politics is a game of numbers. A game of power over people. Win enough numbers, you call the shots. A distinctly human game, where 8 men now hold more economic power than half the world [1].

Richard Hodge

29 October 2020

34. Generate Trust

Richard Hodge

29 October 2020

I muse on experiences in another culture.

How I extend the hand of friendship in a traditional western style. He takes it. Another hand gentle on my shoulder, and his nose meets mine. Eyes stare into the black orbits of my soul. Mine, now stirred, meet his stare.

Richard Hodge

19 October 2020

33. Witness Progress

Richard Hodge

19 October 2020

Every Sunday night, we share family dinner with 11 people in four locations. It’s a connection of our souls.

Fun. Frivolity. Fanciful imaginations.

Richard Hodge

12 October 2020

32. Limits To Growth

Richard Hodge

12 October 2020

1974. Age 19. Driving dad’s new car: a Holden Monaro. Red. And, right for the times.

Clear of the city, cresting a hill, a long sweep of road in front of me.

Pedal down. Speed climbing. Fast. Very fast. 100 miles an hour fast.

Richard Hodge

2 October 2020

31. Imagine It Different

Richard Hodge

2 October 2020

Imagine today is the past and an ecological future is our children’s reality.

Imagine them living and caring for the planet as much as we have lived and cared for our economy.

Richard Hodge

29 September 2020

30. Always Pay It Forward

Richard Hodge

29 September 2020

Imagine giving the gift of life on Earth.

Imagine, then, taking life from Earth.

Since 1970, human activities have reduced wildlife populations by 60% and reduced habitat impacting 85% of all species [1].

Richard Hodge

25 September 2020

29. Pay It Forward

Richard Hodge

25 September 2020

When a major life event strikes, as it did with the death of my father two weeks ago today, there’s much to be done in response. Working through emotions to create an event where we said our farewells. Now, all done, respect remains.

Now, we have time to sit and *be*.

Richard Hodge

25 September 2020

28. Find Value Within

Richard Hodge

25 September 2020

Today, a mantle was passed to me. An extraordinary point in life when a mentor passes an office to a student.

That ‘office’ as the senior surviving male of the Hodge family is now mine.

Richard Hodge

4 September 2020

26. Harvest Wisdom

Richard Hodge

4 September 2020

It’s been a week of mixed emotions.

Light and hope, as Victoria’s case numbers drop to double digits.

Admiration, for health care workers who make up a third of those.

Wonder, at where we’d be without their valor.

Richard Hodge

28 August 2020

25. Indivisible Relationships

Richard Hodge

28 August 2020

The issues of aged care, health, quarantine, population control and economics in Australia today are systemic issues.

The issues of governance, strategy, policy, execution, Human Resources and finance are systemic issues.

Richard Hodge

28 August 2020

24. This Century Thinking Webcast - Value The Mess

Richard Hodge

28 August 2020

Any idea of finding solutions for systemic issues is misleading. Systemic issues lose traceability between causes and effects – so, approaching them with a solution mindset is itself a problem.

What’s needed is an intervention mindset and approach. Dame Maggie Smith once put it, “there’s no beginning and no end, only points where you enter and leave the story.” [1]