Telling Stories

Scrombelerere

Our lives are made of stories, this blog is a story and all civilizations are based on stories.

Everybody loves a story. Storytelling raised every single one of us and helped us to grow-up. Like every one of you I love to hear, read, watch and experience stories. I like to tell stories too.

Since the early ages, the oral tradition is at the heart of storytelling. Today more than ever, the concepts of this tradition remain the same. And those concepts are more impactful than ever based on the ability for each of us to deliver and spread our stories with the use of social-media.

In the past, it took years for a tale to be spread, told, reframed, reimagined, reinvented. Sometimes it took many generations, many civilizations for it to become a tradition and just as much time to eventually be forgotten.

Social-media offers an easy way to spread your story. Unfortunately, the cycles of the past are significantly shorter. Where it took a lifetime for a story to become well known, we’re now able to create major buzz in less than a day. This also means our words can be forgotten by the next day.

I’ll try to keep this article short because I want to take the time to tell you a story. Continue reading “Telling Stories”

People have forgotten how to be nice

Being nice doesn’t mean that you always have to say yes.
Being nice means that sometimes you have to say no… in a nice way.
Being nice doesn’t mean that you only have to be kind when people agree with you or give you what you’re asking for.
Being nice is also to accept in a kind way that people may disagree with you and can’t always provide what you’re looking for.
Continue reading “People have forgotten how to be nice”

Things that matter…

I wanted to share with you one of my professional experiences as a helicopter pilot.

It was about twelve years ago in French Guiana. We used to regularly perform medevac flights during night hours since military personnel were the only ones allowed to perform such flights. Civilian helicopters were not authorized to do night flights back in this time.

My memory probably has some gaps now. I might be mixing together some elements of many different missions from that period of time. But that is not what matters… it’s the memorable elements and feelings that are true.

fennec_11

Continue reading “Things that matter…”

Be inspired…

Coincidence of the calendar since New York Fashion Week has just concluded…

I wanted to share with you guys a glimpse into a moment. The kind of moment where art, beauty and happenstance come together and plunge you into a frenetic and prolific desire to express yourself. Continue reading “Be inspired…”

I Don’t Trust You…

no, I really don’t…

But I can still learn from you.

Films, Books, TV, Art, Social Media, Press, Blogs just like this one, Studies have never been so numerous and so accessible. This is Great! This is so exciting! This is physically exciting in fact. This post of Hugh McGuire on hbr.org – How Making Time for Books Made Me Feel Less Busy – actually reminds us how every feed in our lives has a physical impact on us when the release of dopamine in our brains increases the need for a reward when we learn something new. And frankly – it can be exhausting.

More than ever, we need to meticulously cross-check every single piece of information we’re able to access with our information-greedy minds. Continue reading “I Don’t Trust You…”

Go with the Flo!

Let’s talk about personal branding.

Personal branding is a trend. We read a lot about developing a personal brand and sometimes the plethora of information and advice on the topic seems a bit generic and difficult to translate into actual practice. You have to build your personal brand. – You need to work on your elevator pitch. – Highlight what makes you different from the crowd. Yes, you’re right. I’m gonna try.

But, you know what? It’s not that easy to give an elevator pitch when what you do best is to listen.

Continue reading “Go with the Flo!”

Interlude

Hi guys,

You probably noticed my absence last week. Yep, sometimes you need to get out of the city and it is so refreshing to find and explore new places. I just wanted to share with you some of the treasures I had a chance to discover along the road through Maine, Massachusetts and Rhode Island.

Continue reading “Interlude “

Stay organized!

Let’s be excessive. Sometimes I can be a bit Obsessive Compulsive… but I know how to pace myself.

Yes, I have to admit that I love to be organized. Either in my job or in my life I love a sense of order, cleanliness, simplicity and easy access to the information or objects that I need. It helps me to get things done and to stay focused. I love art and beauty too and the act of creation sometimes has to be messy.

Being organized is a full time job. It easily can become burdensome, and requires dedication and hard work. You can’t be lazy! To master the art, you have to rapidly learn the skills required or you’ll quickly get overwhelmed. And at some point, you have to learn to delegate even if you fear that the end result won’t necessarily be as well executed as that you could achieve if you did it yourself. The important thing is to have confidence in your ability to teach someone the proper and expected way to do the task, and to understand that people can learn – and surpass – your expectations.

Continue reading “Stay organized!”

Human Interface…

As a user of different technologies, products and tools I am continuously interacting with interfaces which allow me to take control of them. I sometimes also have to struggle with them!

My eyes cross checking the parameters of the control panel of my single seat aircraft making sure that they’re all green; my hands exerting light pressure on the cyclic and collective pitch to maintain the steady hovering of my military transport helicopter despite the wind; visualizing the complexities of a comprehensive financial situation through a simple graphic; browsing and setting up my operating system to make it mine; the softness of my fingers on the keys of the piano to evoke the sound I desire.

Designing the right interface for your tools is the key of their success.

What would have become of the wheel if we hadn’t invented the steering wheel?

I love interfaces. They make you feel in control and allow you to use tools as extensions of yourself.

Simplicité et ergonomie pour faire corps avec la machine.

Continue reading “Human Interface…”

Here we are…

While deciding what topic to cover in my first official post, this subject struck me as being an obvious starting point…

I spent quite a few hours browsing, studying and thinking through the various methods for starting a new blog. The reviews of the different options offered by numerous website builders made them quite appealing and seemed to present an easy way to get started.

However, I felt they were still missing something essential…

I’m an engineer; I like to understand how things works and as any Executive or Pilot I like to be in control and to keep my options open to drive my course. My analysis drove me to not choose what seemed like the easiest way to proceed. After research and consideration I decided to build my website from scratch in a more modular, evolutive and polyvalent way.

Comme ce vieux dicton Français qui nous suggère de ne pas mettre tous ses œufs dans le même panier.

One never knows in which direction the wind and the flo(w) will ultimately drive him… All I needed were the tools to control the drift and to maintain flexibility to make decisions that would enable me to potentially change my selected path at any given landmark.

Continue reading “Here we are…”