A Trip to Birmingham

This is Birmingham, mixing old and new with deep industrial roots and contemporary city center; grand shopping mall and small old streets.

Birmingham has deep industrial roots; and it’s one of the largest metropolitan cities in England. It’s also not so far away from London. So I decided to visit there for two days; going there by bus and returning by train.

It was a cloudy drizzle afternoon when I arrived in Birmingham. Although my hotel is not so far away from the station, I got lost in the small, quiet street. A few local people helped me navigate through the area; usually they need to use post code perhaps because some street names and routes are confusing. I walked about thirty minutes, circled around, and ultimately found the hotel.

Downtown with a crowd of people: In the mid afternoon I headed to the downtown area, not so far away. In front of it, there is a church tower building, ringing the bell periodically. There is a farmer’s market nearby, fruits and vegetables are fresh and cost effective. Inside the building, there are many stalls which sell all sorts of consumer merchandise.

Walking across the market and moving upwards the hill, there are lots of worldwide chain stores; brand name restaurants, cafeterias, and shops there. In most of mid and large cities in Europe, we can find those shopping districts, I had a simple earlier dinner, walked around the areas. Although the shopping center is bustling with crowds, some buildings in certain areas are outdated. There is the mix of old and new, industrial age and digital era, modern taste and ancient theme. In the first day tour, I thought Birmingham is a midland town with diverse people. So at night, I planned the next day journey for exploring further and deeper to capture the holistic view of the city.

Winterbourne House and Garden: After having a simple breakfast in the hotel, I walked around the nearby city center. It passed 8am in the morning, the city of Birmingham hasn’t woken up yet, the shops are closed; the most tourist hot spots won’t open until 10: 30 or even 11: 00 am. But public transport already operates. I bought a daily bus ticket and hopped in the bus towards the Winterbourne House and Garden . When I arrived there, it’s about ten am, the garden hadn't opened yet, I peeled inside, there were tall trees and green meadows. It’s the property of the University of Birmingham. I also passed through quite a few architecture buildings. The college is located in a very quiet and green environment; there are hills up and down; some student dorms are hidden inside.

Birmingham library: I took the bus, heading back to the city center again, trying to explore further, and visit Birmingham library- the biggest library in Europe. I walked through the fine art gallery which sell some European artists’ painting works; I also passed through some modern designed hotel buildings. I asked the mother daughter pair of global strangers for directions, they are locales who told me there were lots of debate for renovating the library as it was over budget for their community a decade ago. The showed me the directions warm-heartedly

It took me a while to come to the city center with a few cool buildings; There is a Symphony Hall which is not open; I also saw the building with Rep logo - it is the theater; an amusement park theme like magic wheel spinning at the city square. I helped two ladies take their pictures in the square.

The contemporary architecture with glass windows is the library I am looking for. I entered it, the staff are friendly, the environment is very cool, modern looking and spacious. This is the nine floor modern building with millions of books and media collection

I sat at the second floor study hall, read a few books and took the rest. Majority of readers are perhaps college students or high schoolers, young professionals. So city management should be very proud of this cultural asset, knowledge hall, which helps to cultivate the next generation of talent and build community competence.

I visited the third and fourth floor; looked through the different book categories. Most of the books could be found in other libraries or online but this is a more complete collection. I saw a shelf with many books about Shakespeare research as Birmingham is not so far away from where Shakespeare was born and grew up; we can learn his heritage and literature influences. If I stay in this city for a while, I won’t get bored, the treasure of books will open our eyes.

I also took the elevator upstairs to the roof garden in which you could capture the city view and sip your coffee or tea. It is a lovely winter day with clouds flowing and wind blowing. Many parents brought their toddlers to the garden on the roof. From one generation to the others, this historic city keeps reinventing itself. There are quite many constructions going on near the city center; the city replaces the old with new, and broadens its boundaries.

Going in the opposite direction which global strangers pointed out: I planned to visit the local science museum in the afternoon. Although I took the right bus with the help of locals, it seems I took off too soon and couldn’t locate the museum. A few global strangers help me navigate around. But the streets they pointed out do not fit my tastes, so I headed towards the opposite direction, taking a detour again to discover my own path.

Victoria square: I walked around an area with antique buildings and statues. This is the Victoria square, another tourist hotspot with a few interesting statues and fountains there. Queen Victoria and Albert made significant influence on the culture of England.

The science museum and Millennium Point Building: Another local lady was also very friendly and showed me the direction to the museum. This time I took the right bus and took off at the proper station. I saw the Birmingham city college sign and there was the millennium point building, not very far. The pedestrian told me I should go in that direction. I went downhills and passed through a street with some cultural taste. It’s more like the college town here.

The science museum was located inside the millennium point buildings, which is the community center of Birmingham city college, I guessed. It's past 3:30 pm already. I asked the gentleman who worked in the museum how long it took to visit the museum, the answer was about two hours. I also saw the family with their young kids coming to visit. The gentleman sensed my hesitation and volunteered to accompany me visiting the ground floor in which there were all sorts of machines or engines designed by local Birmingham ancestors that powered the industrial revolution. On the first floor there are displays of Birmingham manufacturing industry and why the city is being called the workshop of the world. There were some wood bicycle designs, airplane models upstairs, there are earth creatures samplers on the second floor and there is a planetarium, robot and future invention on the third floor.

The gentleman took extra miles to introduce the museum to me. I truly appreciate his efforts and left the museum earlier. So I still had time to explore the city before the dark. I also walked across the millennium point building with contemporary design. Because it is winter break very few people were there; there were gift shops and cafes inside.

Grand central & small street: It’s almost dark, so I walked back to the city center again; passed through the grand central station and two-floors grand shopping mall which linked the city across many streets.

After that, I took the bus to go further away from the center; some streets were old, small, smell stale; perhaps that is the old town. There are lots of small shops and restaurants, but fewer people walking around those areas. This is Birmingham, mixing old and new with deep industrial roots and contemporary city center; grand shopping mall and small old streets.

There are many trains and buses going to London and other cities on a daily basis. So people are diversified and dynamic. But the pace of the city is not so fast; waking up at ten am in the morning, gradually reinvesting itself into one of the biggest metropolitan regions in England.

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Innovation

 It’s important to keep a workforce open to innovation by cultivating a compelling future vision, the presence of transformational leadership, high organizational justice, participatory management style and multi-channel organizational communications.

Innovation is the most needed change, it is the core activity of human evolution to change the environment for making collective progress. The highly intensive changes do not happen in isolation from each other in predictable ways, but act as a complex system discipline, amplifying and ameliorating change effects and creating synergy. 

More fundamentally, being innovative is the state of mind to think and do things from a new angle. There is no fixed formula to manage innovation, some variables that might merit consideration are the scope, scale, and significance of innovation.

Scope: Due to hyperconnection and interdependence of the digital era, there are many ways to pursue innovation. Nowadays innovation has a broader spectrum and diverse flavor. There are incremental innovations and radical innovation. Highly innovative organizations can balance innovation with change and stability, process and flexibility to improve business vitality. The management needs to clarify: Why do you want to innovate, what do you need to accomplish, what does it consist of and what does it impact, who can team up to innovate effectively.

Innovation Management has a broader scope, including such as stakeholder management, process, change management, etc. Change managers need to clarify the degree, scope, and nature of the change required, etc, so they can apply a structural approach to manage innovation effectively. The challenge is about how to enforce interdisciplinary understanding of the patterns and information clues behind the innovation puzzle, looking at innovation from the perspective of developing high mature innovation capabilities, and developing a broader portfolio of innovation.

Scale: Innovation is to figure out alternative solutions for achieving "the sum is larger than its parts." To scale up, it’s practical to create a set of innovation principles and practices for harnessing cross-functional collaboration co-creation, set common criteria to evaluate ideas and maximize value creation. To scale up, it’s particularly important for organizations to match their vision and tailor their needs to develop differentiated innovation competency. The key is “context.” If the best practice you want to adopt is to be implemented in the same context, it could work.

Innovation is the process which could be managed. Innovation initiatives perhaps involve the convergent processes to make unusual combinations of ideas to scale up innovation efforts. The ability to achieve sustained innovation does require at least some degree of a 'hard-wired' innovation management system with interdisciplinary knowledge and technical disciplines that are related to technologies implemented by particular innovation activities.

Significance: Innovation is the core activity of human evolution of changing the environment to reach stellar performance for saving resources, for overcoming common challenges, and for making collective human progress. Innovation managers should create a sense of urgency and take the time to ride above the innovation curve, amplifying innovation impact. For the large scale of innovation, it’s important to establish a cross-functional change team to involve multifunctional management, space and time are made to scope, plan, and execute in a structural way. High-innovative organizations can fine-tune innovation management as a unique business competency to improve innovation significance.

Significant innovations can catalyze organizational/societal change. The importance of innovation has increased as the business has the pressure to create differentiated value, focused on meeting important customer needs, ensuring that the results of an innovative approach will have a positive impact on people-customers, partners, employees, and the marketplace, amplify collective capability to change for achieving unique values. Innovation management should make an assessment of innovation significance based on the impact on the organization or society. Breakthrough innovations are not something everyone can accomplish, you have to develop the capability to execute it systematically, and that is something you do not accomplish overnight.

It’s important to keep a workforce open to innovation by cultivating a compelling future vision, the presence of transformational leadership, high organizational justice, participatory management style and multi-channel organizational communications. Innovation management does require not just interdisciplinary understanding to connect the dots and see what's possible, but also technical expertise to produce feasible solutions, generate differentiated value propositions.

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Anthropological Walking Tour in London

Walking approximately ten mile distances, getting familiar with the city center of London, continuing learning the culture heritage of England, appreciating global strangers' helpful suggestions, doing exercises and having fun on the journey.

It’s a cloudy day in London. After having my breakfast, I decided to go to the British library to do some research, also visiting the attached museums: the treasure of the library and the power of story downstairs.

Great library: The library opens at nine thirty. When I arrived in the library before ten in the morning, there were lots of people already sitting there studying quietly. Orchestrating such a great library with a friendly academic atmosphere takes good management disciplines and professional manners. It’s free of charge to use certain facilities and it took a very reasonable cost to become a member for enjoying more value added services. There are cafeterias and restaurants inside to serve library customers conveniently. There are many study rooms at different floors for members to dedicate to their work.

Treasures of British: Although I came here a couple of times, I only sit there to do my own studies without looking around the library thoroughly. So I walked around the library, visited downstairs museums and gift shops this time. In the “Treasures of British” museum, there are written and audio introductions of book histories and worldwide religion histories in Ms. Jane Austen’s England. There are some cultural and political viewpoints of modern society shared by different generations of leaders.

The first book wood scroll: Based on the written introduction posted on the wall, the first book print started from words printed on the wood called wood scroll in Ancient China. Some brief religious history introductions cover Judaism, Buddhism. Hinduism, Islamism, etc. There are some arts and pictures conveying how to carry on British cultural intellect and anthropological heritage.

The power of story: There is also a small ceremonial museum session called “The power of story” displaying some posters about diversity and social justice. All of which built a good foundation to shape London as a dynamic global society.

Creative souvenirs: I also visited the book shop which sells some interesting souvenirs with an anthropological touch. There are Shakespeare book collections, jigsaw puzzles, little fiction toys and gifts.

Heritage gallery of exhibition: At about lunchtime, I went to the Heritage gallery of exhibition In Guildhall Art Gallery near King and Queen streets in London. There is a limited collection of Shakespeare posters, his first signatures, and a brief introduction of him. Besides that, there are oil paintings and sculptures of powerful couples - ladies and gentlemen in their time. There is a Roman amphitheater presentation as well. Most of those art are based on the history of London.

Walking tour of center of London: I started my walking tour at the center of London, walking across the Royal Exchange at the corn hill, then passed through St Paul Cathedral and the square with the Victoria’s statue, and then strolled over the royal court of justice, after continue moving ahead, I arrived in the Aldwych road near the Waterloo bridge.

Afternoon black tea: It’s about two pm. I hung around on the main streets near the city center hot spots; then occasionally, walked through the Covent garden where I visited before the Christmas holiday. Now it was full of the New Year theme with colorful ring bells and winter flower decorations. I also walked through a mini apple market which sells crafts and gifts. And then, I stopped by a cafe stall and ordered my drink, sipped my afternoon black tea there and took a rest for a while.

I continued my walking tour in the mid afternoon. I passed through the Leicester square and walked across China town where lots of people with global taste came here to learn Asian culture and taste eastern food. The red lantern decorations intensify the new year theme, implying London as a blending pot and shape itself as an international capital with harmony. I also saw a street with quite a few Indian restaurants near the place I lived the day before. in fact, people all over the world visited London and made this metropolitan city more diversified and dynamic

Angel lights in the regent street: When I walked towards the regent street, it was just past three pm, but it looked so dark outside, just like six pm in the summertime. The holiday angel lights were lit up, flying across the street, brightening the surroundings in the rain, very beautiful and harmonious. There are all sorts of colorful buses running through the street, red, blue, green, yellow, white, gray, etc. I tried to find the one I could take to go back, but I couldn’t. So I asked the local which bus I should take. She replied with her cheerful smile, the distance for me to go back is not so far away, I can walk. Really, I will try.

National art gallery: The rain started pouring, but I kept walking. Suddenly, I saw the national art gallery was on the other side of the road, so I decided to take the detour again and visited there. As I passed through there a few times, It seems not open during the Christmas season

It was raining, and I was in a bit of a hurry up. So I passed through the crowd of people and accessed the gallery, planning to do a quick visit. There was an overwhelming collection of oil paintings categorized by different years, cities or perhaps the donor’s name. Most of them reflected people's life in the cultural renaissance era hundreds of years ago. There were some landscape paintings as well. It took me about half an hour to do the brief review and then I exit. It is dark outside, so I lost direction again, as mentioned my phone’s network didn’t work. But with the help of global strangers again, I got some clues on buses and directions. Of course, there were subway stations nearby, but I prefer walking or taking the bus to see the city scenery and get familiar with all sorts of streets. The rain was not stop, but became bigger. I gave up on walking, hoping in the right bus; it was not so far away but also not so close; there were at least four or five stops before I arrived at the destination. I checked the distance between where I asked the lady earlier at the regent street and the location I lived through the internet at night. It's about 1.5 miles or thirty minutes walking distance. Is it far or not so far? We may ask Londoners to make a judgment.

Overall speaking, my five hour walking tour and three library-museum-gallery visit are fulfilling, walking approximately ten mile distances, getting familiar with the city center of London, continuing learning the culture heritage of England, appreciating global strangers' helpful suggestions, doing exercises and having fun on the journey.

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InsightofKnowledge

Knowledge is the power, you have to apply it at the right time in the right circumstance with the right attitude.

Information nowadays is only a click away and the knowledge cycle is shortened significantly. The border of knowledge domains has a blurred scope, and knowledge is expanded in the continual base. Knowledge is more intangible, complex, and dynamic compared to the physical asset. 

Knowledge does not stand still, but needs to be kept realigned, refined to generate values to benefit human societies. Knowledge is power, how can we apply it to generate value, solve problems and convey wisdom?

 

The gap between knowledge and insight is about the depth of understanding: Knowledge by itself is nothing if you do not understand how to apply it and make it useful for problem-solving. An essential role for knowledge can be taught, but insight is a unique perception which needs to be gained by each individual.

Well-defined principles, in-depth understanding and application practices can guide you in safe use of knowledge power effectively. The specialized generalists with interdisciplinary knowledge are in demand to bridge silos and contribute to cross-functional communication and collaboration because today’s problems often become over complex and interdependent.

The interdisciplinary knowledge domain can have many sides: Often the problems are complex and multifaceted. Rather than thinking outside of one particular box, it’s important to shape a bigger box by making connections between different knowledge boxes: Analogously, the interdisciplinary knowledge domain is like a geodesic shaped box with many faces. Each of them is a strong knowledge domain that you need to dig through to understand issues comprehensively.

There needs to be a better appreciation for problem-solving abilities. Thinking in a bigger-box means knowledge professionals today need to be in a continuous learning mode with interdisciplinary understanding, for challenging existing thoughts, outdated knowledge or conventional understanding, seeking additional knowledge and experience for coming up with better solutions.

Knowledge professionals should develop a growth mindset, accumulating fresh knowledge, and capturing unique insight: Different people use knowledge to do their activities informatively. Knowledge is the first step to gain expert power. Knowledge can, under the right circumstances, allow you to access power for solving problems and building reputation.

Knowledge is the power, you have to apply it at the right time in the right circumstance with the right attitude. The Knowledge-Insight-Wisdom pyramid is an important step in knowledge refinement. Knowledge professionals with intrinsic motivation share their knowledge and keep refreshing their understanding. The more you know, the more opportunities you can apply knowledge to create value, spark innovation and solve problems effectively.

Wisdom is a higher order of knowledge that amounts to the refinement of knowledge coupled with experience. The way to attain wisdom is to have an open mind, be aware of your limitations, learn from your experiences and those of others, learn to see the world from different angles, learn to be confident and humble at the same time and keep improving to generate value coherently.

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A Detour Trip of visiting Salisbury and Stonehenge

It kept raining that day, and a beautiful rainbow came out like a bridge minding the gap between past and today, urban and rural areas, darkness and brightness.

After staying in Bath to celebrate the New Year day, I was prepared to head back to London, but stopping in Salisbury, from where, taking the tour bus to visit Stonehenge, being famous for its series of circular stones constructed in Ancient time. That is a hot tourist spot.

It was raining heavily, there were very few people on the train and it took about an hour to arrive Salisbury; then the staff working in the train station told me that there is a tour bus heading to Stonehenge. And then from the park gate there, you need to take a bus again to see Ancient stones. It’s not so far away, I thought the bus tickets were overcharged compared to other routes between cities.

When I was on the way to the park, it kept raining and a beautiful rainbow came out like a bridge minding the gap between past and today, urban and rural areas, darkness and brightness. When the second bus took tourists towards where the stones were located, it was windy and rainy, a very chilly day, but there were about dozens of people watching those Ancient stones under the rain. I thought there were hundreds or even thousands of big stones spread around and there were different patterns or symbols we needed to figure out. But it was just my imagination.

In fact, there were less than twenty pieces of large stones sitting there. I am a bit disappointed. Maybe architects or archeologists are more interested in doing further research about them. The pictures I took are just as perfect as the ones sold in the gift shops. I also visited the small museum near the gate, there is a brief introduction about the park and history.

The rain started pouring, I spent another two and half hours on the way by taking two tourist buses going back to Salisbury, and ultimately taking the train returning back to London.


Although it is the working day at the beginning of the new year, London's afternoon is not quiet, soaked in the rain, bustling and hustling with a holiday theme. Lots of people still traveled across the train stations; wander around in the shopping centers, and stroll in the city gardens. When
we see the street holiday light is still on, we know the fresh New Year has just come already.

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Unleash talent like fountain

Talent is -raw intelligence, growth mindset, high level capability; each one of us has- our own journey of - sharpen it through , shake it up…

We are all born with-

certain "talent";

talent is like seed;

defining what you could be;

not what you will be.

you have to water it;

nourish it,

grow it into fruity;

 

it takes-

immense amount of-

hard work, time, energy for -

us committed to -

develop talents, skillfully;

talent is a gift..



Talent is -

like the building blocks,

as something in making;

you need to-

figure out the clues,

plug them into -

the right place to-

create value,

make impact, cohesively;


Talent is-

like the fountain spring,

the more you dig,

the more it flows;

collective talent like water streams,

flow from past to-

current to future,

merging into-

the river of -

human history, smoothly.

Talent is like-

the garden of blossoms 

we need to know -

how to -

respect, understand, 

 appreciate it...

Talent is -

raw intelligence,

growth mindset,

high level capability;

each one of us has-

our own journey of -

sharpen it through

shake it up;

talent determines-

what we can do;

motivation determines -

how much -

we’d like to do;

do we feel-

comfortable of -

doing it no matter -

how long,

how much time we want to-

do it to -

the fullest.


Talent could be-

the great balance between-

"heart" and "head,"

the right mix between -

what is innate,

what is trained;

can you follow -

your heart to-

pursue your interest,

from your human nature,

instincts, feelings,

passion, emotions;

are you able to-

use your mind to

craft your talent as -

a piece of art, structurally?


Talent is -

how much you can execute -

things uniquely, quickly, accurately with -

out-of-box thinking,

intuitive creativity;

shall you see through talent from-

different angles,

polish it, to-

unleash human potential, effortlessly?

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Jane Austen Center

Shall we continue discovering our interest to learn from those ancestors, without following them blindly. So we can bridge the differences between agricultural society and contemporary world; eastern and western hemisphere; literature and science; past and future in the new year influentially.

It’s another rainy day in the bath. I planned to visit a few museums to dig deeper into literature heritage and anthropological roots in England. I walked through Broad Street, Quiet Street, and headed to Queen Square. It was raining heavily, and I lost my umbrella the other day. So I went to the coffee shop Daisy Bean to sip my English breakfast tea. It was near Jane Austen's house. After I finished my tea, I left the café and saw a few people entering the Jane Austen Centre. I asked them whether it was open, they said not yet.

I hung around in the queen’s square, and tried to find more museums nearby. When I walked across the Jane house again. What a surprise! A vivid portrait of Ms. Jane Austen stood in front of her center greeting tourists; and another gentleman who wore the top hat also stood outside the house. They are open today. It’s fantastic, a sweet new year surprise, I thought they won’t open until later this month.

I entered the gift shop on the first floor and bought the ticket to visit the center, and listened to the tour guide’s introduction about Jane’s family history and her intimate relationship with Bath in which she spent about five years in her adult life in 1797 and after. Ms Jane Austen grew up in the quiet village Steventon in England. I guess at that time Bath was an exciting town with its hustle and bustle for young people like Jane and the city Bath impacted on her writing significantly There are a few stories she wrote that reflected her life experiences in Bath, using the same street name, the people she met, etc.

I read some of Jane Austen’s novels when I was in high school; her books had been translated into different languages worldwide. Although she mainly wrote love stories in her times, her writing with sharp wit brought us the insightful perspective of social hierarchy, gender inequality, and conventional wisdom in England at that time. The title of her works are already very deep, such as “Persuasion,” “Pride and Prejudice”; “Sense and Sensitivity”; Northanger Abbey etc. I also watched quite a few TV episodes of her novels. She published her first book using the name - the Lady. The tour guides mentioned that about six thousand people come to visit her center annually and there are also seasonal cultural events such as Jane Austen festivals to carry on her heritage. I saw more ladies read their literature books in the buses or trains in Europe than any other continent. They are inspired by those talented writers in the last generations. I also review the limited collection of Jane Austen's portraits; written and video instructions about her life in Bath. Jane’s family used the mineral water of Bath to cure illness. Perhaps that’s one of the reasons Roman bath is a popular tourist spot for mineral bath treatment.

I also walked by a few areas Ms. Jane Austen used to live in Bath. The royal crescent, queen square and the green park I passed by on the first day I came to Bath. In the afternoon, I passed through the Holburne Museum, also visited the nearby Sydney garden where Jane and her family lived in the first three years when they were in Bath.

On the way back to the city center, I walked through the hills and then came down to the river walk in the pouring rain. I believe Jane also did that many times, watching the water flowing forward with its waves up and down with accelerated speed. The parade garden, on the other side of the river was not open; looking from the Pulteney bridge, it is an exquisite garden with the natural harmony of flying clouds, drizzling rain in the sky; Pulteney hill and bridge around the city; Avon river and valley on the ground.

We are inspired by different legendary stories; varying city heritages and multiple social activities. Shall we continue discovering our interest to learn from those ancestors, without following them blindly. So we can bridge the differences between agricultural society and contemporary world; eastern and western hemisphere; literature and science; past and future in the new year influentially.

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Resolutionofnewyear

The entire New Year is waiting for us to discover, embracing the unknown and taking adventure. Make it an impressive chapter of the life journey.

It is another new year unfolding ahead of us. The world becomes more abundant with our needs and wants. Thanks to all great people who devote themselves to progressive changes and advanced information technology. It is the time to recharge our energy, embrace the unknown and manage time wisely, open the new chapter of learning, growing and improving.

New year resolution: The journey of change means that we need to reinvent ourselves constantly. New year is the time to reflect and make a resolution. Be brief, be succinct, be essential!. To create a positive change tomorrow, we need to start today, understand ourselves better, understand others with empathy, what should change, how to strengthen the strength, improve the weakness, and how to get to know our global society better in order to contribute to collective progress collaboratively.

Professional competency development and maturity requires determination, discipline, dedication, persistent practice in the present and a continuum. To move up toward the next level of professional competency, people need to keep exploring their talent, broadening their relevant skill sets and deepening their expertise to solve more complex problems and achieve higher performance.

Fair judgment: Global world becomes hyper connected and interdependent, but there are still negative emotions flowing over, bad decisions being made, unnecessary conflicts happening everyday. It is imperative to identify what causes well-educated people so frequently to make wrong judgment. Do they lack independent thinking or critical reasoning? Do they focus too many trivial details, with ignorance of the big picture? Etc. The close-mindedness, stereotypical thinking or preconceived ideas about how things should happen, etc, are all causes of bad judgment.

When you judge something, you form a critical opinion of it based on facts, discerned data, and preconceived notions. not just watch, but perceive; not just listen to what’s been said, but pay more attention to not being said; not just follow others’ opinions blindly as a follower, but shape your own thoughts via learning and practicing. Instead of trying to agree or arguing the toss, people begin to work collaboratively, clarifying, building on each other's ideas and co-shape a better society.

Unconventional wisdom: Digital flows from a combination of character, a desire to change, life experiences, capability & knowledge, success & failure. The gap between knowledge and insight is about the depth of understanding. The conventional mind is bound by its beliefs and general practices, it perhaps works in a considerably static industrial age. But in a digital society with hyperconnectivity, conventional wisdom has a negative connotation about sticking to the outdated concepts, traditions, cultures, or “we always do things like that” mentality.

To deepen the level of understanding, multidimensional intelligence is important to both capture the conceptual big picture or generate fresh ideas. The digital mindset has unconventional wisdom via critical thinking, creative thinking, and independent thinking. The way to attain wisdom is to have an open mind, be aware you could be wrong, learn from your experiences and those of others, be aware yours is not the only valid worldview, learn to see the world from different angles. The maturity level of understanding depends on how high and how fast you can climb “Knowledge Pyramid” or “Knowledge Hierarchy” smoothly.

The entire New Year is waiting for us to discover, embracing the unknown and taking adventure. Make it an impressive chapter of the life journey. We all need change for betterment, fulfillment. Reimagining the future is exciting, but investigating the different path for unlocking our potential needs to take structural planning and develop it dynamically. People should realize that we cannot wait until there are immediate pressing moments for changes. Continuous learning, growing and creating change momentum is necessary in an ever-evolving global world, in order to drive changes we all want to see.

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New Year Day in Bath

Back to the city center, looking across this historical town, walking into the crowd; I took the tempo of city Bath to celebrate the New Year day.

I got up early on New Year's Day, planning a walking tour in the Bath to learn its historic architectures, cultural heritages, picturesque gardens and city bridges. At about 7 am in the morning, it’s still dark outside, only the street lights were lit, reflecting in the river Avon, creating illumination on the walls of architectural buildings. The moon came in and out of the clouds with its charm. 

The New Year is coming already, but the historic city of Bath hasn’t woken up yet. Almost all stores are closed in the early New Year's day, but there are staff working inside a few shops. That means they might open later today. The only coffee shop opening in the early morning is Gregg, which sells drinks and desserts. A few chain restaurants, cafes, supermarkets would open after ten am. The train station and bus station are also not open today, I didn’t see any local buses passé through, but the screen at the bus shops still displays some information. When would this tourist city start waking up completely?

Pulteney Bridge across the Avon River: I walked on the Pulteney Bridge, listening to the tides riding up and down; watching birds flying around, a few pedestrians strolling over in the quiet streets. There are no swans and gulls in the Avon river to cheer us up this morning. It seems two water streams merge, so waves are more turbulent and the water gets stirred up, not so calm and clean to keep the birds safe here.

After that I walked through the “quiet street.” It’s indeed quiet in the new year morning. Bath is like a little Italy with a lot of historic architecture. I passed through the Roman bath building and Bath Abbey architecture and then, I walked further on the Pulteney bridge towards North Parade and captured the great views. The sunlight brightened the morning. There are more people and cars running in the streets. Bath starts waking up and the Avon river flows forward endlessly.

Jane Austen Center: I walked around the city center, passed through the small green garden, had my breakfast I bought yesterday, fed a few birds as well and then headed to Jane Austen Center, which is a small modest town house with Jane’s portrait on the window. I knew it wasn’t open during winter break. But every September, there are parades and activities to remember the author of “Persuasion,” “Pride and Prejudice, “Sense and Sensibility,” etc. carrying on her heritage “We have all a better guide in ourselves, if we would attend to it, than any other person can be.” -Jane Austen

Botanic Garden and Royal Victoria Garden: A few more shops opened. I sat in a Pret coffee shop to sip my English breakfast tea, using Wi-Fi to navigate how to get to the city parks. It's in the same direction as the Jane Austen center. I should have gone further in the early morning, but I missed it.

So I need to go up hills again, and walk further to reach the higher horizon with green landscape-the Victoria royal garden and the botanical garden. Half an hour of walking later, ultimately, a great park unfolded in front of me with a grandeur architectural crescent. The garden looks fresh, spacious, and colorful even in the winter season. The trees grow very strongly and green meadows soak with morning frost and look fresh under sunshine.

Well-trained pets: I stood up at the corner, watching over the fantastic landscape and ate the hot fresh snack I bought in the local bakery. There are middle-aged couples with their big doggies coming down to the roads. Perhaps dogs smelled my bakery and followed me around very closely; made me a bit nervous. Should I share my snack with them, are they nice pets? The owners stopped them and asked the dogs to leave me alone and run forward with them.

In Europe, pets are well trained and they have discipline to be well behaved. A few days ago in a London’s park, I also saw the dogs sitting down politely when they saw other dogs coming over; and hugging their pals in a good manner, like ladies and gentlemen do. I saw gulls, swans flying synchronously on the shore, it seems they received some special signals. Obviously, there are masters behind the scenes. That is the civilized society.

Shakespeare memorial and a family park: Going even deeper, I came to the botanical garden. That is a bigger park with different trees and groves, wood sculptures, cursive paths and coffee stalls. There is a Shakespeare memorial and a family park inside. People of all ages came to exercise or had outdoor activities to refresh themselves on New Year day.

After going down to the hill and heading back to the city center, it is already afternoon; and about ten percent of stores have been open since noon. It seems more tourists came into town. I wandered around in the city for a while, and was a bit exhausted. It started raining again in the afternoon. I had pan thai vegetable noodle soup in a small restaurant to charge up and hang around in the rain to capture more unique scenes.

If the early morning walk across the bridge tested my courage to break through the darkness, then visiting the Jane Austen center kept me track of the footprints of European authors in history; the garden tours made me calm and fulfilled inside with renewed energy. Back to the city center, looking across this historical town, walking into the crowd; I took the tempo of city Bath to celebrate the New Year day.

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Follow the author’s footsteps from the last generation

I wish -the fresh bright new year day, with the rivers flowing tranquilly, merging the stream of benevolence, the taste of sweetness; the hills are sowed with - kindness seeds, sparkling of creativity, inspirationally.

On the voyage to-

explore the world of difference

I followed -

footsteps of -

authors in-

last generations;

wandering around-

in the historical cities of -

Bristol and Bath,

for imagining, persuading

making influences,

like Ms Jane Austen.


The new year eve day is -

chilly, windy

with pouring rain,

icebergs falling down, frostily:

walking through-

waterfront,

harborside,

greetings to-

swans, gulls, cheerfully;

climbing up-

Brandon Hill,

watching over-

city landscapes,

interacting with nature,

intimately;

running across-

pulteney bridge

navigating into-

the valley of -

river Avon, thoroughly

pondering in -

the land of museums

digging into-

historical roots of-

humanity, wisely..

shall we fulfill-

our curiosity by -

discovering deeper,

moving forward,

taking an ardent journey of-

life persistently:

can we hold on -

our belief,

learn from -

each other,

understand, trust

believe in -

each others,

to welcome-

new paradigm coming,

firmly?


The past is -

fading away, gradually

but we could always learn something from it;

The New Year’s bell is -

ringing, soundly,

shall we look forward to-

 tomorrow, passionately?

The wind is still blowing,

the rain is constantly pouring

the future starts -

unfolding;

can we take courage to-

step into it, enthusiastically


I wish -

the fresh bright new year day,

with the rivers flowing tranquilly,

merging the stream of benevolence,

the taste of sweetness;

the hills are sowed with -

kindness seeds

sparkling of creativity,

inspirationally.

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New Year Bell had run already

New Year’s bell has rung soundly; Winter wonderland cheers up -our holiday spirits; the atmosphere is -mixed with-aroma, spice; inspiring us to -make the differences; develop the strength, spread the seeds of creative goodness, cultivate this beautiful land, collaboratively..

In the deep chilly night

with drizzling rain,

blowing wind,

the voice mixing with noise,

breaking through-

the silence of -

darkness,

cheerfully

the New Year’s bell was ringing,

brilliantly


Winter is-

the time for-

hibernating in natural world;

but it awakens-

our subconsciousness,

refresh our laten energy,

brings us hope,

at New Year day,

sets us free to -

reimagine -

the future, passionately.


If Spring is -

the time to sow,

winter makes us pondering

preplanning -

what we want to grow next, imperatively.



New Year is-

the moment-

to make a wish,


raise expectations,

discover our potential, fluently..


New Year’s bell has rung soundly;

Winter wonderland cheers up -

our holiday spirits;

the atmosphere is -

mixed with-aroma, spice

inspiring us to -

make the differences;

develop the strength,

spread the seeds of kindness,

cultivate this beautiful land,

collaboratively..

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Bristol Delight

I spent the last day of the year traveling from Bath to her sister city Bristol by bus, walking around the city center, climbing up the hills and strolling along the harbor side with swan delight..

After having brunch in the Bristol city center, I planned to go to the riverside first; I asked the directions from global strangers. But somehow, I ran in the opposite direction; climbing up to the hill because there are a few architectural buildings standing up high, caught my attention.

Visit the art museum of Bristol: I walked closer to the University of Bristol, and nearby it’s the art museum of Bristol. So I visited the museum which had the right scale of art and science sample collection, making you feel fulfilling but not overwhelming. There are western and eastern art collections; there are paintings, sculptures, stones and gems, ceramics and glassware, animal samples etc; downstairs, there are cafes and gift shops and rooms for kids activities. The Staff are friendly and the environment is harmonious.

Climb up Brandon Hill: Just as I left the museum, the rain started pouring heavily. I stepped into the cafe in a neighborhood, sipping my English tea. And I just figured out that I sat in the coffee shop of RWA the Bristol Royal West of Academy so I also visited the limited collection of art there. Then I walked across the street, trying to find the path down to the river side. But a few sidewalks only go uphill, so I decided to climb up to reach Brandon Hill. On the way to the top, the rain started pouring again mixing with icebergs; the wind was blowing strongly, even the tall trees trembling. A few people were hidden under the trees. My umbrella was almost broken, but my winter jacket was thick enough, with the hat protecting me warmly. I moved down, returned back to the street and arrived in the city hall square. The Bristol abbey was located there; the Christmas tree was lighting up with pretty decorations and quite a few people sitting inside peacefully.

Enjoy a swan delight on the harborside: I saw a signal outside of the building. with the arrow towards the riverfront. Walking about seven to eight minutes, passing through the shopping center, I approached the harbor side. What a delight! A beautiful swan swam towards me and I was the only visitor there at the moment. Fortunately, I had a bit of a sweet treat to share with her along with other birds. The swan did use her long mouth to push down other birds when they came to take a bite of the treats. Overall, they are friendly with each other. Another swan lake enlightening my Bristol trip. Walking across the riverside road. I only saw four or five swans swimming individually but the school of birds flew around actively. After a few minutes walk, I saw another small amusement park with a game arcade, and the “We Curious” science museum was just around there but the museum was not open.

Watch the Clifton suspension bridge: I asked the global strangers for help again on how to watch the Clifton suspension bridge which is one of the famous scenes here. They navigated through and suggested I take bus 8 and reach Clifton. It took me a while to find the right bus station in the city center. The bus is crowded as it passes some hot tourist spots and good residential areas. After arriving in Clifton. It seems I am in the suburbs, standing on the hill again.

It is still rainy, windy, and chilly. I walked down to the street and headed towards the direction of Clifton bridge; the rain mixed with icebergs, pouring down again, I even lost my umbrella. Hidden under the roof of a small building, I could watch over the Clifton suspension bridge on a stormy day. It costs 100 pounds for the vehicle to pass through the bridge. So no buses pass through the bridge.

It’s the mid afternoon already, with global strangers' help and my big daily ticket, I took a few buses to go back to the coach station and travel between different cities smoothly. The buses are warm and comfortable on this cold stormy winter day, making my journey more enjoyable. So I left a good memory for this end-of-the-year “bus+walking” tour in Bristol, wrapping up the old, embracing the new, taking a bath in the city of bath to welcome the upcoming new year refreshingly.

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Londonbuses

The colorful buses set a viable path to shape the impulse of advanced societies, run through towns, cities across borders, taking passengers to wherever they want to go; they create the unique scene to connect the world and increase mobility of modern world.

London like any large metropolitan cities in the world, there are all sorts of public transportation tools such as trains, taxis, buses, uber, even the horse carts in certain areas. To view the city clearly and capture great landscapes, buses are a nice choice to run through the city and nearby towns and cities; long distance buses can even take you to any cities in England or across Europe cost-effectively.

I grew up in a big metropolitan city, took buses in different continents and have had a very good impression on the buses running across London areas.

City bus: The city buses in London are thoughtfully designed to fit the needs of customers. Most buses have double deck designs. There is a spacious place at the center of the first level for holding strollers, wheelchairs or luggages; and the first row of the seats are called priority seats usually for seniors or people with special needs. Most people enjoy sitting on the top level with clear city views. Passengers can push the red button in front of the seats to notify the driver they need to take off in the next station. Parents are able to lift the strollers easily as the bus doors are very closely meeting the curbs of the bus station. Most of the time, the buses are not crowded, all passengers have a seat to sit down unless they want to stand up. The passengers were also very polite and thanked the driver when they took off. The bus is clean and comfortable Although a bit slow compared to trains.

Mid-distance buses: For the buses to nearby cities, there are seat belts, tables and facilities for electronic devices. The screen on the top front displays the station information clearly. The drivers are usually very friendly, keep customers updated about the trip. For some buses going to nearby towns, there are tables even at the top level of the business. But for the longer distance buses, there is only one level with chairs, I guess for safety concerns.

Long-distance buses: A few days earlier, it took me around three hours to travel from London to Bath on a rainy day by bus. I captured the scenery and watched the raindrops soaking into the farmland and arriving in Bath town center safely.

On New Year's Eve day, I took the bus from Bath to Bristol. The two level colorful bus is very warm, comfortable, and runs on rainy days. Sitting at the front on the top level, the view of the landscape is very clear; passing through historic architect buildings running across streets, bridges and greenery farms, the bus stops in nearby towns and arrive in the neighboring sister city smoothly. As the ticketing system had some issues in the early in the morning, the drivers offered all passengers free trips. Later at noon, I bought a daily ticket to take local buses and explore more fun places freely.

So far the bus tours are enjoyable and not exhausting for me. The colorful buses set a viable path to shape the impulse of advanced societies, run through towns, cities across borders, taking passengers to wherever they want to go; they create the unique scene to connect the world and increase mobility of modern world.

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Newyearforbetterment

Looking inside and understanding deeply of ourselves with a desire for reinventing our beings allows us to leverage knowledge to increase the influential outreach for the betterment of human society.

It is the end of year, before making a resolution, perhaps we should take a moment to reflect; before taking actions, we need to ponder deeper and prioritize properly. 

New Year is the perfect time for digital leaders and professionals to predict, prioritize and practice the better ways of creating change momentum. They must realize that they cannot wait until there is an immediate pressing task, constantly learning and improving is necessary in an ever-changing world for the upcoming new year.

Learn to think beyond a single dimension; see underneath the surface; pursue more than one solution and appreciate the world of difference: The digital world is dynamic, interconnected, and interdependent, with the abundance of information. The idea of digital paradigm shift, starts from mind shift. To break down silos and break through thinking ceilings, you need to gain sufficient knowledge and unique insight to observe deeper, see things underneath and think profoundly. Increasingly, we should see value in being mindful, appreciate multiple viewpoints and think of alternative solutions.

When you intend to understand, interpret, judge, or articulate something, you need to form a critical opinion of it based on true facts, discerned information, in-depth understanding, and clarified notions. Contemporary global citizens understand the value of harnessing differences, leverage tools and experiences to communicate and build trust across diverse cultures, to shape the true global society effectively.

Awaken your consciousness and liberate your mind to obtain accurate knowledge and wisdom because it gives you a holistic view of circumstances: The career or life is an accumulation of experiences; some you can choose, others perhaps just happened to you. The experience of the world through the senses and the mind, the various processes of thinking and the different implications of this experience are all personal information for people to shape their own perceptions and influence on how they make decisions, large or small; how they take actions in their own ways.

Thinking outside the current constraints and comfort zones requires a different vision and the courage to pursue it. In order to accomplish the impossible, one must be able to see the hidden clues and spark creativity. Good experience brings you confidence, negative experiences make you frustrated. It’s important to gain an in-depth understanding of your experiences and learn from them, turning roadblocks to building blocks for shaping future changes.

Innovation requires balance, balance increases harmony, harmony catalyzes collective human progress: The world is far from perfect, and most of the problems are caused by negative thinking, miscommunication, poor judgment, misbehaviors; or to dig deeper, many are caused by the unbalanced mindsets which lack of emotional intelligence or interdisciplinary knowledge. Imbalance is inevitable if you pick one of the two opposite sides of viewpoint only, and take the two-dimensional lenses to perceive the multi-faceted world.

Balance is a dynamic equilibrium to make change continuum. Balance is not about putting casual things in the same box and expecting natural harmony or creative inspiration.]. Balance seems effortless, but there are all different ingredients such as communication, interaction, flexibility, and resilience, etc, in it to make it work, creating something new to achieve a state of dynamic balance.

The past is part of the history, from which we could always learn something. The present is when we have the time to think, act, and make accomplishments. The new year is the time we make a wish, hopefully, things are going smoothly, so we can overcome obstacles, move ahead to lead changes we want to see. There is more than one road to lead changes and innovations, and there are many best practices you can take in the upcoming new year for unleashing collective potential. Looking inside and understanding deeply of ourselves with a desire for reinventing our beings allows us to leverage knowledge to increase the influential outreach for the betterment of human society.

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A Day Trip to Windsor

My three hour walking tour in Windsor was cheerful with holiday charm and swan lake delight.

In the early morning about 7 am I woke up and headed to the bus station in the city center of London, planning to visit Windsor - the town located in the south bank of London. London is still half awake and half sleepy in the early morning; many shops and restaurants are not  open yet, but the public transportation is already functioning smoothly. So I could take the subway or bus to the coach station and from there, there is a long distance bus to go to Windsor.

Everything was going smoothly as planned, but there was about a 15 minute delay for the bus departing. Windsor is located west of London, about twenty five miles away. Around ten am, we arrive in the Windsor town center. It’s a lovely town still full of Christmas themes, with lighting and holiday ornaments.

Christmas market: I walked through the market streets, there were many shops, cafes and restaurants around. Quite many are the chain stores brand name which you can find in London and many European cities. They offer holiday discounts and those shopping streets are popular to the tourists. I had my brunch in a lovely restaurant. The breads with egg, mushrooms plus flavored sources provided the nutrition I need and recharge my energy to continue my walking tour in Windsor.

Great Park: Going deeper and deeper and walking back to the streets passing through the residential areas with a few clock towers. Surprisingly, after I passed through the small street called brook, I entered the great park - it is spacious, greenery, elegant, with beautiful landscape design and architectural taste. Although it started raining, many people hang around in the park, enjoying the nature scenes.

An amazing swan lake in Windsor: I walked across the castles and fountains, made the left turns, and walked through the river bank of Thames. What a delightful surprise- hundreds of swans geese and birds swam in the river, cheering up the tourists and creating a unique scene. An amazing swan lake in Windsor. Across the river bank, there is a winter amusement park with games, ice skating, and other holiday activities. I also walked through the local Windsor college, libraries, churches, supermarkets. It is an advanced England town with a fully-functioning social ecosystem.

I walked across the author street and planned to visit some museums, but they are not open. I passed through a few residential areas. The deeper I went , the fewer people I saw, the quieter the surroundings were. Most tourists hang around in the town center. But I went a bit further and explored the unknown. My three hour walking tour in Windsor was cheerful with holiday garden charm and swan lake delight.

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