Stacey Barr's Personal Blog

Brisbane floods wreak havoc in the high ground too!

2011-01-13T14:28:00.000-08:00

With the floods here in South East Queensland making international news, my team and I have been very touched by the volume of kind emails from my customers around the world checking that we're okay. So I just wanted to let you all know how we're coping.

Unlike thousands of people whose homes and businesses went under in the rising Brisbane River, my team (Debbie and Claire) and I have been very fortunate to have been out of harm's way.

My husband and I live in the hills in South East Queensland, so flooding is not our problem - it's that the earth can't hold any more water. We’ve had a small landslide about 2m from the back corner of the house leaving a 6m high cliff a little too close for comfort, and is certainly going to need some major retaining walls to repair it. And our driveway has a steep long slope to one side that is subsiding too, but so far we still have access to our home.

Here's a little video of our landslide. The sounds you can hear are the frogs clicking in celebration of the rains and my dog Chilli panting in the background:

We're so lucky compared to our neighbours up the street who had a MASSIVE landslide from up the hill behind them that was enough to slide through their house and then keep on sliding down to the next neighbours, burying cars up to the wheel arches, shattering windows, depositing 1m deep mud throughout the house and even half burying a load of washing on the line!

Will we ever have time for high performance?

2009-10-01T15:54:00.000-07:00

The Spangled Drongos have returned!

And no, they're not some whacky rock band or chrome-clad bandanna-wearing biker gang. Spangled Drongos are one of my favourite birds, and they always return to our forest when the seasons warm up again. I love the crazy sound they make, almost robotic and mechanical sounding, but very distinctive and wonderful for pulling my attention away from the computer and back out to nature.

I need more of that at the moment! With a series of community engagement measurement workshops in Oz and New Zealand, a fabulous new consulting client in Ghana, three more Performance Measure Blueprint Workshops coming up, including one in the US, I'm at the computer morning, noon and night.

And that's not a habit I condone. Many of my clients and readers have been telling me how they're working long hours, and can't seem to find time for what they really want to do, or really know they should be doing. Should we be sustaining this? As we all get better at pursuing high performance in our businesses or organisations, shouldn't our quality of life improve too?

What do YOU think? Leave a comment - I'd love to hear what you have to say.

Introducing SAGE - my mastermind group!

2009-02-26T16:55:00.000-08:00

Probably the most amazing change I've made to my business this year, is being part of a mastermind group. When I was in Los Angeles last November, I met 6 fantastic Aussie women and we got on like a house on fire.

We decided to start a mastermind group - the 7 of us - and we've been having fortnightly conference calls, and recently a weekend retreat, in which we help each other with business challenges, ideas and support.

I've been wanting to do this for about 2 years now, after reading Meet And Grow Rich by Joe Vitale and Bill Hibbler. It's a great concept, the mastermind. It's about forming a group of people with a shared vision, and meeting regularly with the focus and intention of helping each other overcome challenges, generate ideas and provide unconditional and mutual support. It's synergy: where the whole is worth so much more than the sum of the parts.

We called our mastermind group SAGE, and it's just tremendous. We meet recently for a weekend retreat, including hot-seat sessions for each of us to get help with a particular business challenge, and mini training sessions to learn from each other.

Who is in SAGE? Clockwise, starting with the gorgeous woman in hot pink Belinda Jackson, yours truly, Zoe Routh, Valerie Khoo, Janet Beckers, Ankya Klay and Sharon Tieman.

If you don't have a mastermind group, I can't emphasise enough how much value you'll get from finding or forming one.

Fabulous Trip to Los Angeles!

2008-11-28T15:47:00.000-08:00

This month I've been over to Los Angeles to attend a workshop on building an online business. You know I've already been doing this for a while, but this was the last time this particular workshop was going to run, and I didn't want to miss out!

Never before has my mild-mannered self been to a workshop where the audience was dancing and cheering for the presenter!

And the presenter did really deserve all that cheering - she's an inspiration and guru for those of us with online businesses. (She's one of my mentors, Ali Brown, in case you're curious.)

One of the highlights was the VIP Cocktail Party to launch Ali's new magazine. Got to admit that I really enjoyed being girly for a night, dressing up and having a photo taken with Ali!

Plus I got to finally meet face to face my fellow-Aussie friend, Zoe Routh, after emailing and talking on the phone for ages! This is Zoe and I on the first day of the workshop (we're pretty excited):

And the both of us after a few hours of dancing at the VIP party (a bit sweaty and jet-lagged by now):
The workshop was great too, and I couldn't believe how many Aussies were there! We all went out to lunch one day, and most of us have returned to Australia as a new mastermind group - supporting each other to grow our businesses. Here we are, all 9 of us:

And below, here's a few of us on the final day of the workshop. From left to right, the beautiful Valerie Khoo (Sydney Writers' Centre), the vivacious Sharon Tieman (Madame Marketing), the creative Belinda Jackson (Web Chameleon), the enigmatic Zoe Routh (Inner Compass) and yours truly, Stacey. Note the Starbucks coffee - we were so tired by this stage that caffiene was our only hope of staying alert enough.

Fantastic trip, not only for the great content and meeting my mentor, but especially for the wonderful friendships I've brought back home with me. Thanks ladies - I'm so thrilled to be part of something bigger with you all!

Rockvegas Mug Cake

2008-09-09T20:59:00.000-07:00

I flew up to Rockvegas (Rockhampton, for non-Queenslanders) for Father's Day, and it was just great to hear the surprise in his voice when I called him to come pick me up from the airport!

We had a great catch up. Walked on the beach, ate a huge roast dinner for lunch, and pretty much just hang out together.

My sister Bec is staying at home with our parents while she finishes off her PhD, and she taught me how to make mug cakes. This daggy littel video (turn your speakers up) is your introduction to this decadent treat. If you're a chocoholic like I am, you'll want this recipe! Here it is below, in all its glory. Enjoy!

Chocolate Mug Cakes

Mix in a small bowl (or even the mug you'll cook it in) the following ingredients: 4 tablespoons self raising flour, 4 tablespoons sugar (try brown sugar), 3 tablespoons vegetable oil, 3 tablespoons milk (or milk alternative, I use soy), 2 tablespoons cocoa (I love Green & Black's), 1 egg (or egg replacer) and a quarter teaspoon of vanilla essence.
Pour into a mug and place in the microwave oven, and cook on High for 3 minutes.
Eat, enjoy!

There's no place like home!

2008-07-28T21:21:00.000-07:00

So last week my team and I were in Melbourne, hosting our 7th Performance Measure Blueprint Workshop! Where has the time gone? I can't believe we've had 7 already.

Mark Hocknell, my co-facilitator, and Claire Dening, my event manager, and I all had a great time, and our workshop participants gave us overwhelming appreciation for their experience and learning. And our venue - the Marriott - was amazing. If you need a nice place to stay next time you're in Melbourne, I truly recommend the Marriott for their attention to detail and very welcoming service.

But there's truly no place like home, especially when you live in a singing forest like I do! I recorded some birdsong in the trees outside my office window to share a little of it with you:

Here is a close-up of one of the birds in this beautiful chorus:

My best guess is that it's a currawong. I've never seen them in a group like this before (I know you can't see them all but I think there must have been about a dozen of them). If you know better than I what this bird actually is, please let me know! Email me at info@staceybarr.com.

Crazy hands at the Performance Measure Blueprint Workshop

2008-04-07T00:13:00.000-07:00

Last week I ran my 6th public Performance Measure Blueprint Workshop. Without a doubt, it was the best one yet! No-one rated their overall perception of value of the workshop less than 8 out of 10, and the vast majority gave it 9 or 10 out of 10. Wow - I am really pleased with that!

But according to one participant, I have a presentation quirk - I do crazy things with my hands while I'm speaking to the group! I took a look at the photos of the workshop, and yes, I saw it too (but I think it's because I'm passionate about what I'm saying). Anyway, I've put together a "crazy hands" montage to give you a giggle:

The last two photos look like I'm trying to do a magic trick! You can't even see where they are!!

Anyway, I had a great time, and I know that just about everybody else did too. And that matters much more than whether or not my passion for performance measurement should manifest in my hand motions!

I'm really looking forward to the next Performance Measure Blueprint Workshop, in Melbourne this July. Would you like to join us this time? If so, just email my event manager, Debbie, at debbiebrown@staceybarr.com and she'll reserve a seat for you until we can get the registration details out to you.

USA Road Trip - Favourite Memories

2007-12-18T14:03:00.000-08:00

My husband and I have never been to the USA before, so you have to understand, we wanted to see the things we have heard most about: the Grand Canyon, Yosemite, the giant sequoias, and the big cities, like New York.

The first amazing memory was our hike into the Grand Canyon. I loved the colours, the breathtaking size of it, and the energetic 30km hike.

Seeing the giant sequoias at Sequoia National Park was also unforgettable. Standing next to trees so old and so gargantuan felt like walking as an elf through an enchanted wood.

Actually, that might be a good theme for this vacation: every in the USA is so big! The canyons, the trees, the rock formations like those in Yosemite. Even the meals are huge! I think I finished maybe four of the meals I had in the 3 weeks!

You might be able to see a little waterfall just to the right of my elbow in the following photo. That's Vernal Fall, as seen from Glacier Point in Yosemite National Park, where we hiked to later the same day.

Actually, this photo below is me standing at the top of Vernal Fall, and in the background you can see where I was standing in the photo above.

We visited Santa Cruz, en route to San Francisco, because we had a day to spare, and the most amazing surprise there was the sea lions swarming around the wharf. We watched them for ages, as the squirmed and barked and tried to rest in a tangled mess. I love dogs, and now I think I also love sea lions - they're such characters!

Another great memory is San Francisco. We met up with Stephen Few and his partner for an afternoon at Alcatraz and dinner at a great vegan restaurant (did you hear Steve on my November teleseminar, when I interviewed him about dashboard design?) . While we were there, we also visited Muir Woods, to see the sequoia's cousins, the coastal redwoods. I loved walking through the misty forest, and that feeling of breathing the cool misty air deep into my lungs.

Finally, and probably my most fun memory, was in Boston, for the Michael Hammer workshop. While the workshop was fantastic, it was actually the snow that thrilled me most. I've never seen falling snow before!

And yes, Michael Hammer's "Measuring for Change" event was fantastic. Tremendous case studies and excellent insights from Dr Hammer. My client from QR (Leona Olsen) came all the way to Boston to present one of the case studies and it went brilliantly. She told the story of how QR engaged the Senior Executive team to design strategic performance measures for what seemed to be a set of immeasurable goals. Congratulations Leona - on what you've lead QR through and how you shared this story in Boston!

The 5th Performance Measure Blueprint Workshop

2007-11-19T17:49:00.000-08:00

Phew! I can't believe I've already run 5 public Performance Measure Blueprint Workshops - and given over 120 people the steps they were looking for to measure their business performance.

The most recent, last week in fact, was in Double Bay in Sydney, and we had 28 great people from all sectors (not for profit, government, small business) and almost every state in Australia, and also from New Zealand. The industries represented were again very varied, and included hospitals, local government, utilities, communications, even hospitality! Most of the people were Planning & Performance Managers, Business Analysts or Directors. Here we are (most of us anyway - not everyone fit in the camera angle):

Despite being windowless, the room was beautiful and spacious, and we managed to keep our energy fairly high. There was a lot to learn (and to unlearn too), so a BIG CONGRATULATIONS to everyone who attended, because their focus throughout the 2 days of techniques, case studies and activities was tremendous.

And I'm so pleased to hear the same consistent feedback coming from participants: their 3 favourite things continue to be the relevance of the content, it's practical nature, and the easy-going facilitation style. I'm glad about this last point, because I really like to have a chance to get to know each person who comes along, and check how they're going during the activities:

Now to start planning the workshops for 2008... Perhaps one in New Zealand (given about 20% of participants are travelling from NZ to attend here in Australia), and definitely one back in my home city of Brisbane. Any other suggestions or requests (if so, you add comments below)?

Friends in the forest...

2007-09-16T22:21:00.000-07:00

What's my wonder-dog, Chilli, looking at?
It's our new forest friend, who was rustling around in the undergrowth of our backyard forest last weekend, while Chilli, Hinda (our other dog) and my husband were trying to take an afternoon nap.

Such a loud rustling needed investigating, so Chilli and I trotted off to take a look, and here's what we found... It's a beautiful Lace Monitor, relative to the goanna, but the forest dwelling version. They are quite colourful really, deep emerald green with some bright yellow spots and markings.
Of course, no sooner did it hear us coming, it was up the nearest tree. Lucky for us, it was a tree that had all but fallen, so we got a really close view:
Can you see the size of the claws on it? This one was quite large, almost 2m from head to tail. When these lizards are startled, you certainly don't want to "make like a tree" - those claws would do some extreme damage!

Hobbling around...

2007-08-06T22:22:00.000-07:00

Yep, I've lived up to my reputation as "Stack" when it comes to trail bikes. My XR250R bucked me off again when I tried to make it stop too quickly through an off-cambre turn on slippery dirt.

Here's the damage it did to my ankle (yes, it's an ankle, not a freaky party balloon):

It's kept me hobbling around VERY slowly for a week now. I'm desperate to get back to the gym and running, but not sure that's going to happen too soon. I guess it's fortunate I didn't break any bones!

If you're a keen trail biker, and have some tips about bike handling, feel free to leave some comments here!

Celebrate with chocolate!

2007-07-16T14:46:00.000-07:00

There are two things that have become personality trademarks for me (well, there's more actually, but these are two of the most well-known): I am a vegan, and I loooove chocolate. I particularly like adapting chocolate recipes so they are vegan, which means they are totally plant-based, no animal content whatsoever.

Let me share with you a dreamy chocolate brownie recipe, which I adapted from "Chocolate Baking" by Linda Collister.

Fudge Brownies

Ingredients

140g unsalted butter (I use Nuttelex, a vegan margarine)
4 large eggs (I use the equivalent of Orgran Egg Replacer)
340g light brown muscovado sugar (thank goodness this is a keeper, makes them nice and chewy)
1 tsp real vanilla essence (I use the concentrated version, or for decadence, scrape the seeds from a vanilla pod)
a good pinch of salt
75g cocoa powder (I use Green & Blacks organic cocoa powder, very rich, very real)
140g plain flour (organic and unbleached, of course)
2 tsp baking powder (only if you're doing the vegan version)
100g walnut pieces (optional - my husband isn't fond of nuts in cakes, so often I add it to half the batter)

Method

1. Gently melt the butter/margarine in a pan and let it cool.
2. Using a wooden spoon, beat the eggs (or pretend eggs) very gently with the sugar until just blended and free of lumps.
3. Stir in the cooled butter/marg and vanilla
4. Sift in the salt, cocoa, flour (and baking powder if using) and gently stir, don't overmix
5. Bake in square cake tin lined with foil (I just coated it with marg and dusted with flour) at 170C for 35 mins
6. Let it cool in the tin, on top of a damp tea towel, then lift out and slice
7. Eat, enjoy.

What's the result? Well this is the photo from Linda's book, because we ate them all before I thought to take a photo for you. The vegan version sinks in the middle after cooling, but hey, that just makes for a super squidgy brownie!

my March 2007 Performance Measure Blueprint Workshop

2007-04-15T21:45:00.000-07:00

My March 2007 Performance Measure Blueprint Workshop was the best one yet! Participants rated it really highly - both quantitatively and in their verbal feedback too. All but one person (who rated it 8) gave it a 9 or 10 out of 10 !!

My co-facilitator Mark Hocknell (of 451 Consulting - one of accredited PuMP Consultants) and I made sure we gave lots of one-to-one time with each of our participants during the activities. That's what we're doing in the following picture:

They were certainly the most industrious group we've had for a Blueprint Workshop! They really tucked into the activities to apply what they were learning straight away to their business/organisation. Here we are taking time out to walk around and check out what everyone else had been creating, giving feedback and ideas, and stealing a few ideas too!

We had a great venue too, in that we had a breakout room where we set up a pile of my favourite performance measure related books, and during breaks everyone could snuggle up into a lounge with a coffee and have a read. Here's Rod with his chocolate cake, selecting a book to flick through:

Everyone's every need was well looked after (including mine) by my event manager, Debbie, who I am very proud to say is my sister! The photo is blurry because Deb is always moving fast - she gets so much done so quickly (despite being pregnant). I really appreciate how much she helps me. It means I can give all my attention to the learning needs of our workshop guests, because I know everything else is taken care of!

A warm thanks to all of you who attended - thanks for making it such a great experience for me and for each other! It's made me really excited about the July 2007 workshop in Melbourne. If you're considering joining us in July, just visit http://www.perfmeasblueprint.com and you can read all about it.

2007-03-30T19:06:00.000-07:00

Finding other people that specialise in my field of performance measurement/management is hard enough, but to try and do it from the isolation of Australia is VERY hard. That's why I was so thrilled to be invited to an event hosted by SAS in Brisbane, where Gary Cokins, author of many books including his latest "Performance Management: Finding the Missing Pieces (to Close the Intelligence Gap)" shared his insights about making performance management work.

Being the nice chap that he is, Gary graciously agreed to a photo with me (you can tell he's got a cheeky streak, can't you?).

I really like the book, so I struck a deal with SAS for some copies to give my Performance Measure Blueprint Workshop participants last week, and I have a couple spare. Would you like to win one? Just register at http://www.staceybarr.com/handyhints/enterthedraw.htm and I'll announce the winners in the next issue of the mezhermnt ezine.

The hair-raising mudslide

2007-03-19T19:27:00.000-07:00

So there we were (my husband and I), casually driving through the forest on a beautiful Sunday afternoon recently, escaping the city and traffic to enjoy tall gum trees and freshwater creeks and wild goannas. And then we came to this mother of a mudslide hill. Mind you, it was much steeper than the picture suggests!

But we didn't know how slippery it was until we started driving up it. And we reached a point where the wheels were spinning but the car stopped going forward, and started sliding BACKWARDS down the hill!! My heart was racing, images of tumbling off into one of the gorges either side of the track flashed through my mind. But somehow, with my husband driving and me walking behind the car with a log to jam under the wheels when the car slid too fast, we managed to reverse it back down. No damage, but the car needed a good wash:

And so did my shoes!

my vege garden performance

2007-02-19T18:41:00.000-08:00

Something bright red caught my eye as I was walking around the yard on the weekend: these gorgeous ripe cherry tomatoes - growing wild down the bank alongside our house.

Yum! They tasted great - still warm from the morning sun, juicy and sweet. I'm so inspired now to revamp my vege garden and enjoy this kind of thing every day! But I have some work to do, as you can see:

But this is my target for the next 6 months (which will mean a winter crop is the first one we get):
I'll give you the odd update at each stage, and we'll see how close I can get to the beautiful garden in the picture above. And if any of you have ideas or tips about organic vege gardens (or using photos as performance indicators), please add a comment to this post!

meet my office buddies!

2007-01-14T20:18:00.000-08:00

Coming into a new year, I always find myself seeing things with new eyes and reflecting on things I have taken for granted in the past year. One thing I have taken for granted is the fact that I get to spend most of my working hours with my 2 best canine friends (part of the family, really) - Hinda (left) and Chilli (right):

Hinda is a girl, and she loves cuddling and lazing with me on the couch. We're writing this week's issue of mezhermnt Handy Hints together, in the following photo:

Chilli is a boy, Hinda's half-brother, and his favourite spot in the office (he won the battle) is at my feet (sometimes on), under the desk.

I think he likes it there, because it's oh so convenient to just pop his head up to let me know when he's ready to go out and play. Very hard for me to ignore this manouvre!

They are fantastic companions and despite their vigour and playfulness, they are really very quiet and polite when I am on the phone (although some of you may have heard them in the background on some of our phone conversations, barking at a scrub turkey). Having these guys around me while I work has been one of the greatest perks of working from home!

welcome to whetsunday islands!

2007-01-02T13:34:00.000-08:00

We've just returned from our mini Summer holiday at Hamilton Island, one of Queensland's beautiful Whitsunday Islands, on the Great Barrier Reef. Sounds gorgeous, eh? Well in all honesty it was gorgeous with the exception of one thing - the weather!

The day we arrived was very lovely, as this photo from our resort room attests:

But from that evening forward, we saw very little of the sun!

Despite that, we did get the chance to go snorkelling and saw some very impressive coral gardens and brilliantly coloured and artistically shaped fish (no photos of these, sorry - we forgot to take a waterproof camera!). But we'll no doubt return - at a time of year when the sun brings out the true colours of everything.

see my new toy!

2006-12-18T16:30:00.000-08:00

Well here it is, my brand new toy: the Honda XR250R trail bike. Very exciting, a little scary (it's very tall compared to me), and just good plain fun. Haven't taken it out on the dirt yet because I'm waiting for my Queensland Forestry permit (so I can ride it in the forests), but have cruised around the streets so I can start getting used to it.

I've just taken the above photo, and am ready to head out for another cruise (as you can see it's a beautiful day), so this post is short and sweet! Happy Christmas and holiday season, everyone.

fuzzy grey cannon ball

2006-08-01T00:40:00.000-07:00

Maybe I just haven't noticed it before, but this time of year there seems to be red necked wallabies all over the place. I see them eating our lawn at dawn, scooting through the forest when we go for a walk, racing me up the driveway in the early evening. One even cannon-balled me while I was casually strolling along a track, walking the dogs in the afternoon. A small ball of grey fuzz came flying at me so quickly that it had bumped into me, bullied past me and bounded down the hill before I could let out a startled yelp. Here's what one of these critters looks like:

july performance measure blueprint workshop

2006-07-31T00:45:00.000-07:00

The inaugural Performance Measure Blueprint Workshop, I'm really glad to say, went very well! We put a fair bit of effort into preparing - here's a photo of me setting up the room and my assistant Debbie ready to greet and welcome everyone as they arrive:

The group was fantastic - lots of participation, sharing, practicing and networking:

island fever...

2006-04-30T03:16:00.000-07:00

G'day from one week after our Fraser Island mini-vacation! Gorgeous weather, stunning natural beauty, and fantastic to have 3 days with no to-do list or deadlines. We just walked and swam and 4WDed. Here's us walking the sandblow at Lake Wabby:

My favourite moment was definitely swimming at Lake McKenzie. The water was cool, crystal clear, cobalt blue and DEEP, and the sand was fine and white and warm. If you haven't been to Fraser, I really hope you get the opporutnity someday.

my renovation nightmare!

2006-02-03T13:59:00.000-08:00

Nightmare... well that's probably a bit harsh. Our 100 year old relocated home is actually looking more and more like I had dreamed. The nightmare is really the amount of physical labour that has gone into it - tonnes more than expected! Here's a before and after shot (is it obvious which is the 'before' shot?):