The What Goes Around Blog

Change : By Degrees

If you work in HR and recruitment you’d be hard pressed not to have seen the news this week, in which publisher Penguin Random House (PRH) has confirmed that job applicants will no longer be required to have a university degree. PRH aren’t the first big firm to confirm this small and significant change in policy, but building on the success of their ‘The Scheme’ project, this feels like the first time the idea is getting mainstream exposure beyond the sometimes inward looking world of HR. Good stuff.

So what?

Lowering barriers to entry where it’s practical to do so is an important thing. I know because I don’t have a degree – I fell through the cracks of the formal education system in my late teens and and when Mum died shortly before I turned 19, I really lost any motivation to learn for a while. I subsequently struggled at times because people judged me on the length of the list of my qualifications. It’s an easy thing to measure.

I was also aware of this during my 12.5 years at BT – people using ‘you haven’t got a degree’ as a reason for not offering a job in my direction, despite the fact that I never did a job in BT which required one! I persisted and worked hard and eventually got to, and probably beyond where I wanted to. Yet too much effort was expended by me on navigating this ‘you haven’t got a degree’ barrier – when what I should have been doing, was the work itself. I hope that makes sense!

I’m fortunate. Along the way I rediscovered my love for learning and also my love for applying it too. I invest heavily in my own learning and development, I don’t regret not studying for a degree, and it’s good to see that finally – more people are getting to grips with the fact that not every role requires one. This is positive news, and I believe that what this small step does is afford these organisations which are willing to broaden their horizons, even more wonderful choices in future. It will be interesting to look back in a few years time and see what changes in the demographics of work emerge and stick as a result of this growing change in practice.

What Is Art?

I haven’t blogged here for almost a month – I can’t recall the last time I took such a long break. It’s been enjoyable for me, and I’ve found the motivation to be a little more active over at The Art Sensorium, a place I tend to neglect.

Part of the challenge of starting writing again, is knowing when to start and what to write about. I have plenty of draft ideas – works in progress currently include:

Slow Down
Masterminds
Muddy Waters : Problems and Mistakes (or Why Trust is Never Enough)
Work is Theft

Some of these may or may not see the light of day – my drafts folder often gets covered in cobwebs, so we’ll see.

In the midst of my indecision, Jon Husband drew my attention to a short video in which Brian Eno talks about state provision of a basic income for everyone.

This in turn led me, via Kev Wyke, to The 2015 John Peel Lecture – given by…Brian Eno. A strong thread in the lecture relates the question, ‘What is art?’ Brian Eno’s talk is at times funny, caring and insightful. I found both the content and the manner in which it is delivered, quite moving.

What Is Art?

Art is everything you do not have to do.

Children learn through play – adults play through art.

‘Art is the exposure to tensions and problems of a false world, in order that man may endure the tensions and problems of the real world’. Morse Peckham

Scenius – the talent of a whole community.

Through increasing automation we are less connected to production. In a world of ultra-fast change, how does man stay coherent? Eno believes more and more of us will spend more time becoming and being artists. What is art? Art is everything you do not have to do.

Thank you Jon, Kevin and Brian Eno. It feels good to be back.

#DrawTour

This week I visited Cass Art in Islington for a drawing workshop with Jake Spicer. Jake’s a friendly guy and an accomplished artist. He spoke briefly about what he thinks the important basics are to help you draw and in time, draw better. I didn’t take notes at the time and here’s what I recall of his suggestions.

Time : Find some, it doesn’t always have to be a lot, but enough to practice regularly

Subjects : Don’t get hung up on what to draw, choose something and draw it

Materials : Keep a small sketch book and pencil to hand, don’t let the absence of stuff to draw with be the excuse for not drawing

Confidence : Grows with time and practice, and part of the process is about making bad drawings and seeing what you learn from them

We then tried drawing something using a continuous line while looking at the subject all the time, not at the drawing. I found this process really enjoyable – here is a sketch of a bookcase.

I had no way of knowing what the final picture would look like until it was finished and I’m really pleased it ended up being a good size to fit one of my small mounts. I’m tempted to trace the basic shape a few times before adding some small details – I might make another small series of images in a similar way that I recently created Stained Glass.

Jake showed us the basics of how to draw a head in profile before inviting us to find a partner and draw them. I’d never made a life drawing of someone else before…there’s a first time for everything.

I can clearly see areas for improvement and at the same time I am happy with this as a first attempt. I really enjoyed Jake’s class – it helped me realise I need to make more drawings, and the basic process is simpler than I thought.