Well another year is almost coming to a close. I quite like the sense of endings and new beginnings, although I confess that these days I’m much less of a party animal and am much more likely to see the end of year out in a quiet and hopefully thoughtful way, with a bit of feasting maybe and looking forward!

This last year has been a great one for me (#Annies50th) but it has been also stressful and frantic, with new jobs, extensions at home and a fantastic exploration of the social media world. One of the things that this digital world has been great for, second only to the amazing people I have met both virtually and increasingly face to face, is for learning; that is expanding my thinking, sometimes blowing a hole in my previous ideas. It’s been a wonderful exploration, that I hope will continue.

So my gift to you are the three (almost 4) TED talks that have made the most impact on me, along with a couple of Vimeos.

The first is a TED talk that I first saw this year while I was on my Organisational Development Practitioner Programme. I have watched it many times since. The talk is about perspectives, how life is made up of overlapping stories of contrast and truth – and is well worth the 20 minutes. It’s a stunner and worth a reflection for all leaders and healthcare practitioners:

Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie: The danger of a single story

The second is Brene Brown, after my last blog I was pointed back at her talk about vulnerability.  This is about humanity and our acceptance of vulnerability.  Again for Healthcare Professionals (but everyone too) its worth a listen.

Brené Brown: The power of vulnerability

The third is Susan Cain; for me this TED talk is about understanding others and taking at deeper look at myself.  I am definitely not introverted; I love people and always think out loud with others.  In fact I’m terrible on my own, a weakness I know.  Watch Susan Cain  to think about yourself and how you connect to others but also and probably more importantly how to value difference.

Susan Cain: The power of introverts

Now a couple of Vimeo videos:

The first I have mentioned in a blog before.  I remain convinced that in the future co-production, sharing, integration, and social responsibility will become the most important things we do.  This video by explains why co-production helps:

The Parable of the Blobs and Squares

The final Vimeo video is from the wonderful @wenurses where they created a celebration of why people are proud to nurse. It is important that as a profession we keep our identity and be proud.  Its been a difficult year but this video gives a sense of what we have and how strong we are:

#NursingPride

Finally I would like to wish anyone who reads this a happy, healthy and successful 2014.

Post Script

There was another TED talk that I considered including but its not for the faint hearted.  This talk by Philip Zimbardo is about why nice people might turn ‘bad’.  It contains some hard hitting images.

Philip Zimbardo: The psychology of evil