close to nature

Difficult to find an image which can convey the beauty of this place - at this time.
But living close to nature is... back-breaking. For example heating - no easy turn of a switch. You need to find and order wood; transport, store and protect it; cut it; keep the power saw maintained; carry the logs to the boiler; make the fire; oversee the dials which are like ParaHanda's Puffer; fill the logs every 6 hours; clean, clean and clean.....endless....No wonder I cheat - and use the electric heater whenever I can get away with it

two new paintings

I'm delighted to announce that I am now the proud owner of the 2 paintings I posted recently. Mirela bid very successfully in Sofia - the only bidder apparently for them. So on Sunday we will drive down; stay at least 2 nights in my favourite city; pay 600 euros for the two 50 year-old paintings and, hopefully, with the chance of a visit to a spa and wine area of three, bring them back.

virtual auction

In a few minutes the Victoria Gallery in Sofia starts its quarterly auction in the Sheraton Hotel. I've been at a couple - fascinating experience - but didn't manage to buy anything. Today I;ve asked my friend Mirela (who was my fantastic assistant in the 2007-08 Phare project) to look after my interests - 3 of them - of which this is the plum - at 250 euros asking price. Petar Vunardjiev - 1970 I think.

Although this is a new blog - I've been blogging for some months on a larger (professional) site - with papers I;ve uploaded - which has, however, a very unsexy name -

www.freewebs.com/publicadminreform/

bulgarian paintings

Slavi Genev (189301977)

I've always enjoyed art galleries - but have been slow to appreciate let alone buy paintings. I bought a few in Romania and Uzbekistan - but it was Bulgaria which really started me on my passion. During my year there I bought about 30 - even commissioned one (of my father - from a balck and white picture). It's their painters of the mid century I really love - they were (thanks to the Turks) slow to the art form - and therefore were in the last century still celebrating the beauty of landscapes and pastels. There is an auction tomorrow in Sofia - and I have an eye on a few paintings - including the above. Painted 60 years ago, the asking price is 400 euros....

the search for the holy grail

One of my problems has always been that I imagine that the next book I read will give me the key to the problematics about effective organisations. In reality, the next book confuses even more - by introducing a plausible new idea or praxis...
I'm not an academic - so I can't be satisfied with critiquing ideas - I'm looking for what works!
And Toyota have gained a reputation for working! And so, inevitably, the reformers and consultants in the public sector seek to identify the essence of that success and transfer it into a message of reform for the public sector. So the last Amazon delivery here contained 2 books - by Jeffrey Liker - on their principles and operations. I've started the first - and can relate to it. It tells stories - amazing stories - about a different way of doing business which one idealistically imagines should be seen in the public sector. The ideas may be radical - but the company is well-known for being conservative - taking time to think things through - but implementing fast.
This is what is needed in the UK where ideas are valued - but not implementation.

At the same time I dip into an academic study of the application of business reengineering ("big-bang")principles to a UK hospital - Reengineering Health Care - the complexities of organisational transformation by Mc Nulty and Ferlie and reel away, appalled and injured by the jargon and complexity. See for yourself here.
Ricardo Semler is the MD of Semco which has turned traditional management principles on their head - he writes about this in 2 books Maverick and The Seven-Day Weekend. There is a link here with cooperatives - the underrated organisational principle.....