[Ron Eagle]

Once was in an arranged  training session for senior UK Government Department managers: a very conservative group of individuals (I was attending as an interim director) where the HR department had arranged a session with a very wacky creative style set of management development consultants (no names to protect the ‘innocent’ …and us!! ha ha). The managers did not really want to be there or see the need for more ‘creativity’ so were already not in the most receptive mood. However, when the two consultants entered the room it was as if we’d fallen down the rabbit hole with Alice. One of them was very short with a really bright yellow plaid pattern 3 piece tweed suit and shoulder length hair and the other was around six feet six, extremely gaunt with a bald head and bizarre white framed spectacles with one oval lens horizontal and the other oval lens vertical, draped from ankles to chin in a black close fitting black, silver buckled coat. All I could think of at the time was Judge Doom and Eddie Valiant from ‘Who framed Roger Rabbit’!! So many mouths were wide open from the managers that it looked like a voiceless choir. From that point on it was impossible for the two consultants to get any credibility no matter how they tried the room just either stayed aghast or heckling so it petered out after a half hour and HR I’m sure had an ‘interesting’ conversation later that day with the senior managers about the cost of sic an inappropriate choice.  Very amusing though for me.

[Ron Eagle]

Two fellow associate directors were told the need to be ‘extremely creative’ in order to get attention of a very bored and usually sarcastically disinterested set of executive directors they were due to present to in a monthly update session. So…they hired a pantomime horse outfit and planned to enter in that to ‘break the ice’ . Unfortunately, one of them was very late in as (found out later) he’d over slept that day after a previous nights drinking session so the first had to enter with just him in front with the beck end strapped on but trailing empty. Surprisingly there was almost no gasps or comments or any sense of “WTH is going on here?” …. So he continued through the session with difficulty trying read notes and use screen via the peer slots on the costume. At the end he thanked all and as they were all exiting again without comment, just one director turned to him and the only comment she made was, “Tell Cunningham not to be late at these meetings again”!!!!!

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