Why has teamworking changed from being simply one way to organize things into something supposedly valuable in itself? There’s nothing wrong with working in a team if that’s the best way to do things. What makes me wonder is the tendency for organizations to assume it’s the only way. I suspect this is another case of the emergence of a management myth: taking something that suits those who wish to control people and dressing it up as a kind of heroic virtue.

I think it should be everyone’s aspiration to become more child-like and less childish as they grow older. Children have most of the fun. They’re encouraged to play and to learn, two of the greatest sources of excitement and pleasure that there are. Adults are expected to give up play in favor of ’serious things’ like work. Forget being an adult all the time. We’re so busy avoiding making fools of ourselves, we forget to enjoy life.

Life, like certain airlines, charges heavily for all the useless baggage you choose to drag around. Don’t carry all this heavy stuff into your future. Don’t waste your energy on past hurts and worries. Don’t let the past reach forward and pollute the future with its obsolete concerns. Don’t pay for carrying around feelings and beliefs that no longer have any worth to you. The cost in wear and tear on your mind, body and emotions is far too high; the likelihood that you’ll mess up, because you’re distracted by something over and gone, way too great.

Change is more often about letting go of old ideas than finding new ones. That’s why those jolting moments when your defenses are down and your mind is fully open to change are so precious. Follow these suggestions to discover how to make the most of such ‘teachable moments’.