Robbie Davis wrote and illustrated this engaging children’s book for a school project when he was just 18. His inspiration came from his memories of the books that he most enjoyed as a child. He loved books that has a sense of the ridiculous. Two things make this book extraordinary. Firstly Robbie was dyslexic so reading and writing were always challenging for him. Secondly, Robbie tragically died in a car crash. This book is his legacy. Download your ebook versions instantly after your payment.
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Abby Davis
March 27, 2014 at 2:55 pm (5 years ago)This post was originally on another blog I managed. Here are the comments that were left previously:
1. hunry003 August 2, 2013 at 9:31 am
As a person who works in education not in architecture or business I find this fascinating. For many reasons I am able to draw comparisons which surprises me. At the core of my business is students their results but also their happiness/sense of self/confidence/fragile moments etc. etc. I feel sometimes the focus is too much on getting that one spelling word right and therefore the individual and the sense of happiness/belonging/acceptance/success at life is easily forgotten misplaced. So I just wanted to share my similar though pattern from a different world. I work on a basis that if you can create confidence/enthusiasm/happiness then the results will follow. I may be really off track but I am pretty keen to look into the idea of biophilia. Seems it is right up my alley.
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1. abbydavis124 Post authorAugust 2, 2013 at 10:12 am
Ryan wow what a great link you have made for biophila with education. You are spot on. It’s about examining the core value/belief/driver behind the way we have always done something and exploring other ways to view the situation through a biophilic lens. Prof Stephen Kellert started this idea by applying Biophilia to Architectural Design and coined the term “Biophilic Design”. I am interested in doing the same for Business Leadership i.e. Biophilc Leadership: Rethinking business leadership through a biophilic lens. And you are suggesting the same idea for your area i.e. Biophilic Teaching: Rethinking the way we teach through a biophilic lens. I hope you explore this fursther with your colleagues. Thanks for your input – has helped me further clarify my endoceptal ideas in this space. Keep in touch and we can explore these ideas together in our resepctive fields. Best wishes, Abby
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2. Helen Porton August 2, 2013 at 4:04 pm
Wonderful and amazing.
One of my earliest fantasies (don’t get too worried…it’s simple but one that many could relate to). Home making!….. Dwellings, since I can remember, as a child making ‘Crude Cubby Houses’ from cut down brush, sticks, bricks, rocks….boxes, anything that would not be confiscated immediately from ones natural resources dream home (to a 6yr old).
Fortes made of piled up Sheok Pine Needles, Houses made from Large Wooden Packing Crates, A secret room made from a washing machine cardboard box…..complete with windows and door, shelves and a scribbled TV.
These were fantasies I would go to bed with scheming how to improve my cubby/dwelling for hours before nodding off into a safe world of possibilities.
My happiest memories are those of living in a River Township “Swan Reach” where you could roam on foot & by bike looking & foraging for materials, watching bird life,flora & fauna…an awakening of all the surrounds and a consciousness beyond ones own existence….an exciting time for a kid 7-12yr. And for the most of it….despite the usual worries of growing up…I think I was a fairly happy one.
It never left my persona…this innate nesting instinct as ancient as mankind or all mammals for that matter.
I found myself drawn and fascinated by the Wattle & Daub huts built in remote areas that had not been inhabited for generations…but still stood there with only natural resources of mulga, mud, local stone & the occasional offspring of previous plant life from an era of harvest remained.
There really is something very satisfying about using raw materials, creating things from resources that our ancient forefathers used in moderation for the next generations to claim in their future for a period of time.
It’s in us all, ideas that can improve our lives, our health, our community & our world.
Look how many times the engineers of the ‘Hybrid Electric Car’ were laughed at….not viable…never happen. Did they give in to Nay Sayers?…Then there’s the re-recyclable notion…20yrs into it’s effect (people make a very good living from this!)
The list goes on and the positive dreamers never give up trying to make a better world with the resistance training of the negative thinkers.
Which brings me to the point of the above contributions of Abby and Ryan.
It’s not a new concept…the Power of Positivity or Big Picture thinking….but what about the embedding of respect for nature, others and the planet as a whole? What can we all do to help ourselves and those around us. “Embedding” it into our every day way of life, teachings and laws.
I work in an environment that has little in place for training whether time poor or otherwise it has a negative impact. Therefore I decided to train myself in Workplace Training for the development of myself and the hope to develop others in their quest for developing themselves.
This is an area that industry screams out for passionate people to start a movement in motion with the sole objective to empower people. I so look forward to the growth and discussions that Abby has enabled others to contribute to and bring forward the first model ‘Biophilic Leadership’ to Australia and once the creative juices start flowing….yes, we may see grants and acknowledgement for the study of this beneficial topic.
Exciting times ahead.
Good Luck.
Kindest Regards Helen Porton. BLAKEVIEW. SA.
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1. abbydavis124 Post authorAugust 2, 2013 at 4:26 pm
Thanks Helen. You are right when you say “It’s in us all” … yes we are all leaders because we all interact within circles of influence and therefore just by being yourself you influence others in your various circles. So imagine the impact when people mindfully take responsibility for their leadership influence and connect it with biophilic principles … what that will look like is the focus of my research. Am interested to explore all the projects that are happening in this space locally, nationally and internationally and get to know the people who started these projects/movements. What are the common threads/patterns?
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3. Szilvia Virág August 2, 2013 at 6:26 pm
Fascinating that people’s answer is that business is all about making money… while they miss the obvious – that it’s about providing an awesome product or service, giving the person who runs a small business a sense of purpose, or in the case of larger organisations, providing employment opportunities and a nice work environment for others. I think the standard answer just shows their lack of passion for their product or service.
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1. Abby August 3, 2013 at 9:04 am
Thanks for your comment Szilvia. You are correct. In large corporates ownership and management with the advent of the company being its own legal separate identify. With that disconnect between ownership and management comes the pressure from shareholders to get a return on investment. Managemenet want to keep their jobs so make that their focus – at all costs. But there is a new breed of ethical shareholders evolving and The Dow Jones Sustainability Index is one example that enables such investors to invest in companies that are more interested in optimising stakeholder value rather than maximising shareholder wealth.
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4. Robert Roestenburg August 2, 2013 at 8:25 pm
Terrific Abby!Your father was right when he said money will follow what you love doing! May I suggest that ‘satisfaction’ might also be seen as ‘profitable’? When satisfaction is incorporated into bussiness activity it to may be seen as being a profit to the bussiness activity. Profit is normally seen in terms of money gained, but what if other than money can be calculated as ‘profit’? You’re heading in the right direction. I feel that a paradigm shift is happening at the moment and I think this is an exciting time to be laying the foundations for a new way of looking at ecconomic activity which does not include environmental
degradation.
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1. Abby Post authorAugust 3, 2013 at 9:20 am
Thanks for your comment Robert. Much appreciated. Yes the concept of “value” rather than “profit” or “wealth” enables people to look at what you are saying … adding things like levels of satisfaction into the reflection of how well a business is progressing. Bhutan has the Happiness Index which measures peoples well being as a measure of how well the country is going compared to our GDP index whcih is based only on $$$$ (as we get sicker and sadder). So I agree, a shift is happening and I am hoping my research will be able to find and report on all those pockets of change that are happening in this space of business leadership. So let me know of any projects or leaders you know of who are driving new ways of doing business that is not driven by profit.
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5. Ben-Zion Weiss August 3, 2013 at 11:32 pm
One of the thoughts that came up for me when I read your blog is that when people talk about an organisation like a business there is this implied assumption that you set up a business to make money. To do that you have to make a profit. However, when you ask the question what makes a business sustainable in a competitive world? The answer seems to be related to the quality of the staff or management that run the business or the employees that maintain the business.
Then what makes the staff competitive? It’s their creativity and their intelligence, both of which have been shown to function more effectively when people are happy in their work and feel like they are making a real contribution to their, family, their society and their world. It is at this point that values can come into the conversation, as you, Abbey, mention in the comment above. As the work of people like Paul Hawken show, when a business is set up that is fair to its staff and sustainable in its ecology and people feel good about working there, it becomes a win win situation. Because in the end business is not about profit but about people – the people who wrk there and the people who buy their service.
A great example of this is my local organic bakery, called the Organic Republic. They make great bread and cakes and pies, their products are wholesome and organic and their business in Bondi is booming. Sometimes the queues go right out onto the street. There’s a similar story for a baker in Bronte that a friend of mine goes to, they make great bread and they do a roaring trade.
So perhaps to guarantee that you”ll make a profit also depends on your product and the image of your company. Why else would companies like Chevron pay so much for advertising? They have been sued for $18billion in an Ecuadorian court, as they have caused so much devastation in that country, so then they have to spend millions cleaning up their image.
As a young chemical engineer I was horrified by the lack of ecological awareness of the chemical companies I worked for, so I decided I didn’t want to work their. It’s kind of ironic that so many years later I turned out to be a social ecologist. In the end it was a question of my ethical self saying I want to feel good about what I do in my life. I want to make a difference to the world and leave it a better place than what I found. I care about planet Earth, as well as its people and its ecology. I could have made a lot of money as a chemical engineer, but I chose instead to go off and make films and ended up a teacher, a job I find deeply satisfying.
When Jono Fisher set up his Wake Up Sydney events one of the first ones was presenting people who had down shifted so that they could work at a job that gave them satisfaction rather than just make money. I felt affirmed by hearing their stories and thought how mcuh ahead of my time I was.
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1. Abby Post authorAugust 4, 2013 at 2:47 pm
Ben thanks to your post I have just learned about the Wake Up Project, ordered some Kindness cards, LIKED their Facebook page and registered my interest to attend the 2014 Wake Up @ Work Business Conference (what a perfect fit for my project!!) and offered my help. You have also reminded me to read the Paul Hawken ebook I bought ages and havent had a chance to get to as yet! So some great “next steps” have just emerged for my project from your lovely personal comments. Thank you!
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6. tonialeannegray August 4, 2013 at 6:23 pm
Welcome to the world of blogging Abby and a really great first post too! Love the nexus of the two paradigms: Biophilia and Leadership, will certainly be an amazing PhD topic. Looking forward to more thought provoking musings.
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1. Abby Post authorAugust 4, 2013 at 6:44 pm
Thanks Tonia. Am realising how great this blog will be to create a searchable and chronological record off my musings as they emerge and by having it public (transparent) then I hopefully receive some feedback so I can gauge if I am touching on relevant issues. Ben has already given me some excellent new leads to followup i.e. I had not heard about the Wake Up project so have made contact with them since Ben’s comemnts and intending to go to their Business Wake Up Conf next year. Brilliant outcome how this social media can help gather research leads that I would never know about so quickly all in one spot. So the current focus is to build up my facebook/linkedin/twitter/blog network. Learning as I go and asking lots of questions.
Kendra Warner
April 4, 2014 at 9:46 am (5 years ago)This is a great idea Abby!
Abby Davis
April 4, 2014 at 9:52 am (5 years ago)Thanks Kendra. I hope you and the “little people” in your life enjoy Robbie’s book. xo
Robert Roestenburg
April 4, 2014 at 11:51 am (5 years ago)What a terrific idea! Robbie remembered by the book he wrote for children!
Abby Davis
April 4, 2014 at 1:57 pm (5 years ago)Thanks Robert. Xo
Sharron
April 4, 2014 at 6:30 pm (5 years ago)Well done Abby:) I checked the robbyd site…whoops…yes…I have one copy of the book but a couple of my friends are Kindergarten Teachers and would like copies for their classrooms/libraries so would love a couple more if you can spare them. Happy Robbie Day Abby! Much love:)