School of the Wild
  • Home
  • About
  • Team Programmes
  • Case Studies
  • Insight
  • Contact

Insight

Setting up a team day - time-lapse video

25/8/2019

 
What could your organisation learn from spending a day in nature, helping each other, and having a meaningful conversation? Here's a time lapse of us setting up a team day in the woods for a digital agency client.

Sussex University discover how to use nature to reduce stress in the workplace

22/8/2019

 
Picture
Groups from Sussex University's Library Service get creative at an outdoor team building and wellbeing strategy in the wild day. 

The Library got in touch because staff are pretty stretched and stressed. They were looking for non-traditional ways of dealing with that. They also wanted to make more use of Stanmer Park, which is a great outdoor resource on their doorstep.
​

Their challenge: "How can we use nature to manage the pressures of work and reduce stress in the workplace?"

Read what happened on their strategy away day and what they learned, in our case study here.


PR in the Wild: Team Day Mocktail

27/7/2019

 
Picture
Delicious foraged mocktail knocked up by the R+T team as part of their wild team buidling away day with help from @brightonherbalist. Spot the hogweed straw and edible flowers.
#teambuilding #foraging #wildisthenewworkplace #digitaldetox

Leading the change to a better future

25/7/2019

 
Picture
Hottest day of the year and I'm helping a group of cool business people and changemakers get inspired by nature and talk about how we can make more of a difference together.
#schoolofthewild #meaningfulconversations #leadthechange #stepup #leadership #busi

Team Building in the Woods? Here's 8 Reasons Why Your Team Will Thank You For It.

17/7/2019

 
Picture

Why team building is important

First things first - why do any structured team building at all? As a leader there are so many day-to-day pressures, that having time out of the office with your team might seem like a luxury you can ill afford. 

But what happens if you don't invest in your team, take time to improve social relations, resolve workplace tensions, and build a forward-thinking culture? 

The answer: your team may suffer from a lack of progress, poor productivity or conflicts, all of which can lead to under-performance as a whole. 

As a leader it’s your job to resolve these issues as quickly as possible. If you don’t, you may find your staff leave you for a competitor, as a recent survey by LinkedIn shows: 70% of professionals would not work at a leading company if it meant they had to tolerate a bad workplace culture. 

For today’s workforce, culture reigns supreme, and as Peter Drucker said “culture eats strategy for breakfast” ie it’s good for the business too.

Read on to discover why heading outdoors into nature is one of the most effective ways of achieving your team building goals and is a vital part of any HR strategy.

​

Read More

I'm speaking at Happy Startup Summercamp this 13-15 September.

8/7/2019

 
Picture
If you've not heard of it you'll get to hang out with 150 amazing humans on a 200-acre farm in Sussex. It's not just for startups but for anyone who wants to make a positive dent in the world.

Helping business leaders with accountability at our Leading with Purpose sessions

10/6/2019

 
Picture
At our Leading with Purpose sessions, I ask: "Given all that you've learned and experienced today, if you could commit to doing one thing to make a difference, what would that be?"
Since the start of 2019 we've been convening groups of business founders, leaders and pioneers around a campfire to talk about how to solve 21st challenges - of how you lead with meaning and purpose in an increasingly uncertain world, and improve the planet and your business. So far we've run six campfires for 40 leaders. Publicly committing to an action in front of the group has been a key part of each session. This is what people have committed to:
​

Read More

How we helped Think Productive to be an even better and stronger team

8/6/2019

 
Think Productive work on communication, culture and strategy at a ninja away day workshop around the fire.
Picture
Who are they?
Founded by best-selling author Graham Allcott (How to be a Productivity Ninja), Think Productive help transform the productivity and wellbeing of leading organisations around the world, through practical, human and straight to the point time management and productivity training and workshops.

Think Productive are a close team, a mix of trainers (called Productivity Ninjas) and head office staff.
​

Read More

Getting the 'office' ready for Think Productive's Ninjas Away Day

7/6/2019

 
Picture
Great to be using our special London location.
#schoolofthewild #teambuilding #connection #unplug

Great bunch at today's Campfire Catalyst for business leaders.

23/5/2019

 
Picture
I continue to marvel at nature's ability to support meaningful connections and creative thinking. Some powerful pledges were made. We're starting to have the conversations that need to be had.

The time I cried in a client meeting

22/5/2019

 
Picture
Photo by Matt Collamer on Unsplash
The other day I go for an early 8am coffee with a client. The HR director of a large charity, she has kindly agreed to meet me to explain why they have decided not to go ahead with my proposal for a leadership programme in nature.

Circumstances have changed. They’ve just done a 360. It has thrown up some unexpected stuff and the CEO has decided to go with a different plan.

It’s fine, I understand. And anyway I appreciate that she cares enough to explain this face to face.

Over coffee we have a wide-ranging discussion about culture, and the challenges and tensions of an organisation that has frontline support staff and also a retail arm, with different issues, different needs, and different personalities.

And then she mentions homelessness.

That’s when things take an unexpected turn.

For some reason I’m compelled to tell her what happened the day before. A visit to a meditation class has kickstarted my on-again-off-again resolution to be more generous to the growing number of people begging on the high street.

On my way to get some lunch, there's a toothless guy sitting on the pavement by the Barclays cashpoint, as I drop some coins into his hand, I ask him how it’s going.



Read More

Blindfold Foraging

18/5/2019

 
Picture
Last weekend a bunch of people trusted us to lead them on a blindfolded foraging walk. It was brilliant! Walking slowly from place to place we led the group to 10 edible wild plants and introduced them through touch smell taste and lastly through looking.

The 'meeting room' for yesterday's new cohort of business leaders.

26/4/2019

 
Picture
The question that emerged at this Campfire Catalyst was 'what else can we do to make an impact now?' Answers and actions ranged from small to large personally and professionally. Making a difference one step at a time.

Is 24-hour Always-On Connectivity Causing a Burnout Culture in Your Organisation?

18/4/2019

 
What does burnout mean for your organisation and how can you use culture change and the power of nature to help your teams to thrive instead? Here’s a 5-step toolkit to cope with an always-on world. Words by Lauren Psyk
Picture
Photo by ​Victoria Heath on Unsplash
In a 24-hour, globally connected world, we are always-on - spending our entire lives connected to technology, with instant access to the world around us.

There are undoubtedly positive benefits to business and organisations from this state of 24-hour connectivity.

You can be more productive by managing projects using cloud based tools; you’ve got the convenience of being able to access everything you need, from meals to travel, with the touch of a button; and you can easily serve international markets during their waking hours, as working across different time zones and having staff based across the globe is becoming de rigueur.

However, it's also becoming clear that it’s not all sunshine and roses.

You may be able to have a gourmet meal delivered at all hours of the day and night, but what is this state of being always-on doing to your mental and physical health, and the health of your team?
​

Read More

Collaboration, impact, and purpose. How campfires help business leaders develop a plan for the future

15/4/2019

 
In the last few months, School of the Wild has been convening groups of business leaders to explore what we can do to address global social and environmental challenges, and how to make the world a better place. Here, business coach Neil Pavel explains what he experienced around the campfire.
Picture
Picture
What happens when leaders, business owners, senior managers, and people who work for themselves get together around a campfire in a new and natural environment and are asked: “What conversation would you like to have that will make a difference in the world?” ​
I have experience of this twice now after Nigel, who runs School of the Wild, invited me to attend a couple of the Leading with Purpose campfire catalyst sessions that he facilitates.

For a few hours, myself and the other people in these groups shared our stories, ideas and insights into leadership and responsibility, and about culture and the future.

Being outside has an immediate impact.

I notice how we all think and behave more-than-slightly differently. There’s an openness to the conversations, less boundaries, and lots of trust.


Having the time and space to reflect on leadership and impact with a bunch of complete strangers allows a wide range of subjects, voices, and opinions to be heard and mulled over.

Being outside has an immediate impact. I notice we all think and behave more-than-slightly differently. There’s an openness to the conversations, less boundaries and lots of trust. 

Read More

Conversations that matter on a team away day

13/4/2019

 
Picture
Conversations that matter: culture, impact, legacy. And fireside rapping. Space Doctors team away day in the woods. 

The woods are where we do our best work

11/4/2019

 
Picture
Mark and Rosie, key members of the School of the Wild team, get the woods ready before the client arrives.
#teamawayday #schoolofthewild #natureisouroffice

#foraging huddle

1/4/2019

 
Picture
#schoolofthewild #spring

How can your organisation have more impact and make more of a difference?

25/3/2019

 
Picture
How does your organisation stay connected? How can your team have more impact and make more of a difference? Making meaningful connections and having conversations that matter to address these questions at a team building away day in the woods today.
​#team #strategy #nature #business #schoolofthewild

How connecting around a campfire can help you reignite your purpose

24/3/2019

 
Marketing guru and writer-photographer, Lauren Psyk, came to a Leading with Purpose campfire catalyst session. She wasn't expecting it to be so powerful. This is her story.
Picture
photo of Lauren Psyk by Saskia Nelson.
Picture
In my twenties, I was attracted by the bright lights of London and had ‘trendy’ marketing jobs with media organisations.

​From an outside perspective I had what every young professional wants - I worked on partnerships with music and media brands, I got to go to glamorous events and trendy media industry parties and I had a decent enough salary to enjoy the London life.


Back then, nobody talked about millennials, the buzz word at the time was urbanites - and I was living the stereotypical urbanite life; work hard, play hard, spend hard. 
​  

Lack of purpose
​

But despite my initial excitement, within a couple of years it became clear to me that I had set off on the wrong path. Neither my job nor my lifestyle were going to make me happy or give me any sense of fulfilment.  Life and work felt meaningless, empty and vacuous - essentially I was lacking any sense of purpose.

So I quit the media life and went to work in Government communications, on a THINK! road safety advertising campaign aimed at reducing deaths and injuries amongst motorcyclists.

My work had meaning and I felt fulfilled. I got a huge sense of achievement from the fact I was doing something with purpose, and which had a positive impact.

Eventually I left London to seek a healthier and more balanced lifestyle by the sea here in Brighton, and I started designing a career that fits around my needs and values.
​

More recently, I have worked a lot in the charity sector and on projects which give me creative freedom. But purpose, and doing work which has a positive impact is still a core part of what drives me.


Read More

Flickering flames mark the end of a magical night walk over the #Downs.

23/3/2019

 
Picture
Not your usual Friday night. Thank you @natureschildling.
​#schoolofthewild #solstice #nightwalk #fullmoon #silence #notorches

Setting up 'the room' for today's cohort of business leaders.

21/3/2019

 
Picture
#campfirecatalyst #schoolofthewild #leadingwithpurpose

Leading with Purpose. How can we harness the power of community?

8/3/2019

 
Picture
Conversations that matter around the fire with another lovely group of business leaders. Noticing how nature supports creative thinking connection and deeper intelligence. Powerful stuff.

Medicine of the Mountains: the healing power of a walk in the wild

3/3/2019

 
Picture
How a walk in the mountains turned into a powerful emotional experience.
It's been a deliberately slow start to the year at School of the Wild, so as we wait for warmer weather I’d like to share a curious thing that happened to me over Christmas.

I was in the Spanish Pyrenees staying near the top of a secluded valley, surrounded on three sides by high ridges.

One day I decided to do a Medicine Walk, a ceremony of aimless wandering. The idea: you set off with a question that you ask of the land, and then let go of the question and go where you feel drawn, where seems interesting. Then pay attention to what happens.

Medicine Walks are a mysterious thing, they turn the land into a mirror for your inner world, and can be really helpful in answering life’s questions. I’ve always found them to be surprising, and pertinent, and powerful.

So in the morning I head off from where I’m staying, up to a gap between the ridges.

The track is steep and it takes a while to get to the top. When I get there, out of breath, I sit for a while on a rock overlooking the valley, taking in the view.



Read More

Leading with Purpose. A session for Brighton business leaders around the fire.

1/3/2019

 
Picture
Leading with Purpose taster session for business leaders, making connections, and having meaningful and rich conversations that matter around the fire. We continue to marvel at the power of nature to bring people together and to spark creative thinking. 
<<Previous
Forward>>
    Nigel Berman, School of the Wild

    Author & Curator

    Nigel Berman is the founder of School of the Wild.

    Blog HOme

    Categories

    All
    Away Days
    Campfire Conversations
    Case Study
    Leadership
    Networking
    Organisations In Nature
    Purpose
    Talk
    Team Building In Nature
    Teams
    Video

    Archives

    February 2023
    October 2022
    August 2022
    March 2022
    November 2021
    October 2021
    September 2021
    July 2021
    June 2021
    May 2021
    January 2021
    December 2020
    November 2020
    October 2020
    May 2020
    April 2020
    February 2020
    January 2020
    November 2019
    October 2019
    September 2019
    August 2019
    July 2019
    June 2019
    May 2019
    April 2019
    March 2019
    February 2019
    January 2019
    December 2018
    November 2018
    October 2018
    September 2018
    August 2018
    July 2018
    June 2018
    May 2018
    April 2018
    March 2018
    February 2018
    January 2018
    December 2017
    November 2017
    October 2017
    September 2017
    August 2017
    July 2017
    June 2017
    May 2017
    April 2017
    March 2017
    February 2017
    January 2017
    December 2016
    November 2016
    October 2016
    September 2016
    August 2016
    July 2016
    June 2016
    May 2016
    April 2016
    March 2016
    February 2016
    January 2016
    December 2015
    November 2015

    RSS Feed

Organisations

  • ​​Team Building​
  • Away Days
  • Walk and Talks
  • ​Why Nature
  • Guest Speaker

Leaders

  • Courses​
  • Leadership​ Development

About Us

  • ​Our Story
  • Blog​
  • ​Fieldwork​
  • Our Team
  • ​Locations
  • ​Sustainability

Support

  • Contact Us
  • ​FAQs​
  • Privacy
  • Covid ​
We offset our carbon footprint via Ecologi
Picture
The movement for
​Regenerative business
Picture
Picture
Picture

Sign up for News from the Wild:

By subscribing you agree to us sending you occasional emails with info about our services. Unsubscribe at any time. Read our privacy policy
School of the Wild
​c/o 26 Seafield Road,
Hove BN3 2TP
Tel: 07764 404992
​email: [email protected]
© COPYRIGHT 2015-2022 ALL RIGHTS RESERVED.
Photo used under Creative Commons from gilgit2
  • Home
  • About
  • Team Programmes
  • Case Studies
  • Insight
  • Contact