FRANCESCA RUDKIN: Movies

Despicable Me 3 with Steve Carell, Kristen Wigg, Trey Parker and Miranda Cosgrove - Francesca’s verdict: 3 out of 5.

This Beautiful Fantastic starring Jessica Brown Findlay, Tom Wilkinson, Jeremy Irvine and Andrew Scott - Francesca’s verdict: 2.5 out of 5.

 

NICI WICKES: Food

I just love Cloudy Bay clams – they’re a real success story in so far as they get exported live from NZ around the world. We know them as cockles but there are different varieties and these ones are very fat, sweet and juicy. The recipe for Cloudy Bay Clams in tomato saffron broth you can find on our page, along with the audio tips. And for more inspiration visit  http://www.niciwickes.com/  or her Facebook page https://www.facebook.com/#!/niciwickes

 

HANNAH McQUEEN: Financial Planning

Should kids follow their dreams (with respect to their careers)?

I've just finished a nationwide tour (more than 3,500 tickets sold) on creating financially independent kids. One of the questions that came out from that tour was "should we be encouraging our kids to follow their dreams". 

A few weeks ago I was interviewed by a nationwide newspaper about this very question. And the headline for that article was "Hannah's says, don't tell your kids to follow their dreams". Which caused a bit of excitement on Facebook with equal part positive and negative comments. Next a Futurist was writing an article about how little I knew about aiming big. 

What I actually said was. "Don't tell your kids to follow their dreams. They need to chase them"

But how do you do that? Because telling them to do "reach for the stars" and not showing them how to do so, is unhelpful. We need to be able to set set Goals more robustly.

Goal setting 101;

SMART goals. Started with GE in 1940s, coined to SMaRT in early 80s. It worked until it didn't. In some instances setting SMART goals, although proven to increase the odds of actually achieving something wasn't always good enough when the odds were stacked against you. 

But SMART goals lack innovation, because innovation comes off the back of being audacious. Which is a stretch goal. (Think Japan and the bullet train)

But sometimes wanting to be audacious and having a SMART way of doing it is still not enough to unlock the magic recipe. Sometimes you need to be able to RED team it. This is a new business concept being used by the best and most innovative companies in the world. Fresh out of Harvard. 

Red teaming is when you understand your constraints, instead of pretending their aren't any. It's when you challenge all your assumptions, understandings and biases and get creative about where something could go wrong instead of only planning for the best. It was first documented by Israel after the Yom Kippur war in October 1973, then picked up by the US military as a critical strategic weapon in war, to later be adopted and renamed "red teaming" by Harvard and some of the best businesses in America.

If we want our kids to dream big, they need to understand that it takes more than positive thinking. 

If you want to make some real financial progress, Go to enableme.co.nz to find out more, or text “money” to 268 to download a free ebook

 

RUUD KLEINPASTE: Gardening

Last chance to participate in the NZ Garden Bird Survey   https://form-gardenbirdsurvey.landcareresearch.co.nz/

 

MIKE YARDLEY: Travel

East Kimberley wonders -For more tips on roaming the Kimberley region, all of Mike's articles are on our website ... newstalkzb.co.nz/lifestyle 

 

CATHERINE RAYNES: Books

The Final Hour by Tom Wood, Hachette $35

Red Sky at Noon by Simon Sebag Montefiore, Century $37

 

ANDREW DICKENS: Music

DJ Khaled 'Grateful' - Andrew's verdict: 2/10

I know I’m not the target demo but I can’t count the ways I detest this record.  I can’t figure out if that’s because of the incessant shouting of “We The Best Music”, whether it’s the self promotion and marketing, whether it’s the under use of a fantastic stable of guests, whether it’s the fact that Khaled himself can’t sing, or rap, or that he shows no humility or understanding of real humans.  Other than that it’s a pretty fun listen.