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12/11/2023 By David Rigby

Roads were invented so that men could drive to work

Roads were invented so that men could drive to work

The myth of the fifteen minute city

“Roads were invented so that men could drive to work in their cars” -and therefore are bad. This was the quote I remembered when I listened to BBC Radio 4 podcast – Future Cities – in which Tori Herridge was listening to Katrina Johnson-Zimmerman . (I can’t describe it as interviewing – more like curtsying). She appears to be in Philadelphia and by the time she got to Phoenix at the age of 20 it was her first exposure to a city..

No need for transport as everything is walkable

She explained her concept of the 15 minute city where anyone could walk or cycle in 15 minutes to everything they could possibly need. And that any road with more than one carriageway should be reduced to one to allow cycle-paths. Not a mention about the need for fast cheap and reliable public transport because clearly you don’t need it as ‘you ain’t going nowhere’.

The fifteen minute village

Now I live in a small village by the sea in Spain. Some of it is 500 years old and so clearly is not high rise. It’s quite possible to walk from one end to the other in 15 minutes. There are at least 10 supermarkets and local stores such as butchers, fruit-shops and pharmacies. And there are two health centres and community centres. And maybe 50 cafes and restaurants for the tourists.
A lot of the centre is pedestrianised. So far so good. I chose to have no car. It’s 300 steps from the beach, transport and main shops to my house. While I am not young, I am still able to carry my shopping but could not contemplate using a bicycle and neither can most other people, and I wonder for how long I can continue to walk.

Altea Spain – 15 minute village
Altea Spain – 300 steps
Altea Spain – 15 minute village

Why escape ?


Still, everything I could possibly want is there. So why is it I continually want to escape?

  • I need intellectual stimulation. Most of the old folk’s conversation is about what they had for lunch.
  • I want to experience good original food from many different cultures not touristifed.
  • I want to see the Art Galleries, attend good music events, and spend face to face time with friends and colleagues who are stimulating – and go to meet people for work.

None of this is available where I live. So II spend my time between the cities of Valencia, Madrid and Barcelona. It takes 2-3 hours on public transport to travel the 60km to the nearest mainline train and then the trains are frequent and cheap and that 2-3 hours is a reason I will move.

15 minute cities Lincoln Nebraska USA, (courtesy Getty Images),Hong Kong and Dubai (several)

Worldwide experience of fifteen minute cities

Prior to this I worked in 22 counties including

  1. Lincoln, Nebraska – a fifteen minute city which closes at 1800 every day. I rented a car and escaped every weekend it was so boring.
  2. Hong Kong – a fifteen minute city because everything of interest is within one square mile. And you can go on a pub crawl by going to several bars on different floors in the same building. Escaped by boat!
  3. Dubai a fifteen minute city insofar as within 15 minutes of anywhere is everything, high density high rises everywhere. But despite the tram system and buses they need 10 lane highways not the least because the Emiratis and the elite still insist on driving everywhere in their SUVs and expensive sport cars. And in summer after 10 minutes outside you need a shower. There were places I would not live such as Jumeirah Lakes Towers, Dubai Marina or near Burj Khalifa because they were the most likely to get bombed.

The ultimate case for the 15 minute city is that your enemy can bomb it easily – let me think of an example close to Israel. Katrina Johnson-Zimmerman didn’t mention that point.

Smart Coaching & Training works with 20 associates, in four continents speaking 12 languages and raised and working in a wide range of cultures. See our associates here.

Meet Author David Rigby at Professional Speakers Association (Spain) , convention in Barcelona November 18th.

Written by David Rigby © 2023 Smart Coaching & Training Ltd

Filed Under: Being Confident, coaching, Communication, Emotional Intelligence, Future Planning, Mentoring, Mindset, People Development, Personal Development, Training, Wellbeing Tagged With: bombing, clowninng, cycling, fifteen minute cities, HongKong, innerclown, nebraska, performing, Smart Coaching & Training

28/10/2023 By David Rigby

Getting your fill of Interculturality

Getting your fill of Interculturality

Food and Interculturality.

Last week I thought I would go for some foreign food – so I found a cultural ghetto and chose some typical food of the ghetto. It always helps to be familiar with local ghetto food.

Mushy Peas ?

So I chose Fish & Chips with Mushy Peas accompanied by Tea with Milk. Where was I? Benidorm, Spain inside the English ghetto. Potato Chips (French Fries) made from real potatoes without emulsifiers etc, And most British wouldn’t know what Mushy Peas is.

Ghetto Restaurants

Most places in the world have cultural or food ghettos. What do you do if you are invited to a ghetto restaurant by a client from that country, or indeed elsewhere?
Forget the “I know what I like, I like what I know “ brigade. Your client is entertaining you and it’s incumbent on you to know what you are ordering and to eat it.

Ghetto Food in Spain: Fish Chips Mushy Peas Tea

Two Choices

Local Spanish food eaten by the author in the last month – you can’t order unless you know its name

You have two choices – either understand the menu and make your own choices or ask your host to choose. And in all cases take into account you or your host’s religious restrictions. Whatever you receive you better know the custom and eat all of it to show appreciation or leave a little or the host will order more on your behalf.

Building Intercultural Relationships through food

This is how good relationships are formed. And that can lead to business.  So what can you do to make this a success ?

  • Learn to understand the menus. This is crucial.  Spanish dishes have names from which you cannot tell the ingredients nor the way they are made. So do Philippine ones. I ordered enough for 6 in a Filipino restaurant in Dubai.
  • Learn how many dishes to order – the size of the portions.  In Europe: Starter – main course -desert – cheese.  (except in France where the cheese comes before the dessert).  In Spain they have Pinxos, tapas, Media Raciones, Raciones and that’s just for the starters or instead of a main course.  In Britain Spaghetti Bolognese is considered a main course, in Italy it isn’t. It’s what you eat before the main course. In Italy, as a guest I requested a second plate of  delicious home-made pasta, then had to eat two more main courses to not insult the chef.
  • Learn who you might or might not meet.  I was privileged to be invited to the home of one of my Pakistani clients.  While I never identified what the food was, it was delicious,. The chef, who was his wife, I never met because that is the custom.
  • Understand Cutlery. Some people eat with their right hand. Learn how to do it as you may not get an option.  Some people, likewise, eat with Chopsticks. Learn how to do it.  In Spain and Italy you get one knife and fork no matter how many courses (I went to an Italian dinner with 14 courses – I ate all of the first 7, some of the next three then fell asleep). In UK you get an array of cutlery learn what to use.  And use the fork in the left hand to put food in the mouth, Americans use a fork in the left hand to cut the food and then transfer the fork to the right hand to eat.

Just a few of the things to consider on the way to becoming interculturally competent while eating. Read more here

Smart Coaching & Training works with 20 associates, in four continents speaking 12 languages and raised and working in a wide range of cultures. See our associates here.

In conjunction with Professional Speakers Association (Spain) , SCT’s David Rigby will be present at the TEDx Marbella Spain event on June 9 focussing on Entrepreneurs

Written by David Rigby © 2023 Smart Coaching & Training Ltd

Filed Under: Being Confident, coaching, Communication, Emotional Intelligence, Mentoring, Mindset, People Development, Personal Development, Training, Wellbeing Tagged With: clowninng, feeling, humour, innerclown, intuitive, keeping tradition, laughter, logical, performing, psychological safety, Smart Coaching & Training, thinking

07/06/2023 By David Rigby

Design Thinking, Digital Skills and Leadership

Design Thinking, Digital Skills and Leadership

by Smart Coaching & Training’s Marc Mekki

This is article is written by associate Marc Mekki international keynote speaker and trainer.

What do Apple, Ikea, Bank of America and AirBnB have in common? They have all relied on Design Thinking as a powerful methodology and mental framework for driving product and service development. So what is Design Thinking? Think of it as a mental upgrade; a piece of ‘mind-ware’ for teams tasked with assessing, prototyping and testing new ideas in their market, be that for the purpose of a commercial deployment as a for-profit corporation or SME, or to drive intra-organisational change and innovation as a public sector entity, association or NGO. Deploying Design Thinking within an organisation during a volatile era will save time, money and morale. Teaching people how to unlock their inner resourcefulness and quickly create simple prototypes driven by an empathetic grasp of real market needs is what makes this such a powerful framework. I’m an MIT Sloan Certified Design Thinking expert and have successfully used the methodology for 20 years. I’ve trained hundreds of people from corporates, non-profits, associations and startups. Digital Skills & Leadership Training Other topics I’ve covered for global companies in aviation, energy, mining, retail, hospitality and beyond:

Digital Transformation


The ins and outs of emerging technology, what to know, what to look out for and what to avoid. Deep dives into AR/VR, Cloud, Blockchain and AI. What is the difference between digitisation, digitalisation and digital transformation; how do you interpret and leverage the hype cycle; what new skills do you need to acquire? This is a highly immersive course for high potentials and even seasoned leaders looking to get up to speed in a brave but challenging new world.

Digital Leadership


Understanding the power, potential and pitfalls of new technology is one thing, having the leadership skills to navigate teams through unprecedented change another. Learn to leverage the power of an iterative, lean approach; find out how to launch and and foster an innovation lab; drive experimentation and rapid prototyping using state of the art new tools.

Virtual Collaboration


We live in a global, distributed world and no matter how many offices reopen, having the skills and knowledge to effectively collaborate digitally is indispensable. What are the tools and techniques to do this most efficiently? When do you use collaboration tools like Miro and Notion, or when do you put on the VR headsets and dive headfirst into VR collaboration. The digital transformation course is hands-on, highly practical and delivers greater efficiency and teamwork, no matter where people are located.

Smart Coaching & Training works with 20 associates, in four continents speaking 12 languages and raised and working in a wide range of cultures. See our associates here. Marc is currently delivering training in Dubai and managing projects in Neom in Saudi Arabia

In conjunction with Professional Speakers Association (Spain) , SCT’s David Rigby will be present at the TEDx Marbella Spain event on June 9 focussing on Entrepreneurs

Written by David Rigby © 2023 Smart Coaching & Training Ltd

Filed Under: Being Confident, coaching, Communication, Emotional Intelligence, Mentoring, Mindset, People Development, Personal Development, Training, Wellbeing Tagged With: clowninng, feeling, humour, innerclown, intuitive, keeping tradition, laughter, logical, performing, psychological safety, Smart Coaching & Training, thinking

21/04/2023 By David Rigby

What is clowning? Why is it useful?

What is clowning? Why is it useful?

by Smart Coaching & Training’s Caroline Dream

I am David Rigby, MD of Smart Coaching & Training. After learning Public Speaking, Radio Presenting, StandUp Comedy, learning about clowning proved to be very significant in both my training and my public speaking career. This is article is written by associate Caroline Dream, a bi-lingual associate of Smart Coaching & Training, who specialises in teaching Clowning for Professionals.

Making people laugh is much more complex and fascinating than it may seem at first glance. The red nose does not make people laugh, but the clown inside you. To discover your clown, it is important to be prepared to share who you are, with humility and humanity, knowing that this unique learning process has no foreseeable end, that is, there will always be something to learn, develop or perfect, as in all the arts.

Yes, everyone has a clown identity, a clown-id (Freud was too serious and hard working to notice it). Everyone can, with a little help, experience the clown self that abides within them, the self that just is; fun loving, fun and funny. In fact, the moment you put your organised, realistic, critical and moralizing self aside you will find them with ease. They’re waiting in the wings of your consciousness, somewhat impatiently, ready to grab the first opportunity you give them to be centre stage.


The problem is that until you’ve actually experienced your clown, even for the briefest moment, this will be hard to believe. Hard to believe too how addictive letting this crazy version of yourself run loose can be. Clowns breathe life and lightness into people. My students are usually amazed and delighted after an encounter with their more vibrant and creative self.  

What is YOUR clown like?

There’s a generalized idea that this clown identity is actually the inner child – but it’s not. Clowns are not children, though they have obviously not lost sight of childhood nor ceased to observe children. Clowns have incorporated aspects of both but they are not frozen in time, they’re quite capable of very adult attitudes, ideas and actions.

Each clown is unique and grows over time. If you asked any professional, “What is your clown like?”, they’d all tell you something completely personal. Clowns call themselves clowns because they recognise the art that is their playground but the individuals that are playing there each have there own unique charisma. If you have already experienced your clown you’ll know that it’s a lot like tuning yourself in to a specific frequency. When you’re receiving the signal you still feel like you, just with fewer complexes and more creativity.

Caroline Dream’s class in Germany in 2023
Caroline Dream’s books in Spanish. There are also ones in English

Why is it useful?

All the positive effects we experience originate in the following three core components of clowning: using humour, the clown state, and performing for an audience.

Using humour

The effects humour and laughter have on us have been well aired over the last decade. We now know that using our sense of humour regularly increases our capacity to: accept ourselves, communicate our feelings, relate with others, face tensions, adapt to new situations, deal with conflicts, have fun, and think positively.

Over the last century psychological theorists (such as Maslow, Freud, Allport, and Vaillant) have endorsed a style of humour that is non-hostile, philosophical, and self-accepting (such as clowns possess) and associated it with the development of a healthy or mature personality. Having a healthy sense of humour has been demonstrated to strengthen a person’s sense of trust, hope and valor, especially in moments of difficulty. In their article, “Humor and life stress: Antidote to adversity” (1986), H.M. Lefcourt and R.A. Martin – two authorities on the subject of humour – confirmed that using positive humour reinforces the value of acceptance and forgiveness of one’s self and others. And add that “the ability to sense and appreciate humour can buffer the mood disturbances that happen in response to negative life events.”Which goes to say that an inevitable result of having a healthy sense of humor is a greater emotional intelligence.

Also, moments of shared laughter have two valuable effects; they deactivate internal bias mechanisms and bring people together in the same shared space. The presence of humour disarms all resistance to growth or change.

The clown state

Without a doubt inhabiting the clown state brings out the best in us – we become authentic, honest, creative, humble, inventive, curious, joyful and free – and merely recognizing all these qualities we inherently possess is revitalizing. With the help of our clown we become connected – to ourselves, to others and to life, with appreciation and compassion.
Other benefits include:

  • a fresh perspective.
  • step out of comfort zone.
  • greater listening skills.
  • ability to use mistakes and failures to create success.
  • understanding how to overcome communication breakdowns.
  • greater crisis and stress management skills.
  • constant creative collaboration.
  • focus on finding innovative solutions to tricky problems.

Performing for an audience

By stepping out into the limelight, we reclaim our individual worthiness to be seen, heard and appreciated.

Knowing that you are funny, generous, idiotic, creative, talented, loving, etc. is one thing, but expressing and experiencing these aspects of yourself in front of others is something else altogether. Research has shown that both practical knowledge and long lasting memories are forged through powerful, emotional experiences. When you find yourself in front of an audience – exhibiting your personality, talents and ingenuity – you are refreshing and activating your understanding of who you are and what you’re capable of. 

Researchers who have studied the effects of practicing drama, theatre or a performance art on young people – Catterall & Chapleau (1997), Heath & Roach (1998), E. Fiske (1999), S. Ruppert & National Assembly of State Arts Agencies (2006) – have found an extraordinary number of benefits. They saw positive changes in the children’s: confidence, self-esteem, self-discipline, ability to organize and prioritize, self-reliance, poise, ability to converse with adults, empathy, compassion, analysis, problem solving, reasoning, abstract thinking skills, ability to conceptualize, and appreciation of culture and the arts.

Clowning, therefore, improves your physical, emotional, psychological, social, and academic capacities. Which of course, will increase your overall sense of well-being and help you no end on the path towards professional success.

Smart Coaching & Training works with 20 associates, in four continents speaking 12 languages and raised and working in a wide range of cultures. See our associates here. Caroline is currently delivering training in South America (in Spanish) and Germany, USA and Spain (in English and Spanish)

In conjunction with Professional Speakers Association (Spain) , SCT’s David Rigby will be present at the TEDx Marbella Spain event on June 9 focussing on Entrepreneurs

Written by David Rigby © 2023 Smart Coaching & Training Ltd

Filed Under: Being Confident, coaching, Communication, Emotional Intelligence, Mentoring, Mindset, People Development, Personal Development, Training, Wellbeing Tagged With: clowninng, feeling, humour, innerclown, intuitive, keeping tradition, laughter, logical, performing, psychological safety, Smart Coaching & Training, thinking

08/04/2023 By David Rigby

Community and Communication in Diverse Organisations

Community and Communication in Diverse Organisations

I work with many organisations – companies, associations, voluntary groups which are internationally diverse, and all have cultural challenges when communicating. I run some of them.
These days it’s so easy to offend, for example religious groups, women’s groups, LGBTetc groups, old-age groups, snowflakes and white supremacists. So, if you are running communications between members of a group, do you also have to police it?    

Aspirant Middle Classes

Of course it depends who are in your groups.  Personally, to quote Groucho Marx, I wouldn’t belong to any group that would have me. In reality, I wouldn’t belong to any groups where the members are easily offended.  Being easily offended is the prerogative of the aspirant middle classes and the uneducated.  Maybe because I am much older, I find it difficult to be shocked or offended about anything and it’s a good place to be.  But what about the others?  My personal advice would be to take them on an educational journey where they too are not shocked or offended by anything.

Loosening and tightening conventions

Societal conventions had been loosening for a long time and now they are tightening again along different lines. In western worlds, many topics which were never openly talked about now are commonplace – such as being agnostic, gay, and others are no longer tolerated such as racial prejudice. But it depends on who you are and the society you are in. And now you have repression in USA where you cannot show the statue of David, talk about drag queens etc and books are mistakenly being re-written so as not to offend.

Adherence to norms and conventions

In a multinational group is it reasonable to expect its members to behave according to the ‘social norms’ each currently lives in? NO it isn’t. In an international organisation, knowledge, tolerance and understanding of others’ social norms is essential, but adherence to them is not. Fear of offending would mean no conversation of substance, no humour and nothing meaningful.

Gin and Tonic

I have worked within the Middle East, particularly teaching Diversity, and it is a minefield when teaching meaningful content. However, preparing young Kuwaitis for a visit to London, they have to accept and respect that they will be in the presence of Alcohol. Equally it was years before I would drink Gin&Tonic in from of my Emirati client in Abu Dhabi. This was my paranoia not his.

Nationalism at Jubilee 1977
Gay pride paraphernalia
Uncensored sculpture in Altea
Moors and Christians celebrations in Spain

The art of double-entendre

The use of ‘double-entendre’ (no English word for this), is endemic in British humour and language. I used it a lot when writing for Al Arabia News. It was a way of getting past the censors.  Equally, at least in the UK, swearing used to be fairly common in business meetings and before that it wasn’t, especially in mixed sex groups. 

Inclusivity and directness

Inclusivity will tell you not to stereotype on race, sex, age etc as most people do not fit the stereotypes. Directness in some cultures can shock, indirectness in other cultures can lead to lack in understanding.

You can chose to be offended

So, in the organisations I run and belong to, I contribute my British double-entendre humour, know about different religious and am open about my lifestyle which is not tolerated in some of the countries of my colleagues. I would police none of it, provided it had useful content. Keep the humour about being bald or fat or German coming- it’s a way of being educated about different cultures and a way to get to know each other. Its a gift to participants, giving them the chance to plagiarise humourous content to amuse their own followers. It’s up to others how they interpret, and if they chose to be offended, it’s their problem not mine.

Smart Coaching & Training works with 20 associates, in four continents speaking 12 languages and raised and working in a wide range of cultures. See our associates here

In conjunction with Professional Speakers Association (Spain) , SCT’s David Rigby will be present at the TEDx Marbella Spain event on June 9 focussing on Entrepreneurs

Written by David Rigby © 2023 Smart Coaching & Training Ltd

Filed Under: Being Confident, coaching, Communication, Emotional Intelligence, Mentoring, Mindset, People Development, Personal Development, Training, Wellbeing Tagged With: drag-queens, feeling, groucho marx, humour, intuitive, keeping tradition, logical, middle-class, nationalism, offended, policing, psychological safety, religeon, Smart Coaching & Training, snowflakes, thinking

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