Michael Waters

I could provide a lot of facts that might be of interest. For example: I kept so many animals as a child that my collection amounted to a small zoo; I had a childhood that was as rich in terms of what I made, did and experienced than that of anyone else in history; I was the first school teacher to teach A Level Communication Studies at the age of 23; I've had a host of senior posts in education and worked with around 1000 schools; at the age of 21, I became (in sequence) a husband, a graduate, a teacher, a tenant and a father; I've written songs that most people who know them love... I could risk going on, but I won't because I hate the thought of sounding self-important. But also because I'm pretty sure that the most significant thing about me is that I seem to be entrusted with the biggest ideas and visions. I say"entrusted" because I sense that I've been given, maybe by God, though I know how vain this might sound, responsibility for getting some hugely important messages "out there". I'm very happy to recognize that they may come through me rather than just from me. I've written books specific to each of them, and three in particular are my current and likely future priorities.

Here they are in essence:

The Power of Surge: The message I'm pushing here is the vital importance of surge action - action that is rapid and robust. Big events, including natural disasters, require rapid and robust responses. Almost all high impact events are surge phenomena and they all need to be met with surge responses. Indeed, being able to surge when we need to or choose to - being able to achieve big things quickly - is vital for every country, organisation, community and individual. We won't tackle global warming without surge action. We won't rise to any major challenge or build a better world without knowing how to surge. We may not achieve big personal goals without knowing how to surge. The other message is: A lot of experts in many different fields have knowledge and experience of taking surge action, but this needs to be pooled and shared. There needs to an inter-disciplinary subject I'm calling Surge Studies and a common framework for understanding and designing all surge events that I call Surge Dynamics.

Becoming Guise-Wise: The central message here is that we need a commonality-first approach to all human relationships. Most of our relationship problems at every level have at their heart our tendency to first and foremost foreground differences between us rather than prioritizing what we have in common. Conflict, division, hatred, a lack of neighborliness - all the way from 1:1 situations to those between ethnic groups and nations - all emerge from a difference-first approach habit of viewing of others. Shift this default so that we focus first on what we have in common, and the world will be utterly different and better. I propose a simple but effective way of doing just this. It could make Good Samaritans of us all,

Should I, Shouldn't I?: The message here is: we all have really tough decisions to make but most of us lack an effective strategy for making them. Our decision-making is often tortuous and anguish-making. Sometimes we make bad or random decisions that blight our lives. I offer a strategy that works for almost all really difficult decisions, which should make for a lot more happy and confident people in the world.

If you'd like to join me to turn one or more of these crucial messages into living realities, then I'd be delighted.

An obvious starting point is to read (and, I hope, be stimulated and motivated by) the relevant book(s)