Hello, I’m David Schmidtchen.

You’re reading this because something has caught your attention, or maybe you got lost while looking for something else, or maybe you’re just passing through on your way to some other place. That’s all good. With any luck something on here will be of interest or value to you.

I’ve been fortunate enough to have had varied career in the public and private sectors. I am Australian psychologist with a long standing interest in work; in particular, the way people, work and organisation interact and change. Work is such a big part of our everyday lives but we don’t seem to spend much time on thinking about it. I find the way we think about work strikes as very fixed or set. And, I often wonder why.

So, what’s this about? I have questions and I write about them. I also have ‘acdemic tendencies’. Writing helps me to organise my thinking. It puts disipline into what I am doing. But, mostly, I write for myself. I publish my thoughts here for two reasons. First, I think I need to hold myself accountable for the discipline of thinking and writing. If I don’t all my questions float about and never find the ground. Second, it is a place where I can step back and review those ideas.

It’s all a bit selfish really!

I believe that most of the really important problems tend to recur. These problems take a different shape in our time but it is often the same set of issues those before us have faced. I don’t see these as problems to be solved but rather one’s to which we must find our own response. I try to look at the philosophy and history as a guide to shaping my response.

If something did catch your attention, feel free to leave a comment!