What’s in a name?
It took a long time to come up with a company name. I didn’t want to use my own name as Deirdre Cijffers is difficult to both say and spell so I figured anyone who found out about me through word of mouth would never find me! I also wanted to make sure I had room to grow the company into something more than a one-woman show.
There followed a lengthy, existential thought process about who I am and what I believe learning to be and how it functions within the complex set of circumstances in which it occurs, be it in higher education, adult or professional education, widening participation, Corporate L&D or the charity sector.
I wanted something to do with nature and to the symbiotic or codependent relationships found there. I felt it reflected the relationship between the SME and the learning designer, the organisation and the consultant. Needless to say shark and pilot fish were long gone. As were any creatures that metamorphose the way that learning experiences and teaching strategies can when the learning design collaboration works well. So no to dragonflies and salamanders.
I then thought about connectors, people and creatures who join the dots to create pictures and provide lifelines and I went to fungi, which led me to Hyphae (untaken), an essential connecting part of underground mycelial networks. This too proved problematic as, despite the resonance of the meaning, a STEM partner said it was like a monster reaching out to get her so not a winner. On top of that it was a difficult to spell as Deirdre Cijffers and has the unfortunately identical pronunciation as ‘high fee’ which would either suggest that my services were overpriced or of extremely high value. Bit of a gamble.
And so I came back to an old favourite – ferns. I love how tightly they are balled up at the start and how glorious they are when they unfurl, taking up space and soaking up the sun in the best and strongest version of themselves. This was what I wanted for myself and the people and organisations I work with. The best and brightest version of experiences that can be created when we bring the best of ourselves to a collaboration of diverse and complementary skills. Learning Unfurled.
Happily, it also reflects my approach to my own learning within my own areas of expertise in new practices and technologies as well as in the realm of business. Continuous Unfurling…