Hayley On The Ball

[postscript]

Hi Everyone.

In one of the Cadogan Hall Threads 9th April 2007 the following script took place.

postscript said:

jeff said:

It's funny how many people seem to be looking at the wrong camera, except Hayley of course. She's always on the ball ! When I last had my photo taken with her she had the presence of mind to ask: "Which camera are we looking at?"

Oh boy! Now that is unsurpassable!
Or is it? I'm about to go off in search of a post 'Hayley on the Ball' or similar and if not I'll start one. Or perhaps 'Hayley's Presence of Mind' might be more decorous? No, that's stuffy, she'd prefer the former, I think. Ties in with the All Blacks.
Peter S.

So, having had a look through 12 pages of threads relating to 'Hayley for which a thread does not already exist', here is the opening entry.

This is a lady for whom we all have tremendous respect for her extraordinary astuteness. A girl who really seems to have her wits about her all the time.

Yet, in seeming contradiction to our awareness of her, she herself, in a recent interview in The Guardian said that she was 'the most disorganised person I know.'

So, where lies the truth? Is the truth simply that she realises when she is with us she is with a right bunch of rogues and keeps a wary eye out when around us, but otherwise relaxes into her natural disorganised state?

Or is the lady not QUITE as disorganised as she would like everyone to believe?

I think in this thread we could also include Hayley's consideration for others. The thought is in my mind where it has been quoted that Hayley has said, 'Steve, you're supposed to hold the camera steady' and checking with people with whom she has stood for photographs, 'are you sure that's okay?'

Don't forget the wagging finger. That finger (of either hand) acts as a pause, like a comma or dash. 'Hold it, you've got a point there', or 'that's interesting!'.

But it can also be, 'watch it!'. 'I'm not so sure on that.', 'Now just a moment guys', as in, I'm in charge, what's going on here?

Therein lies another contradiction. She has the ability to come over as being in charge without in any way seeming authoritarian. However it comes across, disorganised people do not usually give that sort of impression.

A lady then of contradictions?

Regardless,
I'm sure there will be events in the future, if people cannot remember past events immediately, when we will be aware of Hayley being 'on the ball'.

Peter S.

[grant]

As you often say Peter "I'll jump in with both feet" here

I believe a lot of people feel they are disorganised when, in fact, they're actually not. It's easy to feel that when one is packing so much into their time as Hayley is, that it is easy to forget 'what happens next'

In truth, as has been said before, much of that is not for her to remember, but I bet sometimes she feels it ought to be.

I consider myself to be quite organised, some of my friends see me as too organised, yet when the list of things to do grows and grows it has to be written down or I come home without the thing I REALLY went out for

Hayley has an instinctiveness to realise that in certain situations a variety of things will be expected of her; posing with fans, signing this and that and that is what she concentrates on, but if someone asks a question outwith her realm of expectation at that time, she may (and some of us have experienced this) need help with the answer. That in my mind is not being disorganised but simply concentrating on what she feels most important at the time.

I guess much the same applies to most artists, it's just that Hayley happens to be very good at it.

I'll shut up now

Grant

[petertong]

My vote is that Hayley is an idea and people person with lots of creativity... so there is an element of organized disorganization there i.postimg.cc/9fYxy370/smilie-big-grin.gif

She probably gets lost in the idea (the world of music stuff) and people stuff and the other stuff is way low on the relative priority list, so she forgets that stuff more often.

So yeah our lady Hayley is paradoxical

[Richard]

Hello folks!

I sometimes wonder if HWI's presence at so many of her events helps her to feel more organised. She has commented in interviews that we seem to know what she's doing before she does, and we've often been able to help her answer fans' questions after the shows.

Best Wishes,

Richard

[Mark]

Hi everyone

Richard, I am sure your right, which also fits in exactly with what you say Grant. A good example of this is when you & I were at Telford last December, Hayley was busy signing and chatting as usual and she was asked quite a few questions about dates and albums etc. Although she must have known the answers deep down, because she was in signing & chatting mode, she stumbled when asked a specific date for example "oh gosh, what date is my new album out guys ? " to which either you or I replied "26th February".

It felt good to be able to help out

Mark

[roger]

That reminds me of the occasion last November when Hayley asked me how many live performances she had given so far that year. I felt honoured that she had confidence in me to know the answer. I haven't had the courage to tell her since that I was one out!

Roger

[grant]

tinky3344 said:

" to which either you or I replied "26th February".

I feel pretty confident that we duetted on that one Mark

Grant

[grant]

When we all gathered round her car after the Gawsworth concert, I made a point of telling her that it had been her 93rd performance that year, to which she replied "Gosh, that many?"

But then could any of us remember how many times we've shopped at Sainsbury's or ASDA? I certainly couldn't

Grant

[postscript]

Hi Grant.
I think your explanation of concentrating on the matter in hand is the key. I think, too, that your view that Hayley demands so much of herself that it is SHE who considers she is disorganised and NOT the fact that she actually is.

As you say, Hayley is always herself. She does not APPEAR to have the aides that others might have, although I am sure Steve might occasionally prompt her with a word in her ear, which is his role, but always discretely so he doesn't appear to have prompted her..

I'll never forget receiving a government minister at a function. Not only was she as briefed as one would expect on the matter in hand but her aides had done their homework on me personally, gleaning information that was not immediately or easily available unless you knew where to look... and of course, civil servants know just where to look!

In a sense, and but for your prompt I had never looked at it this way before, Hayley is akin to a Production Manager, juggling her time according to diverse commitments and desires. When I was running production in a printing factory there would be an average of 100 plus jobs on the go. At any one time I would be intimately aware of the top ten priorities and have a varying degree of intimate knowledge of the next 20 to 30. It would be a mix of immediate, short-term, long-term priorities. Over a two to three day period the sequence of the top 30 could vary drastically and over a week fifty percent of the content could change completely.

Yes, I reckon she probably is VERY well organised and on top most of the time. Its just a question as to which time-frame she's focused on at any one moment.

Peter S.