I feel a deep sense of gratitude for having had the good fortune of meeting Ralph both through his writings and through personal encounters. I would like to briefly describe three moments that I cherish.

The first of these moments happened at one of Ralph's last Complexity & Management Conferences where he, as usual, made the introductory comments. He began by saying that he was getting concerned with the ubiquitous conversations about change in organisations. Instead, he suggested, let's think about and discuss stability - what do we mean by it and how might we keep what is good and working well, working well? This has become a sentiment that is always with me in my consulting practice and my life.

The second moment happened during a workshop that Patricia Shaw ran in Copenhagen were we were asked to get into pairs to experiment with high and low status and how to make a move that would reverse the status within the pair. Ralph and I paired up. I said, "You have been a very naughty pupil, Ralph. You shouldn't have broken into my office. If you ever do something like that again, I'll have to inform your parents. For a second, Ralph looked at his feet and then said apologetically "I am so sorry..." (he slowly lifted his gaze until be looked straight into my eyes)..."but if you keep accusing me unjustly, I'll inform my dad who is the Chairman of the School Board." And then he smiled quietly. Touché. I have always enjoyed and fondly remember his quiet and precise humour.

The final moment I'd like to recall took place in 2013 during my DProf viva in which Ralph was my main examiner. I had spent many years reflecting on, inquiring into and writing about how to "work live" in order to help my clients "make things better" for themselves and their stakeholders. Ralph listened very intently to the summary of my insights about what working live meant and how one might go about doing it. Finally, he asked very quietly, "Could you tell us what you mean with"better"? To my great embarrassment I could not. It had never really occurred to me to articulate my thinking in this respect. Have explicit, but lightly held assumptions -another very valuable lesson Ralph taught me at that moment.

I am grateful that although Ralph has passed on, his wise and precise, written words and my memories of him are still with me and offer constant guidance.

My thoughts are with his loved ones.