Aug 2, 2012 | Change, Personal Rant
The much waited review of the” Work Choices” legislation will be released today, after the Minister has had it for a month considering the implications.
It will be absorbing to watch and listen to the “argy bargy” and strident demands of the various union dependent officials and politicians speaking out against the measures increasingly being taken by management that have as their objective recapturing their right to manage, and to reflect the current reality in those decisions. The recent Qantas lock-out and the current noise about labor visas for mining workers spring to mind.
Overall union membership in the economy is around 18%, only 13% if you take out the unionized public sector, against figures of mid 30’s in the 1990’s, and immediately post war, 65%.
Are these noises the last gasp of the doomed?
It is hard to think otherwise than that the power of the 18% is entirely because of the formal ties with the labor party, and the compulsory voting system in this country forcing donkeys to vote. I wonder what the voter turnout would be in a voluntary voting system, and what that may do to the existing two party structure.
As an advisor to a number of small businesses, I see every day the depredations emanating from the absurdly biased regulations surrounding employment. Were they to be removed, employment would immediately increase.
There are structural changes in employment going on, specifically there are far more self employed than even just a few years ago, many would not go back to the dark side, and self employment is a disincentive to the employment of others.
At the recent ACTU congress in Sydney, while trying to absorb the reality that less than 18% of the workforce is unionised, and this number is dropping, propelled by the structural changes in the economy, dumb regulations, and the odious nature of the implications of the Craig Thompson revelations, the union officialdom stood on the podium ,collectively looking like King Canute.
It is in the county’s interest to have many self employed people they are more entrepreneurial, risk takers, they produce value, not consume it, and yet the policies being pursued seem to mitigate against contractors and the self employed.
Aug 1, 2012 | Collaboration, Strategy
Ever thought “how do we get anything done with all these meetings”?
It is a paradox, as the evolving recognition that meetings are essential to successful collaborative activity, and the growth of collaboration as a strategy grows rapidly, so does the propensity for meetings.
However, many meetings are just an excuse for idle people to fill up the time available, and make it seem worthwhile and useful.
Meetings are not a substitute for thinking, they are one of two things:
- A forum to communicate face to face when the issue is sufficiently complicated, or important that other forms of communication are insufficient in their depth of engagement to be as effective, so the meeting its worth the cost, or,
- A forum to throw away the shackles of hierarchy, functional silos, and culture, and address a problem/opportunity as a 5 year old would, with delight, and no inhibitions.
All other reasons for a meeting are just an excuse, and beware of the evils of “groupthink”.
Which of these two did your last meeting fall into?
How is your organisation managing the paradox?
Jul 30, 2012 | Innovation
Bet that got your attention………
Successful Innovation is almost always the end result of many experiments, resources expended that deliver no result, lots of huffing, puffing, moments of excitement, and from time to time great let-downs.
Just like sex.
And just like getting pregnant uses millions of sperm, with only one getting the prize, so does innovation require the expenditure of lots of resources to just get one “home”, and that one makes all the rest seem irrelevant.
Jul 29, 2012 | Leadership, Personal Rant
Recently my local council took a decision under extremely dubious circumstances, and against the wishes of much of the local community, and their own guidelines.
In preparing for my 3 minute opportunity to voice my disgust at the decision, and its inevitable outcomes, I broke my objections down to three components that the council leadership should consider as they imposed a decision made in isolation of the wishes of the community, for reasons that had nothing to do with the good of the community.
- Morality and legality. Just because something is legal, does not necessarily make it moral. Just because you may be able to manipulate the existing regulations to accommodate a 7 story apartment block overshadowing an area you listed as a heritage area does not make it right to do so, particularly when the financial basis of the alterations are at best, obscured.
- Transparency of leadership. Those who wish to lead, particularly those who are elected to do so have an obligation to ensure that decision-making is a transparent process. Without transparency, the leadership is compromised past repair very quickly. Look no further than the mess in Canberra for confirmation.
- Consistency of decision-making. A decision made today, must be consistent with those made yesterday, and if not, the reasons for the inconsistency must be overwhelming, and transparent to everyone affected.
Whilst my impassioned pleas did not change the decision, when I look back on it, the headings to which I spoke still resonate.
By the way, I am still angry, and with council elections now very close, at least some retribution is coming. Just a pity it is too late for to prevent the disaster emerging from the hubris, incompetence, and self interest of the those about to lose their sinecures at the developer honey pot.
Jul 27, 2012 | Customers, Marketing
A Verb, a word that is something that describes an action, like work, run, achieve, but often, unfortunately when marketing is the topic of conversation, words such as complicate, confuse, dodge, unmeasurable, and such can be added.
Seth Godin sees marketing as a series of concentric circles, the closer to the centre, the more objective and product benefit focused the language becomes, and it is a very simple, but insightful way of looking at it.
Successful businesses in the future will see the practice of marketing take on a few common characteristics that have the action aspects of the verb:
- Measurable
- Accountable
- Customer centric
- Transparent
- Motivating
- Innovative
- All encompassing
- Engaged
What have I missed?
