Category: People

The truth about this crisis – and it isn’t pretty!

The coincidence of events

Today started like most days in that after a breakfast with Jean it was time to switch on the PC and review the news that had come in over night and think about what material might be appropriate for the Blog. But that’s as far as it went for a normal day.

Because a number of items came together in a way that left me reeling. Not because it was necessarily new information but because together they represent the most compelling evidence as to why this economic crisis happened and, more importantly, the terrible likelihood that our leaders aren’t go to fix it and that the future will bring an even worse calamity.

Sunflowers in the desert

Stop doing what you are doing and watch Jacqueline Novogratz!

Small things add up to make larger things! This concept of “integration” is seen everywhere that we look.

The subject and content of this presentation are fundamental to the future of the world. And the presenter is showing what can be done.

I found this presentation particularly poignant.

By John Lewis

Transformation

These are hard times for millions – transformation is the only practical option.

I’ve been working with most of my clients recently through painful transformation brought about by the recession.

An interesting metaphor really because, since the first wave of uncertainty in the UK banking system triggered panic, I have been picking up on that uncertainty.

That uncertainty feels like it’s stalking the globe at the moment; one has been aware of an underlying fear that was difficult to name and source in me. It has been rather like a deep river in that whilst the surface feels slow moving, currents are moving things powerfully below.
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Hire the attitude, train the skill!

How can we help you?

In a reversal of business models which are all too common, Ten UK sets out to help customers: what a novel idea!!

The following video describes the need to recruit and train staff who understand the real value and expectation behind asking:

What do you want in the context of … ?

Alex Cheatle describes what they do and how they do it.

Read the article on Real Business here.

By John Lewis

Remarkable people: Ann Daniels

Continuing the theme that extraordinary people are just ….. ordinary.

Another explorer …. who began polar exploration a little later than most of them, has a staggering story of “mind over matter”.

Ann Daniels is the only woman to have become a polar guide for groups walking to both the North and the South Poles. The stories on her web site are quite extraordinary and are told in such a disarmingly easy style that one needs to think carefully about what she is actually saying when recounting stories of:

considerable pain and amazing stamina
huddling for days beneath a tent which could not be pitched
carbon monoxide poisoning
winds lifting a person and 200lb sledge bodily from the ground and throwing them against a wall of ice.

Postscript on reasonable men

In praise of thoughtful, articulate people who reason their way through life.

Let me say that I know no more about the person who is Neptunus Lex than anyone else who takes the time to read his Blog. And after I justify the sub-heading of this Post I will give you those links to Mariner Lex.

If you have come into the topic just now, then you may want to read the two Posts on fate.

The first Post was published on October 6th, the second Post the next day. In a sense, these Posts connect with the Carrier series by PBS that you can link to here.

Remarkable people: Mary King

Mary King, another example of quiet achievement.

More on people who add up to something …

Through my young son’s school, we meet some of the other parents, as you might expect. As with any individuals, we are frequently learning of interesting aspects to their life stories. No doubt, there are many more private achievement and challenges which they have overcome; but then there are the public achievements.

Remarkable people: Sir Ranulph Fiennes

Sir Ranulph Fiennes, a British explorer.

How do we complete a journey? The easy answer is one step at a time; it turns out that that is also the hard answer!

The aspect of integrity that is related to “wholeness” is well illustrated by individuals who show a dedication to something over a long period. By continually taking small steps, the contributions of those steps accumulate to create substantial achievements.

Explorers seem to know a lot about this. They perform some extraordinary feats; and among explorers, one of the fiennes most outstanding is Sir Ranulph Fiennes.

When asked about his approach to climbing Everest at the third attempt in May 2009 and, at age 65, the oldest Briton to do so, he captured the full spirit of separating actions from goals when he said:

Plod forever! Don’t expect to get there. Don’t think there is going to be a top to this mountain. Just plod forever!

His record of exploration is quite staggering, and he also the man who ran seven marathons on seven continents in seven days, shortly after having a heart bypass operation!

Oh, and as there is a faint geographical thread on this blog, he lives in the south west of England. [not far from John, Ed]

Defence forces and integrity

A personal reflection on the emotions stirred by the PBS series on the USS Nimitz

The last three days have seen Posts on the USS Nimitz. On the 2nd there was the first part of air carrier operations specifically looking at the challenges of a pitching deck. On the 3rd came the second part as the pilots and crew operated into night, still with the deck of the USS Nimitz pitching significantly. Yesterday, the Post carried links to background information including the excellent web site that PBS have on the USS Nimitz series.

So why raise the question of integrity?

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