It’s a rare occurance that we point towards formal academia that underpins the stuff we speak of on ?ic and in our TomorrowToday frameworks. So, as a treat, I’d like invite you to step away from our uber-sexy TmTd language and delve into some academic viewpoints. Why, you may ask? Well, it’s because a few customers of late have asked me what research and background we draw on in our frameworks. Somehow, the answer of “killer experience and superior intelligence” have not ellicited the responses I was hoping for. Oh, and because I sometimes find comfort in reading academic stuff. So, let me point you to a journal article on Organizational Change & Development by Weick & Quinn (from Michigan Business School). Yep, I can already hear you yawning. Let me say that I found this article very useful as it provides some background to what we say around the current age of discontinuous change, how we “do” change in organisations and what role culture plays in the midst of change. Here’s a snippet:
The basic tension that underlies many discussions of organizational change is that it would not be necessary if people had done their jobs right in the first place. Planned change is usually triggered by the failure of people to create continuously adaptive organizations.
Download the .pdf here.
I read an article on the Proteas (South African Cricket Team) return home from Colombo in Sri Lanka due to a bomb blast in a nearby shopping centre. There have been mixed reports as to the validity of their return home. In an interview with Tony Greig (legendary commentator and player for England) he felt that the players were dictating to the government, the international cricket council and the fans all around the world. The question he raised was if a security report came and assured the players of their safety why did they still want to come home? Even more so, why were the players suddenly becoming loyal to themselves and not to the sport?
If you speak to a boomer or someone from the silent generation, which Tony Greig is from this generation, he or she would ague that the sport comes first and that today’s players are becoming soft. They are getting was whole lot of new incentives, they are being paid more, playing less days, and allowed to travel with wives, girlfriends, stay home with pregnant wives and not even return to honour their badge or the team. He relayed a story of how they received direct threats from rebel groups and got told by the British council that they should keep the matter under wraps and should continue to play. It was maybe then more appropriate to respect and show commitment to the higher authority yet we clearly see a differing value system come thru in the newer generation of players.
Today’s talented cricketers ague that, they should be allowed to travel when it suits them. That they compete well on the field and that their loyalty is firstly to themselves and to no badge or any council for that matter.
The bomb blast incident has just become the typical age-old debate, who are today’s players loyal to? I’m certainly convinced that it was the right decision to come home and that players today will remain loyal to one person and that is to them.
Jim Collins – Good to great suggests that it is imperative for one to select the right people or get the right people on the bus as means of a developing a great company. In a South African economy where legislation like BEE is rife, it is important to understand this process and be rigorous about selection. Is then the new black talent is a highly sought after commodity in the workplace today?
As a black South African there are often numerous offers to form part of Business boards all in the name of BEE. Skin colour, it seems, is now at times a greater competency that skill. I wonder what the price of all this is going to be?
In the new economy, relationship building with staff will be critical, There is a new black kid on the block who does not want to be insulted by all these extravagant offers in the business world? The deal and warning to companies is that it is still essential that the right people come on board than just on the merit of skin colour. It is becoming still more about skill and deliverables. Younger X’er South Africans still want to be valued on their deliverables. It is an educated group of individuals who model boomer values in their drive and need for achievement in the highest level. In some ways this group of South Africans is now entering the market and revolutionising the way business is done in the quest to remain African yet competent and competing with the best in the world. The come armed with credentials and connection with senior members in established companies and government.
The abuse of the system will still continue here companies still get a few black faces on their board. This is dangerous as the nature of the relationship has a lot of exploitation companies should also expect to be exploited by the same black faces on the board. The fancy BMW’s and other unwarranted incentive come in to play and these are maybe in some way exploitation on the part of companies.
Companies who will become great on the economy will need to embrace the authentically the idea of development and empowerment. Skills shortage is a greater issue, as was the admission of the president in the State of the nation address. Empowerment that is sustainable has everything to do with imparting valuable to skills to the Previously Disadvantages. We need to engage the new emerging black graduate. If we are not just going to window dress we need to ensure that skills imparted and that there are still competency requirements that are met.
The economy has no time for short term fixes of window dresses for us to have a broad based economic empowerment we need to transfer skills. Not in a token way but in real genuine way to see the
If Pete Laburn has ever cornered you into a coffee shop, he has no doubt told you about Orchestras & Jazz Bands. It is a metaphorical analogy that compares companies (and how they have adapted to our age of discontinuous change) to the difference between orchestras and jazz bands. But let me not steal Pete’s thunder. For now, my point is that there is a definitive way in which musical organisations mirror and relfect what happens in companies. The modus operandi is different, but the structural, systemic processes are similar. In doing some reading on organisational culture I stumbled upon the Symphony Orchestra Institute. The SOI was founded by Paul R. Judy who “was motivated by a lifelong passion for classical music and a keen interest in how organizations functioned, coupled with a serious concern about the longer term effectiveness and sustainability of the existing American symphony organization model.” The SOI is a great example of an organisation that understands the dynamics of culture and how they play out in organisations. I recommend reading their series on Organisational Culture.
NYTimes reports today that Australian Prime Minister John Howard has called for expansion of the country’s capability to produce and export unranium … for economic interests. At a time when urnaium enrichment in countries less ally-friendly to the US, this development potentially adds more sleepless nights in the White House. Howard is quoted as saying, “For Australia not to reap greater income from its vast uranium deposits would be akin to Saudi Arabia not exploiting its oil”. Further, he declared that Australia could become an “energy superpower.â€?
Australia have no intention (publically or officially) to confront Washington’s policy on limiting the enrichment club to a handful, but wish to benefit economically from it’s rich uranium deposits. When countries like North Korea decide to enrich and test, one questions thei intent. When Australia now comes to the party under economic rationale, do we not ask the same question?
Now that the hoopla of the World Cup is over, I can express something I know a lot of people have felt (see here for example).
This World Cup set a record for cautions with 345 yellow cards, a 27 per cent jump from 2002, and an astounding 28 red cards. And the lasting image will be of Zidane (three times world footballer of the year, and bizarrely named the 2006 World Cup Golden Boot) head butting Materazzi in the 110th minute, and ending his career with a red card.
But what struck me was how all the “FIFA Fair play” stuff made no impact on the field of the play. Some games (especially, it must be said, the Italians) looked more like theatre classes than sports fields, with guys collapsing and writhing in “agony” when in reality they were hardly touched. Its just sad to see some of the highest paid athletes in the world rolling around on the ground clutching their shins in pain. And then running after the ball 2 minutes later.
And let’s not even talk about how referees and officials are treated by these spoilt brats. They should make a rule about that - and require yellow cards for talking back. Actually, it would need to be for shouting and cursing back, because no-one “talks” to the ref in football.
And my final beef with the “beautiful game” is the lack of technology. Some of the fouls could be easily checked out - especially if inside the area for penalties.
But, hey, maybe I’m just bitter that the country with biggest football scandal gets to win the cup. And you should probably ignore my views on sport anyway - I’m one of the crazy ones that can sit through five days of Test cricket, and enjoy the fact that it ends in a draw 
I don’t have a clever point to make here. I just think soccer needs help.
How lame is that title? You come up with a better one…
Exciting news in my inbox yesterday - Jonathan Cherry of Cherryflava.com and more recently, the Cherryflava Media Company, has secured a deal with BMW to support the launch of the new Z4 Coupe with a blogging campaign. Kudo’s to Jon!
The press release:
A first in South Africa - BMW have taken the leap into the world of blogs by advertising the launch of their new Z4 coupe on one.
The newly-formed Cherryflava Media Company, South Africa’s first blog media publisher, together with newly established brand activation company, Thirty Four, announced Friday that BMW South Africa has included Cherryflava’s flagship title, Cherryflava.com, in their online advertising campaign for the new BMW Z4 Coupe.
Continue reading ‘BMW: Blogging Meets Wheels’
In light of an earlier post today about a web site working hard to ‘warn’ foreigners of a dangerous South Africa’, here’s a great article from iol. It’s around 2010 and the South African host. Thabo Mbeki is in Germany for the final this weekend and here are some exerts from him….
“We said we will host in 2010 the most successful Fifa World Cup and we will keep that promise,” he insisted, describing the tournament as “a beacon of hope”.
“Football is all about hope - hope for a better world,” a pastime which will “touch the world and build a better future.
“Africa is ready, Africa’s time has come, Africa is calling. Come to Africa in 2010,” said Mbeki, urging fans to “celebrate Africa in all its magnificent splendour” and seize an opportunity to spread “human solidarity” as Africa emerges “from many many centuries of great difficulty”.
And from Sepp Blatter, Fifa President…
“It is African day. Today is a day of joy and a day of hope,” said Blatter turning his gaze to 2010.”You can call it justice for African football, but also justice for Africa - for all the women and the men of this continent,” Blatter said, calling on South Africa to show off the beauty of its landscapes and depth of its cultures.
Technorati Tags: South Africa, World Cup 2010, Soccer, Football
Tomorrow marks the start of the annual rugby Tri-nations tournament between South Africa, New Zealand and Australia. As usual, the cultural banter between the countries rises. I couldn’t resist sharing this story.
From SuperRugby, care of Reuters: “Australia have upset near-neighbour New Zealand with television advertisements depicting some of their rugged rugby players carrying women’s handbags.
Continue reading ‘Haka’s and Handbags’
I was sent a link to a site today called CrimeExpo. It states it’s aim as,
CRIME EXPO SA aim to provide foreigners with detailed information and regular updates regarding the issue of safety in South Africa.
But as you read the site you quickly discover this site is not about ‘information regarding safety issues’. It’s a one-sided very angry and emotional view of crime in South Africa. As a fellow South African I can understand where the emotion comes from.
In fact, I smiled as I wondered whether those responsable for the site recognised that instead of creating a useful, conversational, constructive site resulting in a positive contribution to the crime crisis South Africa is struggling with, they have created (in my opinon) an angry, emotional response, employing bully-boy tactics to threaten those in authority to do something. It is a pity that so much energy is being spent on being so destructive. I imagine if those responsable for this site where to constructively engage with the problem, they’d make a significant mark on creating a solution. A real pity cos the fringe often only exists to alert the rest of us to when we’ve arrived at ‘the edge’ and need to turn around and go back if we are to engage again.
So as a balance I offer up Homecoming Revolution to any foreigners looking for more views on South Africa in order to create a wiser picture.
Technorati Tags: crimexpo, south africa, crime, homecoming revolution
You can now run Windows on a Mac simultaneously with the Mac operating system as you would run any other application (and it can even run full screen, so if you use a dual screen setup you can have Mac OS X on one screen and Windows on the other).
This is great news! I’ve gone ahead and bought the application Parallels Desktop even though I don’t yet have one of the new Macs (but hope to get one soon!).
To quote the Apple site (which doesn’t even mention it’s own (beta) product, Boot Camp, which lets you run Windows XP on a Mac - although a restart is required to switch between the two systems):
Which means, of course, that the Mac may very well be the only computer you’ll ever need. In fact, the Mac’s flexibility — its ability to run both Mac and Windows* — has both customers and columnists very excited.
As Computerworld’s Scot Finnie points out, now you can forget about about having “to choose either the Mac for its superior design or Windows for its wealth of available software.� That’s because “you can have both operating systems on the same computer — the best of both worlds.� Mac OS X and Windows XP side by side. One great computer. Two operating systems. Many, many programs to run.Talk about a win-win situation. Now you can take advantage of all the benefits of owning a Mac but still enjoy the convenience of starting up your Mac in Windows XP and running a Windows-only game or productivity application when needed. Third-party software solutions such as Parallels Desktop for Mac help make it possible.
You can also run multiple operating systems, like the screenshot below shows.
So when will you switch? Mike? Barrie?!
technorati tags:switcher
Blogged with Flock
I cannot let today pass without a moment’s reflection. It is exactly 30 years ago, today, on 16 June 1976, that thousands of children left their classrooms in Soweto (and later around South Africa) to protest against apartheid, being taught in Afrikaans, and in favour of black consciousness and freedom for our country. About 700 of them lost their lives that day, with about 4,000 injured. Most were shot or beaten by the police and defense force.
At the time, I was a 6 year young boy, living in ignorant bliss, less than 50 kilometres away from where it happened. It took me most of life to bridge that 50 kilometre gap. Its something I reflect on often, and have been able to articulate in some way in a presentation I call “Living on Purpose“.
Thirty years ago today, South Africa’s Boomer generation did what many Boomers had started to do around the world: they changed history!!
Lest we forget…
Got this via e-mail (where else) the other day…
1. BLAMESTORMING : Sitting around in a group, discussing why a deadline was missed or a project failed, and who was responsible.
2. SEAGULL MANAGER : A manager, who flies in, makes a lot of noise, craps on everything, and then leaves.
3. ASSMOSIS : The process by which some people seem to absorb success and advancement by kissing up to the boss rather than working hard.
4. SALMON DAY : The experience of spending an entire day swimming upstream only to get screwed and die in the end.
5. CUBE FARM : An office filled with cubicles
6. PRAIRIE DOGGING : When someone yells or drops something loudly in a cube farm, and people’s heads pop up over the walls to see what’s going on.
7. MOUSE POTATO : The on-line, wired generation’s answer to the couch potato.
8. SITCOMs : Single Income, Two Children, Oppressive Mortgage. What Yuppies get into when they have children and one of them stops working to stay home with the kids.
9. STRESS PUPPY : A person who seems to thrive on being stressed out and whiny.
10. XEROX SUBSIDY : Euphemism for swiping free photocopies from one’s workplace.
11. IRRITAINMENT : Entertainment and media spectacles that are annoying but you find yourself unable to stop watching them. The J-Lo and Ben wedding (or not) was a prime example - Michael Jackson, another…
12. PERCUSSIVE MAINTENANCE : The fine art of whacking the heck out of an electronic device to get it to work again.
13. ADMINISPHERE : The rarefied organizational layers beginning just above the rank and file. Decisions that fall from the adminisphere are often profoundly inappropriate or irrelevant to the problems they were designed to solve.
14. 404 : Someone who’s clueless. From the World Wide Web error Message “404 Not Found,” meaning that the requested site could not be located.
15. GENERICA : Features of the American landscape that are exactly the same no matter where one is, such as fast food joints, strip malls, and subdivisions.
16. OHNOSECOND : That minuscule fraction of time in which you realize that you’ve just made a BIG mistake. (Like after hitting send on an unedited e-mail by mistake)
17. WOOFS : Well-Off Older Folks.
18. CROP DUSTING : Surreptitiously farting while passing through a Cube Farm.
I recently presented at an SABMiller Management Development Programme. One of the groups on the programme have taken the bull by the horns and are leveraging social software and viral marketing for maximum reach on a pretty exciting project. Their objective is to raise USD $10,000 before June 16th by auctioning off 3 unique beaded artworks.
This from their website:
The Bead4Need Team is a group of young dynamic business leaders in the corporate environment that want to make a difference in the lives of many Southern Africans. Ian, Navin, Fenias, Roger, AK and Gerrit are in a similar struggle, a race against the sun, against time.
The Bead4Need Race against Time has one simple objective, “To raise $10,000 before 16 June 2006�. Every last cent of this money will be channelled into The CIDA City Campus that aspires to making a sustainable difference in the lives of the disenfranchised people in Southern Africa.
What’s in it for the Bead4Need Team you may well ask? It’s simple, they are a team in an Apprentice Challenge as part of their Leadership Development Experience. The team wants to be the top of their class and realised that just making money is not what it’s all about. They have a golden opportunity to make a real difference in the lives of many less fortunate than themselves and they want to invite you to be part of this success.
Really great news is that SAB has agreed to double any funds that the group raise through this initiative. I think it’s a great idea, only because CIDA benefits (in other words, this is not about lining SAB’s pockets). So, check out the site, visit eBay and make a bid. Help us spread the word and lets watch this grow.
This is a photo of the ’smoking section’ in the Keg, Johannesburg International Airport. I think it’s a stroke of genius. In most restaurants, tucked away in some corner, smoking sections often resemble neglected herpetological exhibits. I’m not a smoker, but I often feel sorry for our oxygenically-challenged brethren.
The Keg has turned this perception on it’s head by enclosing the busiest area of the restaurant off and calling it a Cigar Lounge instead of a smoking section. Ironically enough, it was the busiest section of the pub when I visited this evening, and my guesstimation was that less than 50% of the people inside where smoking anything at all. It appears that it is quite cool to sit in the Cigar Lounge and leaf through the morning’s paper, regardless of whether you smoke or not.
Sometimes the difference between brilliance and a missed opportunity is just a little thought. Another great example is an ancient old lady that works a till at our local Pick ‘n Pay. She always greets me when I arrive at her station by looking me in the eyes and smiling. She scans my groceries as though they are ming vases. If I pay by credit card, she glances at my name and says, “thanks for your business, Mr. Stopforth. Enjoy the rest of your day”. Mr. Stopforth. I’m one-eighth her age, for crying out loud.
Small acts of brilliance, huge impacts.
One of the marvels of the internet and the digital age is the ability for ordinary folk to share their talents, idiosyncracies and passions with the world. And the speed at which really wacky, goofy, different things can seed themselves across the world at a click of the mouse. And the ease with which we can interact and share with each other.
Meet Judson Laipply.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dMH0bHeiRNg&eurl
As promised, the second course for 2006 is taking place 5-9 June. The facilitators are Greyling Viljoen (Clinical Psychologist) and/or Dr Drikus Kriek (UNISA SBL), depending on the size of the group. This course is unique in that it does not start with facilitation tricks and techniques. Rather, It starts with the group. You cannot facilitate the processes, discussions and dynamics in a group if you do not understand groups. A totally practical (and very intensive) process that will have a definite impact on your understanding of groups and of yourself. You need to be able to attend all 5 consecutive full days. Cost: R4000 ex VAT pp. Venue in Centurion/Midrand to be confimed. Book early as places are limited. Contact Jean Cooper at jean@tomorrowconnecting.biz or on +27(0)82 3349362.
Please - no more!
If I have to read one more article about the looming crisis facing the world economy as Boomers prepare to retire, I think I will scream! None of us need reminding about this fact anymore (although many businesses need to wake up to it - which is exactly what TomorrowToday.biz helps many to achieve) - but the Internet seems obsessed with the fact this month! Similarly, there is an overabundance of articles on the looming pension crisis and the sale of retirement properties and so forth. But is this all that is to be said about Boomers these days? Not good for their self-esteem, I’m sure. So it’s no surprise that, according to WQOW 18 in Chippewa Valley, drug counsellors are increasingly treating Boomer Meth-addicts! If there is nothing left to say about a whole generation other than their retirement plans, it must be getting very dull indeed. Women in Canada, apparently, are trying to buck the trend by working longer than their husbands. And in Japan, some women are waiting until their Boomer husbands retire before going out to get their own job! Things are not so simple as it seems at first…
Continue reading ‘GenerationWatch – May 06′
Introduction
Some people think that there are patterns in existence that can be re-used between various disciplines like Physics, Religion and Business. This article explores the similarity of thought between several domains and tries to see how understanding in one area can help understanding in other areas.
Entropy in Physics
In physics, the concept of Entropy can have the following meanings: the degree of chaos, or disorder, in a system; or the amount of useable energy in a system. All physical systems tend towards states of least order, or maximum chaos. That is why eggs break, but can never spontaneously un-break, and why when a glass of water spills, it runs into a flat puddle and does not sit on the floor in a glass-shaped globule.
Continue reading ‘Thoughts on Entropy, Voltage and Learning’
While you were sleeping in the early hours of this morning an event that only happens every one thousand years happened. And while you probably weren’t aware of it, you were there.
A little after midnight the time and date stamp was: 01:02:03 04/05/06
Kewl. It’s not going to happen till 3006. But you you were there!
This is a great article from Fast Company. How many times have you heard “people are our greatest asset” when in fact management has no idea of what that means, evidenced by their actions. To quote the article “Paul LaFontaine left Bertelsmann Music Group in March 1997 to advise other businesspeople about radical honesty. He has lots of work to do.” “There are as many lies in business as there are people in business,” he says. Here are his nominees for the five most common lies:
- “People are our most important Asset”
- “This was a rational decision”
- “We judge people by their performance”
- “This is business, it isnt personal”
- “The customer comes first”
For more detail on why these are lies, go to the FC website here A good article…
I have no research to back this up, but I reckon we’ll soon be seeing the death of World Cup competitions … with the first being the soccer world cup. With the success of club competitions such as the EUFA Champions League, where the best clubs in Europe compete, loyalty is shifting from allegiance to one’s country towards the club one chooses to support. Some clubs even enjoy estimated supporter stats of roughly 43 million … or more. The thing about clubs is that they have no borders, they are brands. Loyalty is changing. We are seeing that one no longer need to originate from, or have some tenious link to a geographic region to be a supporter of that team. Sure, clashes between countries still draw millions and one’s nationality still rouses fueds of old. However, the power held within one’s nationality is not as potent as it was in days before global connectivity and globalisation.
Here is a great article on newspapers. Worldwide, the newspaper industry is in such a complete state of denial that it is almost tragic. Enough of them are having a few successes with some of what they are currently trying for them to think that the digital age is going to bypass them. Most of them don’t realise that the readership is ageing and will soon literally die, and then it will all be over. To do scenario planning with newspapers is a sad affair.
I do think that there are things that can be done, and link ends with digital media that make sense (more than simply putting content online, whether free or subscriber only). But it’s going to take those people in charge of the industry to wake up and smell the coffee before anything meaningful can happen.
The short piece below appeared in the April 17, 2006 BusinessWeek. Click here for the original article.
There are almost 1,500 daily papers in the U.S., so the gathering of publishers at this year’s Newspaper Association of America annual conference — held Apr. 2-4 in Chicago — looked a lot like America. An America of local monopolists, that is: overwhelmingly white, male, late-middle-aged, and predisposed to wear suits on Sunday, even when traveling. They gathered to hear, once again, that the whole problem is that they are no longer monopolists.
Continue reading ‘Life Among The Dinosaurs’
What will it mean when boomers start to retire? What will the impact be when the boomers liquidate their assets that sit on Stock Exchanges around the world and use this to fund their retirement over the next 5 - 10 years? The systemic effect is massive, and frightening at the same time. People are living longer and re-tyrement is one option, but how will the world cope with this. For some interesting comments, take a look at the Business Week article here.
Recent Comments