Category Archives: Insights

Insights

Dinosaurs in Business

Published by

I was having a conversation with some IT colleagues the other day and it was remarkable to listen to what was being discussed about employers who have not entered the modern age. There was a bit of laughter about these people who are still operating in business as if it were the 1960s. So, I have come up with a few points of advice for those who cannot see what is going on in 21st Century business.

1. People with a clue stopped printing everything they wanted to read – instead they read online, download and/or print to PDF, etc. It is offensive to see the massive stacks of paper and tomes that you want to read (but probably never will), which you have thoughtlessly printed out with no consideration for the environment.

2. Walking around the office to make sure everyone is in their designated seats is not management and you cannot assume that people who sit at their desks are working. I cannot tell you the number of people I have seen on Facebook at work, whose dinosaur bosses assume these staff members are working just because they are at their desks. How embarrassing! Successful modern workers put in long hours, but some of these long hours are in front of the laptop watching TV until midnight, while they slave away at their work. Lazy employers wander around the office looking for bottoms on chairs, but the modern supervisor looks at the quality of work being done and understands the sort of hours that would have to go into the production of such work. Such supervisors understand the nature of work in the modern world.

3. The emphasis in the modern world is on content and not on superficial appearances. In your generation, you sat at a desk in your silly business attire and “looked busy” when your boss walked past. Modern workers dress in a way that you would consider more “casual” (not realising that what you are wearing looks like the stuff from the grandparents’ closet, which was sent to the opportunity shop years ago). One of the things I noticed straight away when I started working in Sydney all those years ago was how relaxed Aussies were in their work attire. It has been good to see this more relaxed trend developing globally. You might have been able to do little work, but convince your boss of otherwise by superficial appearances, but this is not how modern business (by and large) works.

4. Modern bosses understand what they don’t know and trust their staff to do the work they were hired for (including those who are hired for IT related work). The 1960s boss was worried about losing his or her job, so tried to keep all control of projects and other work with him or herself. Only the smallest parts of projects were delegated, with ultimate “power” and decision-making remaining with this incredibly insecure person. Modern projects require that work is delegated to responsible staff and that these staff are able to get on with their work.

5. You learned how to use some simple software, such as MS Excel, decades ago, but you need to know that this is not impressive and not everything is desirable in MS Excel. There are many more desktop applications and server based software and no one is impressed with poorly considered, planned and implemented spreadsheets. Allow your staff to bring your office procedures into the 21st Century!

One can be angry at this insecure supervisor who is stuck in an earlier age, or one can ultimately pity him or her. To tie one’s self-image and worth so much into work that there is no professional progress, no trusting of staff, no ability to let go . . . such a person deserves sympathy, rather than scorn. The dinosaur either needs to get training (and perhaps therapy), or else needs to move over and let the office become the more productive environment that it could be in his or her absence.

Here’s to the future of business and to dinosaurs being where they belong – in museums!

[Disclaimer: Any resemblance to persons living or dead is purely coincidental.] :)

Indigenous Australians in the Top End

Published by

We moved to Darwin over four months ago and it has been an interesting experience!

One of the things that appealed to me about this move was the chance to interact with indigenous Australians here in the Top End. I have always been fascinated with indigenous peoples, from the Native Americans of the Southwestern United States, to my limited experience with Maori in Christchurch, New Zealand.

Regarding Aborigines, my first interaction was in Sydney in 1999. I was working in hospitality and two aboriginal women came into the hotel where I was working. Two Australian staff were at the desk and said nothing as these indigenous Australians approached the reception desk. The interaction was eerie – the women stood there, saying nothing and feeling uncomfortable and the staff looked straight through them, as if they weren’t there. After a pause that seemed to go on for ages, I stepped up and asked these ladies if I could help them. This was my introduction to the relationship between indigenous and other Australians and it has been observed many times since. In my experience, indigenous Australians are ignored and the results of this can be seen in a number of ways, including the surprise you see on their faces if you walk past and say “hello” or smile as you pass them.

A few weeks ago, while I was having lunch, there were comments among the women with whom I was sitting comparing Aborigines to primates and I was absolutely shocked. If this is the sort of response in “professional” environments, what can we expect otherwise? It breaks my heart to even begin to imagine the treatment of these beautiful people in their own land.

Last night, an aboriginal man was sitting across the street from my house and crying. My wife asked if he was alright and then came into the house to see if I could talk to him. When I got outside, he was gone. One can only begin to imagine the pain that these people have had to endure at the hands of generations of invaders who often don’t consider them human. When whites arrived in Australia, they thought that they could take the land and they used a ridiculous legal fiction to support this desire to take what they wanted – the doctrine of Terra nullius. Under this doctrine of “land belonging to no one”, the Aborigines were “no one”. In my experience, many Aborigines are still treated like “no one”, or like children who need to be guided by paternal interventionist laws.

Perhaps a bit of empathy and respect are needed!

Coaching and Mentoring Association of New Zealand – Humorous Spam

Published by

I don’t like it when people send me unsolicited email, more commonly referred to as “spam”.

I found the following quite humorous, however, so I have included a response that I would have given them, if their spam was worthy of an email (at the beginning), followed by the spam email that I received (below).

Enjoy!

My response:

I looked at your site (http://www.familymatters.org.nz/) and nowhere does it mention that any of you are actually “life coaches” or “mentors”, but rather counsellors. I was tempted to email you back and say that I could see what was in it for you (e.g. control of an industry that you don’t even seem to be a part of, the opportunity to provide paid supervision required for membership, etc) but to then ask you what would actually be in it for me (you don’t actually bother to provide any details on this important point).

Also, I have no interest in joining an organisation (points above aside) which wishes to lump me in with “pastoral workers”.

Cheers,

Jerry Jordan, MBA, MEd

Beginning of Spam Email

———- Forwarded message ———-
From: Alison
Date: Thu, Nov 18, 2010 at 9:09 PM
Subject: FYI
To: [my email address was here]

From: Alison
Subject: FYI

Message Body:
Bar Set for Coaches and Mentors
A Kapiti NGO, Family Matters Foundation, has launched a new professional organisation for life coaches, mentors and pastoral workers. They are creating the first national set of ethical standards and processes for auditing workers in these fields.

Paraparaumu, November 15, 2010 – A new professional body launched today in Paraparaumu is setting national ethical standards for life coaches, mentors and pastoral workers.
The Coaching and Mentoring Association (CAMANZ) will use the ethical standards in issuing practicing certificates based on proof of nine areas of competency.
A private-sector counseling agency, Family Matters, called for the national association to encourage professional standards for social services providers not already covered by existing associations.
“This is a step forward for consumers and providers alike as no longer will clients have to guess about a worker or volunteer’s competence,” said Family Matters chair David Atkinson.
Ethics and membership panels had been established, and standards had been published on the organisation’s website camanz.org.nz.
It would take over 100 hours of supervised practice to apply for full membership.
This was lower than for other professions such as counsellors, but Mr Atkinson said it was a realistic starting point for workers who did not have a professional body of this type. Complaints about a member’s practice would receive a written response within one month, and sanctions could be imposed on a member if a breach of standards was found.
Where complaints were received, a resolution team would work with both parties to find a satisfactory solution, or a formal hearing could be held.
The first audits for full membership are expected within a few weeks.
CAMANZ is an initiative of Family Matters Foundation NZ Incorporated, a Charitable Trust established in 2003 to provide counselling, support and training to children and families.
For more information about Family Matters Foundation, please contact David Atkinson at 021 939 681. www.familymatters.org.nz

Contact:
Coaching and Mentoring Association of New Zealand
Alison Hobcraft
Project Leader
Phone: 027 4418770
Email: alison@camanz.org.nz
Web www.camanz.org.nz
PO Box 317
Paraparaumu
5254

End of Spam Email