The world is at a dangerous stage. We are dancing on the edge of a precipice and face the risk that we will be pitched into an authoritarian world that frames itself via extreme racist, misogynistic, and anti-Semitic ideologies. These ideologies are all racist, they are all misogynistic, they are all anti-LGBTQI. They are making common cause with anti-vaccination, and QAnon activists. The mainstream media … Continue reading Truth won’t save us from the Nazis
The future of work has been on my mind a lot over the past few years. It seems that the future of jobs is bleak in a number of ways. For example, zero hours, surveillance, and robots are on the horizon for many workers. This is all part of what I’ve come to call the ‘jobs free future’. This post about the future of work … Continue reading What is the future of work? Zero hours, surveillance, robots and the jobs free future
For many years now my friends, colleagues and I have been talking and thinking about the hyperconnections made available to us by the growth of the internet, telecommunications devices and networks, and social platforms. For a good background on it check out Mark Pesce and Ross Dawson. But I think that we have reached a state in our evolution as human where the practices of … Continue reading Connectedness – it’s not just a technology thing, it’s a people thing
Recently I was re-reading Oscar Wilde’s De Profundis, a moving letter from prison that looks at spirituality and faith from the depths of despair and degradation. This particular quote stood out for me, especially the notion that we do not know ourselves very well. “But with the dynamic forces of life, and those in whom those dynamic forces become incarnate, it is different. People whose … Continue reading De Profundis: The final mystery is oneself
As the various Occupy protests fan out around the world many of us are trying to make sense of them, and to ascertain into which particular mental box these protests ought to go. This interview of Jesse LaGreca, a vocal member of the Occupy Wall Street protests and writer for the Daily Kos, by Fox News is fascinating. It gives an insight into the kinds … Continue reading Occupy Wall Street Activist Slams Fox News Producer In Un-Aired Interview
In response to yesterday’s post someone on Twitter, @dmanww, raised the very sensible issue of the triple bottom line, or as some might call it, corporate social responsibility (CSR). However, having worked in a number of organizations that took the triple bottom line and corporate social responsibility very seriously, I know that it is not pervasive within the organization in the same way as the … Continue reading What about CSR and the triple bottom line?
It is interesting to think about this now that we see Occupy Wall Street spreading around the world (even to Occupy Sydney). Back in 1976 Michael Jensen and William Meckling argued that the solution to the principal-agency problem — business leaders advance their own interests not those of shareowners — was to make the goal of the corporation the highest return to shareholders and to … Continue reading Maximizing shareholder value should NOT be the only goal of the corporation
I have worked with a number of great leaders and managers over the years, some of them are famous for this but others are quiet achievers. Watching ABC’s Four Corners program about St Ann’s Secret on television tonight made me think about what makes a great leader. The story of abuse of disabled children by paedophiles in Adelaide was heart-rending, and the failures of leaders … Continue reading Leadership: Doing the right thing, even if nobody is watching
There are so many angry people these days. It’s something I don’t really remember from my youth and childhood. Only in recent years does it seem that everyone is angry. I’ve been trying to understand why there should be more anger now than in the past. It might be something to do with our standards now. Standards for everything are so much higher now than … Continue reading Are we living in the age of rage?
Free people offering their labour in exchange for monetary reward has been fundamental concept for western society. Since the mid-nineteenth century we have not really used forced labour for production. But two examples in recent times make me wonder if that assumption still holds true: Prisoners painted room for former UK Home Secretary, Jacqui Smith Wisconsin Union Workers Replaced With Prison Labor Under Scott Walker’s … Continue reading Labour, forced labour, and capital – is the ground shifting?
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