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 … [Read more…]
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 … [Read more…]
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 … [Read more…]
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 … [Read more…]
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 … [Read more…]
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 … [Read more…]
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 … [Read more…]
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 … [Read more…]
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 … [Read more…]
I was reading Bill Bonner’s recent post Zombies Born of Government Spending where he posits the notion of zombies in our economy. As Bill defines it: “In economic terms, a zombie is a parasite. He contributes less to the economy than he takes from it. He lives at the expense of others.” His argument is … [Read more…]
