November 4, 2020
Having a beer with a friend over the weekend. Beside the two of us, there were a couple of guys who were joined by 4 others as we were leaving.
“All yours” I said as we moved up and towards the door.
“Thanks mate” said one of the new arrivals.
“No problem”, I replied … “and as we leave know that this quick exchange had 100 times more meaning than a like on your facebook page.
Right on brother …
All smiling and nodding in agreement as we walked out.
I wonder if they will remember?
facebook
Technology
archive.pf.business
November 3, 2020
Business Thinking
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After a few decades stumbling around the topic, two things became clear.
- You have to change the way business thinks if you want to change how it works.
- If businesses change how they work they can change how their audiences think.
John Caswell - over on linkedIN
Photo by john amachaab on Unsplash
I had to reply - of course, and I did, but it felt substantial enough to include here - flip though the first sentence was.
You might imagine that I won’t argue too much - except to say that businesses not only won’t think - they can’t. It’s the people in those businesses that do the thinking.
We then have to ask - if what needs to happen is so clear to so many people, (judging by everything that you read), then why doesn’t it change?
My friend (Daniel Szuc) in Hong Kong has observed that when at work people are essentially in the mode of sleepwalking … and related to that, see their roles defined in the organizational boxes - and rarely look outside that box … ‘not my job’.
One question …. “if not you … if not now … if not ….” you know how it goes.
Seperately Venkatesh Rao developed a simple model a while back where he mapped the 4 forces of nature to his own 4 forces of humanity, drawing comparison between the relative strengths and reach of each force. He mapped business to gravity.
I take it a step further - unlike the 4 natural forces - the 4 forces of humanity are not givens. It is in our power to change any of them.
Gravity is a given. Business is not.
business
Commerce
force
gravity
archive.pf.business
November 3, 2020
A New Model For Business
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Wouldn’t you know that one of the first real blog posts to go live on the newly revamped People First Blog is really not my work at all - but rather that of ‘People First Friend and Member’ … Jeff Mowatt.
Photo by Clark Tibbs on Unsplash
So what does business that puts people first actually mean in practice?
People-Centered Economic Development derives from a paper for the steering group for the Committee to (Re)Elect the President, describing a business model which operates for social benefit rather than maximising shareholder returns.
In the core argument which critiqued the fractional reserve banking system the paper asserted:
“Economics, and indeed human civilization, can only be measured and calibrated in terms of human beings. Everything in economics has to be adjusted for people, first, and abandoning the illusory numerical analyses that inevitably put numbers ahead of people, capitalism ahead of democracy, and degradation ahead of compassion.”
“Each of us who have a choice can choose what we want to do to help or not. It is free-will, our choice, as human beings.”
Jeff Mowatt
Read the whole article here ….
More about Jeff Mowatt, Director, People-Centered Economic Development UK.
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jeff mowatt
People First
archive.pf.business
October 28, 2020
Corporate Hierarchy
company hierarchy
It’s arguably too true to be funny, but not why I am sharing. Rather because in the accompanying post (here), reference is made to a post by Ribbon Farm’s Venkatesh Rao. (This post specifically.)
The Gervais Principle (I wonder where he got that name from) also introduces us to The MacLeod Life Cycle, which seems to be very closely modelled on Sakar’s life cycle.
You see - it is all connected.
gaping void
ribbon farm
venkatesh rao
Work
archive.pf.business
October 25, 2020
The Harder We Work
The harder I work, the sooner I get to be king! the harder he works, the longer I get to be king!
Chess is a metaphor. It is a complex game of strategy and execution. The game provides a useful mental model for the complex world of organizations. Are you a Knight, Rook, or Queen? Do you need to move straight in or tack to achieve the successful delivery of your project? We know that the most effective people are able to be pawns to kings, depending upon the context.
Gaping Void - Chess Pieces For Business
chess
gaping void
Work
archive.pf.business
October 25, 2020
I have moved my blog from an old domain to this new space. At the same time introduced some design changes which on occasions causes the old posts to look odd. As I see then, I fix then 0 but specifically not going back into the archives to fix proactively - life is just too short.
commentary
People First
archive.pf.business
October 22, 2020
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archive.pf.business
October 22, 2020
How Many Different Ways Is This Wrong?
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A friend of mine sent this link to me. I was incensed. (I think he knew I would be). In turn, I sent this link into an Internet Identity community I belong to and asked : “How many different ways is this wrong?”
Amazon To Pay Consumers For Their Shopping Data
Photo by Free To Use Sounds on Unsplash
People First Podcast Guest Tim Walters was quick to reply (the link takes you to the podcast - the show has not yet gone live).
The great and sadly late European Data Protection Supervisor, Giovanni Buttarelli, said it all in 2014:
“There might well be a market for personal data, just like there is, tragically, a market for live human organs, but that does not mean that we can or should give that market the blessing of legislation. One cannot monetise and subject a fundamental right to a simple commercial transaction, even if it is the individual concerned by the data who is a party to the transaction.”
If I thought it was worth $10 a month, I’d go to a shopping district and gather discarded receipts to scan for Amazon. After all, “That data will be used anonymously, the company says.” But . . . if it is genuinely used anonymously, why doesn’t Amazon just collect and study discarded receipts themselves? They could certainly find a way to do it at far more scale – not to mention, actually anonymously – than a cumbersome mailed-pictures-of-paper-receipts-for-Amazon-credit scheme. (S&H Green Stamps, anyone?)
The company says it deletes any sensitive information such as prescriptions from drug store receipts and allows panellists to delete their own information whenever they want.” Oh, not so anonymous after all.
Tim Walters / Giovanni Buttarelli
What do you think?
amazon
commerce
Data
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tim walters
archive.pf.business
October 22, 2020
German Flag
Germany drafting law to give people the legal right to work from home.
Germany leading the way. Sad we need to have laws around this. Business so locked into BAU that they need to be told what to do?
future of work
germany
law
Aside
Work
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