Marketing, Relationships and Social Media

I am either going to post a series here on Marketing and Social Media or write a book or perhaps both.

We need to address some basic questions first, very superficially and briefly here.

Social Media is a disruptive concept, it is essentially an engaged interactive relationship, or it should be, as well it is a Marketing and Relationship creator, nurturer and building tool, all to add to the perception of your brand.

In Marketing, you need to define exactly, what is the market for your specific product or service, then you as the provider, the seller, create and build the relationship, which generally works by providing content that engages with your market. All of this work and content, is to build a relationship, a separate entity so to speak, which is feed and nurtured by both sides, in the case of the company, at some time, a option will be provided to further build the brand relationship and give the customer the option to leverage or in fact contribute to the relationship by perhaps engaging with the Companies content, quizzes for example, this has the effect of deepening the relationship.

Note this is important: Social Media is not a direct Sales Path

1. What is the function of the Internet?

Simplistically, lets start by looking at what the Internet is good at, besides the obvious world wide connectivity issues … access to almost any type of information at any time (with some of it actually true) and the ability to allow for quick and easy access to all sorts of information, and the ability to connect with people, products and services worldwide. One thing though, the internet is just an communication platform, an enabler if you like. It facilitates spontaneous and interactive communication in real time.

Primarily where the internet has come into its own, is in its ability to form communities … and allow for the connection of family, friends, interest groups and commerce, to in fact act as the global replacement for the town square, the meeting point, the notice board, the coffee shop, where people can easily connect for a wide variety of reasons, such as to stay in contact with as well as to develop and maintain relationships with family, friends, special items of interest, education, news and their community just for brief example.

2. What is Social Media ?

Firstly, Social Media is a truly disruptive concept, which can markedly change how you company is viewed and interacted with in your area, or globally, depending on your footprint.

Social Media allows using the infrastructure of the internet the potential to build a relationship, which will allow (if properly setup) for social communications between at least two parties in a commercial sense. It allows for the exchange of ideas, ideologies and user generated content of a a huge number of diverse types and interests. In simple terms it provides the technology which can allow the parties to create, nurture and build a relationship, in human terms.

Very few organizations have any idea what they are doing!. The other day I was speaking to a friend of mine and he said to me … Organizations try to use Social Media as a sales path, which it isn’t, as well Social Media’s main function from a business point of view is to allow the formation and maintenance of relationships, by providing the information, tools and engaging content to build credibility, as part of the fostering the brand relationship and by this, support a relationship between the two parties. At some point, it may be possible to leverage the relationship at the choice of the customer, by requesting involvement from the customer is some form, while still investing in the relationship

Too often, for organizations Social Media is used to try and close a sale, customers on the other hand want a relationship, so this is what is wrong with most people involved with Social Media, they try to close, this is flawed, but similar with many other types of ego driven entitled relationships from adolescent boys onwards.

There is a huge amount of content to cover here .. these are some of the items that I will need to look at..

• What Social Media is, and what social media isn’t
• All business is relationship driven
• How to heal the disconnect between companies and their customers
• Engagement Strategies
• The disconnect between Companies and customers
• The de-personalisation of the customers, and the flawed paradigm that underlines the MBA programs
• Customers want a relationship, they want to be valued, they want their voice to be heard, it you don’t .. your company will appear only in the history books
• I know it is an old adage, but you really want to give a customer what they want .. if you want your company to grow and survive.
• Listen and consult with your customers in anything that will change the customers experience of your product or service.
• Social Media Platforms such as Twitter & FaceBook, their strengths a weaknesses
• Klout and PeerIndex .. why are they needed, what function do they fill
• The Social Media relationship paradigm +++++++

One thing you must remember however, is to ask yourself the question, why is so much of the Internet and Social Media free ?  The answer is simple, because you are the product that these platforms are leveraging, at the end of the day, they care only about how you can help them, they have little regard for you as a individual or the safety of your information, they will use and leverage your presence and your information is anyway they can to legal and otherwise for their own benefit … so beware.

In my view this kind of attitude is the very antithesis of what Social Media is … but there is an underlying mismatch between management styles here, as although the market segment they are working in is Social Media, they bring all the baggage from worst parts of old media and old business to this new sector, this is why it doesn’t mix well.

My view is that those companies, including legacy companies from the transport and communications sector that do not change the way they relate to the customers will by the end of the decade be found only in history books.

The Art of Discussion and Communication

Communication between two people indeed conveys much more than the words, it is a total experience or tone, eyes, facial expression (perhaps even complexion) posture and the total perception of the body language … Yes tone and the attention you give to the other party through your focus are not only key indicators of communication, but also the depth of your attention. If you respect the other party try involving your feelings, then you start to create a real relationship … from then on, from my experience anything is possible.

We need to invest in the discussion … and then we will have a commitment to a practical outcome,  as well as the right attitude is something I have spoken of before …. if you believe that a positive outcome will make a difference in people’s lives then you will fight with your every breath to make it so.

When I am in a meeting, I also have some insight to what is going on below the surface … but truly if you are in a discussion with someone, surely the best place to start is to understand the needs of others; what is important to the other party … as essentially this gives you a starting point .. well really an end point to know why they are in this room with you … a lot of these also comes in through the other senses in the form of cues, particularly in their response to you … that is why when I am in a meeting … I like to watch how the parties respond, I sometimes receive much more insights by this observation, than by listening to their words.

But first things first, you need to go into any meeting, any discussion in good faith that you actually want to achieve a positive outcome, not to merely take up time. I was born in Asia, when my Dad was working there. Discussion there is a true art form, it can be overly polite go on forever and decide nothing, sounds a bit like Statesmanship … which to me seems all about taking days to purposefully achieve nothing, but to say gee we have tried to achieve an understanding, when there was no intent to do this in the first place. Again these sorts of flawed strategies are there to give a perception of doing something, when there never was any intent in the first place of reaching an understanding -  you know how it looks and not how it actually is – well back to politics again.

Perhaps if we start with the point when you know what others want, what is mission critical to them, by being truthful and open (now there’s a new idea) and say, OK .. I know that this is what you want, I cannot give you that, but I can go part way there and give you this – then if the other party perceives you are being truthful as you have already built up a relationship a positive outcome, which may only be partly what each sides want will occur, it’s called a compromise … works better than brinkmanship.

Being open and approachable has always worked for me, I suggest you focus, take your ego out of gear (or at least control it), engage your feelings, and relate to the other party and seek to understand why they are talking to you, that way you will understand what it is they really want, not only what it is they say they want.

I sincerely hope you are right about Peace … peace would bring Creativity, Collaboration, Community, Co-operation, Conservation, Co-Existence, Communication & Compassion and perhaps even a meeting of the minds to establish common goals and dreams … lots of powerfully good words start with C … unfortunately a negative one as well … control .. a favourite of Governments and bureaucracies around the world.

We just need to communicate with each other and through co-operation make some decisions about what we want to create in our future … and set about changing things that don’t fit with the new paradigm we envisage.

Peace is possible

If this comment irritates some, spur them into action, perhaps even deep penetrating thought instead of some predictable knee jerk response, then I believe it will have done its job.

I think peace is possible, but first we must ask what sort of peace …. but for the right kind of peace, much within us has to change. But think of how better life would be worldwide if we created instead of taking the easy way to destroy.

I look at the mess we are in, and I wonder will there ever be change short of a peaceful revolution, but even that would be misdirected, because the real problem with our society is that we value the wrong things – for me the only way we can change the future is to change what we teach our children to value. I cannot see any long-term change until we start to do this … how about we start with the basic principle of Socrates http://bit.ly/qW3zgk , further let’s look at Gandhi 7 dangers to Human Virtue http://bit.ly/mOZAoS  we as a world, don’t comply with one item on either list .. Robert Louis Stevenson said “Everybody, sooner or later, sits down to a banquet of consequences” – I think we will choke when our time comes, as it inevitably will.

Countries make friends and reach understanding when they start to Trade, in other words when they form relationships, we need to seek to understand others.  A dream of mine is why not lets all of us, reach out to someone more often as not to make a new friend … pretty soon the whole world would be a friend or a friend of a friend, then we would have an understanding and perhaps the start on the road to peace. Once we can relate to another person, regardless of their race, creed, religion, place as a person. Then perhaps we will have some insight to see the world through their eyes, then and only then will the world begin to change.

By and large our leaders (poor choice of words I know) have no values or moral operating compass. Change will only come about by the will of the most, to force our servants (???), the politicians to listen. We do however have the “Leadership” we deserve, due to our apathy. The trouble with Politicians, they are expedient in their thinking, something that breeds, amoral thinking. I have never thought that Politicians were worth much, as real people, most aren’t, they are weak, morally bankrupt, corrupt, or just not to bright – but you shout to me “they are bright” well if that is true and this is the best they can do … goodness I can only lament for the future of the human race, as we really are participants in our own destruction.

Currently we have few options as the same current flawed thinking exists of both sides of the electoral ballot paper. So what is our response? Systemic change is needed, how do you think we should move forward?  There is nothing wrong with change as it has always has been the only constant, but change must be for the better, not just change for its own sake.

Sustainable systemic Change that improves the lives long-term for of all of humanity is good, change or revolution for its own sake will not work, as violence just breeds violence. Then we have anarchy, and dark times for all.

Mind you non-violence worked for Gandhi and Martin Luther King Jr … perhaps it will work again for us, for humanity. The establishment will try desperately to maintain control until that fateful moment, when perhaps a Policeman or a credible person, says no, then change will happen and it will come in a heartbeat.

Whilst the Euro zone is heading for the biggest financial correction in history, some of the ideology behind it is admirable, perhaps we should apply it to the whole of humanity, where everyone has an equal voice, and no one has a veto. This is why the UN doesn’t work.

Perhaps we should follow those profound words in the US Constitution … “All men (and women of course) are created equal …” these are admirable thoughts which I thoroughly agree with,  but to me some men seem more equal than others … what’s with that by the way ?

The only time we seem to pull together as a species when it is a global threat, then when we all have our backs to the wall, side by side, when we are there very soon, look around and you will see that the enemy, as we are the enemy.

Everyone knows, or should know that Politicians and vested interests are there to stay in power to perpetuate the now or as President Ronald Reagan said “Status quo, you know, is Latin for ‘the mess we’re in”

Further, we don’t learn from history, everything we are doing now, has been done before, recently, the Nazi’s, Pol Pot and the killing fields of Cambodia,  the British Empire, Serbia, Israel, Palestine, NATO, the Friends alliance in Afghanistan no doubt more to come plus innumerable others I have not mentioned, took the decision to kills millions of people for only one reason (labels), because they were different, they thought differently, they believed in something different, it happened yesterday in Nigeria because of flawed fundamentalism – no loving God believes in killing. By and large these forces of death should no longer exist, but we now have new evils, Washington / NATO, and the military industrial machine, that need wars and death so they can survive and pay dividends in more death, so they are really no different from what has come before … they kill innocents and spin it as acceptable collateral damage … they kill, using drones, piloted by some x-box toting functionary 1000 of miles away. Really does Washington, London and Brussels think that they are immune from the consequences of their actions, because if they do, get real, look outside at the world you are creating as a result of your beliefs and you attitudes. I really believe that these evil doers believe it doesn’t apply to them. We have to stop thinking that the end-game for any negotiation where we don’t get our way is to pick up a gun.

As Noam Chomsky said  “Everyone’s worried about stopping terrorism. Well, there’s really an easy way: Stop participating in it”

Truly, I think that the leadership of the world needs a true shakeup, as we transition from the decaying structures and failing systems – We will have to do more with less, and in my view I believe the world would be in far safer hands if we were led  by the feminine of the species, women, but by women I don’t mean testosterone in a skirt …

I truly wonder if the human race will ever grow up, to me we still act as young children at playtime recess.  One day Gaea may  decide enough is enough, let’s be done with this flawed experiment that is the human race and try again … but then she has all the time in the world, whilst we do not.

Bonuses – Banking and others

Now with the European Union likely to legislate to specify how bonuses will be paid, for instance a large benefit is only able to have a 20% cash bonus… I am sure the affected people are even now re-structuring their pay to counteract this… perhaps by increasing the fixed component of the pay package…

In the United States it seems is not going to legislate, but issue guidelines… which I am sure that they will be bent, sidestepped and outright broken as a result.

However staying in the USA for a moment, something new has come to my attention…. a new basis for paying bonuses… as we know once of the companies, formerly a major casualty of the sub-prime fiasco and their own corporate greed at that time, has come up with what I believe is a solution… that Compensation for those who receive bonuses should be tied more closely to corporate debt rather than equity… what a resounding good idea, as well as responsible one… how unlike a Corporation.!

I am speaking here of AIG (American International Group) who announced that it will link incentive pay to the value of their insurer’s bonds.

This makes cowboy activities less likely, especially as a short term tactical strategy, and I hope this will turn the train around and move it back to responsibility not only to the company, the industry but also the shareholders – but also to the Corporate world in general.  I believe that these types of incentives protect the interest of bondholders and the ultimate value of the company… this will come to be a good strategy especially in uncertain times, and more particularly when a company’s solvency is in question.

Perhaps the rest of the world, particularly The European Union as well as all markets affected by this disease should take notice

Thoughts on the now

Come gather ’round people
Wherever you roam
And admit that the waters
Around you have grown
And accept it that soon
You’ll be drenched to the bone.
If your time to you
Is worth savin’
Then you better start swimmin’
Or you’ll sink like a stone
For the times they are a-changin.

Come writers and critics
Who prophesize with your pen
And keep your eyes wide
The chance won’t come again
And don’t speak too soon
For the wheel’s still in spin
And there’s no tellin’ who
That it’s namin’.
For the loser now
Will be later to win
For the times they are a-changin’.

Come senators, congressmen
Please heed the call
Don’t stand in the doorway
Don’t block up the hall
For he that gets hurt
Will be he who has stalled
There’s a battle outside
And it is ragin’.
It’ll soon shake your windows
And rattle your walls
For the times they are a-changin’…….

(Words and Music by Bob Dylan, 1963)

The time is upon us, where we need to change or change for which we are not prepared, will be forced upon us…. What we’re witnessing and experiencing with the many crises the world is facing is a paradigm running out: an entire framework of our societal morals and values, a reality that can no longer contain the problems that it creates, nor can it solve them. A paradigm is a way of saying a shared idea about life, but it’s an idea with incredible momentum and many people trying to hold it up, the status quo.

There are good things about our current reality, the fact that it gives individuals something to strive for… unfortunately this something, money is not worth pursuing for its own sake… and it’s accumulation does not outweigh all the negatives of the current system which has replaced integrity, honour and ethics with lies, spin and expediency … in a new society where all the above good is valued will be created (I understand that compromises will take place… but never at the expense of life and our home ) and that which will give individuals something worthwhile to strive for cannot be money, but working in a self structured, unselfish way for the common good. I do not know what this new form of reality, this new paradigm will be at this point.

To me, it’s becoming obvious through the 2008 financial crisis, its current effects, the impending new financial crisis… and this oil mess (there are plenty of others), are a wake-up call for all of us… that the profit motive is not the best thing to have running at the core of our civilisation. Greed is not spiritual, it’s not sustainable and it’s not even useful; and we are feeling the devastating results of a culture based on this selfish self-serving principle.

Similarly, just because we have always lived a certain way doesn’t mean it will continue, the way we live is not sustainable, in fact in business we learn to change and evolve continually – we need to change as it is part of the very philosophy for our present and future relationships… the way we live now, is not a substitute for love or for trust, yet it’s the way we most often try to coexist – we basically live in hope, that “she will be right or there’s no problem” and so we accept – I do not think we accept voluntarily, we accept because we cannot see an alternative…. so that we accept is too strong a word… we are in fact apathetic towards what is so apparent – but because we, who are part of the paradigm – we do not perceive it as a immediate threat to confront – we do nothing.  We do not look for alternatives, or initiate change (even in ourselves) we just stumble from one disaster to another… In general our current approach to life and the living of this paradigm does not contain the reality of our relationships, for our Spiritual, emotional or social needs.

My sense is that there may be an upside; a positive aspect of this disastrous oil spill, that’s threatening to kill aquatic creatures in the Gulf ( its early days, who knows what the final result will be – if the Oil gets into the Gulf stream – what then ?), actually this event could herald an environmental awakening.

The possibility of saying goodbye to the shores of much of The Gulf and the Caribbean as we remember them, unspoilt beautiful azure crystal clear water… abundant life …. This event may be the first step to wake us up to re-evaluate where we are going – and really do we want to go there…. There is a huge risk to our home if we continue down this path.… this hoped for revelation or perhaps even an epiphany if you like, must be built and revealed within each of us, from person by person as part of our own individual choices, then through the coordination of our individual choices to become those of our families, our communities, then onwards a forceful movement with a louder voice, from community to community, until one day it becomes the new world paradigm…  Perhaps we can start very simply by being conscious of the way we use energy, water and make a conscious commitment to use less plastic and fuel every day.

If you are thinking about your neighbour and not just your own insular world, then these events, and the ones to come, do seem destined to wake up enough people to the simple truth that as a society, we have run out of ideas about how to live, and we will now be shown that there are consequences to this, if we don’t resolve to change. What we are witnessing does seem destined to stir people to make a difference — not necessarily a lot, but just enough. I’m not speaking from my unshakable faith in humanity (unfortunately) to take care of itself, but rather the way that aspects develop and unfold.

Another strange possibility that may have contributed to this disaster, or perhaps the next one, may be that the Gulf of Mexico is a favourite dumping ground for the US military who have dumped tens of thousands of tons of old, expired or unstable munitions, bombs and the suck like… you know … the old adage… out of sight, out of mind… I wonder if the explosion was caused or contributed to by a left over bomb or other explosive device…?  I remember from my childhood when I lived in the Solomon Islands… Guadalcanal in fact (the center of severe fighting in the Pacific in World War 2) … I was told of the large stockpiles of ammunition stored at Hell’s point from World War 2, as well thousands of tons of war equipment, such as tanks, trucks, jeeps, air-planes, and munitions were just dumped in the sea… of the Solomon’s.

Perhaps the best way of understanding this need to change, is to start at home, we need to dump a huge bag of our normal household rubbish onto the back porch and figure out what’s in there and how it got there and what we can do about it. We literally need to question everything – every assumption of the way we live.

We all know there is a problem and many people I know, feel powerless, where to start?  However at the same time they feel that time is running out.  We have been living with this feeling for some time, and  perhaps we will be for as long as we live. To do something constructive would be in our own best interest, as it would be for the world.

Within our own sphere of influence (our relationships, family) we need to make conscious choices, and communicate those choices … even if they seem to be piecemeal, minuscule – only a shuffle forward … it is all positive. Perhaps the reason that so few do, is the feeling that these attempts appear hopeless bearing in mind the enormity of the task of saving our home … we need to have some responsibility back into our hands, and put us into contact with the truth that we are part of the world in which we live, and that it is part of us.

For those people we meet today or tomorrow may be a new beginning of relationships that turn out to be truly significant, perhaps we may meet and find our planets and all of its inhabitant’s true identity and then gather with others with that knowledge, and make positive changes.

This time should be an awakening for us, so many things have gone wrong, are going wrong… is it all coincidence that all these worldwide problems are happening at the same time… the huge Oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico, that has a potential to turn the beauty of Florida, Mexico, and the Caribbean effectively into a toxic waste dump.. by dumping 50,000 barrels of crude daily into the Ocean… Now this blood-coloured crude oil is soaking the Gulf of Mexico, it will cause irreparable damage to the wetlands (the kindergarden for many marine species) , and now threatens to wash up on beaches from the Gulf of Mexico at the moment, perhaps travel up the entire East coast of the USA with the Gulf Stream – so I wonder how many people will have the foresight to travel to their beaches to say goodbye to this once unspoilt beauty ?

Each of us, needs to make changes, in a positive way, no matter how small, so we will have the opportunity to partially redeem our current learn thinking, which is based on using non-sustainable resources, with our own knowledge that this disaster is an opportunity to right many wrongs.

The problem when an old paradigm runs out is that most people do not have a clue as to what’s happening, and don’t take a creative role in what happens next. Perhaps it’s because they don’t know what to do next… no concept or even where to start…. But I think that it is simpler than that, I think we’re being called right now to do both: to notice, and to make adjustments to our thinking and then in our behaviour, our economic patterns (what we buy how we spend our money) and in our relationships and to fill the current spiritual void of greed with a change to the current paradigm to that of one that supports all creatures, great and small.

Perhaps if we decided to travel less, use Public transport more, not buy anything that is wrapped in plastic… and where necessary, use bio-degradable products only, make constructive and positive changes in the way we use the simple things such as water … because water may well be the next Global challenge, definitely a new way of thinking is needed. Together with the deforestation of many old growth forests, we are setting the seeds for our own destruction, and thanks to us… the Armageddon is growing very well… we need to stop it…

If we say use Public Transport more, those which are electric powered, some may say that this just moves the pollution from the cities to the coal fired power generation centers are … so new technology to generate peak load power is urgently needed – we need to invest in our future – and stop this by investing in all forms of sustainable energy / water saving inventions and the like, being taken out of the Public domain by being sold to Corporations – these are then buried and by these corporations and by governments who have a vested interest in maintaining the status quo.

Thoughts come from many different directions from Max Whisson, and his machine that just uses wind power to provide fresh water from the humidity in the air around us… to his fresh water river from sea water…. the thoughts are all out there… keep your eyes open…

We have some serious thinking to do, to work out what it is we want, and what sort of society we want for our children and their children…  in time, a movement will start formerly, a huge grounds well of dissatisfaction is growing with the current paradigm, this new feeling and movement will be made up of normal people, who realise we have to change the way we relate to each other and the rest of the world… and will be based upon a huge dissatisfaction with the status quo. In time (hopefully a short time), this movement will be followed by a vocal response to change Governments by making those Governments and corporations that create this oil dependency and the fact that have effectively killed alternative fuel opportunities, and have goaded us into wars funded by our stupidity and lack of moral courage – based on the scarcity principle, to maintain the fiction that we need to maintain the status quo… we should be spending more on research, on alternative energy sources, such as way to naturally grow Hydrogen as a fuel (currently the normal manufacturing process is not sustainable), aside from heat it generates, it seems to be the current hope, it seems to be the nearest thing to a portable clean fuel… then fuel cell technologies, and some insist of major resources into finding a clean non-nuclear way of providing peak load power… there are innumerable options in the search for alternative power generation …  (Real investment.. in fusion technologies will one day yield a positive reward) the answers are there, we need new innovative thought, we need support for these new ideas, and we need leadership …. We won’t get this leadership from our present political structure as they only want to sustain the status quo. What innovative thoughts ever come out of a Nations Politicians and capitals – very few, I cannot think of any… let’s face it..

But change will happen, hopefully over time, but at the very least a spiritual revolution will happen, is happening in the way we need to live our lives, but this change will not and is not flourishing within the current paradigm we live in.

Albert Einstein said…

”The significant problems we face cannot be solved at the same level of thinking we were at when we created them.”

We need innovative thought, from all of us including our children, some may have the insight into this new world paradigm that is waiting for us.

We will need to make new adjustments every day, even as we shuffle forward…  if you or I are one of the people to step up, that are summoned by time and events to do something, my first step forward is to  live in a open highly conscious way, aware of the effect on our relationships, and our planet and how we influence the world. I think we are being summoned to “Care”, to give a dam, and to stop being so passive and accepting about the direction our politicians are taking us (leading is not the right word here) – let’s remember that they have few original ideas in general, if the leadership must come from us, by putting those people in power that can actually move us in the right direction, then lets us make it so – the old political them and us doesn’t cut it anymore… its all of us… who need the same thing – a future.

I have a suggestion: don’t waste your time waiting for anyone else. This is about you. As soon as you accept that it’s about you, then it can become about us, and we can make something positive happen as humanity as a whole.

The human and cost to the planet associated with maintaining the status quo are too horrible to comprehend, such scenarios realistically include societal collapse on a huge scale, and if we do nothing the worst case is the ultimate death of our planet… and naturally our own.

Question:  500 years after societal collapse what do you think our descendants will see as our legacy … everything made of steel will have turned into dust, perhaps the concrete roads may still be visible through the vegetation, assuming of course that the steel reinforcing hasn’t broken down… and after the inevitable wars and anarchy we will return to the basics we need for survival to that of the basic human needs, food, water and shelter –  we will have returned to our lives as hunter gatherers and hopefully we are advanced to a stage where we can farm -  and grow our own food. What do you think someone would think of a computer, who have never seen one before, and there was no power to turn it on… a book stop… or perhaps something to keep the door open…

We are not currently spiritually aware and certainly not responsible enough to realise this is not only about us….

We have a chance, for our descendants sake, to envisage a new world, and its new paradigm where we are able to live in the relationship with our world, as a partner, not in our current role as a needy dictatorial sociopath, who cares nothing for the future of the world or the people in it.

We are at a fork in the road, (in fact I really think we are almost past it ) … I entreat you to please choose carefully – and start making a different in your life, if not for you, then to minimize the effect of you children and the coming generations….

Once the societal collapse comes, aside from the anarchy…. the social breakdown, which will included of course the breakdown of law and order, and the rule of law… many people who in this world who are dependent on drugs to maintain their health will not survive, probably myself included..  Charles Darwin strikes again … the strong, the fit and the healthy will survive – lets hope they are not only physically healthy but can think outside the box as well.

You need to take action… dig up the back garden, mulch your leftovers, and start growing your own food… because you will need it… install water tanks, a move your life towards sustainability, do it now before that day comes when there is no food in the supermarkets, and no water in the pipes

Know this, change is coming, be prepared for it, or be consumed by it  …. let’s stop and think now… we cannot sustain the way we live life… make positive changes as many as you can in the transformation of your life to sustainability… if enough of us do this, it will result in a shift in priorities and a change in how you / we live our lives… and it will force us all to confront the need for worldwide change in how we live our lives. After this, add time… and governments will follow. Otherwise when change comes …. we will have no way of surviving.

UK Elections

It is Friday morning early as I write this…. as I check the BBC website, its tells me one seat has been decided… my view is that although I had high hopes that the Liberal Democrats will have a great election.. but I don’t think so; the current worldwide financial crisis, as well as the European Unions own home grown crisis will I think polarize the electorate; to a clear choice of the two main parties… there will not be any dramatic gains for The Liberal Democrats as well I do not think any one of the major parties will be able to form a government in their own right; personally I think it will be a hung parliament, with the Liberal Democrats holding the balance of power.

Just think what would have happened if there had not been a Greek initiated financial crisis in Europe …? However I think it would have happened, if not Greece, then Portugal, Spain and Italy are all contenders as well.

Who will win the rush to the largest single party, methinks the Conservatives will be. We shall soon see if I am right or … two main parties..

Age of Humanity

Andrew Carnegie , one of the richest men in history, was a human person who in the end believed in people, not just as a commodity – but the whole person.

Carnegie apparently said, “Take away my people, but leave my factories and soon grass will grow on the factory floors……Take away my factories, but leave my people and soon we will have a new and better factory.”

Is there a typical large corporation working today that still believes this?

Most organizations now have it backwards. The factory, the ROI, the infrastructure, the systems, the patents, the process, the manual… that’s king. In fact, shareholders demand it.  I have said this before, we have to revisit, what the KPI’s of an organisation should be… right now it is the legal and judicial responsibility of the board and C level people to make sure that the performance is measured by increasing shareholder return.

Is there another corporate structure, another way to carry out commerce which will mean a change in how we measure success…  too something that is more meaningful ?  Can we modify the current structure to arrive at a meaningful structure… any ideas… I thought of modifying what we have all the way to something between democracy and perhaps sociocracy .. I will address this in another blog article

It turns out that success these days is coming from the atypical organizations, the ones that can get back to embracing irreplaceable people, the linchpins, the ones that make a difference. Anything else can be replicated cheaper by someone else.

We need a new way of looking at old problems… perhaps the new generation can do this.  With their un-biased point of view, their brilliance (I hope), ingenuity and fresh viewpoint of the new generations, to will be able to look at our current structures, and come up with new ideas and  ways of looking at the world’s most pressing problems, such as social equity, financial equity, food, shelter, clean water and energy and some way to stop the rape of our planet without responsibility in pursuit of the almighty dollar – without considering the next generation, or the effect this has on us.

A new curiosity is needed in our approach, to change our view of the world, our social structures, our political systems, our responsibilities to a more collaborative, less individualistic view point.

We need to be able to work smarter with what we have.  As Einstein observed … “The significant problems we face cannot be solved at the same level of thinking we were at when we created them“..   We need to think outside the box..

All of these things will take years, perhaps generations, but I feel that in my life time we will see the visible start of the necessary changes – I believe we have seen the first signs of this, for example, just for a moment think back to Bosnia, Afghanistan & Iraq – in the time of say Alexander the Great or Napoleon… would they, as the UK and other European countries did, this quasi alignment of sovereign states sent in military missions – their function was TO SAVE LIVES… I am sure that there were points for this that were hidden, those hidden points are not so altruistic or hidden with the invasion of Iraq.

However this greater dispersal of social equity and sharing the assets of the world more equitably, cannot be implemented with the current political structure in place… there are very few responsible, equitable and transparent political structures in place, very few in the so called civilised world, and almost none in the rest of the world.

In a way this is why I am doing what I am doing, by creating wealth, I am seeking to be a person who can incorporate a structure whereby I can be a catalyst, a singular part of a whole, a simple foot forward, a part of a world wide movement to move away from the the selfish pronoun of “me, me, me” to more one of “us, us , us” – the us being all of us…. including the planet.

Over the coming generations, the ethics of Governments will change (they hopefully will find some, along with truth, honour and transparency)  perhaps as new people join these political organisations -  personal financial gain will not be the primary motivator,  armies will be made redundant, money as we know it now will cease to exist…. as we move further into the Age of humanity, which will be stamped by curiosity, new inventions and creativity.

The Political system is broken, this is self evident around the world, a new era of consultation and humanity will evolve (this will take longer …), but not if I could blink my eye…and most of all.. I would like to believe that all people with live in a honourable, ethical way with a place in their heart for their neighbour…. next door, in the next suburb or across the world.

However that may be the goal, but whilst it is a goal on the horizon, in the mean time we live in the now, and we have to shuffle forward every moment of every day so that one day we will all be of the same mind set to make those changes ourselves… any attempt to force changes, will again be corrupt, as it will be driven by self interest.

An impossible dream, an Utopia, a Shangri-la -  no, I hope not… if there are enough minds wanting it, we will manifest it.

This brings me to one of the kinder gardens for these new thoughts. The Singularity University (www.singularityu.org).

I wasn’t aware of the actual organisation… until very recently, however to me it seems an excellent concept, an organisation to extend our commitment to the age of Aquarius.. to express our commitment to the whole planet and all of its people…

Tags: Age+of+Humanity

Limits to Growth

Why are we here? And how did we get here… I think you will find that is the question that people should be asking now, and will be asking more and more over the coming years.

Let us look at history just for a while, something which we almost never do, there have been Oh so many instances which we can point to where we as a species, did not learn from the past, and there are two culprits for this beside arrogance and all of the platitudes, like “it can’t happen to me”, “Think positive”, “it will all work out” … this position we are in for one reason, the resources of the planet are finite, the call and demand for those resources by the ever increasing population is causing the very scarcity of the resources to finally be brought into focus… the old scarcity principle is well and truly alive, the trouble is this time it really is real.

Why are we surprised with this… since the Club of Rome was formed in 1968 and with their first major publication in 1972 was Limits to Growth – the Club of Rome, seems to have as its charter .. “to act as a global catalyst for change through the identification and analysis of the crucial problems facing humanity and the communication of such problems to the most important public and private decision makers as well as to the general public.”

The original report, examines fives variables which are: world population, industrialization, pollution, food production and resource depletion.

An update to the original report came out after 20 years, and another after 30 years (published in 2004). Another is expected in the short term, the 40 year report.

In 2008 Graham Turner at the Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organisation (CSIRO) in Australia published a paper called “A Comparison of `The Limits to Growth` with Thirty Years of Reality”. It examined the past thirty years of reality with the predictions made in 1972 and found that changes in industrial production, food production and pollution are all in line with the book’s predictions of economic and societal collapse in the 21st century.

There is huge controversy about some of the claims made in the books, however in essence it sheds light on a simple fact, that resources are finite and are therefore limited. This is so important when we look at non-sustainable energy resources such as Petroleum based products (that currently underlies our entire way of living), rather than using sustainable resources for all our product needs. This of course gets me to another issue, we need an alternative to petroleum products, not to convert basically many food based crops, such as corn etc, as a base for maintaining the status quo and further polluting the atmosphere, we need dramatic research into a sustainable ways to produce hydrogen, as well as any other form of sustainable ways to produce, portable and peak load electrical energy (the somewhat mythical cold fusion comes to mind), some positive early work is already evident – much more emphasis on this work needs to be shown.

If we cannot find a sustainable energy source, what do u think will happen to the civilisation as we know it.. as one of the biggest problems with a global market, is how do you ship products from one point to another when there are no oil products to power the ships, road transport, farming machinery and of course airlines. It seems on the outside looking in , countries should be looking to provide incentives to their local industries to at least make them self sustaining in the essentials of life, food, clean water, and shelter – and being communal animals.. a community.

Any thoughts…?

A New World…

There is no point postulating why we are here… we all know why…In the commercial and corporate world there needs to be changes in the basic way we judge performance… and this will mean we need to change the underlying motivations (this will require a huge paradigm shift… this kind of shift usually only comes about after a dramatic event) … and the laws and regulations that are built on them….however the whole structure we call civilisation is in grave danger of blowing in the wind… by just running around putting out fires… the usual response from Governments, the people who have little original thought…. these people are great at spin, and putting a positive face on something that has no positive aspect… the US and many others Economies are in a deep almost irrevocable situation – the only positive aspect there is that is will pave the way for a new world order…. this will happen by revolution unless somebody takes the leadership…  but I do not think any form of leaderships has the balls to do what is needed…. and so all this political spin and noise (which will not change anything) -  which is in essence is inactivity is going to be the death knell of the financial commercial world (which underlies our whole way of life) as we know it. There is huge anger brewing in the population, after denial in the grief process we then have anger…   it is a basic part of our make up… and it is something that cannot be diminished by spin…   I think the depth of this anger is being undervalued…

I published an article about a scenario of dramatic civil unrest in the world, particularly the USA (due to the easy availability of weapons) .. and right now I see only negatives.. no positives… for instance… no matter how much the USA needs a Universal Health system (and it does need one), now is not the time to bring one in… (due to the debt burden it will manifest) soon the national underlying debt of the US economy and many others including my own… will reach those of a banana republic…. and once that stage is reached ….its only a matter of when, not if there will be civil unrest… big time… the rule of law will be on the line … and we will have a revolution… maybe not a full drawn out Civil war type but it will be real (it will be the end of the status quo at the very least)… with one side (the government) using everything in their power to maintain a self destructive status quo, the rights and values that the founding fathers hold dear… those underlying the US constitution will be revoked… and the other side… normal people will be trying to get some say over their own lives…. and some quality of life for themselves and their families.

Also remember, now a large sector of the population have little if not nothing to lose. So is civil unrest an possibility…. I have spoken about this before … here http://ozroamer.wordpress.com/2009/08/19/civil-war-in-the-usa/

The end result, especially if Government’s use the Army or National guards against their own citizens is a foregone conclusion.

Then we will have a great period of anarchy…. but after all this and the feeling our way in the dark a new basis for the world will put up its hand… it will be different… and we will need to try and come to terms with it… because in the end, it may not be based on individual or corporate greed, the problem now is the majority of people are in financial servitude to their Feudal Lord… their bank, their boss or their governments. This cannot go on.

We are on incredibly dangerous ground, so before 2013, we will see prominent signs… goodness u can see them now.

I am confident that the necessary changes to stop this or at least postpone it will NOT be made within the current financial and political system… I see little hope of anything that could make a difference being done – so we are all in for a new experience…. I am not diminishing the seriousness of such changes, especially on our own personal freedoms and safety…. but when the smoke clears… until the message and the morals are again corrupted .. there will a new moral paradigm.

I hope I am wrong… but I don’t think I am.

Tags: Imminent+future, Revolution+is+when+not+if

Financial Crisis – update

Before, during and now, after the initial developments in this financial crisis – business has gone on as it has in the past… a crucial element seems to have been overlooked… and that is necessary Change Management within these organisations… we need to change the way they think, otherwise we are just marking time until it all happens again in the USA or somewhere else in the Global community.

The Commercial World as always is being driven by improved margins, from the incredible daily profits experienced on Platforms, to productive companies dealing in providing end-user products and services – they are at least creating something that is tangible – down to Mr. & Mrs America being paid less than 5-10% per year (which is taxable) on their hard earned dollars… the difference between the rich and the poor is widening exponentially.

To me it seems that the basic premise of how these organisations function has not been seen as important… since the Glass-Steagall Act was revoked… we have been heading for this.  The basic way these organisations operate has not changed… (although controls have and are being introduced) we still see organisations basically owned and controlled by various Governments around the world, still paying bonuses… outside of normal guidelines.. and these Governments seems to have no control, they are willing to use.

Meanwhile main street in the USA has to pay for all of this… it is something they do not understand… and like the stages of grief…. sure denial is one of them, however the other stages of grief need to be considered, one of them being anger… so I am not sure we have got to denial as yet, in the stages of grief…  for their less than enviable debt burden, not of their making, why they are in debt, and most likely some generations to come will be…..

The reaction from Governments world wide has been lets run around and put out fires… this can be related to a Doctor treating the symptoms and not the cause… we are not out of the woods yet… it will take whole generations to change attitudes… if it is even possible, I do not see it as even possible until the basic premise of focus on short term reporting cycles, and the payment of unrealistic bonuses, changes within organisations – when we were in the middle of the crash we saw CEO’s and Senior people being given Golden parachutes basically being paid for their lack of focus, as they were obviously not concentrating on minding their businesses.

To date for the American people the only recourse for severe disappointment has been by the ballot box… I am not sure this will be their only recourse in the future.  This is a significant system failure, and the underlying root cause has still not been addressed.

Change the way that the people that run these organisations, and then we are on a path to stable financial infrastructure… don’t and it is going to happen all over again.

Tags: Change+Management, Change+is+the+only+answer+for+the+long+term