I'm alright Jack

It seems that last week’s thoughts on the dangers posed to cyclists might have disturbed you and Cicero is mightily glad for the expressions of concern received from you. You can now imply by the presence of these words and sleep soundly for at least a few more nights that Cicero has survived the perils on our roads for one more week.

However in the Ciceronic philosophy of life each week that passes without incident means we are one week closer to ending up smeared like crunchy peanut butter on wholegrain toast all over the radiator grille of an artic or bendy bus.

Cicero would however like to challenge the views of one correspondent who considered Cicero to be a vulnerable adult requiring all who worked with or close by to have to undergo some sort of CRB check. Cheeky or what?

It is also worth pointing out that we have not yet heard from any Health and Safety Gauleiter out there on their views on the inherent risks posed to the health and safety of a bike riding bi-ped by fitting indicator and brake lights. Come on, stand up and be accountable. You are among friends here.

Now here’s a challenge for you. How many times have you been in a discussion in your business when the problem is not with us in the room but with them who are not in the room?

If you can count on two hands or less the number of times this has occurred to you in your business, then you are either very lucky , suffering from delusion or are admitting to terminological inexactitudes, playing fast and loose with the actuality.

Am small example of this syndrome, which we shall call I’m-alright-Jack-Syndrome, occurred to Cicero the other day in discussion with some customer service apparatchik, not in the VTSSB we must point out hastily before we get letters and comments.

It was over a minor matter but it was clear that the attitude was ‘if left to me this would not happen but they have determined that this is way it had to be done’. A classic example of I’m-alright-Jack Syndrome. It took a few minutes of further discussion in Cicero’s calm and considered way before we could identify who ‘they’ were and before Cicero could put the apparatchik on the path to customer service enlightenment and wisdom.

In advanced cases of I’m-alright-Jack Syndrome, which too are very common, those suffering from this condition will loudly point out that ‘I’m doing a fantastically brilliant job, you are doing ok but them over there are real Klutzes and don’t deserve to breathe the same air as me’.

Do you recognise this syndrome? Do you suffer from it? Of course not. You will no doubt be thinking that you have been immunised from this deadly disease which corrodes and undermines individuals, teams and businesses, but there are people in other parts of your building who need treatment for it. And if you are thinking to yourself like then yes you do have I’m-alright-Jack-Syndrome.

Performance management and post implementation reviews are great places to spot the symptoms of this condition. ‘I would have done a brilliant job if it had not been for those knuckle heads over there’.

Can this be cured?

Of course it can. And the cure for this condition is simple and straightforward. It is for each and everyone of us to step up the plate and to take personal responsibility for our successes and our failings. It is not about passing blame to them or pointing the finger at them or passing the buck to them. We need to recognise that what they do is not important. It is time to understand that while we can influence and change ourselves it is a pointless waste of emotion to worry about others or issues beyond our control. It is time for all of us to take personal responsibility and to challenge those around us who don’t.

Get with it, folks, work together and we have the power like smallpox to cure I’m-alright-Jack syndrome for good and eradicate it from these shores.

Is it only me…..but don’t we count?

Now here’s a conundrum for you.

Have you ever been polled to ask how you are going to vote in the forthcoming General Election? Nor has Cicero.

Do you know anyone who has been asked to take part in such a survey? No again.

And yet each day it seems our newspapers, TV and radio seem to be reporting the latest opinion survey of our voting intentions. And each one of said surveys involves about 1000 of us chosen at random to represent the people living in this green and pleasant land.

If we start to do the maths this soon becomes an awfully lot of people. And if you multiply this number by the number of elections that Cicero has witnessed the odds lessen considerably that someone close and dear, or even vaguely familiar in a Facebook kind of way, must have taken part. And yet no one in Cicero’s sphere of influence, nobody in the network, no one within 6 degrees, has to Cicero’s considerable knowledge ever participated in one of these surveys.

Now this leads one to the inescapable conclusion that Cicero and his friends are not considered representative of those who live on this scepter’d isle. This surely cannot be the case. How dare anyone suggest that Cicero and his very important people are not representative of something?

Alternatively it might just be that those who undertake these surveys just make the numbers up each week. It may just be me but this could explain why we are seeing regular swings of support for the parties with a real inconsistency of poll numbers. At least it keep things interesting over the next few weeks and gives our print and media politicos something to say. Heaven forbid there is some kind of conspiracy going on to sell newspapers or to make democracy seem interesting.

And should you get a call, please do let us know.

Have a great week.

Sis felix. Et sis fortunatus.