Don't burn your bridges

Non habemus novum Caesarem! We do not yet have a new Caesar!

At the time of writing this week’s episode of wit and wisdom we still await to learn who is to be our new Caesar. The populus have spoken but no one understands what they have said hence the reason why we still await news on which Caesar we are going to get.

And meanwhile those of us in the apparatchik world stand by our beds in our VTSSBs awaiting our orders. Which envelope shall it be today? The red one? The blue one? Or the multi-coloured rainbow one? Although it should be noted that there is no brown in a rainbow. It is a bit like the Play School windows for those of you of a certain generation. Maybe the time you get to read next week’s dose of intelligent insight we will know which Caesar we have got.

And back to the real world.

Cicero still lacks an amanuensis to ensure and assure the quality of these writings. This is an honorary job with reward deriving from working close up to the great writer, wit and intellect that is Cicero. No wonder there are no takers.

However we are informed that the maths calculation that featured last week was correct and that only one error of grammar and spelling was spotted. The old touch is clearly returning.

Changing subject again. Hopefully you can keep up with the twists and turns of Cicero’s mind.

The other evening while awaiting news on which Caesar he was to serve with apolitical devotion, Cicero was deep in conversation with an esteemed worker from the third sector. For those of you who don’t know what the third sector is it is charities. Seemingly it is just like the Football League where the old Fourth Division is now the Second Division in new money. It is a mystery why we just can’t stick to old names. Why do we insist in constantly changing our labels?

Anyway said charity worker expressed the view that one of Cicero’s many admiring qualities is his willingness to believe that anything and everything is always possible for everyone. And it is true. For it is a core tenet of the Ciceronic value system that it is only our own inhibitions that stop us, our people and our business from achieving what others say is impossible.

To illustrate this point let us start to build some bridges.

If you have ever been to Sydney you will know that one of the bestest things to do when there is to walk up and over the Sydney Harbour Bridge. Not by the road but up and over the Mecanno. It is a fabulous experience. And the story behind the development of this is a tale of persistence and resilience and of never taking no for an answer and is a perfect illustration of how it is within all of us to achieve great things if we put our minds to it.

The guy who came up with the original idea, Paul Cave, spent ten years of his life overcoming more than 60 reasons from nanny governments, health and safety gauleiters and no doubt some eco mentalists who all said this was a really dumb idea and was never going to happen. And as he himself said “If someone had said this was going to take 10 years, I never would have started it, so sometimes it’s good not to know.”

With this kind of attitude how do Australia ever manage to lose the Ashes?
Cave’s self-appointed job description became to pre-empt objections and have an answer for anything they might come up with. He was prepared to tackle the problem of reduced visibility from traffic by creating suits that blended with the Bridge; covering the maintenance costs of the Bridge as part of the proposed lease agreement; and answering problems with proximity to the train tracks during the climb (State Rail rules didn’t allow people to be within five metres of the Bridge without orange safety jackets, and this took two years to resolve despite climbers being harnessed to the Bridge with cages built around the ladders). Other measures included adding breath testing to the pre-climb procedure, and taking out $50 million public risk insurance. Every single reason why not was listened to and dealt with so that eventually the why nots became ‘no problem, mate.’
And through it all Cave held to his belief that what he was doing was right and that his business would succeed.
Climbers include blind and deaf people, even pregnant women, as Cave and the team continually lift the bar to ensure the experience is open to as many people as possible. There are even aims to get wheelchair users to the summit but he is still working on that one.
What a guy!
But there are lessons here for all of us in our everyday business lives. We can if we believe hard enough make the impossible daunting and then just a wee bit difficult and eventually possible. We can do this with patience and persistence and a touch of real creativity to do down the nay sayers, the resistors, the obstructionists. Everything is always possible if we stick at it and demonstrate a real commitment to make it happen and to constantly raising the bar. In that way we, our people and our businesses can and will succeed and go forward. Now get out there and make it happen. Only you is stopping you from being great.
Is it only me……but who do they think I am?

You will know as a regular reader of Cicero’s wisdom and wit that great marketing comes when you get the right message to the right person at the right time. The holy trinity of marketing.

Over the recent Bank Holiday weekend with the weather so inclement Cicero decided to tidy up his in-box, the digital equivalent of tidying up your sock drawer. As you can see Cicero does lead an interesting and exciting life.

It might amaze you to know that said in-box contained a serial number of e-mails promoting degrees from obscure universities in return for cash, a wide variety of drugs and medicines to do God-knows-what-to-your body, a range of penile extension products, products to restore hair growth and umpteen requests from Russian beauties. If any of this of any interest to you, please pass on your details and the addresses will be forwarded.

Do you get these too?

Now it might only be me but why do they think I might interested in any or all of these products. A clear example of wrong message to wrong person at wrong time. Do they really think that Cicero with his proven intellect requires to pay money for a degree? Or is in need of drugs to keep him going? And as for penile extension products, as if. And the same goes for hair growth as those who know me will testify. And do they really think that Cicero will be tempted by a Russian beauty when we all know they end up looking like the back end of the tractor on the collective by the time they are 40.

So if you are one of those spamming furiously and sending this stuff out, please note Cicero is not in the market for any of these products. Get to know your customer.

You have to wonder how this type of marketing makes money but guess it does or it would not continue.

Have a great week.

Sis felix. Et sis fortunatus.