Well it turned out last week’s thoughts on the middle class subsidy we call our libraries, stirred up a wee bit of a hornet’s nest. The Guardianistas ended up in a right lather over my heretical thinking. The good news is that no library is needed to read these thoughts.
But it should be pointed out that to prove said point last weekend Cicero hung around his local library to see if being used and by whom. And Cicero’s point is proven-the library was not being used by working class types keen to improve their literacy and education levels. They were no doubt too busy playing with on their Playstations and X-Boxes.
And in defence of the marketing profession who were also slated by last week’s Guardianista, we should point out that marketers do not manipulate anyone to buy anything. We present you with and edit for you, choice. It is still your right to choose to buy or not. We make it easy for you to do so. And in doing so we create value for our brands and our businesses which means our people, our companies and ultimately the nation all benefits through the taxes we collect and pay.
So you see marketing is of immense social benefit to the country helping our businesses generate the wealth to pay for the libraries that fewer and fewer people are using.
And back to this week’s lesson........
Cicero does not just do marketing and as you might expect Cicero can be a bit of a Renaissance Man in a metro sexual kind of way. He also does films. And according to Cicero no sequel ever in the whole history of cinema has worked as well as the original with two notable exceptions. Godfather 2 was every bit as good as the original Godfather, although even Martin Scorsese was unable to stretch the quality across three films.
And the other film? Toy Story which did manage to make three films of increasing quality though since this is a cartoon it is a moot point whether this is a film in the conventional sense of the word.
This principle that no film is a good as its original except in the aforementioned examples Cicero calls the Godfather Theorem.
Now if anyone can name another film which has managed to maintain its artistic integrity and celluloid quality across more than outing, we would be interested to know.
Now this detour into the realms of Claudia Winkelman has been occasioned by the arrival of the latest ad from Yell. Yell used to be known as Yellow Pages in the days when people used to look up phone numbers in big thick books. Remember those days?
Now for those of you who have no idea what we are talking about, here is a brief précis of the marketing plot.
Many years ago there used to be a Yellow Pages ad featuring a kindly old man trailing from book shop to book shop (and do we remember those?) looking for a book called ‘Fly Fishing’ by J R Hartley. He searches in vain before returning home tired and empty handed to be greeted either by his sympathetic daughter or his gold digging young wife who mops his weary brow and hands him a copy of Yellow Pages. Eventually after letting his fingers do the walking and umpteen phone calls he finds a bookshop with a copy in stock. ‘That’s great’, he exclaims in excitement, ‘My name? Yes of course. J R Hartley’.
Cue logo and end frame. And the ad enters advertising folk lore to be parodied and imitated through the succeeding years.
Well now Yell has re-made the ad. Only this time J R Hartley is a DJ called Dave Lately looking for a dance track helped by Yell.com and his teenage daughter.
Does it work? Frankly no and so Cicero’s Godfather Theorem still holds true.
Now it is interesting to Marketing Grand Fromages like Cicero to see ads going down the same route as films with sequels and re-makes but you should never go back. This is true for advertising as in life. It will only disappoint.
J R Hartley was a lovely old man and you really felt great warmth for him as he experienced the joy of finding his magnum opus before he joined the Great Fisherman in the Sky. He had a Werthers-esque warmth and humanity about him. You wanted him to be your granddad.
Our DJ hero in the re-make, Dave Lately, lacks the humanity and authenticity of Mr Hartley. We do not have the same level of wanting him to succeed in his quest. It is interesting but not engaging. And great ads are always engaging and totally authentic.
And there is another flaw. Today we are swamped with search engines. Surely it would have been just as easy to Google the track or pay a visit to Amazon to find it. These days why would you bother trekking the High St to find something? This is a great big gaping hole in the plot. Surely in this post J R Hartley day and age one would use Google to find not Yell. We use Yell to choose when we don’t exactly what we want like when we want to choose an electrician or a hotel or a plumber.
So if you are like Dave Lately and let your fingers do the walking, be careful. You might just find yourself up a dead end.
Now it might only be me.......but what is happening to us and our society, big or otherwise?
The other day I was told a story of a Friend who asked a Railway Porter to help a blind man. ‘What do you want me to do?’, asked the Railway Porter. ‘Your f$*&£ing job’, replied my Friend, before being reported for abuse.
I also read recently the report from the Care Commission on how nurses in hospital are abandoning and ignoring vulnerable old people by doing unthinking things like that putting food and drink and call buttons out of reach. One patient even asked the nurse to call her daughter to be told “this is not my job".
No wonder such reports caused one of the Two Ceasars' little helpers to say that ‘care standards still needed to improve.’ You reckon. With insight like that it is no wonder that you get elected to parliament.
Of course such attitudes as this and like the behaviour witnessed by my Friend at the railway station will be blamed on the Two Caesar’s refusal to spend more money. Naturally it will all be the fault of the Government. Heaven forbid that people should take some responsibility for themselves.
Now this is the bit that I don’t get. This is not about money. Or lack of staff. Or government cutbacks. No matter what some people might think. This is about caring for our fellow man. I am not the most caring or empathetic of people, yes I do have weaknesses, but even I know to go to offer help someone who is less capable and able than me, though in my case this means that I have to help just about everyone.
Seriously what has happened to common sense? What has happened to common decency? What has happened to giving a bit of ourselves to help others? To treating others as we would like to be treated?
It might only be me but nursing is supposed to be a caring profession. It is supposed to be about helping and supporting and caring. Or have I got that wrong? No nurse should ever say ‘that is not my job’, unless of course she is being asked to perform open heart surgery. No nurse should ever be looking at her watch and say I don’t have time for you. And no nurse should ever be as thoughtless and so lacking in care to leave vulnerable people thirsty, hungry and abandoned just because they never gave them a moment’s thought. Nurses like this should be run out of the profession before it sinks to the level of railway staff.
And as for the Railway Porter, we expect nothing less from these people. Help a passenger, me, don’t be silly.
Have a great week.
Sis felix. Et sis fortunatus.
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Friday, 25 February 2011
Friday, 18 February 2011
Getting to know you, getting to know all about you
Apologies yet again.
Last week Cicero went AWOL. He disappeared over the wall constructed by Hadrian before he could collect and publish his thoughts. He now wishes that he had stayed behind and continued his communion and conversation with his devotees instead of watching the tribe from beyond the Dyke of Offa beat the living daylights out of the Pictish Tribe. It was a weekend to forget.
And to respond the devotee who asked what brands were giving their people a great reason to come to work-John Lewis and Apple spring immediately to mind. Any others you want to add?
Last week Cicero bought a book online.
This is not an uncommon or unusual activity for Cicero but while doing so Cicero was struck by the comprehensiveness and accuracy of the recommendations offered to Cicero. It was as if Cicero and the book seller had lived together all their lives. And yet said book seller knew very little about Cicero. Amazing.
Now since Cicero stopped being an Apparatchik with responsibility for protecting our security and freedoms, he has joined a Luvvie Agency helping clients become great at marketing, with his help of course. Now you would not believe how much data brands collect about their customers. And yet despite this many brands fail to make use of this data and continue to send out generic marketing. And this is where Cicero comes in.
And it is worth point out at this point that the advice you are about to be given you get for free, others pay a small fortune. Aren’t you lucky?
Now if you have been charged by your business to come up with a customer data and customer marketing strategy, please think about what’s important and what will really make a difference, and to collect only the data you really need to make your marketing truly great. It sounds obvious but you would be amazed how many times the obvious is overlooked.
Now some people may tell you that information is power. They are wrong. Information is not power but powerful but do we really need all the information we seek to store?
Brands certainly have a habit of collecting lots of information about us that never seems to be used. For example, how many times have you completed an extensive registration form stating your preferences, gender, date of birth and much else beside yet received nothing but generic marketing in return?
So what’s the answer? Don’t collect information and save the storage space? It’s an option but probably not the most intelligent one.
Instead think about what will make a difference, and focus on customer behaviour.
This information will expand your understanding of your customers and allow you to influence their behaviour and buying patterns. It’s called marketing, darling.
Graze, the company that delivers healthy snacks for anorexics to their desk, seems to get this. After each delivery they will ask customers to rate the foods, if you can call nuts and raisins food, and to edit preferences for the next time.
These simple bits of data are key to targeting customer behaviour and purchases with the brand. Arguably everything else is superfluous.
Relevance and attractiveness is key. If you can glean information about your customer’s preferences, your marketing can be very specific to their needs. This is exactly how Cicero’s amazing bookseller chappie. They know nothing about Cicero expect how he behaves when buying a book and that is the information they use to nudge his behaviour. Genius.
And as they might have said in the ‘King and I’ great marketing is really all about ‘getting to know you, getting to know all about you’.
Now it might only be me but.............................libraries should RIP.
Have you been to a library recently? Nope thought not. Neither have it. But that does not mean we don’t read books. In my case my appetite for books is only bested by my appetite for the kind of foods that the Nanny State wants to ban. In other words food that is not good for me. But I do like books but a library is the last place I would go for a book.
And yet society is up in arms because the councils supposedly acting on behalf of the Two Caesars, which is a debatable point in itself if they stood up and accepted responsibility, are reducing funding to libraries, an act of ‘cultural vandalism’ according to some. Get over it.
It has been estimated that in some councils only 2.5p out of every pound spent on the library service is being spent on books. No doubt much of the rest is being siphoned off to pay for Local Council Apparatchiks to have fancy chairs and gold plated pensions.
And have you seen who are using the libraries these days? There might be a better argument for retaining them if they were an invaluable weapon to combat illiteracy and poor people were using them to source learning. Now I’m sure this might be the case in some instances but in most cases, and I have studied the sort of people using this service, the type of people going in and out of libraries are the retired middle class. Is this just not another hidden subsidy for the middle class?
And then I heard an interview the other day with some woman who used her local library to source Mills and Boon novels. And I will repeat this....she was borrowing Mills and Boon novels. Come on. It is hardly cultural vandalism if this is what we are subsidising. Indeed I would argue it is cultural vandalism to disseminate this time of material.
Let’s face facts. We are going to hell in a hand cart. The number of people visiting libraries is in long term decline. The amount of books being borrowed is in long term decline. And yet we are being asked to continue to pay for this so that some people can access Mills and Boon and so that Local Council Apparatchiks can have fancy chairs and retire on the kind of pension that of us can dream of.
Now it might only be me but the day of the library is over. It has done its job. We can all now read and write and if we can’t then it is not like you will be the sort of person who will be hanging around a library. They tend not to like ASBO-ites down there. If we were starting out today would we invent the library? I don’t think so.
Have a great week.
Sis felix. Et sis fortunatus.
Last week Cicero went AWOL. He disappeared over the wall constructed by Hadrian before he could collect and publish his thoughts. He now wishes that he had stayed behind and continued his communion and conversation with his devotees instead of watching the tribe from beyond the Dyke of Offa beat the living daylights out of the Pictish Tribe. It was a weekend to forget.
And to respond the devotee who asked what brands were giving their people a great reason to come to work-John Lewis and Apple spring immediately to mind. Any others you want to add?
Last week Cicero bought a book online.
This is not an uncommon or unusual activity for Cicero but while doing so Cicero was struck by the comprehensiveness and accuracy of the recommendations offered to Cicero. It was as if Cicero and the book seller had lived together all their lives. And yet said book seller knew very little about Cicero. Amazing.
Now since Cicero stopped being an Apparatchik with responsibility for protecting our security and freedoms, he has joined a Luvvie Agency helping clients become great at marketing, with his help of course. Now you would not believe how much data brands collect about their customers. And yet despite this many brands fail to make use of this data and continue to send out generic marketing. And this is where Cicero comes in.
And it is worth point out at this point that the advice you are about to be given you get for free, others pay a small fortune. Aren’t you lucky?
Now if you have been charged by your business to come up with a customer data and customer marketing strategy, please think about what’s important and what will really make a difference, and to collect only the data you really need to make your marketing truly great. It sounds obvious but you would be amazed how many times the obvious is overlooked.
Now some people may tell you that information is power. They are wrong. Information is not power but powerful but do we really need all the information we seek to store?
Brands certainly have a habit of collecting lots of information about us that never seems to be used. For example, how many times have you completed an extensive registration form stating your preferences, gender, date of birth and much else beside yet received nothing but generic marketing in return?
So what’s the answer? Don’t collect information and save the storage space? It’s an option but probably not the most intelligent one.
Instead think about what will make a difference, and focus on customer behaviour.
This information will expand your understanding of your customers and allow you to influence their behaviour and buying patterns. It’s called marketing, darling.
Graze, the company that delivers healthy snacks for anorexics to their desk, seems to get this. After each delivery they will ask customers to rate the foods, if you can call nuts and raisins food, and to edit preferences for the next time.
These simple bits of data are key to targeting customer behaviour and purchases with the brand. Arguably everything else is superfluous.
Relevance and attractiveness is key. If you can glean information about your customer’s preferences, your marketing can be very specific to their needs. This is exactly how Cicero’s amazing bookseller chappie. They know nothing about Cicero expect how he behaves when buying a book and that is the information they use to nudge his behaviour. Genius.
And as they might have said in the ‘King and I’ great marketing is really all about ‘getting to know you, getting to know all about you’.
Now it might only be me but.............................libraries should RIP.
Have you been to a library recently? Nope thought not. Neither have it. But that does not mean we don’t read books. In my case my appetite for books is only bested by my appetite for the kind of foods that the Nanny State wants to ban. In other words food that is not good for me. But I do like books but a library is the last place I would go for a book.
And yet society is up in arms because the councils supposedly acting on behalf of the Two Caesars, which is a debatable point in itself if they stood up and accepted responsibility, are reducing funding to libraries, an act of ‘cultural vandalism’ according to some. Get over it.
It has been estimated that in some councils only 2.5p out of every pound spent on the library service is being spent on books. No doubt much of the rest is being siphoned off to pay for Local Council Apparatchiks to have fancy chairs and gold plated pensions.
And have you seen who are using the libraries these days? There might be a better argument for retaining them if they were an invaluable weapon to combat illiteracy and poor people were using them to source learning. Now I’m sure this might be the case in some instances but in most cases, and I have studied the sort of people using this service, the type of people going in and out of libraries are the retired middle class. Is this just not another hidden subsidy for the middle class?
And then I heard an interview the other day with some woman who used her local library to source Mills and Boon novels. And I will repeat this....she was borrowing Mills and Boon novels. Come on. It is hardly cultural vandalism if this is what we are subsidising. Indeed I would argue it is cultural vandalism to disseminate this time of material.
Let’s face facts. We are going to hell in a hand cart. The number of people visiting libraries is in long term decline. The amount of books being borrowed is in long term decline. And yet we are being asked to continue to pay for this so that some people can access Mills and Boon and so that Local Council Apparatchiks can have fancy chairs and retire on the kind of pension that of us can dream of.
Now it might only be me but the day of the library is over. It has done its job. We can all now read and write and if we can’t then it is not like you will be the sort of person who will be hanging around a library. They tend not to like ASBO-ites down there. If we were starting out today would we invent the library? I don’t think so.
Have a great week.
Sis felix. Et sis fortunatus.
Friday, 4 February 2011
Do you know why you come to work?
After last week’s brief interlude to pay our respects to the death of free speech and free thought, and which led to Cicero being considered ‘ a sexist pig’ by some, no doubt Guardianista types, who know little of Cicero, we are back this week with more considered thoughts on the business of business. No doubt this will be a relief to you.
A few days back Cicero was re-acquainting himself with the works of Kipling (the author not the cake maker on this occasion even though Cicero is also well acquainted with the works of the cake maker as well, hence the girth).
We digress.
In particular Cicero met once again Mr Kipling’s ‘six famous serving men whose names were who and what and where, and how and why and when’. For those of a questioning and challenging disposition these serving men have proven invaluable, especially ‘why'. But do these serving men not also apply to the structure of a modern business?
Consider this. The training and development department, and sometimes even a corporate university, take care of the H – how employees do things. The HR people, along with the headhunters, handles the “who”. Meanwhile, the Head Honcho of the business aka the CEO, often flanked by a few high-priced consultants and his Grand Fromages, devises the strategy – the “what”. The “where” and “when” of products is the domain of the logistics and supply chain team, while the “where” and “when” of people is the responsibility of the facilities manager and administrative staff and even line management.
But who is responsible for the why? Now don’t all cry out at once.
The 'who', 'what', 'where', 'when' and 'how' in any company will be on the organisation chart but 'why’, ‘the why we come to work question’, and surely this is the most important question, is conspicuously absent. Sure businesses will often go about being number one in chosen markets or maximising shareholder value as the ‘why’. But will this get our people out of their beds in the morning? Doubt it. Does that why excite you? Probably not.
And that can be a costly mistake as recent studies have found.
Introducing “why” – even in surprisingly modest ways – can have a big impact as we will now demonstrate.
In one study, employees at a call centre made phone calls to alumni to raise funds. These were randomly divided into three teams. For a few days, before they made calls, people in the first group read brief stories from previous employees about the personal benefits of working in the job – how they developed communication skills and sales know-how that later helped them in their careers. The second group also read stories before hitting the phones, but their stories were from people who had received scholarships from the funds raised and who described how the money had improved their lives. The aim of these stories was to remind workers of the purpose of their efforts. The third group was the control group; they read nothing before hitting the phones.
The results from the three groups were startling and enlightening.
The people in the first group, who’d been reminded of the personal benefit of working in a call centre, did no better than those in the control group. Both groups earned about the same number of weekly pledges and raised the same amount of money as they had in the weeks before the experiment.
However, the people in the second group – who took a moment to consider the significance of their work and its effect on others’ lives – raised more than twice as much money, in twice as many pledges, as they had in previous weeks and significantly more than their counterparts in the other two groups.
In other words, reminding employees about that missing W – the “why” – doubled their performance.
Similar results in another call centre study back this up. There, when employees spent just five minutes talking to the recipients of the funds they were raising, those employees spent twice as much time on the phone with prospective donors and raised nearly three times as much money as they had in the past. Surely big lessons here for people working in the charity sector-sorry the Third Sector. But also is such thinking also not applicable in all businesses? Surely it makes sense for us all of to know why were are doing something. And buy into it. And it must be about more than just making money for the shareholders. Cicero as you know found it especially to be inspiring to have some small role in safeguarding the safety and security of us all. That was his 'why'.
It’s often difficult to do something well if we don’t know the reasons we’re doing it to begin with. People at work are thirsting for context, yearning to know that their efforts contribute to a larger whole. And a powerful way to provide that context is to spend a little less time monitoring who, what, where, when and how – and little more time considering why.
Do your people even have a “why”? Ask them this question: “What’s the purpose of this business?” What do you hear? People needn’t recite the same lyrics, but they should be playing the same basic tune. If they’re not – if answers range all over the place or people don’t have answers at all – you might have a problem no matter how good you are at the where, when and what.
So what is your why? Why are you really in business? Will it inspire your people to something more than a yawn and a glazed look in their eyes? Do they really know why they come to work? And do they believe it?
Is it only me..........but please try this at home.
Now for my sins I have to sit through a lot of meetings and a lot of Death by PowerPoint presentations. And of course from time to time I have in my time had to present myself. Sometimes these are good presentations, sometimes bad but there are some words that are said that always strike terror in my heart.
Now no matter how good or presentation might be invariably the speaker inflicting Death by PowerPoint on his or her audience will be running late, or will feel as if running over, if especially bad. And at this point you will hear words ‘I will just whiz through the next few slides’ or ‘I will speed up’ or ‘I will skip through the next few slides quite quickly’. Whenever you hear words like ‘speed’, whizz’ or ‘skip’ in the context of PowerPoint, you are in trouble. It never happens.
I don’t why it is but Death by PowerPoint presenters even when they know they are running over or late, find it impossible to change gear. It is as if time no longer seems to exist when you are absorbed with PowerPoint or the presenter’s script is so hardwired that it is impossible to deviate no matter how pressing the audience is willing the presentation to end. Or maybe said presenter is thinking ‘I have spent bloody ages pulling this presentation together that not even the arrival of the Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse is going to stop me saying what I wanted to say’.
You think I’m joking? You think it’s only me? Well this is a game we can all play. Next time you are enduring Death by PowerPoint listen for any words to do with speed being introduced into the presentation and let us know if you discern any increase in the speed. I would be really interested.
Have a great week.
Sis felix. Et sis fortunatus.
A few days back Cicero was re-acquainting himself with the works of Kipling (the author not the cake maker on this occasion even though Cicero is also well acquainted with the works of the cake maker as well, hence the girth).
We digress.
In particular Cicero met once again Mr Kipling’s ‘six famous serving men whose names were who and what and where, and how and why and when’. For those of a questioning and challenging disposition these serving men have proven invaluable, especially ‘why'. But do these serving men not also apply to the structure of a modern business?
Consider this. The training and development department, and sometimes even a corporate university, take care of the H – how employees do things. The HR people, along with the headhunters, handles the “who”. Meanwhile, the Head Honcho of the business aka the CEO, often flanked by a few high-priced consultants and his Grand Fromages, devises the strategy – the “what”. The “where” and “when” of products is the domain of the logistics and supply chain team, while the “where” and “when” of people is the responsibility of the facilities manager and administrative staff and even line management.
But who is responsible for the why? Now don’t all cry out at once.
The 'who', 'what', 'where', 'when' and 'how' in any company will be on the organisation chart but 'why’, ‘the why we come to work question’, and surely this is the most important question, is conspicuously absent. Sure businesses will often go about being number one in chosen markets or maximising shareholder value as the ‘why’. But will this get our people out of their beds in the morning? Doubt it. Does that why excite you? Probably not.
And that can be a costly mistake as recent studies have found.
Introducing “why” – even in surprisingly modest ways – can have a big impact as we will now demonstrate.
In one study, employees at a call centre made phone calls to alumni to raise funds. These were randomly divided into three teams. For a few days, before they made calls, people in the first group read brief stories from previous employees about the personal benefits of working in the job – how they developed communication skills and sales know-how that later helped them in their careers. The second group also read stories before hitting the phones, but their stories were from people who had received scholarships from the funds raised and who described how the money had improved their lives. The aim of these stories was to remind workers of the purpose of their efforts. The third group was the control group; they read nothing before hitting the phones.
The results from the three groups were startling and enlightening.
The people in the first group, who’d been reminded of the personal benefit of working in a call centre, did no better than those in the control group. Both groups earned about the same number of weekly pledges and raised the same amount of money as they had in the weeks before the experiment.
However, the people in the second group – who took a moment to consider the significance of their work and its effect on others’ lives – raised more than twice as much money, in twice as many pledges, as they had in previous weeks and significantly more than their counterparts in the other two groups.
In other words, reminding employees about that missing W – the “why” – doubled their performance.
Similar results in another call centre study back this up. There, when employees spent just five minutes talking to the recipients of the funds they were raising, those employees spent twice as much time on the phone with prospective donors and raised nearly three times as much money as they had in the past. Surely big lessons here for people working in the charity sector-sorry the Third Sector. But also is such thinking also not applicable in all businesses? Surely it makes sense for us all of to know why were are doing something. And buy into it. And it must be about more than just making money for the shareholders. Cicero as you know found it especially to be inspiring to have some small role in safeguarding the safety and security of us all. That was his 'why'.
It’s often difficult to do something well if we don’t know the reasons we’re doing it to begin with. People at work are thirsting for context, yearning to know that their efforts contribute to a larger whole. And a powerful way to provide that context is to spend a little less time monitoring who, what, where, when and how – and little more time considering why.
Do your people even have a “why”? Ask them this question: “What’s the purpose of this business?” What do you hear? People needn’t recite the same lyrics, but they should be playing the same basic tune. If they’re not – if answers range all over the place or people don’t have answers at all – you might have a problem no matter how good you are at the where, when and what.
So what is your why? Why are you really in business? Will it inspire your people to something more than a yawn and a glazed look in their eyes? Do they really know why they come to work? And do they believe it?
Is it only me..........but please try this at home.
Now for my sins I have to sit through a lot of meetings and a lot of Death by PowerPoint presentations. And of course from time to time I have in my time had to present myself. Sometimes these are good presentations, sometimes bad but there are some words that are said that always strike terror in my heart.
Now no matter how good or presentation might be invariably the speaker inflicting Death by PowerPoint on his or her audience will be running late, or will feel as if running over, if especially bad. And at this point you will hear words ‘I will just whiz through the next few slides’ or ‘I will speed up’ or ‘I will skip through the next few slides quite quickly’. Whenever you hear words like ‘speed’, whizz’ or ‘skip’ in the context of PowerPoint, you are in trouble. It never happens.
I don’t why it is but Death by PowerPoint presenters even when they know they are running over or late, find it impossible to change gear. It is as if time no longer seems to exist when you are absorbed with PowerPoint or the presenter’s script is so hardwired that it is impossible to deviate no matter how pressing the audience is willing the presentation to end. Or maybe said presenter is thinking ‘I have spent bloody ages pulling this presentation together that not even the arrival of the Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse is going to stop me saying what I wanted to say’.
You think I’m joking? You think it’s only me? Well this is a game we can all play. Next time you are enduring Death by PowerPoint listen for any words to do with speed being introduced into the presentation and let us know if you discern any increase in the speed. I would be really interested.
Have a great week.
Sis felix. Et sis fortunatus.
Thursday, 27 January 2011
Free speech RIP
Cicero will not post this week.
Instead he has released the following statement for us all to ponder and consider:
''In light of recent developments at Sky Sports this week and lest I too publish something that offends some -ism or other, I have decided not to post this week until the fuss has moved on.
'The impact of such po faced nonsense on free speech and freedom of expression in this country should concern us all and we seem to have lost sight of the dictum that while 'I disapprove of what you say, but I will defend to the death your right to say it.' Voltaire must be spinning in his grave.
'Let he who is without sin, cast the first stone''
Instead he has released the following statement for us all to ponder and consider:
''In light of recent developments at Sky Sports this week and lest I too publish something that offends some -ism or other, I have decided not to post this week until the fuss has moved on.
'The impact of such po faced nonsense on free speech and freedom of expression in this country should concern us all and we seem to have lost sight of the dictum that while 'I disapprove of what you say, but I will defend to the death your right to say it.' Voltaire must be spinning in his grave.
'Let he who is without sin, cast the first stone''
Friday, 21 January 2011
Renewable Energy
Great to see you again. Hopefully you came through Blue Monday this week without incident. Isn’t it strange that we should have a day dedicated to negativity and depression? Says a lot about our national psyche. Maybe we should campaign for this Monday to be Sunshine Day and let’s fill it with positive, uplifting thoughts.
Given the comments that flooded back in response to last week’s musings, it is good to know that there are people out there reading and reflecting on these dribbles. And thanks for the encouragement to obtain a man bag and to go all metrosexual. Not sure quite ready for it yet but your support is appreciated.
Now those of you who are regular readers of these musings, and surely that must mean all of you, will no doubt be aware that we have long supported and advocated renewable energy as a panacea for much of today’s ills. And recent readings, learnings and deliberations have only reinforced that view.
A while back Cicero got the opportunity to visit the high performance training centre at Loughborough University watching top 2012 hopeful Jockstraps going their paces in the gym. It was exhausting work. But it was interesting to see that these Jockstraps spent more time sitting around gassing than using the exercise machinery but when they did, boy did they burn the carbs. Cicero on the other hand when he visits a gym moves seamlessly and relentlessly from machine to machine barely pausing to catch breath. And this set Cicero thinking.
You must be aware that in today’s society it is all about more, bigger, faster. In our workplace more information than ever is available to us and the rate at which we work is accelerating exponentially, prompting a sense of permanent urgency and endless distraction. Those older readers will no doubt recall the pre-email days when letters and memos were drafted by hand, typed by a typist, checked and then sent out by snail mail, if lucky, same day. And then a week later you would get a response. Now we send e-mails out all day to our hearts content and expect on line real time response.
And yet this relentless urgency must undermine creativity, quality, engagement, thoughtful deliberation, and ultimately performance. And they call this progress.
Surely we are at our most productive when we move just like the Jockstraps at Loughborough Uni between periods of high focus and intermittent rest. We cannot be productive if we are constantly juggling activities and not fully engaged in any of them. We are not like computers who operate most productively continuously, at high speeds, for long periods of time, running multiple programmes concurrently.
To back this up a study has been conducted in the power of deliberate practice among violinists. This suggests that great performers work more intensely than most of us do but also recover more deeply. Solo practice, undertaken with high concentration, is especially exhausting. The best violinists generated the highest value by working intensely, without interruption, for no more than ninety minutes at a time and no more than four hours a day. They also recognised that it was essential to take time, intermittently, to rest and refuel.
Now an interesting new study builds on this and suggests that whereas a computer just needs to be plugged into the wall socket, a human being has four energy needs to be met to operate at their best: physical, emotional, mental and spiritual. By moving rhythmically between activity and renewal in each of these four dimensions we build our capacity to generate more and more value over time.
Our physical need is about taking care of our health and physical well being. It won’t on its own turn you into a great performer but failing to do so assures that you can’t ever perform at your best. We’re more effective at work when we regularly renew, alternating between active forms such as exercise and play and more passive forms such as meditation and sleep.
In the same vein we need to nurture our emotional needs. Feeling appreciated, secure and valued are key, and after all how we feel profoundly affects how we perform. It’s in our self-interest to cultivate positive emotions, not just because they make us feel good but also because they fuel productivity and effectiveness across all areas of our lives.
And our focus on our mental needs through self-expression and the freedom to develop one’s unique talents, ensures peak performance. A poverty of attention is the biggest hindrance in this area. In the violin study the most crucial ingredient of the most successful violinists, after motivation, was sustained, absorbed attention. The most common source of external distraction at work is e-mail. Think about how you could manage this more effectively so you are able to focus on the important project.
And lastly we must not ignore our spiritual well being. We must challenge ourselves to determine who we are and what we want, our values and our purpose. We can and will perform better if we can take actions that will serve a purpose beyond our immediate self interest.
Now is the time to think hard about how we live our lives and to help our colleagues think the same. To identify what we can to do nourish ourselves across all these four dimensions, to renew and re-energise ourselves and those around us. Always thought renewable energy was the future.
Is it only me........but is this the most pointless job out there?
In the current climate Apparatchik bashing is the new blood sport and our newspapers, well at least those not following the antics of someone called Peter Andre and Jordan, no not the country but a person seemingly, have joined in with great glee and gusto pointing out on a regular basis the cost of the Apparatchik class and the pointlessness of much of what it does.
Now while I might have smidgeon sympathy with some of these views I also realise that there are many good Apparatchiks doing worthwhile jobs who would love to be given the chance to improve the reputation of this tribe. Not all Apparatchiks are involved in engagement or stakeholder or consultation activities.
However is it only me but is this not the stupidest job title ever.....and horror of horrors it is in the private sector-Head of the Role of Bank Manager Programme? Ok it’s a bank so maybe it’s not totally in the private sector but it is still shocking and worrying to see it adopting Apparatchik thinking so readily.
Now I’m sure that the individual is a competent individual. And he, or she, is no doubt doing a good job, but does a bank really need a Head of Role of Bank Manager Programme given it must be stuffed full of bank managers who know how to do the role. Or at least they should do. And no doubt the Head of will have a bevy of senior managers, managers, assistant managers and executive officers reporting to him, or her. Whatever can they do all day?
Is this not the battiest job ever?
Methinks this needs to be brought to the attention of the shareholders to determine if such roles and functions can be justified. Sorry forgot that’s us, the taxpayer, and my answer is no.
Can anyone else come up with a pointless job?
And for those doing purposeful jobs, have a great week.
Sis felix. Et sis fortunatus.
Given the comments that flooded back in response to last week’s musings, it is good to know that there are people out there reading and reflecting on these dribbles. And thanks for the encouragement to obtain a man bag and to go all metrosexual. Not sure quite ready for it yet but your support is appreciated.
Now those of you who are regular readers of these musings, and surely that must mean all of you, will no doubt be aware that we have long supported and advocated renewable energy as a panacea for much of today’s ills. And recent readings, learnings and deliberations have only reinforced that view.
A while back Cicero got the opportunity to visit the high performance training centre at Loughborough University watching top 2012 hopeful Jockstraps going their paces in the gym. It was exhausting work. But it was interesting to see that these Jockstraps spent more time sitting around gassing than using the exercise machinery but when they did, boy did they burn the carbs. Cicero on the other hand when he visits a gym moves seamlessly and relentlessly from machine to machine barely pausing to catch breath. And this set Cicero thinking.
You must be aware that in today’s society it is all about more, bigger, faster. In our workplace more information than ever is available to us and the rate at which we work is accelerating exponentially, prompting a sense of permanent urgency and endless distraction. Those older readers will no doubt recall the pre-email days when letters and memos were drafted by hand, typed by a typist, checked and then sent out by snail mail, if lucky, same day. And then a week later you would get a response. Now we send e-mails out all day to our hearts content and expect on line real time response.
And yet this relentless urgency must undermine creativity, quality, engagement, thoughtful deliberation, and ultimately performance. And they call this progress.
Surely we are at our most productive when we move just like the Jockstraps at Loughborough Uni between periods of high focus and intermittent rest. We cannot be productive if we are constantly juggling activities and not fully engaged in any of them. We are not like computers who operate most productively continuously, at high speeds, for long periods of time, running multiple programmes concurrently.
To back this up a study has been conducted in the power of deliberate practice among violinists. This suggests that great performers work more intensely than most of us do but also recover more deeply. Solo practice, undertaken with high concentration, is especially exhausting. The best violinists generated the highest value by working intensely, without interruption, for no more than ninety minutes at a time and no more than four hours a day. They also recognised that it was essential to take time, intermittently, to rest and refuel.
Now an interesting new study builds on this and suggests that whereas a computer just needs to be plugged into the wall socket, a human being has four energy needs to be met to operate at their best: physical, emotional, mental and spiritual. By moving rhythmically between activity and renewal in each of these four dimensions we build our capacity to generate more and more value over time.
Our physical need is about taking care of our health and physical well being. It won’t on its own turn you into a great performer but failing to do so assures that you can’t ever perform at your best. We’re more effective at work when we regularly renew, alternating between active forms such as exercise and play and more passive forms such as meditation and sleep.
In the same vein we need to nurture our emotional needs. Feeling appreciated, secure and valued are key, and after all how we feel profoundly affects how we perform. It’s in our self-interest to cultivate positive emotions, not just because they make us feel good but also because they fuel productivity and effectiveness across all areas of our lives.
And our focus on our mental needs through self-expression and the freedom to develop one’s unique talents, ensures peak performance. A poverty of attention is the biggest hindrance in this area. In the violin study the most crucial ingredient of the most successful violinists, after motivation, was sustained, absorbed attention. The most common source of external distraction at work is e-mail. Think about how you could manage this more effectively so you are able to focus on the important project.
And lastly we must not ignore our spiritual well being. We must challenge ourselves to determine who we are and what we want, our values and our purpose. We can and will perform better if we can take actions that will serve a purpose beyond our immediate self interest.
Now is the time to think hard about how we live our lives and to help our colleagues think the same. To identify what we can to do nourish ourselves across all these four dimensions, to renew and re-energise ourselves and those around us. Always thought renewable energy was the future.
Is it only me........but is this the most pointless job out there?
In the current climate Apparatchik bashing is the new blood sport and our newspapers, well at least those not following the antics of someone called Peter Andre and Jordan, no not the country but a person seemingly, have joined in with great glee and gusto pointing out on a regular basis the cost of the Apparatchik class and the pointlessness of much of what it does.
Now while I might have smidgeon sympathy with some of these views I also realise that there are many good Apparatchiks doing worthwhile jobs who would love to be given the chance to improve the reputation of this tribe. Not all Apparatchiks are involved in engagement or stakeholder or consultation activities.
However is it only me but is this not the stupidest job title ever.....and horror of horrors it is in the private sector-Head of the Role of Bank Manager Programme? Ok it’s a bank so maybe it’s not totally in the private sector but it is still shocking and worrying to see it adopting Apparatchik thinking so readily.
Now I’m sure that the individual is a competent individual. And he, or she, is no doubt doing a good job, but does a bank really need a Head of Role of Bank Manager Programme given it must be stuffed full of bank managers who know how to do the role. Or at least they should do. And no doubt the Head of will have a bevy of senior managers, managers, assistant managers and executive officers reporting to him, or her. Whatever can they do all day?
Is this not the battiest job ever?
Methinks this needs to be brought to the attention of the shareholders to determine if such roles and functions can be justified. Sorry forgot that’s us, the taxpayer, and my answer is no.
Can anyone else come up with a pointless job?
And for those doing purposeful jobs, have a great week.
Sis felix. Et sis fortunatus.
Thursday, 13 January 2011
All arms and legs
Greetings.
You are all being really quiet. No comment on last week’s dose of wit and wisdom? Was it not provocative enough for you? Did it not even annoy the Guardianistas and we know how touchy this tribe can be? Or were we still suffering the effects of the revels?
A few weeks back Cicero was in conversation with a Marketing Head Honcho, swapping notes on experiences, capabilities, skills and competencies. It was an illuminating and interesting discussion as they batted backwards and forwards career highs and lows, though there were few lows on either side.
And then Cicero asked what he thought was a perfectly innocuous, straightforward and easy to answer question-how do you build teams?
The Head Honcho went silent for a long time and then huffed and puffed before finally stumbling his way through an answer. It was not that the Head Honcho could not build teams, he just found it difficult to answer because he was so good at it.
It is often said that in sport great players make poor managers and coaches because the silky skills they take for granted and don’t even think about, they cannot pass on. This is not a problem Cicero has. Never has been and never will be, alas.
Now why should this be? Why can’t great sportsmen pass on their genius? Why couldn’t a Marketing Head Honcho explain why he was so good at team building?
Once again we will look to nature for our answer.
Last week when exploring the libretto from a song and dance show called ‘Chicago’ we mentioned the idea of the Confucian Centipede and this week we find out more about her....or him.
As we know a centipede has a hundred arms and legs. Hence the name. And if you watch closely the arms and legs move seamlessly in a beautifully syncopated fashion that Anton du Beke envies, with a ripple effect that Craig Revel Horwood admires and with a grace and poise that not even Anne Widdecombe can emulate.
One day a centipede was strolling through the forest tracked by Jenny Longlegs who had been taking copious notes of the choreography but when trying to put into action failed miserably.
‘Hey you’, she called out, ‘Mr Centipede. Look I have been studying you for a while but I can’t follow the moves you make that I have written down in my book. Explain to me how to walk like you do’
The centipede took the book, studied it for a while and with a scratching of his head, said,‘Do I do that? Do I really do that?’.
He put the book down, shaking his head in amazement, before trying to demonstrate and to follow the copious and detailed notes that Jenny Longlegs had written down.
But the centipede hadn't thought about this before, and didn't do too great. And as a consequence ‘his hundred feet got twisted and wound up in a tangle, fracturing 14 kneecaps, 7 shinbones and an ankle.’
But the story has a happy ending and though he was in terrible pain and was in recovery for a very long time, he did learn to walk again. Before long he was back on his feet and moving once again in perfect rhythm but now he tells his neighbours, anyone who comes to see, and anyone who wants to know the secrets of his dance technique, "never try an explanation of what comes naturally!"
But that is not the end of the story, you will be disappointed to learn.
For it is not enough to excuse an inability to articulate performance excellence by just saying you shouldn’t explain what comes naturally, as the Head Honcho was advised. Good leaders possess a self awareness and an insight on their performance which means they really do understand their strengths and weaknesses inside and out, and that they can articulate these. Great leaders have the ability to learn about themselves and to pass on these insights to others to coach others to optimum performance.
Sadly the Confucian Centipede would never have made a great leader or coach. We may not have hundred arms and legs but the challenge for us is the same-to be to explain what comes naturally to those around us without getting into a right fankle.
Is it only me.........but I think it’s time for me to get in touch with my feminine side, assuming of course I have one of these!
In the olden days before you left the house all you had to do was to check that you had your wallet.
And in the even older days the only thing that your wallet might contain would be money of the folding variety which was relatively portable and easy to carry around.
Now wallets bulge with a variety of plastic cards and loyalty cards as well as folding money. And you have a small life support system to carry around everywhere with you.
And pockets now strain to bursting as we men carry around a multiplicity of devices to cope with the disabilities of old age such as spectacles and the products of a mobile technology revolution such as phones and MP3 players named after a compote of summer fruits. Last week on one count alone I had stuffed into the recesses of my suit 3 sets of keys; reading glasses; mobile phone; MP3; PDA; and bulging wallet; oh and a few bawbees.
Now this is not just bad for my sartorial elegance. Bulging pockets ruin suits and the line of these vestments. And heaven forbid should a phone ring and you have to rummage through assorted electronic devices, money, specs, wallets and plastic to answer before it rings off, ripping the line of your cool-looking suit as you do so.
So on this occasion, and on this occasion only, I am prepared to admit that the distaffs might have it right.
And I am rapidly coming to the conclusion that the time might be right for me to obtain a man bag to contain my life support system and to enhance its portability without the need for a specially designed suit with the dimensions of a Tardis. I know this will come as a shock to you that I am going all metro-sexual but I can see no other option and methinks the support system need for everyday living is only going to get bigger and more complex.
And although I am already there rationally, I am not yet there emotionally which is why my pockets continue to bulge and strain and why Mae West thought I might be pleased to see her. But it can’t be long now before I succumb and soon I will be able to talk knowledgeably about handbags with the distaffs. Unless you can come up with an alternative solution to my problem.
But I can promise that, given my long standing hostility to trolley dolly brief cases, my man bag will not come with bloody wheels.
Have a great week
Sis felix. Et sis fortunatus.
You are all being really quiet. No comment on last week’s dose of wit and wisdom? Was it not provocative enough for you? Did it not even annoy the Guardianistas and we know how touchy this tribe can be? Or were we still suffering the effects of the revels?
A few weeks back Cicero was in conversation with a Marketing Head Honcho, swapping notes on experiences, capabilities, skills and competencies. It was an illuminating and interesting discussion as they batted backwards and forwards career highs and lows, though there were few lows on either side.
And then Cicero asked what he thought was a perfectly innocuous, straightforward and easy to answer question-how do you build teams?
The Head Honcho went silent for a long time and then huffed and puffed before finally stumbling his way through an answer. It was not that the Head Honcho could not build teams, he just found it difficult to answer because he was so good at it.
It is often said that in sport great players make poor managers and coaches because the silky skills they take for granted and don’t even think about, they cannot pass on. This is not a problem Cicero has. Never has been and never will be, alas.
Now why should this be? Why can’t great sportsmen pass on their genius? Why couldn’t a Marketing Head Honcho explain why he was so good at team building?
Once again we will look to nature for our answer.
Last week when exploring the libretto from a song and dance show called ‘Chicago’ we mentioned the idea of the Confucian Centipede and this week we find out more about her....or him.
As we know a centipede has a hundred arms and legs. Hence the name. And if you watch closely the arms and legs move seamlessly in a beautifully syncopated fashion that Anton du Beke envies, with a ripple effect that Craig Revel Horwood admires and with a grace and poise that not even Anne Widdecombe can emulate.
One day a centipede was strolling through the forest tracked by Jenny Longlegs who had been taking copious notes of the choreography but when trying to put into action failed miserably.
‘Hey you’, she called out, ‘Mr Centipede. Look I have been studying you for a while but I can’t follow the moves you make that I have written down in my book. Explain to me how to walk like you do’
The centipede took the book, studied it for a while and with a scratching of his head, said,‘Do I do that? Do I really do that?’.
He put the book down, shaking his head in amazement, before trying to demonstrate and to follow the copious and detailed notes that Jenny Longlegs had written down.
But the centipede hadn't thought about this before, and didn't do too great. And as a consequence ‘his hundred feet got twisted and wound up in a tangle, fracturing 14 kneecaps, 7 shinbones and an ankle.’
But the story has a happy ending and though he was in terrible pain and was in recovery for a very long time, he did learn to walk again. Before long he was back on his feet and moving once again in perfect rhythm but now he tells his neighbours, anyone who comes to see, and anyone who wants to know the secrets of his dance technique, "never try an explanation of what comes naturally!"
But that is not the end of the story, you will be disappointed to learn.
For it is not enough to excuse an inability to articulate performance excellence by just saying you shouldn’t explain what comes naturally, as the Head Honcho was advised. Good leaders possess a self awareness and an insight on their performance which means they really do understand their strengths and weaknesses inside and out, and that they can articulate these. Great leaders have the ability to learn about themselves and to pass on these insights to others to coach others to optimum performance.
Sadly the Confucian Centipede would never have made a great leader or coach. We may not have hundred arms and legs but the challenge for us is the same-to be to explain what comes naturally to those around us without getting into a right fankle.
Is it only me.........but I think it’s time for me to get in touch with my feminine side, assuming of course I have one of these!
In the olden days before you left the house all you had to do was to check that you had your wallet.
And in the even older days the only thing that your wallet might contain would be money of the folding variety which was relatively portable and easy to carry around.
Now wallets bulge with a variety of plastic cards and loyalty cards as well as folding money. And you have a small life support system to carry around everywhere with you.
And pockets now strain to bursting as we men carry around a multiplicity of devices to cope with the disabilities of old age such as spectacles and the products of a mobile technology revolution such as phones and MP3 players named after a compote of summer fruits. Last week on one count alone I had stuffed into the recesses of my suit 3 sets of keys; reading glasses; mobile phone; MP3; PDA; and bulging wallet; oh and a few bawbees.
Now this is not just bad for my sartorial elegance. Bulging pockets ruin suits and the line of these vestments. And heaven forbid should a phone ring and you have to rummage through assorted electronic devices, money, specs, wallets and plastic to answer before it rings off, ripping the line of your cool-looking suit as you do so.
So on this occasion, and on this occasion only, I am prepared to admit that the distaffs might have it right.
And I am rapidly coming to the conclusion that the time might be right for me to obtain a man bag to contain my life support system and to enhance its portability without the need for a specially designed suit with the dimensions of a Tardis. I know this will come as a shock to you that I am going all metro-sexual but I can see no other option and methinks the support system need for everyday living is only going to get bigger and more complex.
And although I am already there rationally, I am not yet there emotionally which is why my pockets continue to bulge and strain and why Mae West thought I might be pleased to see her. But it can’t be long now before I succumb and soon I will be able to talk knowledgeably about handbags with the distaffs. Unless you can come up with an alternative solution to my problem.
But I can promise that, given my long standing hostility to trolley dolly brief cases, my man bag will not come with bloody wheels.
Have a great week
Sis felix. Et sis fortunatus.
Friday, 7 January 2011
Razzle dazle 'em
Greetings, welcome back and lang may yer lum reek. We trust the festival season was good for and to you.
And now let us put the revels and feasting behind us for another 12 months and get on with our work. We have much to do.
It seems that some of you are finding the comments appended to Cicero’s words of wit and wisdom oft times more interesting and entertaining than the words Cicero’s writes. Clearly it is pleasing that Cicero’s thoughts are provoking such interesting responses though it is hardly complimentary that Cicero’s own words in themselves are not considered equally intellectually fulfilling.
Still we will plough on.
Cicero is now officially an ‘expert’ and later this month, on the Feast of Burns to be precise, he has been invited to commune with academics, alumni and students at one of our leading universities, on matters close to his heart. It is a thrill and an honour.
Now as you know Cicero’s reputation as a learned orator has been passed down through the generations and though his skills may have waned with age, he is still regarded as jolly good in this aspect.
Oftentimes he has been asked to explain his oratorical skills to a younger generation and he has often found this difficult to do, just like the Confucian Centipede (to be explained in a forthcoming epistle) could not explain how he moved his countless legs. And then while sitting relaxing over the revels listening to some notes from some song and dance show called ‘Chicago’, the answer came and today is the day we get to hear his explanation and exposition of his loquaciousness.
Indeed it is rather quite simple and the insight we are now about to be given can be used, re-used and practised in just about any business situation. And all you need to remember is that the business you are in is in fact show business and your office, the meeting, the presentation, is nothing but a stage on which you perform.
In the words of the song that inspired Cicero all you need to do is.......cue music, lights, action:
Give 'em the old razzle dazzle
Razzle dazzle 'em
Give 'em an act with lots of flash in it
And the reaction will be passionate.....................’
To be great in business you have to learn to act and to put on performance. This is not about insincerity. All great acting is based on a truth but to be great, like all actors, you have to wear many faces, all rooted within in a truth.
And so when Cicero stands up to orate he is not there to read a script or a set of PowerPoint slides. That would be boring. No he is there to put on a show, to perform, to entertain and to razzle dazzle ‘em. And from time to time if we are really lucky to educate and enlighten as well.
And the same applies in meetings. It’s all a show and those who perform well in meetings understand that, understand that they are performing in front of an audience and have the lines and the acting ability to razzle and dazzle in this environment too.
The next time you are in a meeting watch carefully all those around you and work out who is the star in the room and why. Who there is putting on ‘’a show that's so splendiferous that row after row will grow so vociferous’’?
And so for 2011, be inspired by the music around you and learn to put on a performance each and every time you have an audience. Treat your business as a stage and your business as show business. It’s all show business.
So just remember ‘Razzle dazzle 'em..........And they'll make you a star!’ And that’s not a bad ambition to have for 2011.
Is it only me...........but what has happened to our 9-5 culture?
The recent inclement weather, which climate no change deniers continue to ascribe to man mad global warming, go figure, has brought it home to me that in this country at least when the weather has gone a wee bit wonky, we do not do 9-5 in our shops, factories and offices. And this is so serious that Calvin is turning in his grave as his work ethic is torn to shreds.
Most of us have a contract with our employer which says we must turn up at work at 9am and go home at roughly 5pm. I accept that there are multiple variations on this theme but broadly speaking this is the standard working day for most people. Agreed?
And yet this is not how our psyche works. We do not think of our working day starting at 9am but when we leave our centrally heated homes to try to get to work. And vice versa in the evening. Our working day ends when we get home and put our slippers on.
So when the weather goes a wee bit wonky we do not accept we have to leave the house earlier because we know it is going to take longer to get to our workplaces for 9am. And so we leave the house when we normally do and get in late. And of course we have to leave early so we are home at our normal time. It does not occur to us to accept that our slippers may have to wait by the fire for a wee bit longer.
Now it might only be me, and on this occasion it probably will be only me, but surely we have an obligation not just to our employers but also to our customers and to others around us, to make more of an effort to fulfil our contractual terms, even if that does mean leaving for work earlier and getting home later. Or maybe, and this is a radical and revolutionary thought, handing back the portion of our pay we earned while doing nothing travelling, or deducting from our holidays. Fair deal?
And maybe if more of us adopted said approach and maintained our normal contracting hours irrespective of when we left home and got back, we might even get our bins emptied when they are supposed to be emptied. Trains, planes and buses might run. And businesses would not hide behind the weather and use it as an excuse for appalling levels of customer service. Did anyone else try to phone a call centre while the snow lay on the ground tick and crisp and even? Did you get through?
And for the avoidance of doubt, and to ensure I am not hang, drawn and quartered by those with whom it is my great privilege and pleasure to work alongside, let me make it clear that no one I know adopts this approach.
But what do you think? Barmy or brilliant?
Have a great week.
Sis felix. Et sis fortunatus.
And now let us put the revels and feasting behind us for another 12 months and get on with our work. We have much to do.
It seems that some of you are finding the comments appended to Cicero’s words of wit and wisdom oft times more interesting and entertaining than the words Cicero’s writes. Clearly it is pleasing that Cicero’s thoughts are provoking such interesting responses though it is hardly complimentary that Cicero’s own words in themselves are not considered equally intellectually fulfilling.
Still we will plough on.
Cicero is now officially an ‘expert’ and later this month, on the Feast of Burns to be precise, he has been invited to commune with academics, alumni and students at one of our leading universities, on matters close to his heart. It is a thrill and an honour.
Now as you know Cicero’s reputation as a learned orator has been passed down through the generations and though his skills may have waned with age, he is still regarded as jolly good in this aspect.
Oftentimes he has been asked to explain his oratorical skills to a younger generation and he has often found this difficult to do, just like the Confucian Centipede (to be explained in a forthcoming epistle) could not explain how he moved his countless legs. And then while sitting relaxing over the revels listening to some notes from some song and dance show called ‘Chicago’, the answer came and today is the day we get to hear his explanation and exposition of his loquaciousness.
Indeed it is rather quite simple and the insight we are now about to be given can be used, re-used and practised in just about any business situation. And all you need to remember is that the business you are in is in fact show business and your office, the meeting, the presentation, is nothing but a stage on which you perform.
In the words of the song that inspired Cicero all you need to do is.......cue music, lights, action:
Give 'em the old razzle dazzle
Razzle dazzle 'em
Give 'em an act with lots of flash in it
And the reaction will be passionate.....................’
To be great in business you have to learn to act and to put on performance. This is not about insincerity. All great acting is based on a truth but to be great, like all actors, you have to wear many faces, all rooted within in a truth.
And so when Cicero stands up to orate he is not there to read a script or a set of PowerPoint slides. That would be boring. No he is there to put on a show, to perform, to entertain and to razzle dazzle ‘em. And from time to time if we are really lucky to educate and enlighten as well.
And the same applies in meetings. It’s all a show and those who perform well in meetings understand that, understand that they are performing in front of an audience and have the lines and the acting ability to razzle and dazzle in this environment too.
The next time you are in a meeting watch carefully all those around you and work out who is the star in the room and why. Who there is putting on ‘’a show that's so splendiferous that row after row will grow so vociferous’’?
And so for 2011, be inspired by the music around you and learn to put on a performance each and every time you have an audience. Treat your business as a stage and your business as show business. It’s all show business.
So just remember ‘Razzle dazzle 'em..........And they'll make you a star!’ And that’s not a bad ambition to have for 2011.
Is it only me...........but what has happened to our 9-5 culture?
The recent inclement weather, which climate no change deniers continue to ascribe to man mad global warming, go figure, has brought it home to me that in this country at least when the weather has gone a wee bit wonky, we do not do 9-5 in our shops, factories and offices. And this is so serious that Calvin is turning in his grave as his work ethic is torn to shreds.
Most of us have a contract with our employer which says we must turn up at work at 9am and go home at roughly 5pm. I accept that there are multiple variations on this theme but broadly speaking this is the standard working day for most people. Agreed?
And yet this is not how our psyche works. We do not think of our working day starting at 9am but when we leave our centrally heated homes to try to get to work. And vice versa in the evening. Our working day ends when we get home and put our slippers on.
So when the weather goes a wee bit wonky we do not accept we have to leave the house earlier because we know it is going to take longer to get to our workplaces for 9am. And so we leave the house when we normally do and get in late. And of course we have to leave early so we are home at our normal time. It does not occur to us to accept that our slippers may have to wait by the fire for a wee bit longer.
Now it might only be me, and on this occasion it probably will be only me, but surely we have an obligation not just to our employers but also to our customers and to others around us, to make more of an effort to fulfil our contractual terms, even if that does mean leaving for work earlier and getting home later. Or maybe, and this is a radical and revolutionary thought, handing back the portion of our pay we earned while doing nothing travelling, or deducting from our holidays. Fair deal?
And maybe if more of us adopted said approach and maintained our normal contracting hours irrespective of when we left home and got back, we might even get our bins emptied when they are supposed to be emptied. Trains, planes and buses might run. And businesses would not hide behind the weather and use it as an excuse for appalling levels of customer service. Did anyone else try to phone a call centre while the snow lay on the ground tick and crisp and even? Did you get through?
And for the avoidance of doubt, and to ensure I am not hang, drawn and quartered by those with whom it is my great privilege and pleasure to work alongside, let me make it clear that no one I know adopts this approach.
But what do you think? Barmy or brilliant?
Have a great week.
Sis felix. Et sis fortunatus.
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