What we think...
December 2009
In these recessionary times, companies around the world are cutting back on bonuses and cash rewards because they can’t afford them, with the exception it seems of certain banks.
Found this great, two-part article on the BBC News site. Commissioned by BBC2’s ‘Working Lunch’ programme, executives and entrepreneurs are asked about the literature that has inspired them in business.
Within organisations and the community people look to their leaders for guidance. Their messages are often powerful, inspirational and influential. So what happens when your leader communicates a controversial issue? Recently a Parish Priest openly supported and encouraged desperate people in need to steal.
Watching Chris Hollins win Strictly Come Dancing on Saturday evening provoked a great conversation amongst my friends gathered to watch the final. How we all love to see an underdog win, how an engaging personality could triumph over real talent, how small and vibrant won ahead of tall and elegant and then one person said ‘I think it was the journey he took….’.
I went to a Christmas carol service on Saturday in Lichfield cathedral. Not through any great sense of religious conviction, but just because it’s a nice thing to do at this time of year. And the carols – sung by bright young things with hopeful faces – were great.
Barnardo’s have always created great adverts. Adverts which communicate the lives of those they strive to help. And their recent TV spot titled ‘Turn Around’ is nothing less than brilliant.
CSR (Corporate Social Responsibility) has been around for many years. In fact, since the 50’s when the phrase was first used by academics and business leaders to identify and articulate the impact of global businesses on society. (I imagine the phrase was near strangled by the booms and busts of the 80’s and 90’s when the environment was not at the forefront of a businesses strategy).
I’ve just received a really nice set of postcards from Two Sides Paper featuring six illustrations by Holly Sims.
Illustration has always been close to my heart, having been an avid Beano and Dandy collector as a small boy. Its ability to share and communicate stories is, I suppose, what draws me in (if you can excuse the pun).
Congratulations to Bill Bryson, whose book A Short History of Nearly Everything has been declared the top selling non-fiction book of the decade.
Apparently London is becoming a breeding ground for innovative new words and phrases. In fact, it’s becoming a new world leader in the production of slang. That’s according to linguists, says the BBC.
I loved this clip from the TED series which features Sir Ken Robinson giving a highly entertaining yet profoundly moving talk on creativity, and the effect on creativity that our education system has.
A wonderful piece of storytelling
It was a complete coincidence, but I started to read Animal’s People just a few days before I heard on the news that this week is the 25th anniversary of the Union Carbide chemical factory disaster in Bhopal, India.
I was amused to read an article in The Times today relating to a slating Facebook posting by the daughter of ousted General Motors Chief Executive Fritz Henderson, giving the company’s management a piece of her mind about the enforced exit of her father from the organisation.
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