What we think...
2010
Now here’s a man who’s gone through some change in his life. Gerald Ratner gave a great speech recently to an audience of HR and Communications practitioners, with a word or two of advice for Tony Hayward as he grapples with the negative publicity BP is currently suffering.
I’m sure you have the same kind of debates in your office as we have in ours:
“Do I spell the word programme with one or two m’s?’ and ‘what about fulfil – should it have two l’s at the end, or just the one?”
Do you prefer pictures or words?
If anyone ever needed convincing that there are better ways to support a presentation than with powerpoint, then this film by the RSA might just do it. At 10-minutes long I know you’re thinking you don’t have time, but once it starts I challenge you to be able to stop it before you get to the end.
The film is about what motivates people at work, which in itself is an interesting subject, highlighting some of the things that can bring about real engagement… The kind of engagement that adds value to a business (more productive, innovative or proactive), as opposed to the kind that simply makes people happier at work (laudable though that may be).
India Knight (Sunday Times 24 May) wrote an interesting article on handwriting, and highlighted a recent survey that a fifth of schoolchildren have never [hand]written a letter, while a tenth have never received a letter themselves.
Is handwriting really dying? Has letter-writing already died?
I’ve just been reading an interesting article from Nick Robinson about the content of today’s Queen’s speech.
Nick begins by asking if we can remember any previous Queen’s speeches – not the visual elements of the speeches such as Black Rod, the throne or the horse-drawn carriage, but the content of the speech itself.
Can’t say I do…
Wow. If there was ever a group of people in need of a story, it is the UK’s new coalition government.
I have personally watched hours of tv election coverage and debates, and read even more in the papers and online… and I’m fascinated. But still a little bit baffled as to how we’ve ended up here, and potentially for five years. Is this really what we voted for?
Yesterday, we saw a fantastic example of two people uniting behind a common purpose in the Downing Street rose garden: to form a stable government to serve in the national interest. For David Cameron and Nick Clegg, the power of that purpose allowed them to rise above their differences. Now we have to wait to see whether they can take their parties with them. And the ministries. And the civil service. And the markets. And the country.
Everyone enjoys a sports metaphor. The Boat Race is a good one. Rowing is often used in corporate literature as a metaphor for teamwork – we’ve used it ourselves in corporate films. The visual evidence is compelling; watching 8 oars in perfect time is dynamic, aesthetically pleasing and an obvious demonstration of the importance of working together.
Businesses may be feeling optimistic about the impending economic recovery, but need to ask themselves just what effect the recession has had on their employees. Another black cloud looms.
Trust is hard to earn and easy to lose. Executives at Toyota will be feeling this acutely. A cartoon in The Times today shows a driver of a Toyota with a ejector seat lever next to him. From an icon of reliability to a standing joke is a mighty fall. MPs, bankers, and other groups have also seen trust erode recently – because people believe they have done irresponsible things with public money.
Washington and San Francisco. Barack Obama and Steve Jobs.
In America on 27th January 2010, two men gave two very different speeches. Both President Obama and Steve Jobs took to the stage last night to command the world’s attention. President Obama’s first State of Union came in the wake of a media storm following last week’s Massachusett’s election, while Steve Jobs introduced the iPad, having managed to generate a whirl of popular speculation around Apple’s latest launch without saying a word.
Burns Night, Monday 25th January, saw many of our team, clients and associates participate in a very special whisky-tasting event at Century Club in Shaftesbury Avenue. This wasn’t just about an excuse to indulge in the amber nectar, nor simply an opportunity for a social; it was a superb, seamless piece of storytelling, delivered by the Ambassador of one of the UK’s most celebrated single malt scotch whiskies – The Balvenie – Dr Andy Forrester.
Is anyone else as besotted as I am with meerkats? I just love them. They’re so cute, confident and cool. Not just the real animals of course – I mean the pretend ones on Compare the market’s fabulous TV ads.
I have been taken aback on two occasions recently as I realised the sheer power of the way humans share things digitally.
First, I noticed my son Dominic (who is 16) using phrases such as “No Charlie” and “That hurts Charlie” dropped into everyday speech – as 16 year-olds do! There was a particular way that he said it, a kind of baby-talk. I just dismissed it as a “different generation” thing. Then, he was on the computer playing youtube videos, and happened to play the one this came from. I was on the London underground a few days later – and a small girl was using exactly the same phrases. I have since discovered that this youtube video has been viewed 149 million times! From a chance filming on a home camera of a couple of kids new phrases almost instantly appeared in youth speech!
(This from our colleague Dan Honeywell, whose expertise in all things Mandarin earns him huge respect from the team):
Isn’t language fascinating? I have always been amazed at how squiggles, lines, dots and sounds can combine to form such beautifully intricate forms of communication.
Each Christmas as the fire begins to burn low and the full impact of culinary over-indulgence takes its effect, I find myself perusing the presents of others. This is not to say that there is any dissatisfaction with my shiny stockpile of gifts – far from it. It is more a combination of curiosity, downright nosiness and the lack of physical ability to move further than the length of the sofa by the end of the day.