Keith February 14th, 2008
Kevin Rudd’s apology to the stolen generations yesterday was profound, and very moving. I think it was also notable that the centrepiece of it was a story. Just one story, of a single person’s experiences. Yet this was a powerful way of making the speech something more than platitudes. It showed a willingness to listen, and to attempt to understand, the experiences inflicted upon our indigenous people by authorities until as recently as the early 1970s.
The speech was attended by all but one of the five living former Australian Prime Ministers.
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The Games was a satirical program shown on ABC TV in Australia in two series in 1998 and 2000. It was written by John Clarke, Ross Stevenson and others. Episode 3 of Series 2 (3 July 2000) was significant in that it included the following “Apology from John Howard”.
While the program was satirical, this particular speech was in its own way moving, and almost as profound. It was read by the Australian actor John Howard, and can currently be seen on YouTube here. A full copy of the episode script is here.
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Keith February 14th, 2008
I move:
That today we honour the indigenous peoples of this land, the oldest continuing cultures in human history.
We reflect on their past mistreatment. We reflect in particular on the mistreatment of those who were stolen generations – this blemished chapter in our nation’s history.
The time has now come for the nation to turn a new page in Australia’s history by righting the wrongs of the past and so moving forward with confidence to the future.
We apologise for the laws and policies of successive parliaments and governments that have inflicted profound grief, suffering and loss on these our fellow Australians. We apologise especially for the removal of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander children from their families, their communities and their country.
For the pain, suffering and hurt of these stolen generations, their descendants and for their families left behind, we say sorry.
To the mothers and the fathers, the brothers and the sisters, for the breaking up of families and communities, we say sorry.
And for the indignity and degradation thus inflicted on a proud people and a proud culture, we say sorry.
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Keith February 1st, 2008
Well, the holiday is over – back in the office again this week. Now that I am climbing out of the email deluge, time to start posting here again too!
My friends at Anecdote have found another blogging app on Facebook – “Blog Friends”. Seems to offer some different features to “My Blogs“. Also seems to be a bit buggy…
And here’s a nice quote:
“Si hoc legere scis, nimium eruditionis habes.”
Keith December 18th, 2007
“There was no filling in of forms, no demanding of a fortnight’s notice in writing, no referring to some remote impersonal authority for a decision, or any other of the devices used by our timid collective age to eliminate the individual equation in life.
“The senior official merely said: ‘Come on, there’s no time like the present.’ No platitude to me has ever sounded more profound and original.”
From Laurens van der Post, in The Lost World of the Kalahari, when in urgent need to fly out for more assistance for filming the expedition.
This was written in 1958. How much have we learnt about true empowerment in 50 years?
Keith December 17th, 2007
… certainly sounds like the right thing to do at this time of year! As per an earlier post here, the VPS-CIN ran a Christmas Celebration last Thursday, featuring Humour Australia. You can read more about what happened on the CIN site.
Since I attended this session, Troy Swindells-Grose of Humour Australia left some interesting comments on my earlier post.
It was a great session. Like a lot of these things, it strongly reinforced a lot of what I already knew, and added in some new ideas as well. I was reminded of one of my favourite quotes:
“You must be the change you wish to see in the world.”
- Mahatma Gandhi
Of course, there is another great Gandhi quote:
Reporter: “Mr Gandhi, what do you think of Western civilisation?”
Mahatma Gandhi: “I think it would be a good idea.”
I was interested to hear about the existence of “laughter clubs” – groups of people that just get together and laugh! A great way to release endorphins. During the session, Troy referred instead to “dolphins”, and how when you laugh they swim around and tickle the pleasure centres of your brain…
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Keith December 10th, 2007
“Creativity and humour are identical. They both involve bringing together two items, which do not have an obvious connection and creating a relationship. Laughter improves creativity. Laughing… is a very sophisticated brain function, which sweeps our entire cerebral cortex, and is terrific for improving mental flexibility.”
This quote is from the web site of Humour Australia, an organisation that “inspires positive change and healthy working relationships.” (Aka “HA!”) Thanks to Frank Connelly and the VPS CIN for bringing this to my attention!
This is based on some fairly impressive research. I am particularly interested in the connection to creativity, bearing in mind earlier posts here about the importance of creativity in knowledge work.
Also interesting to see the research on stress:
“Humour and laughter affect a physiological response, which is actually opposite to the effects of stress, according to Lee Berk & Stanley Tan – Loma Linda University School of Medicine.”
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Keith November 30th, 2007
Now here is a really interesting concept! Have a look at FreeRice:
From the site:
FreeRice has two goals:
- Provide English vocabulary to everyone for free.
- Help end world hunger by providing rice to hungry people for free.
This is made possible by the sponsors who advertise on this site.
WARNING: This game may make you smarter. It may improve your speaking, writing, thinking, grades, job performance…
Sound too good to be true? Well, it does appear to be totally legitimate. The Urban Legends Reference Pages (Snopes) supports it. You can also read about it on the United Nations World Food Programme site – the agency that is distributing the donated rice.
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Keith November 19th, 2007
I have probably mentioned here that I am now a member of the International Association of Business Communicators. I wrote a brief article a while ago for their global magazine, Communication World. The article was one of a small collection under the topic: How does your company use new media to connect with stakeholders? (Global perspectives.) It seems that this article is now available on the web at HighBeam Encyclopedia and Goliath. On that basis, I figure that I should be able to repeat here (and save you one whole mouse click):
Telstra operates a public web site (Nowwearetalking) promoting public comment and debate on the telecommunications industry. I authored a blog on this site for eight months. I wrote about human communication, technology and my work in knowledge management.
Nowwearetalking has been remarkable for the openness of its editorial policy. Critics of Telstra have been surprised to see their comments published unedited on the forum. Blog articles are checked by legal, but in the 8,000 words I posted, I didn’t have a single editorial change.
Openness is critical to social media, both publicly and inside organisations. It has been my experience that the easier you make it for people to share knowledge, the more likely it is that they will. The more you trust others, the more likely it is that your trust will be honoured.
Keith October 11th, 2007
“Hey, did you hear the joke about the Zen master who ordered a hot dog?”
“No…”
“He said, ’Make me one with everything.’”
– Cris Johnson, Next