Keith June 19th, 2008
Just heard an interesting interview on the radio. The subject was Joe Bennett, who has recently published a book called: Where Underpants Come From. You can read more about the book in an article in New Zealand’s Dominion Post.
Apparently, Bennett looked at the “Made in China” tag in his new undergarments one day, and decided to find out more. This led him on a rather strange journey to China, and into Chinese history.
The thing that caught my attention was a story he told of one incident during the journey.
As I remember the story, he was eating in a small restaurant in a lane-way in a Chinese city. He was the only tourist in the restaurant, among 30 or 40 Chinese customers. The others in the restaurant fairly quickly noticed his entire lack of ability to eat with chopsticks. He was “spreading food all over the restaurant, and not eating anything”. Everyone was very good-natured about it, and some began to laugh at his predicament. He laughed with them. One came over and gave him instructions on eating with chopsticks.
By the end of the meal, even though he spoke almost no Chinese, and the other diners little English, they were all laughing and joking together. When he left the restaurant, everyone said goodbye to him. The waitress even followed him out onto the street to return his tip.
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Keith May 1st, 2008
So - today is my first day post-Telstra!
I have spent the day in Sydney delivering a half-day workshop at the Data Quality conference, and spent some time catching up with Matt Moore in the evening over a refreshing drink or two - and a $10 steak. We had a very small group for the workshop, but everyone seemed to get something useful from it. It was actually quite fun having the small group - we only needed one table, so I came and sat at the table as well, and delivered the session from there. More fun in the city tomorrow.
By odd coincidence, last night was also my first night at a Creative Writing course at CAE, which I am attending with my daughter Renée. One of the exercises at the course was to write continuously - about anythng - for ten minutes. You can imagine what was the first thing that came to mind. So, just for fun, here it is - completely unedited:
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Keith March 21st, 2008
So we have found our new car. This certainly demonstrates the power of networks. It also is an example of the use of a “hook” in a story. Would the exercise have worked in the same way if I had just written: “Wanted - used car”? A couple of my correspondents mentioned that it was the use of the precise amount of $8,516.58 in the title that attracted attention. This also perhaps reflects the “stickiness” factor discussed by Malcolm Gladwell in The Tipping Point
. (In fact, my use of a number like this was inspired by $16,940, an old Sci-Fi short story by Larry Niven.)
There are still many people that are critical of Internet social networking tools, such as Facebook. In August last year, Brian Lehrer of NPR in New York put out a podcast called “Facebook is a waste of time”. He starts off sounding critical of Facebook, and particularly its impact within organisations. It is interesting that while some organisations have blocked Facebook access to employees, others are using it extensively. Last I heard, over 14,000 Deloitte staff are members.
In this podcast, he interviews Nick O’Neill of allfacebook.com. Nick highlights the benefits of Facebook to organisations for recruiting and adding to brand image, among many other things.
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Keith March 16th, 2008
Exactly one month after posting my request for a replacement car here and on my LinkedIn and Facebook networks, I picked up my new car.
And I paid exactly $8,516.58!
It is a really nice, low-mileage 1999 Subaru Impreza (no, not a WRX). It is in most ways a substantially better car that the Hyundai it is replacing. It even comes with a number of bonuses, like mag wheels, roof bars and towbar. Here it is, safely ensconced in the front yard:
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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 13th, 2008
I want to buy a second-hand car, and I am posting this to see if anybody out there has a suitable one for sale, or knows of one. What I am looking for is a small to medium-sized hatch-back. A Toyota Corolla is one good example of what I would be happy with. Ideally, it should be no older than a 2000-2001 model, but I would prefer a low-mileage car. Less than 60,000 km on the clock would be great. Not too fussed about the colour – preferably not black or too dark. A car that is available in Melbourne (Australia) is preferred. And here’s the main point – I want to spend no more than $8,516.58 (AUD).
We recently lost our second car (the one I used for commuting) when it was written off in an accident on the Lorne-Deans Marsh Road in Victoria here on 29 December last year. We had loaned it to my daughter and a friend, who were on their way to the Falls Festival. Some vehicles in front of them stopped rather abruptly, and they didn’t stop in time. The good news is that no-one was badly injured – although they did collect some interesting bruises.
I am taking the approach of posting this request here, as well as circulating it via LinkedIn and Facebook, just to see how social media and my network may be able to assist with this situation.
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Keith February 11th, 2008
Anecdote has released its workshop schedule for 2008. Check out the full schedule. The next workshop in Melbourne is Narrative Techniques for Business on Wednesday, 27 February.
About Narrative Techniques for Business
Surveys and metrics can uncover trouble in an organisation, but they usually don’t help you identify the reasons for dysfunctions, let alone generate the resolve to springboard people into action. Instead, learn to use stories as listening posts and tap into the emotion to spark action. In the Narrative Techniques for Business workshop you will learn:
• How to find and collect stories
• How to make sense of the stories, and then
• How to design interventions that improve how things work
Participants practice each step in the process with one another and receive feedback that improves their understanding and ability to work with organisational stories.
Cost
The cost for a one-day workshops is $495 (early bird discounts apply, see website for details).
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
Keith October 4th, 2007
How’s your Latin? I have just read that this was a favourite saying of John Steinbeck. Apparently all of his books carry this insignia. Although I have read a Steinbeck or two, I don’t remember noticing this.
A clue - apparently a professor once told Steinbeck that he would “be an author when pigs flew”.