ON THE BUS — I spent part of the morning yesterday with my friend Michael Croton and a group of other worthies, talking about the state of the world and our place in it. Michael and I are in the same business and he ran a good show.
Yesterday was an interesting day for a variety of reasons and so, this article, at Micheal’s request, gathers some of the key things that I learned yesterday — April 22, 2009:
1. Many Britons are starting their own vegetable gardens. I guess the Obamas are too. But the return to The Good Life seems a strange phenomenon. Can Reliant Robins, Boney M and Wimpey bars be far behind?
2. Employee loyalty in business is hard won, but easily moved. These days just about everything is challenging it.
3. It hard to get anyone to do you a favour when the economy is in bad shape. It seems to be garden first, friends and colleagues second.
4. The organisational communication business is facing contradicting demands. On one side we need to help simplify strategy and communications in companies generally. On the other side, we need to help manage the complex business of building and keeping employee loyalty, or ‘engagement’.
5. Government forms are a nightmare. Applying for ‘frameworks’ and ‘rosters’ to be on procurement lists is a cottage industry in itself.
6. Beer and petrol will always get more expensive. Maybe it’s time to get out of the market for both?
So that’s a lot to learn in one day. Thanks for giving it a good start Michael.
/df
