Discipline makes Daring possible.

Musings from The Disappearing Boss on People, Process and Responsible Autonomy for small-business employers.

Category: Humanity

“keep the human in view”
August 19, 2019

“keep the human in view”

In today’s ‘Thought for the Day’ on Radio 4, Tina Beatty told us of an insight by Hilary Cottam, which is that many big ‘social welfare’ projects fail ‘not because of a lack of funding, but because of a lack of attentiveness to what people really need.’  For women without easy access to water, a well in their village is a far better – and far cheaper – solution than building a dam.

As Tina said, this seems so obvious, why is it being viewed as radical?

I think it’s because ‘failure’ depends on which side of the funding you are on.  Take a look at the diagram in this piece by Richard Murphy to see the kind of thing that often happens.

What actually makes Hilary Cottam radical is that she’s suggesting that the ostensible purpose of these projects should also be the real one.

All too often, we mistake what we want for what the people we claim to serve want.

Once you know this, what you do for the people you serve can get simpler.

 

 

The beauty parade
August 14, 2019

The beauty parade

The problem with forcing yourself to conform to a particular ideal of ‘beauty’, as an individual or a business, is that over time and space, what constitutes that ideal changes.  Plus of course it is an ideal, never actually seen in nature.

Of course this is the point.  No one can possibly keep up, but they will spend time, money and energy trying.  Time, money and energy that could be spent on things that are more dangerous for the status quo.

Yet, as humans, we find beauty in the things we love.  Whatever the beloved looks like, becomes by definition, beautiful.

That means there’s no need to define yourself by another’s standard.   Live up to your own.

The right people will see your beauty.

Better tools
August 12, 2019

Better tools

One of my favourite Seth Godin aphorisms is this one:

“Make things better by making better things.”

Making things better is what humans do.  And we mostly do it by creating new, better tools – tools for making and tools for doing; tools for organising and tools for co-ordinating; tools for learning and tools for thinking; tools for connecting and tools for feeling.

For me, great tools extend human capabilities without undermining the humanity behind them or the context around them.   They make us both more human and more part of the world we live in.

Our very best tool is our ability to re-imagine what ‘better’ means.

Counting
August 9, 2019

Counting

“No taxation without representation!”

We’re all familar with the demand that triggered the American war of independence.

Colonists felt it was deeply unfair that they should have no say on how they were governed from afar, but still had to pay duties on luxury goods received via that far-off government.

Nowadays there are those who would like to flip this idea around, claiming that those who pay ‘no tax’ should not be represented in government.

This is based on misinformation of course, ‘no tax’ in this case means ‘no income tax’.   People who are not eligible to pay income tax still pay national insurance, VAT, fuel duty, tobacco and alcohol duties, car tax, insurance tax, and these taxes often represent a significant proportion of their income.

What those suggesting “No representation without taxation” are really saying is “You don’t count.”

Tax is far too important to merely avoid.   Time to think differently about it, before it’s too late.

 

 

Neighbours
August 6, 2019

Neighbours

Last night, on my way to my pilates class, I spotted one of my neighbours leaving the house of another.

I happen to know that she visits this neighbour every day, with a meal, with shopping, to have a chat.  She’s been doing it for at least 30 years.

For no other reason than that they are neighbours.

What struck me last night was the sweatshirt she was wearing.

“Love will save us” it said.

She’s right.  Nothing else will.

Parasparopagraho Jīvānām
July 26, 2019

Parasparopagraho Jīvānām

I’ve just ordered “Jainism and Ethical Finance”, by Atul K. Shah and Aidan Rankin, so I thought I’d find out a bit more about Jainism before it arrives (to supplement the tiny bit I know from reading ‘Kim’).

Two phrases really stood out for me in the Wikipedia entry on Jainism – ‘Parasparopagraho Jīvānām‘, the Jain motto,  which means something like  “the function of souls is to help one another”; and ‘Anekāntavāda’, the doctrine of ‘many-sidedness’.

To quote the Wikipedia entry fully,

Anekāntavāda ‘states that truth and reality is complex and always has multiple aspects. Reality can be experienced, but it is not possible to totally express it with language. Human attempts to communicate is Naya, explained as “partial expression of the truth”.’ 

Parasparopagraho Jīvānām and Anekāntavāda seem like useful things to bear in mind as we try to communicate with each other.  At least to me.

10 years old
July 23, 2019

10 years old

When my dad was 10, he was evacuated to a small Durham village, to be safer than in Newcastle upon Tyne.

When I was 10, men walked on the moon.

We live through enormous changes, often not realising how enormous they are at the time.

What happened when you were 10?

Of course I had to try it
July 10, 2019

Of course I had to try it

I mentioned Tony’s Chocolonely 100% slave-free chocolate in an earlier post this week.   So, of course I had to try it.

It’s good.  Very near in taste to my favourite brand.

Which means I can happily carry on eating chocolate.

Phew!

Because the alternative was giving it up.

Play
July 5, 2019

Play

“To exercise one’s capacities to their fullest extent is to take pleasure in one’s own existence, and with sociable creatures, such pleasures are proportionally magnified when performed in company.”

That’s when ‘work’ becomes ‘play’.

 

From “What’s the Point If We Can’t Have Fun?” by David Graeber – well worth a read over the weekend.

Have a good one.

Happy Birthday
July 4, 2019

Happy Birthday

James Lovelock is 100 years old today.

Dr Lovelock is best known for his ‘Gaia hypothesis’ – the idea that living things interact with their non-living environment to create a synergistic, self-regulating, complex system that helps to maintain and perpetuate the conditions for life.

The hypothesis has come in for a lot of criticism over the years (after all, it is a hypothesis, not a theory), but the idea of the Earth as a system seems obvious to us now.

This wasn’t the case when Lovelock developed his idea, while working at NASA in the 60’s. And for me, this is the core of his contribution – he gave scientists a new paradigm for thinking about the Earth and our relationship to it, that enabled them to improve our understanding of how it works, and how it might evolve.

That’s quite an achievement.

Happy Birthday Dr Lovelock!