Tag Archives: Personal Rant

The corruption sideshow

The joint is in a mess. Every time you look at the news, there is another “revelation” of dodgy morality, insider dealings, political duck-shoving and just plain corruption. Greed has become the magnet in our moral compass, and to compete, … Continue reading

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Complete me

“You complete me” a really cheesy line, made famous by the Jerry Maguire movie, but relevant elsewhere. Communication devices have exploded over the last decade, most of us now have multiple tools by which to communicate, but just how well … Continue reading

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Toyota’s tent joins Ford and GM in the boot.

  As a little kid, the milkman used to deliver from a horse drawn cart. Even then, in the mid fifties it was outmoded, almost rustic, but endlessly engaging for a 5 year old boy. Much later, I was the … Continue reading

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Lessons from SPC

Once the dust has settled, political mud-slinging completed, recriminations done, and blame been allocated over yesterdays decision by the Government not to support SPC Ardmona to the tune of $25 million, which would have triggered another $25 mill from the … Continue reading

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Return on Humans

Most business leaders are familiar with the notion of return on capital, funds invested, etc, and those same leaders often say something along the lines of “our people are our  most important asset” weather they believe it of r not, … Continue reading

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As useful as Harold Holt’s flippers!

  I have come to the conclusion that the crop of marketing and strategy development people looking after the current crop of Canberra wallies are about as useful as Harold Holts flippers. After watching a host of political advertising last … Continue reading

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Unplug, or just get some balance.

Yesterday walking to a train station in an unfamiliar part of Sydney, I asked directions of a “40-ish” bloke, making the mistake of not realising he had the plugs in, and was completely unaware of anything around him, including me. … Continue reading

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Unheralded visionaries unite.

Very few people have heard of Douglas Engelbart, who died on July 4, but it was he that thought up much of the stuff we accept as normal, every day tools and devices. His relative obscurity is in stark contrast … Continue reading

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How do we judge political performance?

This week we have had a budget, arguably the first half realistic assessment of the economy for some time, with some politically unpalatable pills swallowed. Not before time. We have also had the budget reply, which was more an election … Continue reading

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Big Brother CAN watch.

Privacy has been, and remains a key concern in relation to the use of the net, and particularly Social Media. Every time you log on you leave a trail, and as we increasingly log on with mobile devices, the data … Continue reading

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Public sector flatulence

It is wonderful to consider the impact the Prime Ministers “A Plan for Australian Jobs” announcement over the weekend has had, already, on Australian jobs. Multitudes of grateful bureaucrats have laboured mightily for months and months, crafting and re-crafting the … Continue reading

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The value of L.A.B.

LAB, Lemming Avoidance Behaviour, or simply, avoid being like everyone else. Whilst we are in the age of the “wisdom of the crowd” there is a profound difference between that wisdom and simple herd behavior. We are not lemmings, but … Continue reading

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The good news and the bad news

The good news is that at least part of the nasty, smelly, political wind coming our way in 2013 will be avoided by the Prime Ministers announcement yesterday of the September election date. The context of the statement, that she … Continue reading

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Where to now my friends?

Today is Australia Day, January 26, 2013. As I watch what is going on around me, I see a lot of frenetic stuff, the hype at the cricket, crowds of people carrying “Australia” bags, hats and eskies, Pollies offering platitudes … Continue reading

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Brand babbling

This is a situation where a modest intellect has learned the language, and so can spew out a bunch of marginally related clichés. They  understand some of the obvious stuff, can look at the numbers, and have a superficial understanding … Continue reading

Posted in Branding, Marketing, Personal Rant | Tagged , , , , | 5 Comments

3 aspects of Leadership and responsibility.

Recently my local council took a decision under extremely dubious circumstances, and against the wishes of much of the local community, and their own guidelines. In preparing for my 3 minute opportunity to voice my disgust at the decision, and … Continue reading

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Australia Inc. A strategy please!

If Australia was a company, it would be a case study for the need for a coherent strategy as the basis for commercial sustainability. As it is, the place is a shambles, the Directors are held in contempt, clearly they … Continue reading

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Governments and marketing

The current Australian government has a marketing problem.  Their other problems, trouble with the hung parliament, zealous credit card expenditure by MP’s, inability to out-communicate the drivel of the opposition, a rebellious electorate, a failed “moral Imperative” and others, are … Continue reading

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Lipstick on the pig

Last week I was talking to a headhunter seeking to fill a senior contract management role for which I had been recommended. I had polished up the resume and sent it as requested, and he had browsed my blog and … Continue reading

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Politics trumps policy

When this Parliament came to us “hung”, as it were, I hoped that its nature would engender a vigorous debate, the merits of policy would take centre stage as the various sides argued their point of view. Naively, I believed … Continue reading

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