A refutation of psycholgical egoism...

I came across this little theory a couple of nights ago in a conversation regarding altruism. It has been suggested that I am pathologically atruistic, in that I take altruism to extremes helping others to my own detriment. This is almost certainly true, but the argument was over whether I did this from "true" altrusim i.e. that I expected no reward for my actions, or from a form of egoism whether concious or unconcious whereby my actions were conditioned by my perception of a reward, whether that be immediate material reward in the form of gratitute, or an intangible but none the less real increase in my perceived status withion my group, or from some more nebulous concept of reward in an as yet undefined afterlife. I had to think about this for a while. I reasoned that if the underlying reason for my altruism was unconcious I would struggle to become aware of it, since I can not readily access my unconcious mind. Consequently this was a difficult argument to refute, other than to question the existance of the unconcious mind, and also the function should it exist in terms of controlling concious actions. It suggests that the unconcious mind doesn't simply control autonomic functions but is actively involved in the decision making process that the concious mind engages in. This presents a problem since any action could be triggered by an unconcious thought and given that the unconcious is by definition uncontrolled this would surely lead to significant issues for the courts. I'm pretty certain a defense of "my unconcious mind made me do it" simply wouldn't wash.

That leaves the issue of ulterior motives to be addressed. I have no problem with this as a concept, but I am not at all certain that it fully explains the complexity of an individuals situation. I am aware of myself as a product of a sequence of events over time that have shaped and moulded the way that I perceive my environment. I am also aware that my mind is unique, as is everyones, in terms of the neural pathways that have been created over time and how these pathways influence the way I "think" and "feel" but, and for me this is crucial, I am also aware that the decisions that I take are made from a combination of thoughts filtered through my particular mental pathways to reach a conclusion. I am in control of this process and make choices based on what is the "right" thing to do.

I don't do things because they are expected, or wanted, or needed, or from any sense of how my actions will benefit me, but simply as a function of my upbringing, pschological conditioning, personal ethics and so on. The list of filters is quite a long one, but at no point does a consideration of what benefit I may derive from the action enter the equation. Perhaps I am just not wired that way. By the same token, the consideration of what it may cost me doesn't feature as a consideration. Perhaps I am just odd, but I'm not sure that the idea of an exception proving the rules applies in logical arguement. Now of course we hit upon a snag in my own arguement. This is at best anecdotal evidence, or to put it another way, no evidence at all. I could be misinterpreting my own motives, I could be masking my true intentions from myself. I may yet be proved wrong and be a slave to my subconcious, but all I have is my own evidence and my own thoughts.

So is this just futile musing to no purpose? I would like to think not, for the simple reason that the process has made me think about why I do the things I do, why I take altruism to destructive extremes, why I am, at root a self destructive personality type, and it has also reminded me that I don't need to take the opinions and theories of experts too seriously, particularly in the softer sciences.....

The malady at the rotten core of society.....

Shakespeare once wrote "There is something rotten in the state of Denmark" and indeed we have historical records going back to Domesday in 1087AD that suggest that there has always been a feeling that society, and particularly the upper echelons of society are inherently dark and up to no good. The idea that power corrupts and absolute power corrupts absolutely has been around for quite a while and when we look back at 15th and 16th Century Italy we see corruption on a truly massive scale. It does make one wonder if there is something fundamentally twisted in the human psyche that prevents us as a species from working co-operatively as a society for anything longer than about a week.

In my own experience I have seen politicians exposed for endemic and widescale fraud, the supposedly independent and honest free press sullied by scandal, the Royal family rocked by allegations of nepotism and infidelity and even the police enmeshed in corruption at the most senior levels. This is no new turn of events however, fifty years ago you couldn't become a senior policeman without being a Freemason. You would be excluded from senior political positions based on the school you attended and the chances of breaking out of your families social status was next to nil. So, if we posit that this is something that is at the core of society, what exactly are we to do about it?

Firstly, let us consider that thinking in terms of a less complex, less pressured society as proposed for communities in developing countries and particularly hunter/gatherer societies is almost certainly a red herring. If we look to the African and South American tribes that anthropologists studied to suggest these ways of life as being fundanmentally better we see some of the most vicious infighting and abuse of status and power imaginable. Similarly if we look at the alternative political structures such as Commnuism we see systems that despite the best intentions of their proponents are invariable destroyed by self-serving individuals trying to utilise the system for their own betterment.

There can be little doubt that as a species we are a product of many generations of evolutionary development to create the creature that we now are, and trying to fight against those developments may be a battle that we can not win in the long term. It may even be a battle that, as a species we may be better off not winning in terms of our chances of survival, but on an individual day to day level, surely, it is a fight that we should make every single day......

The last American hero and anti-hero....

The man after whom this blog is named, Bill Hicks, is the subject of a documentary on BBC4 tonight in the UK, as a prelude and warm up for a screening of his "Revelations" show.  The man was my icon through my formative years, my creative idol, my passion, my inspiration, and yet I was always aware that his genius came at a tremendous cost, not simply in his untimely death, but in the problems that he faced in trying to deal with an addictive, self destructive, highly self-critical, personality. As a performer he was at the cutting edge of comedy constantly pushing audiences harder and harder, and challenging their perceptions. Through the tough times his performances were erratic and after he sobered up, his anger was often too much for many people, and certainly for a television audience, but his shows always asked questions that more people should ask.

It is rare that I recommend Bill Hicks to people that I know, because he is very much someone that you need to build up to over time. His style is aggressive and uncompromising, his stance on drink and drugs even after he gave both up was difficult for someone who has never experienced the difference between taking them recreationally, and taking them in an attempt to expand the mind in the frame of Timothy Leary. If you don't like punk, you won't like Hicks. If you don't like having to think to hard, you won't like Hicks. If you don't like questioning politics and freedom and generally held beliefs, you won't like Hicks. But if you are prepared to have everything you have ever believed challenged and broken down and torn apart then just maybe it would be worthwhile having a look and listen. Just maybe......

Why fighting against the blame culture is the most important fight....

It is often suggested that we live in a society where everything that happens is someone elses fault. Whatever misfortune befalls is it is never us who are to blame, but the system, or the government, or big business, or just the other guy. Many people are under the impression that this is a modern phenomenon, and certainly in the UK it is often the case that people blame America and the propensity to litigation that seems endemic. This again is an example of aportioning blame, and as with most of these cases, is almost certainly incorrect. Historically we have always found scapegoats, found people to blame, and generally it is people whio are "not us". Frequently the blame has escalated to the point of large scale war and destruction, but there is plenty of evidence that we have been blaming each other for a very long time.

One of the clearest examples is found in the witchraft trials that were carried uot throughout the middle ages. A village would be beset by illness, or a farmer would find livestock falliing ill and blame would be attached to someone within the community in the form of accusations of witchcraft. Often this was done to someone who was on the outskirts of the village, removed from the greater community, often with a disability of some sort. We seem to be conditioned to distrust difference, to be wary of the stranger, and to shift blame rather than take responsibility.

If we are to succeed as a species in ever increasing numbers and with ever more scarce resources we are going to be left with no choice but to become more accepting of each other and more understanding of our place in the greater global community. A part of that process will inevitably have to be an understanding that we are all responsible firstly for ourselves, secondly for our families and finally for our communities. We must take ownership of our lives and our actions and for the implications of everything that we say and do.....

From the ladys not for turning to spin city.....

Back in the heady days of the 1980's when bankers could do not wrong, greed was good, capitalism was the saviour of the planet and market foirces ruled we had a political leader who perfectly matched the times. Love her or loath her Mrs Tatcher, now Baroness Thatcher was a force to be reckoned with. Her famous speech regarding the pressure she was under to reverse her position on economic policy in which she gave the quote "You turn if you want to, the ladys not for turning" was one of many high points in her career, and there can be little doubt that she was an indomitable presence. However, whilst she may not have been for turning on her policies, she was also the first Prime Minister to openly employ media consultants and to court popularity through media engagement. From the start of her political career she was carefully groomed for high office, with voice coaching to make her oratory more acceptable, power dresssing to increase her visual presence, carefully scripted speeches and carefully manicured performances in interviews.

This position has, unfortunately in my opinion, set the tone for everyone who has come after her. The arch exponent of this new form of politics was of course Tony Blair, but even here we see a style of presentation that owes a significant debt to the work already begun with Baroness Thatcher. I have little doubt that the majority of those who seek political office do so with the best intentions at heart, and from a genuine desire to try to shape our nation for the better, but it seems that once they begin to move through the party ranks towards the front benches they are haried on all sides by advisors and mentors and coaches changing the way they stand, the way they dress, the way the speak, even the words they say.

It is not for nothing that one of the favourite comedy programmes of the majority of politicians used to be "Yes, Minister" which highlighted in a tremendously tongue in cheek way, the role of civil service mandarins in corrupting and modifying the stances of even quite senior politicians. I well remember enjoying quiet a long chat with a very senior member of the Labour opposition from the Thatcher era and being quite shocked and surprised to discover that even a character as strong and forthright and powerful as this statesman felt shackled by his own parties media consultants, who, to paraphrase his own words, had no mandate from the electorate, no political beliefs, and shared few of the moral and ethical standards espoused by the people that they were advising.

It seems a shame to me that the era of true political values seems to have disappeared. Perhaps it will return one day, when the cult of celebrity has passed, when Big Brother and X-Factor are no longer topping the viewer ratings, when newspapers aren't sold on the basis of who has the best gossip, when we finally understand that without real substance we are as nothing as a society, but cynic that I am, I am not sure if this is even possible.....

Understanding that perception is not reality.....

We are constantly bombarded by sensory input in our day to day lives and it can be quite overwhelming sometimes, but what is perhaps even more overwhelming is that what we realise we perceive from that sensory input is only a tiny fraction of what our senses are actually telling us. Our eyes for example can perceive a single photon of light. Our ears are capable of picking up an incredible range of frequencies, our sense of smell is so refined that it can detect a single molecule, and yet all of this data is instantly filtered by the brain in such a way that we are not even aware that we have perceived it. just take a look outside. The colours that you are seeing all around you are not the real colours as the eye is perceiving them, but our minds filter the input to make something manageable. It is quite incredible really.

But there is a point to all this. Our minds are strange and wonderful places and they act without concious control to keep us safe and to give us the information that is vital rather than simply overloading us. This can have a twist though, because if our perception of reality in the form of the physical world can be and is skewed by our minds, how much more likely is it that our perceptions of things which are not physical, i.e. thoughts, dreams, interpretations of other peoples intentions and so on are also being skewed in a similar way. To what extent, if at all can we rely on the information that our minds are giving us. Further, is it possible by training the mind, to achieve a state whereby we are more in control of the filters that our minds employ.

I have a friend who is a gamekeeper. She spends all day out in the fields observing, monitoring, tracking and stalking. Her eyesight is technically no better than mine (we have similar prescription glasses) but she is aware of far more going on around us than I am. She will see movement in her peripheral vision that I don't even notice and hear birdsong way before I do. She has trained herself over twenty years or so to be considerably more aware of her surrounds than I am, and logically this would suggest that she has managed to re-train the way her mind filters inputs. If this is possible, can we modify the less concrete perceptions in a similar way? If we can then it would lend far more credence to affirmation therapies as well as to things like NLP and CBT, but in order to do this do we need to better understand the way in which the mind works and how these filters are implemented and by what part of the brain?

I would suggest that we do, and that it will become ever more pressing as we become less and less attuned to our environment and more and more attuned to virtual reality......

Why living on the edge is a viable position.....

The concept of not accepting an easy life, of pushing boudaries constantly, of craving and seeking ever greater challenges and pushing ones physical and mental limits is one that can at first glance be quite appealing, at least in the short term. When it is considered as a permanent lifestyle choice it can however be quite daunting, and is almost certainly something of a selfish choice. I would image that it can be quite challenging to live with someone who is constantly taking risks, constantly looking for a sense of danger, but I can again see that short term it could be quite exciting. I watched quite an interesting programme not too long ago about a pair of base jumpers and their families. Base jumping is one of the most extreme sports there is with a massive casualty rate both of serious injury and death, and consequently the pressure placed by participants on their partners can be very high indeed.

Of course there are all sorts of ways of living on the edge, from risking life and limb in sporting endeavours to taking commercial risks in business, but they all have their consequences. I wonder if there is a correlation between personality type and the need to take risks. It would appear anecdotally that the ego has a part to play in the risk taking drive, as does a failure to lose the sense of invincibility that tends to be inherent in younger children. We are by nature an inquisitive species, and it is almost certainly a part of what has allowed us to evolve as we have to become the dominant species. It should be noted however that there is a need to find a balance between risk taking and security that will allow an individual to balance on the edge successfully and create a vibrant and fulfilled life.

It's a dream at least......

The best way to deal with the dark days......

I guess it had to happen. One of the reasons for the title of this blog is that there are times when things get a bit much, when the stress levels start to become less manageable, and the dark pit of despair opens up in front on me threatening to swallow me whole. I have said before that I don't consider that I suffer from depression. I have depression, but most of the time I don't suffer, it is just part of who I am. However there are these times, fortunately becoming more frequent when the coping strategies start to fail. So, for all of you out there who have similar experiences, and for those who don't but perhaps know people who do, here are a few of the things that I have learned over the years.

The first is that if I allow myself to really sink the first thing that goes is my drive to get out of bed in the morning. I've never been much of a morning person anyway, but on my down days it is a nightmare, and is usually a good indicator that something is wrong. When I spot this I find that sleeping with the curtains open in such a way that I get the morning sun on my face can make a difference, both in terms of making me get up to avoid the glare, and in terms of giving me a little boost of warmth. The next thing to go is my appetite. You wouldn't think it to look at me, but my appetite is extremely fragile, and again when I am down I can go days without remembering to eat. Of course doing this only makes the situation worse as no food means no energy and the depression just gets worse. here again, knowing that this is an indicator of further deterioration helps because if I spot it, I can make myself eat by diarising specific mealtimes, pre-making meals that I know I will like and generally looking after myself a little better.

Sometimes these signals get missed, or pass so quickly that I don't have time to deal with them, and sometimes the solutions don't work well enough, or don't at quickly enough, so for me, stage three is when I start to beat myself up more than usual. I start blaming myself for the most ridiculous things over which I can have no control, and at this point I am already too deeply into a depressive episode to pull myself out easily. Knowing that this is a possibility, and knowing that I have a "safe space" that in these circumstances I will use - my airing cupboard - I have put a poster up in the space reminding myself of personal matras that I have trained my mind to latch on to to pull myself back up, personal images that I know help me to feel better, and personal mottos that give me strength.

The key for me is in being prepared. Accepting that depressive episodes will happen and acknowledging that by having strategies clearly in place I can take some measure of control over my condition, which in itself tends to be helpful. I hate the idea that I am a burden on others, and detest the idea that I need other people to support me, so being able to help myself is a big step forward. Some people need that extra support and that is fine too, but for me, relying on others only ever makes me worse.

I hope that this little article helped, and would welcome suggestions or feedback from those with depression, and those who know, and help those with depression......

Progress through continuous improvement....

I am often asked if perfection in business is possible. Can one create a company where every single function and process runs at one hundred percent efficiency and everything happens at exactly the right time and in exactly the right way. I have always, and will always answer in the negative, if for no other reason than I personally believe that perfection can only ever be an unattainable aspiration. That is not to say that it is not worth striving for, having as a stated aim and ambition, or even as part of the business plan. It is also not to say that it is impossible to achieve perfection, or at least a close approximation of it in small parts of the business. However, running a business in the real world is beset with complexities and chaotic, unpredictable events that have to be reacted to and have an impact on smooth operations.

The real key to running a successful business is the way in which the imperfections are handled and how they are managed to limit the impact on overall efficiency. At one of the companies I have a small hand in Dwarf Web Design there is an ethos within the management function that every chaotic event, everything that impacts the business is an opportunity to learn and to grow and to make the company stronger. It operates as a complete team effort from the appointment bookers to the proof readers and everyone inbetween, and is managed in a communal way so that everyone has an effective input and an effective chain of command.

This may sound a little like a miltary operation, and in a sense it is. For a business to succeed it has to be managed as though the survival and success of the busines was a life or death decision and that every decision made is time and effect critical. This is the same mindset taught to military leaders, and it is taught for a reason. In order to survive in turbulent times it is essential that not just the leaders but the whole organisation learns and grows and develops. There used to be a hot phrase in management speak "upskilling" to describe what the way in which staff efficiency could be improved by better training and better resourcing. Whilst I am not a big fan of management speak per se, there are some core concepts that do make sense and this is one of them. The greater a persons range of skills, the better able they are to adapt and change and develop to meet changing demands, and the more likely a company is to achieve perfection....

Why personal development is the key to a happy life…..

There was a huge trend not so long ago for brain training software online and through games consoles, and a similar fetish for personal trainers at gyms across the country. The craze seems to have abated somewhat in the light of research that suggested that particularly in the case of brain training, the improvements achieved were not statistically significant. I’m quite happy to accept these figures on face value for now, as that is an argument for another post, but what I’m not so happy about is that these reports have led to the aforementioned reduction in use. It doesn’t really matter to me whether the improvements were real or only perceived, the mere fact that people were paying attention to their personal development was, for me, a far more important aspect.

I have, for a number of years, been of the opinion that there is something lacking in our modern education system. Something that used to be there but has been lost amidst the courses on social studies, media studies, social responsibility and the rest. That something is the joy of learning, and through learning growing and developing. People don’t seem to find enjoyment in the thrill of opening a book on a brand new subject, just for the sheer pleasure of finding out something new. They don’t seem to explore the wealth of literature that our civilizations have produced. They don’t seem to be interested in experimenting with the world around them to better understand their place in it.

The love of learning is crucial in my opinion to the ongoing stability of our society and the future success of humanity as a species. It is only through personal learning, and perhaps more importantly taking responsibility for personal learning that we can become a happy and more stable society….

The politics of correctness….

We are, none of us, perfect. For my own sins I am fully aware that my spelling is atrocious, not helped by my one and a half fingered approach to typing. A drawback you may think for a prolific blogger and writer, and certainly without my trusted proofreaders I would almost certainly be in trouble. I’m not one who is going to pull someone else up on their spelling, grammer or punctuation, put it that way. It is the same the World over, we all have our little foibles, the things that we would love to be better at, perhaps the things that we think we are good at, ut perhaps aren’t so good. This is not generally a problem, but it can become so if we lose the ability to gentle chide each other about our failings, if we become too precious about our petty fiefdoms, our talents and abilities. If I took offence when my colleagues correct my mistakes the use of my blogs would be diminished by the distraction of poor spelling. I could take offence certainly, but the corrections are presented with humour and frankness, occasionally my sanity is called into question as is my intellect, but when taken in the context of office banter, I would be extremely churlish to not take it in the spirit that it is intended.

I think there has been a knee jerk reaction to issues like workplace bullying and overt sexism that has led to an increase in caution regarding office banter, but there is a strong argument that in the modern business setting where pressures are constantly mounting and stress is at record levels that there is a place for robust humour and banter, and a need to “let off steam”. By no means is this a call for a return to the days of the subjugation of women in the workplace, or the extreme bullying that can take place in some situations, but it is my personal opinion that the balance has shifted too far away from the much needed sense of camaraderie forged in the melting pot of people bouncing off and rubbing up against each other, if you will forgive the expressions, and it is high time that this situation was rectified.

We do have a tendency in the UK of throwing the baby out with the bathwater, you can tell it is a tendency as we even have an expression for it. We need to urgently and rationally re-assess how we communicate and interact with each other in all wakls of life and all situations, and focus on finding commonality rather than worrying about the differences….

Failing health and the implications of stress….

We all get stressed by different things and to different degrees, and the way that we handle that stress as individuals varies greatly. What may be an absolute disaster to one person, causing them to completely break down may be something that is coped with easily by someone else. I have been told by a great many people that I deal with very high levels of stress well, but I wonder if this is actually the case, because there is an additional wrinkle to this tale in that different people exhibit stress created symptoms differently, so when I appear calm, that is not necessarily the emotion I an actually experiencing. So, from the point of view of dealing with stress, how does your typical overworked GP manage to get to the root of what is happening and how damaging an individual s finding that stress?

The simple answer is that they don’t. Doctors, unless they are highly specialized really have little or no chance of understanding what is actually going on psychologically speaking. Even if the Doctor does gain some insight, the current state of mental health care in this country is so overstretched that treatment options are severely limited being either anti-depressant drugs which tend to be of limited benefit and can cause serious side effects, or “talking” therapies which again have only a limited success rate. None of the treatment options available are aimed at curing the root cause of the stress, but can allow the sufferer a little relief, perhaps enough to begin to address the causes themselves.

This is somewhat surprising given that we have been seriously studying extreme stress for quite a while now. The research really began in earnest as a consequence of the First World War when soldiers were disabled by what was at the time called “Shell-shock” but which was almost certainly a for of what is now called post traumatic stress disorder (PTSD). It was found that under extreme stress the human mind begins to shut down, re-routing neural pathways to avoid whatever the cause of the stress is, leading to sufferers becoming increasingly isolated and withdrawn, prone to panic attacks and extreme anxiety, and with a depleted immune response. These symptoms are seen in all walks of life, not just the military and are highly variable in severity.

It is the opinion of the author that we are facing an epidemic in the UK as the effects of having to bail out the banks and the failing economy begin to bite deeper. We are already seeing the frustrations spilling out onto the streets, and I feel that there is more to come yet. We urgently need to try to address the causes of stress and find better ways of managing this chronic condition in the long term in a way that doesn’t rely on medication and unproven therapies. There are solutions, there are many people who deal with some very extreme stress, perhaps it is time to analyse the way in which some people manage to cope, and to try to adapt successes to a wider audience….

So much nonsense.....

With the worst of the troubles apparently over, the analysis is well under way into what happened and why, and this is the point, as is so often the case in the media arena, that there is a vast avalanche of complete and utter nonsense being spouted on all sides, whether it is the "string-em-up" brigade from the right, or the "no-one is really to blame" leftist liberals. I would like to add my voice to this stream, with the aim of cutting through all the nonsense and coming up with a rather more sensible idea and hopefully some sensible suggestions. This latest round of troubles started with an excuse, the shooting of a man in London, believed to be armed, by police officers. We know now that contrary to early reports the oplice had not been fired on, but there was a modified hand gun found at the scene loaded, and the police were on scene as part of an operation into organised crime. This young man it appears likely to have been involved in this operation in some way. There are arguements on both sides as to whether a community response against the police is warranted or not, but this is largely irrelevant, as what happened next suggests.

Following on from initial incidents of violent protest there was an upsurge in looting from shops across wide areas of London. It appears that the reason for this change and escalation was that the police had employed a policy of wait and see with the initial incidents giving a signal that people were unlikely to be challenged and caught for looting. Once this mindset was established there was little incentive for people to stop looting in the initial stages. It is being suggested that the police response was inappropriate, and the police have claimed that the situation was unprecedented, but it didn't start that way. I would suggest that it became unprecedented as a consequence of tactical errors made early on in the situation. Certainly things could have been handled differently but it is impossible to extrapolate whether the outcome would have been better or worse.

Moving on from the initial escalation, we saw widespread looting and vandalism spreading out across the country and I feel that this was as a consequence of the hands off approach taken by the police. The tactic was replicated in other cities and as soon as it was clear that looters were getting away unmolested it bacme open season on shops. There have however been some positives. The speed with which people have been brought to justice has certainly had an impact, as has the speed and accuracy of the uploading of CCTV images of people involved. The change in police attitudes on Tuesday night to a more aggressive strategy also seems to have helped the situation calm down, and alongside this the changing mood of local communities against the looters seems to have had a similar effect.

It will be interesting to see how this all moves forward, and what, as a society we learn from the mistakes made....

No summer holiday for politicians.....

Oh the inhumanity! Oh the injustice! Our political leaders have had to curtail their summer break early to come back and discuss the troubles that have plagued the UK over the last four nights. How are we in aposition where our MPs have so many breaks? Isn't running the country a full time job? Don't they get paid enough to keep working with maybe a twenty days of a year like the rest of us have to? I just don't get it? We are in the middle of the worst economic position in living memory, we have looting on the streets, public sector workers threatening strike action and a country living in fear of cuts to essential services. Would it not have been a good time to show some solidarity and carry on working on the issues that need addressing?

Oh, I know that politicians are terribly hard done by, working eighteen to twenty hour days, long nights in parliament, long days in constituencies, constant stress and pressure....but....I have those things in my own way, and I certainly don't get in excess of £50K a year for doing it. We are all working hard at the moment, trying to keep our heads above water, many of us working two jobs just to make ends meet and still struggling, but this is not the point. The point is that we need our politicians. Love them or hate them we do need them to be on the job, making the tough decisions, making the changes that need to be made to create the growth and recovery that we need to move forward.

This is not too much to ask I don't think. Politicians make a choice, they are not forced to do the job they do, they do it, it the main for noble reasons of a sense of duty, or a sense of wanting to make this country better. Sure, they make mistakes, they act inappropriately, they fiddle the odd expense form, but they still have a job to do, and many of them do that job well. We need to work with our leaders, and in addition, they need to work with us. We should all be contacting our MP's with our concerns, our fears, even our suggestions, and being part of the solution, rather than part of the problem. This is, I think, what Mr. Cameron really means when he talks about the big society. All of us, working in harmony and unity towards a brighter and more sustainable future where those in need are looked after, and those who contribute most are fairly rewarded, where it is safe to walk the streets and all of our children are well educated and productive irrespective of background, ethnicity, gender or anything else.....It may sound like a pipe dream, but I truly believe that together we can make it happen....

Hard decisions and how not to make them....

We are currently seeing widespread trouble across the United Kingdom, and there are a variety of reasons being put forward. Dis-satisfaction at the police and their actions, budgetary cuts to social and welfare services, political inaction in the face of economic disaster, falling incomes, rising unemployment, disaffection amongst inner city youth, anger at the state of the nation, and I'm quite sure that some or all of these have their impacts, but they are not justifications. Until 9pm last night the police in Birmingham had orders not to engage looters and rioters except in protection of personal safety. This meant that looters felt that they had free rein to act as they wanted and, in my opinion gave completely the wrong message. As we have seen, cctv footage has been widely used to arrest looters with 24 hours, but this is not the point. The damage done to property and livelihoods is tremendous, as is the harm done to communities and societies in general.

From the outset it should have been clear, indeed was clear to many people that there was a lot of opportunist thievery that could and should have been prevented. By actively engaging looters and rioters things would almost certainly have been more heated initially, but would have been resolved far more quickly. The use of rubber bullets and baton charges would have dispersed opportunist groups immediately and left a far smaller hard core of troublemakers who could have been mopped up quickly. I understand that the police are under pressure, but this is the reason for the title of the post. Tough decisions needed to be made, consistently need to made on a situation by situation basis, indeed as situations develop. More importantly these decisions need to be made quickly, and made by unit commanders on the ground in possession of the facts.

If we think about the way that military units operate in similar urban combat situations, we see that the squad leader on the ground has authority to stand off or to engage as the situation requires, assessments are made quickly and effectively and orders are followed instantly. I am not suggesting that a military solution is the way forward, but certainly there are things to be learned across disciplines. I can also understand tha there is a level of fear amongst police officers as there is little backup or support if they make a mistake and members of the public are injured or worse, but this is a consequence of the failure of our political leaders and feeds into the difficulties in taking tough decisions by leaving the police feeling isolated and unsupported. This feeling is in part because people have generally lost faith in the police.

In the current climate we need a fresh start, and fresh approach whereby we stand firmly behind our police forces, letting them know that we will still support them even when they make an occasional mistake, or there are bad apples that need to be removed. Only by acting in this way will we regain an effective police force and the control that is needed. You can imagine having a manager who encourages you to take risks, to try things, to think outside the box and allows you to do this by making sure that you know that they have your back covered no matter what as long as you are doing your best. Now imagine working for a manger who, you know, is going to stab you in the back the first oppotrunity they get....result? your performance drops, you are constantly looking over your shoulder, you don't achieve much at all....which is better?

An interesting weekend for Londoners.....

Well I guess we were probably overdue a bit of street theatre here in the UK. We typically have some form of rioting about every ten years or so, and generally it is during a period of hot weather. It is questionable as to how much if any effect the weather has on these things, but it is as good a reason as the official one. Apparently the police responded to an incident of an armed man, received fire, and returned it, killing the man. This sparked a response from the local community, leading to widespread rioting and now looting. Anything can be an excuse for this sort of behaviour, but what it tends to come down to is that our society is a lot less stable than we like to think.

There has been a suggestion historically that society is only three meals away from anarchy, but this has never been the case. We see extreme poverty and hunger around the world but seldom the complete breakdown of society despite people missing not just three meals but hundreds. The causes of civil disobedience are many and varied but boil down to just one think. Society, as we have it currently established simply doesnt work in any real sense. People don't "get on" with each other, in the main they barely tolerate each other, and are in a constant state of stress. In normal situations these stresses are dealt with successfully, but once a trigger has been found anarchy is the prefered solution.

If we want to have a society that works, and that is stable we need to completely rethink the way we do things, the way society is managed and governed and the way that it is organised. We need to find a way to encourage people to take pride in themselves, their communities and the wider World as a whole. This can not be enforced or ordered by laws but must come from within, from education and understanding between all peoples. The big problem, and one which must be addressed if we are to succeed as a species is ego. We need to find a way to deal with our egos on an individual and group level such that we remove, or at least subsume the selfishness that causes most of our problems. This is not going to be easy....

When dreams become nightmares....

Many of us have hopes and aspirations, and for some of us those develop far enough to become dreams. For some these can be as simple as being financially solvent, for others they can become much more complex, for example running ones own company, having a million opunds in the bank, having a happy and successful marriage and family life or whatever it might be. Some of us go on and achieve those dreams, sometimes through luck, sometimes through hard work and determination. Whatever the route to achieving those dreams, one would think that getting there would be the start of a period of bliss and contentment. I wonder however, just how often those dreams turn out in reality to be rather less plerasant than we anticipated. How many people have taken the big step of setting up in business for themselves, only to find that the reality of dealing with bureaucratic regulations, and finances and staff and sales and marketing and all the other headaches that come with that particular route turn that dream, which is often a dream of freedom from wage slavery into a nightmare in which one is trapped and can see no escape.

How often does what appears to be a dream relationship quickly turn sour as what were once endearing and charming characteristics become nails-down-the-blackboard spine tingling, or even worse, when that relationship becomes abusive. As a species we appear to be unique in the we strive for our dreams. We have moved beyond the immediacy of thought followed immediately by action, we do not respond simply to stimulous, we plot and plan and scheme and try to find solutions to barriers put in our way, but in so doing, I wonder if perhaps we haven't lost some of the simplicity that can actually make us happy.

There have been arguements that we are driven to have these dreams and aspirations by the media and particularly advertuising, but for me this is anj oversimplification. I am pretty much convinced that the drives which make us reach for the stars are the self same drives that encouraged us to come down from the trees and explore the savannah grasslands of African that were the birthplace of our species. They are fundamental to our evolution, but as such they should be explored and better understood in an attempt to try to create a better connection between understanding our dreams, understanding our route to achieve them and understanding that having achieved them there may be new dreams aheda, but having the capacity to enjoy the contentment of a job well done, at least for a little while....

How do you solve a problem like the budget?.....

In the UK we are beset by an horrific budget defecit which is seriously limiting the availability of government finance, and indeed seriously limiting the governments ability to engage fiscal economic controls. Unless we are very careful we are at risk of seeing our currency adversley affected as well as seeing our inflation rate rising. Already we are ina  position whereby household incomes have fallen in real terms to the levels they were at ten years ago, and recent reoprts suggest that this situation is only likely to worsen. Coupled to this we must consider that unemployment is rising, and that the job market is largely stagnant, particularly in the regions. It is also clear that the housing bubble, has, if not burst, then at least is slowly deflating. We seem to have avoided the catastrophic housing price collapse that theDaily Mail regularly likes to scare its readers with, but that is not to say that it isnt still a possibility.

So, what are we, and more specifically our poklitical leaders going to do about this? David Cameron seems fully committed to a programme of engaging communities to bring forward voluteerism to shoulder some of the burden faced by the NHS and particularly the care sector. In addition he seems to feel that by driving change in the most deprived areas he can alleviate some of the costs to government of rising poverty levels. Personally I think he is going about this in completely the wrong way, since the blitz spirit that he seems to be trying to engender was a grass roots movement caused by the extreme desperation of a global conflict. At present much of the worst news regarding the economy is being supressed and it will only be when there is complete open-ness about our national situation that the general public will understand how precarious our position is.

I strongly believe that Mr Cameron et al are failing to give the British public the respect they deserve in terms of assuming that open-ness will lead to societal collapse. I would suggest that the time for sugar coating the pill is long over. As a population we are acutrely aware that we are in trouble, and are aware that there will have to be significant sacrifices that must be made. We are prepared for these sacrifices, we understand what must be done. As a nation we are well used to hardship and struggle and we are strong enough to cope. I would graetly appreciate it if our leaders came clean, held there hands up to the mistakes that have been made, humbly and sincerely apologised for mis-leading the British public and started to work tgether, not just as a coalition but across party divides to try to fix the problems that we face. Only by doing this can the British public be moved from their current position of cynicism with regard to oplitics and be engaged to take the necessary steps to make our nation great once again.....

Cover versions and the rise of anarcho-punk....

The ethos of the original punk movement was that nothing is sacred, not religion, not politics, not monarchy or society, anarchy by another name creating an atmosphere in which artistic expression became de rigeur, and intellectual achievement was measured by ones ability to extemporise and to grow beyond formerly perceived boundaries. There have been claims that the punk movement died with Sid Vicious and the excesses of the Ramones, but far from this being the case I would suggest that there is a good arguement that within the metal genres the punk ethos is by no means extinct. When I listen to Marilyn Mansons cover version of Sweet Dreams of Tainted Love I see someone who truly understands the punk principles that you can take something wonderful, mis-shape and twist it, deform and corrupt it, and end up with something even better than the original. By darkening and introducing elements of power goth, nu-metal, fantasy and theatre the cover versions carry, forme, far more power.

Then we can look at bands like me first and the gimme gimmes and their punk pop cover versions of show tunes, country and western and pop standards. They are a band made up of members of other bands who get together specifically to have a bit of a laugh and to be irrevernt and express themselves musically with the songs that they grew up listening to converted to a style of performance that they better understand. Seeing them live is an experience not to be missed, holding true to the hard drinking punk traditions of old but with a deep vein of humour. Then you have bands like Hayseed Dixie, not necessarily punk in sound but almost certainly punk in principle making country versions of metal tracks. Even Rolf Harris got in on the act transforming some rock classics in his own inimitable style combined with his unique artistic style.

I am here to tell you that punk is not dead, it will never be dead as long as there are people who understand that we stand alone in this World, that life is short, that there are no rules but those that we make for ourselves, that there are no limits to what each of us can achieve unless we limit ourselves......

The idoiocy of British politics.....

In Britain we have a predominantly three party political system with a few fringe parties beyond that. The main parties are Conservative, towards the centre-right of the political spectrum with an emphasis on devolved power to regional centres, a minimisation of government spending and intervention and a liberalisation of the economics of capitalism to drive the economy forward. We then have the Labour party, centre-left in position leaning towards centralisation and government control, guided by quasi-socialist principles of a fair society through political intervention. Between the two major players we find the Liberal Democrats who tend to be rather more left-centric than was the case in the past, being focused on creating a better and more equitable education and health system by reducing government spending on what they consider to be non-essential areas such as defense. This is of course a drastic overslimplification, but such is the nature of blogging.

Currently we are operating under a coalition government of the Conservatives and Liberal Democrats, with the Conservatives being the dominant party in the coalition. We are also in a particularly delicate and fragile economic position as we slow start to emerge from a severe economic downturn. We are in an interesting position as a consequence of our economic situation that whichever party had been successful at the last election would have been faced with the need to make drastic cuts in public spending in order to reduce the deficit caused by bailing out our banking sector to the tune of almost a trillion pounds. It seems to have escaped everyones notice that we bailed out thebanks in the form of purchasing shares and that at some point the government will be in a position to sell those shares, and with a following wind they may even turn a profit on them for taxpayers - although given our history particularly with our sales of our gold reserves in the 1970's we do have a habit of missing the curve in terms of selling our national assets.

The idiocy mentioned in the title is that it appears, as a voter it makes little if any difference which of these apparently varied parties I choose, or indeed if I choose non of them. I am left in the same position of limited government action, limited accountability, limited responsibility. I want, crave and need a party that will engage with the British public at a far more fundamental level. That will understand at a core level the hopes dreams and aspirations we the citizens have for our great and beautiful nation. That will want to work hand in hand with, rather than against those of us who are committed to making our country better. But what do we get? Politicians who seem incapable of reaching a position of power without engaging in corruption, without being in the pocket of one corporation or another, without having an eye on the revolving door exit strategy that seems endemic in Westminster. I believe that enough is far too much, and that the time is ripe for root and branch change in our political system. We need to stand up and be counted as with one voice at the next opportunity we state quite clearly that given the available choices on the ballot paper we would far rather write in re-open nominations......

The rise of rampant opportunism

It never cesaes to amaze me that no matter what the political or economic climate there are always those who will take advantage of the situation to make money. Looking at our current situation here in the UK we have a coallition government and are still trying to climb out of the recession caused by the collapse of the banking industry, and yet we still have a position that the banks, who were a major contributing factor to the position are currently making it increasingly difficult for individuals and businesses to borrow money, and charging higher interest rates than before the current problems. They provide reasons for this state of affairs which at first glance appear to have validity in terms of reducing lending to high risk groups, and charging an appropriate interest rate, but interbank borrowing is the cheapest it has been for a very long time, the Bank of England base rate remains at record low levels, and the argument that inappropriate lending has been reduced is a nonsense highlighted by the continued existance and advertising of pay day loans, perhaps the most inappropriate borrowing there is.

If we look further we see the the utilities companies, freed of the controls of state ownership, have, rather than increased competition and therefore given customers a fairer deal, apparently colluded to raise prices far above the rate of inflation, or indeed above increasing costs. Looking at Centrica, formerly British Gas and their posting of £1.3bn profits one has to question whether price rises to the extend they have been seen are justified. Now, the company itself, along with the rest of the industry say that such profits are required for the massve amounts of investment the industry needs, but if these profits were not channeled into shareholder pockets, that would not be the case.

Another example is the insurance industry. How many times do you receive a quote for insurance for your car, your home, whatever only to phone up and question the price and have it instantly reduced. If it could be reduced without apparent difficulty, why try to get away with the original inflated price? Again it smacks of profiteering at the most fundamental levels. We live in a world where a benefit cheat who has had to commit fraud to survive gets longer jail time than a millionaire politician who decided that he would fraudulently claim expenses paid by taxpayers just to further line his already plush nest.

This country, and, I would argue, most of the World is tarnished by the machinations and profit motivations and money grabbing tactics that have become endemic from the top down. Without strong leadership in the form of scrupulously honest, society aware leaders, we seem doomed to keep making the same mistakes and thereby undermining the progress and success that we, as a species have enjoyed for quite a while. Some say that it is just a part of our nature, that greed and appetite are bred in the bone, but if this is the case why have society at all? Why not revert to a winner takes all anarchic system? If society is supposed to serve one purpose it is to give our populations an opportunity to rise above our base instincts and develop more fully into the protectors and guardians of our world that we should all be.

There is no cause for the rampant opportunism that we curerntly endure, it has no sustainability, and therefore no future but destruction, and it needs to stop now....

Trance states and creativity.....

There is an aspect of the creative process that historically was an integral part of that process but seems to have been missed more recently. That part is the use of trance or meditative states as a precursor or preparation for creativity. We have historical accounts of master makers of musical instruments spending a period of contemplation before starting a great work, anecdotal stories of the great artists spending time in darkened rooms prior to begining a new work, master blacksmiths sitting alone in the forge before even heating the metal. If we look at the modern reconstruction of Druidry, based on the 15th century Christian writers accounts we see a tradition of meditating on spirit guides before composing in the bardic style, and even when considering the writing of great works like the Torah or the Koran where scribes meticulosly copy out the text we see a pause each time the name of God is used for contemplative prayer for inspiration. The image of the artist waiting for the muse to descend, and at times assisting that proces with alcohol, hallucinogenic drugs and similar is one that resonates strongly.

The first question is, why is this the case? There is a thought that the process of contemplation, or meditation changes the levels of alpha and beta waves within the brain that can change the way in which the brain processes sensory input, and the way that neuro-chemicals and neuro-transmitters work send signals, but is this enough to enhance creativity or is something else at work? My gut instinct is that this is at the core of the process, in that by taking time to induce an altered mind state the way in which sensory inputs are rendered by the mind is also altered to give a greater "feel" to the artist, allowing him or her to interact with their medium in a small but significantly different way. By taking the time to develop this interaction the art is enhanced.

The second question is, is it possible in the hectic world that we currently live to take this idea and incorporate it into the business world? I would argue that there is still an element of this in some contemporary artists work, but not in all. Tracy Emin for example develops her artistic concepts from a blank canvas to completed project as an ensemble piece from an initial idea that comes as a flash of inspiration. As I understand it this is very much an accepted method of working amongst proponents of post impressionist modern art, the altered mind state being replaced by a sense of frenetic energy and movement that is carried through into the work. By contrast an artist like the South African sonic installation artist James Webb subscribes to the aforementioned principle of pre-commencement contemplation. When we move to the business world where life is by definition fast paced and hectic, it would at first appear that there is little time, or indeed inclination to utilise this technique, but there are exceptions. If we consider companies like Vax or Dyson, formed around a true creative we see examples of where the meditative principle is alive and well within successful industrial businesses.

It would be interesting to see how far this principle could be taken in the wider commercial world....

Working under pressure....

Life is full of pressures, some large, some small, some about money, some about time, some about competition for resources. Pressure is part of life, it is one of the key drivers of environmental evolution and is a part not simply of all human life, but all life. If we think of the word pressure, and what it means we can imagine a great weight crushing us, but it is far more subtle than that. Pressure can be a gentle breeze, barely noticable, but with a perceptible effect, or it can be the crushing pressure of the ocean depths. Through our ingenuity and inventiveness we, as a species have been able to design and develop methods of surviving on the ocean floor under almost mind boggling pressures of hundreds of tons per square inch, and in the vacuum of space where there is almost no pressure at all. These are methods of dealing with physical pressure, but the principle surely applies in much the same way to psychological pressure. Some people seem to be able to glide through life largely unaffected by even the most severe pressure, whilst other crumble under something that may at first glance appear relatively trivial. It is my contention that by applying the same principles as used to deal with physical pressure it should be possible to find better ways of dealing with other pressures.

If we think of the developments in both space, and sub-oceanic exploration we can see that there was analysis of the problem, measurements of the parameters, materials testing, safety considerations, planning, testing, modifying and improving, pushing the boudaries of exploration step by step. I wonder if it is possible to address psychological pressure in the same way. Can we quantify pressure in the same way. What psychological pressure is applied by the loss of a parent say? or by the loss of a job? The problem as I perceive it is that the effect is not static. If anyone dives into the ocean and swims deeper and deeper the pressure increases at a known rate, and consequently the effects on the human body can be mapped and understood, and traeted accordingly. When we move to consider psychological pressure the way that we each as individuals respond to a set amount of pressure will be variable based on our existing coping mechanisms, our experiences and our perceptions. This situation is further complicated by the issue of perception of pressure. What I perceive as being low pressure may differ from yours. If we are both given the same time critical task lets say, but I have a more confident attitude to the task than you, I may perhaps perceive the task as being less pressured than you do.

However these are primarily issues around defining variables, and given the progress made in working with chaotic systems using advances in computing power, I would suggest that these are not insurmountable. Given the damage caused to society be people failing to cope with pressure, isn't it time we gave serious thought to investment in this research? Just a thought......

Anger is an energy.....

Follwoing on from the theme of yesterdays blog post, I am quite certain that the shift through the 1960's and '70's towards a loved up, pacifist mentality that tries to find compromise and seek mutually acceptable resolution to conflict is a wrong headed approach. I am aware that this may not be a politically correct option and that there has been a tremendous history in our species of the negative effects of anger, but for me this is something of a misinterpretation. If we consider many of the conflicts throughout history these have certainly been aggressive acts expressing anger, but that anger has been driven by another emotion, fear, jealousy, panic, greed, whatever, the point is that they were not an act based in anger as a pure and isolated emotion. For me, the isolation or compartmentalisation of discrete emotions is crucial to the use of the energy of that emotion in a productive way. There is something delicious about the raw, screaming rage that comes from a very primal part of the brain unfettered by any of the emotional baggage that usually surrounds an anger response, unshorn of the concerns of appropriateness or concern over consequences.

To scream ones rage to the wind is one of the purest expressions f our animal energy and it is a gift that should be treasured rather than repressed. Anger is not a negative emotional state, it isn't ugly or false, it is something that we all experience and personally I would contend should allow ourselves to experience fully, embracing it as we embrace happiness, craving it as we crave love or companionship. I am convinced that it is the repression of our most instinctive emotions and mind states that is at the root of many of the current mental health issues that are reaching epidemic proportions in the Western World.

Now, don't get me wrong, anger for the sake of anger is pointless, anger that spills over into aggression towards others should be anathema, anger that is allowed to fester as resentment is to be avoided, but these are allowing the pure emotion to be corrupted. There has been a link with repressing anger associated with the major World religions, but one only has to look at the parable of the casting out of the money changers in the bible to see that within Christian dogma there is a place for pure anger and rage, but it was anger directed and focused and used for a specific purpose. Looking at the other major faiths we see a constant refrain of anger used for constructive purposes, as seen in the story of Odin being given the secrets of the runes, his anger being the driving force that kept him going through his challenge.

So, if you want a happier and more creative mental state, embrace anger, understand it, work with it rather than against it.....but a note of caution....without understanding, anger is nothing, without understanding and control anger can be and will only be, negative and unproductive. Learn to love your anger, learn to accept it and acknowledge it, work with it, embrace it.........

Love and light ;D

The energising effects of anger....

A very good, and much underated poet and artist, Joolz Denby once wrote "It takes control to be angry, you must be precise, grip the twisting screaming thing each day and leash it tight, otherwise you burn up inside and nothing gets done, you die". I spent a long time listening to Ms. Denbys poetry, backed by Justin Sullivan of New Model Army, and I must confess, at the time, as an angry young man her words made my blood race and my anger simmer more than a little. What I learned from this period was that anger was not in itself destructive or creative. Anger is simply a force, it drives the mind and body by triggering neuro-chemical changes and the related physiological changes associated with that. For me, as my awareness of my own anger grew, the realisation dawned that whether the anger was destructive, or constructive was at root a choice that I could make internally. Without concious effort on my part my anger appears to be, by deafult destructive, but but a focused effort of will I can channel that same anger into creativity and energy.

This discovery was something of a revelation, and although I am by no means perfect at controlling my anger. particularly when it spills over into rage, I am a lot better than I was, and the change it has made has been marked. It is an ongoing project, but as my Gran used to say, the day you stop learning and growing is the day you go in the ground, so I'm happy with my progress so far, and happy that I have more progress to go. This may all sound pretty obvious stuff, but sometimes it takes the genius of an artist to allow you to see the obvious. Maybe that is the "true" genius of the artists, taking the mundane, the profane, the every-day and making it special, making it art, transforming it into something with meaning, with a message, with relevance.

I don't profess to be any sort of expert on art and artistry, or on the artistic mindest, being personally as creative as a fairly short blank, but just occasionally something resonates with me, and if, by sharing my insights, someone else can benefit, then that makes me a happy boy......Oh, and a quick plug, Joolz writes some great books and creates some beautiful tattoos too......have a look at her website, I'm pretty sure she won't mind :)

Imitation is the finest form of flattery.....

As a concept this seems fine, but what happens when that imitation is uncredited. I recently gave a talk to a group of business people, and about a week later I happened to be at a social gathering where one of my former audience happened to be in attendance. I overheard him chatting to a small group and was quite pleased to hear him using an amusing anecdote that I had introduced during my talk. It is always gratifying to know that you have had an impact even in just a small way. I was just smiling quietly to myself when I heard one of the group as they broke up say, whilst patting this chap on the back "Great story buddy" to which the response came "Thanks, it's one of those stories that just come to me sometimes...."

Now maybe I'm just being precious, but would it really have hurt for him to say something like "Yeah, I really liked it when I first heard it"? I have no issue particularly with being a quiet influence rather than having my name plastered everywhere. I don't particularly need any additional marketing, but it does rather annoy me when someone else claims my work as their own. I'm pretty certain I ma not alone in this. I know several comedians who guard their jokes jealously, even resording to law suits when ownership of a joke is in dispute. I know writers who are always on the lookout for plagarism, sometimes to the point of obsession. I know that my case is somewhat different since my livelihood doesn't depend on my rights as owner of my intellectual property, but that isn't really the point.

It is more a question of ethics and moral standards. I would never claim someone elses work as my own, in the same way that I would never take credit for someone elses success, and perhaps naively, I expect those that I interact with to act in the same way. Perhaps I need to be more ruthless and litigious about such things, but why should I have to? I think perhaps a better soultion is to have a little rant, get the feelings off my chest and move on to bigger and more important things. I knew there was a reason for writing a blog ;)

Going it alone in business.......

Setting up, and running a new business, whether it is your first or your hundredth is a process of experimentation, trial and error and learning. It starts with the business idea, and for a new entrant to business ownership, this in itself can be fraught with difficulty. Is the idea a good one? Has it been done before? Is it commercially viable? Is it something one can do day in day out, working long hours in the initial period, i.e. is it something at least passably enjoyable? Having worked through these and all the other questions around the initial concept, it is all about the business plan. This, for a business owner is perhaps the most important document you will ever write, more important than sales orders, purchases, staffing, everything, because your business plan is not just the document that your incorporation and financial backing is based on. It is the document that sets out your plan for your business through the initial period. It defines your goals and strategies, your fundamental ideas and goals, and it may well be the only thing that keeps you on track when things get tough.

It may need modification as you realise that something that you were certain of working turns out not to work, a surprisingly common occurance, but without a properly structured and complete business plan, there really is no way to maintain control on the business. We saw a classic example of this on this weeks episode of the apprentice where the teams had to create and launch fast food outlets. One team had a business plan, working out costing, sales projections, budgets and so on, and the other team didn't.....guess who won? So you have an idea and a business idea and a business plan, but then you need to keep monitoring how the business is stacking up against the business plan, how close or otherwise you are to meeting targets, the speed of progression towards goals, and everything else. At the same time, you have to keep track of the financials, is the new business approaching viability? How is the trading position on a daily, weekly, monthly basis? Can you cover the bills and still take a little something for yourself?

There are a tremendous number of demands for time and consideration within any new business, on top of actually running the business itself, and the best advice I can give to anyone thinking of, or actually starting their own business, is to accept that there has to be time to run the business, and time to learn how to run the business, in essence two full time jobs, and you can take my word for it, if you are going to successfully do two full time jobs, you are going to need to be incredibly well organised, well supported and perhaps most importantly, really, really good at managing yourself, both in terms of working, but also in terms of making sure you look after yourself so you are able to do all that work.....

.....Setting up your own business is not for everyone, but if you can get it right it can be the most rewarding way to work. All I can say, to anyone thinking of going down this route is good luck, and make sure you get the work/life balance right....

Looking forward to Google+ but wheres my invite?

So, Google is working through the beta testing phase of their answer to Facebook, and the feedback I'm getting from those lucky few who are exploring this new virtual World is that it is going to be something pretty special. Automatic picture uploads, automatic tagging, an easier and more user friendly communication system within the community, better control over security settings and so on. It all sounds wonderful and marvelous, but of course I am only reporting this second hand, because I, alonfg with many other interested parties am currently unable to see what all the fuss is about.

I get the whole testing phase thing, I work with websites as part of my day job, and I am familiar with testing procedures, but when it comes to this particular new shiny, knowing that isn't helping! I want to play! I have seldom wanted anything more than I want an invite to continue to worship at the feet of the Great God Google (or GGG as it will henceforth be called - the www is dead long live the GGG!) So come on Google - hurry up and get my invite out to me! I want it, I need it, I crave it......I am sorry that I have been on Facebook behind your back, I freely and without reservation recant my errant Facebookery and plead for redemption and the sweet heavenly bliss of googles vision of heaven.....

Interviewing techniques

I do quite a bit of interviewing in my day job, and I've been interviewed a fair few times, and it never ceases to amaze me the variety of tactics that people use to control their nerves. I'm not sure whether this is a positive or negative thing, ut I have never suffered from nerves before or during an interview, afterwards is a different matter, but certainly not during. I have seen people doing simple things like taking a deep breath before answering a question (odd but effective) to clamping hands together in the lap to prevent obvious shaking (not too effective when it just transfers the shaking to the shoulders). I have always taken the view that if the interviewer is trying to catch me out at this stage then I am unlikely to want the job, and if the interviewer isnt trying to catch me out then I might as well just be myself and enjoy the opportunity to have a chat with someone who can give me a job.

The idea of getting nervous never really occurs to me, but I see it so often, and particulaly in the type of roles I am interviewing for (primarily sales roles) what I am most often looking for is confidence, the one thing that is hidden in people who are overly nervous. My best advise? Practice interviews, find someone who will role play with you, go over typical interview questions over and over again until you are certain that you can answer them easily. Make sure you feel prepared, and that you know something about the company you are interviewing for. Have a couple of questions, and use them even if they have been answered during the interview. I never mind this, and I am something of a pain for interviewees, being very good at pre-empting questions in my opening introduction to the interview.

Above all, try to let something of your personality come through at the interview. Even if you don't think you have a great personality, it is going to come out once you are working, and it is far better to know whether you will fit in or not at interview stage rather than 2 weeks into the job. Be yourself, be engaging, be polite, be punctual, and please, please, please try to relax and enjoy the interview. I'm not an ogre, honest....

Post graduate studies from the University of Life

Some people say that the best education one can receive is the route through the school of hard knocks, moving on to the University of Life, but at this point for most people the metaphor seems to break down. By the time one has reached this level, the suggestion it seems is that lifes lessons have been learned and one should be in a position to cope. I am unconvinced that this is the case, and feel that there is scope for post-graduate studies, possibly at the University of Life, School of self-improvement studies. The question, as with all post grad studies, is what area should I specialise in? There is a huge choice out there, for some it is learning how to cope with bereavement, for others it is coping with rejection, there are courses on financial management and control, and relationship studies, the list is endless, and whilst many courses are a rehash of previous studies, they take the subject further forward and enhance existing skills.

Life is a process of constant learning, constant refining of processes and methodology, a constant stream of analysing, reviewing, growing and building, and once that process stops, there is only entropy left, a reduction in faculty and function, a decay of ability and a slow decline to death. No matter how well or badly we are currently doing, there is always room for improvement, always room for further skill development and there has never been a better time than now to explore further studies. Everything that has gone before is history, everything yet to come is opportunity, now is the only chance you have to prepare for the future. Enrol in one of the post graduate courses at the School of self improvement today. The process is easy and the courses can be free. Start at your local library, get a book, any book, doesn't have to be on any particular subject, our reading list is extensive. Read that book, and then go and get another, and another, and another. You don't have to memorise anything unless you want to, there aren't any exams, all coursework is mark by continuous assessment, and we operate a self marking policy.

Join us today for a free bonus offer, choose one self improvement study course and we will throw in absolutely free a trial sample of our latest product "Feeling better about yourself"......enjoy....


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The problem with blogs.....

And bear in mind this is a blogger writing this, but there is something that has been worrying me for a little while. As a society we are very used to what we read, and particularly what we see, when it is presented as news, or information, being in the main accurate. There is a wealthy of anecdotal evidence that there are sections of society who will believe pretty much anything, taking the most inane nonsense at face value, and therein lies the problem. You, gentle reader, fellow internet explorer, have very little way of knowing if I am a 30 year business verteran with insights to divulge, a high flying scientist with detailed knowledge of my subject area, or a 14 year old culling all of my information from Wikipedia and rehashing erroneous stories. It is an interesting dilemma, particularly when you consider the amount of erroneous information out there.

Sure, Wikipedia is a great basic resource, articles being regularly amended and updated, it is even starting to turn up in the references of Phd theses but it is only really a start point, in the same way that a traditional encyclopedia only provides basic information. The point is that it is often difficult to sort the wheat from the chaff and to find sources of quality information and insight without having to spend hours filtering and reading and double checking and analysing. What works for me when I am wearing my internet browsing hat is, having found something I like, to bookmark it and keep track of it so that I can over time develop a portfolio of the content that I like.

Google is already starting to assist with this process by building up a search history for logged in users over time so that extra relevance is given to sites that are similar to sites that the user has been to before, but for me, bookmarking still works well.This is one site that I particularly like....

Freedom of the press?

So, News International is once again in the news, and once again we, the public who fund these organisations have been let down. If the allegations surrounding the hacking of Millie Dowlers mobile phone and the deleting of voicemail messages are to be believed then there is no excuse, no justification for such an act. The arguement that always seems to be trotted out at times like this is that if we want exposure of politicians wrongdoing, for example, we have to be prepared to put up with intrusion into other areas for this to be possible. This arguement is nonsense since in any system of morals or ethics there are boundaries and limits, otherwise you have no morals or ethics and should expect short shrift.

The stranglehold that the media has in the Western World, and particularly that held by News International means that there is little that we as consumers can do, other than vote with our wallets, and stop putting money in Mr. Murdochs pocket. The problem that I have is that this is just another in a long list of intrusions and wrong decisons by the mainstream media, and here I am not just thinking of the tabloid/gutter press, but across the media in generally, and we as consumers seem to have a very short memory in terms of holding these news outlets to account. There can be no question, that if proved, these allegations deserve to result in serious reprecussions for everyone involved irrespective of current position or power, but I strongly suspect that this will not happen and that once again we will see token gestures and in a couple of weeks it will all be forgotten.

I am with labour MP Tom Watson who last night on newsnight surprised Mr Paxman by attacking not just the coalition leaders but his own leader, and called on them to form a united front to bring the media to heel in this specific area of abuse of the defenceless and innocent, and further I would suggest that anyone paying money to the News International organisation is, by association, accepting that what appears to have been done in this case is acceptable, or at least acceptable enough to not cancel Sky. Personally I am making a stand. I have cancelled my Sky TV subscription, and am boycotting News International media outlets. I am not going to alter this position, irrespective of the outcome of any investigation as I have reached my limit and enough is enough....

Rantings on environmentalism

Do our politicians and media types think we aer stupid? Do they think we have no ethical, moral or social sense? Do they assume that we are a bunch of self-centred, narcissistic hedonists? It would appear so if the latest batch of programmes and articles are anything to go by. There seems to be a movement at the moment to question the work that is currently being done in the name of environmentalism, and to suggest that we are doing it wrong. We know! We have known this for a long time, but we are doing the best we can in a difficult situation. We need to consume less, we get that but it takes time to change the habits of a lifetime. We need to share more globally, but there are complications in getting what we share to where it is needed without it being hijacked. We need to use our resources more efficiently, but that is challenged by the need to maintain an overpopulation. We are not stupid!

We understand that there are comprimises that at this stage have to be made in order to prevent the breakdown of society as we know it. We are torn between trying to save the planet and trying to save ourselves, and we know that the two are not mutually exclusive but are intrinsically linked. We know what we should be doing better, and different, and we are working on it. What we don't need is some politician or campaigner reminding it of this in such a way that we are discouraged from keeping on trying! Right now we have to keep focused on doing what we can to make the world a better place, and we have to try to work around the compromises that have to be made.

So protecting an endangered species puts pressure on indigenous peoples? We know this, we don't need it pointing out, and we certainly don't need to be told that what we are doing is wrong. Life doesn't work that way. We have to be clear that we are making an effort and that we are making a difference in order to keep going, and we need clear unambiguous information in order to take the descisions we have to make. What we don't need is rhetoric and sensationalism.....

Why therapy doesn't work

There are so many people of my generation who are, or have been under the care of a therapist of one sort or another. The choice is vast, NLP, CBT, drug therapies, electromagnetic therapy, colour therapies and all the rest, but there are two things that all of these share in common. Firstly they currently have little or no basis in medical fact, and secondly they, like most medical treatments are designed to deal with symptoms, not with causes. This second point is contentious because the claims for many of these therapies is that they address the deep seated issues that are at the root of many neurological conditions, but I would content that this is a nonsense. Having experienced several of them, what they offer is a series of coping strategies to deal with the worst of the symptoms. The idea as I understand it being that by alleviating the symptoms, one is better able to function and therefore deal with the underlying condition.

However, there does not seem to be any direct method offered by any of these therapies for doing that, so one is left in a position where the symptoms are diminished but one is left to try to resolve the causes alone. This often causes additional stress which causes the symptoms to re-emerge, thereby negating any beneficial effects. It should be pointed out that there are questions over the prevalence of mental illness in the first place. It has to be asked why there has been an upswing of epidemic proportions in the cases of mental illness in many categories in the last 20 years. There is an arguement that we better understand the brain and are therefore better able to assess and analyse abberant mental states, but this can only be part of the story. If we go back to our parents and grandparents generation, can we honestly say that they faced any less stress than we do? Were they spared any of the tradgedies that we deal with? I would argue that if anything they had it far tougher than we did, but certainly in my own case, my parents were expected to just get on with life, and in the main they did.

I know that were my parents alive today and in their prime, my father would be diagnosed with depression and addictive personality disorder and my mother would almost certainly have a diagnosis of paranoia and obsessive compulsive disorder amongst other things. Yet they successfully, in the main raised two children, one of whom had a developmental disorder, held down jobs for the most part, created a relatively safe and secure relationship and generally just got on with things. They both coped with the stress of termainl illness, they coped with the stress of infidelity, they coped with the nightmare that is now described as a "difficult" child, so why are they so different from me, my friends, my peers? I would argue that they aren't, they just didn't have our resources......

......Which brings me back to my opening point, therapy is a waste of time and money, resources that would be better spent teaching children to cope with the ups and down of life.....

Is there a place for trade unions in the UK?

We are curently, in the UK seeing the start of the latest round of public service indystrial action organised by the Unison trade union. The current strikes are a protest against changes to pension rights, moving from a final salary pension scheme to an average salary pension scheme. Clearly this is going to cause issues for staff, the bulk of whom have chosen to remain in the public sector, where salaries are traditionally lower than the private sector because the pension schemes were so good. The response of the trade union has been to ballot members on strike action, and following sufficient support, to organise trike action. I have only one issue with this, it doesn't work. It didn't work through the 1970's and '80's and it doesn't work now. All it does is alienate the rest of the population who are predominantly guided by the mainstream media, and lend fuel to the politicians who are anti-union by allowing them to suggest that the unions are out of touch with Britain through the economic aftermath post 2008.

I am not, by default a fan of free market economics as a rule, believing that in generally this policy leaves the most vulnerable in society unprotected, but in a case like this, I believe that a better solution for public service employees whould be to allow market forces to take effect, leading to mass resignations rather than mass strikes. This would send a far clearer message to the council leaders and politicians who seem to see their staff as a resource to be utilised as they see fit. If the goal posts have changed sufficiently that the financial incentives to being a public servant have been removed, there is really only one course of action, and if it taken by enough people, the status quo and balance of power will shift without union intervention.

Unless unions have the ability to develop new weapons to combat unfair treatment of union members, their purpose is negated and they have nothing more than a limited role in society. The situation is complex, and resources are increasingly scarce. As long as unions fail to understand that they need to change they will not succeed....

The use of the word ritual by archaeologists

It used to be a running joke within archaeological circles that anything that was discovered that didn't have an obvious mundane purpose was ascribed a ritual significance. A classic example of this was an antler device with a hole bored through one end that had for many years been described as a talking stick. Further analysis has suggested a couple of much more mundane uses, most likely as a tool to get a better grip on a thick rope. There is good evidence for ritual practices throughout the neolithic and into the bronze and iron ages, particularly in the creation of stone axe heads that would have been far too fragile to actually be useful, and were significantly overworked. The development of heavily stylised statuary as seen in the Willendorf Venus lends further credence to this supposition. However it is undoubtedly the case that many of the practices ascribed a ritual importance are in fact unlikely to be such.

This is particularly the case with the evidence for ritual de-fleshing of bodies. It is reasonably well established that in the neolithic bodies were left on platforms in the open to be stripped down to the bone by birds and animals. Moving into the bronze age and later through the iron age, generally inhumations were of cremated remains, or dressed burials. The evidence for defleshing by human agents is limited to the appearance of cut marks on long bones and skulls found in caves and pits. One of the more famous are those found in Goughs cave in Cheddar in Somerset but there are plenty of others. When these bones were recently re-analysed it was suggested that the position and type of the cuts were more akin to those found in butchery and the disarticulating of a carcass prior to consumption.

This would make more sense, as, contrary to common opinion, cannibalism has historically been more widespread than is generally accepted. There is, of course an argument, backed by anthropological evidence, that cannibalism can be in itself ritualistic, the eating of defeated enemies hearts is a prime example, as is the consumption of human brains as a source of spiritual power. There is however more evidence that cannibalism is a routine stage of most civilisations in times of hardship, having been seen across the world during periods of extreme environmental stress. The practice has even been shown to exist in the modern age in severe survival situations, so would this perhaps be a better interpretation than the old cliche of ritual activity? Of course, ritual allows the creation of far more interesting stories, and it is often the case that those archaeologists who are also folklorists tend to be more prone to buying into these stories and thereby propogating them further.

In archaeology, as in most things, the military mantra should perhaps be the first port of call - KISS Keep It Simple Stupid....

Strange sites under the Brazilian rainforest

Recent forest clearance in the Amazon basin has led to some unexpected discoveries. It had been thought that indigenous populations in the area had been limited in number and seperated into discrete family groups. However the forest clearance revealed large areas of archaeological remains. These had been spotted using satellite imagery on google earth, and were in the form of large regularly shaped ditched enclosures that suggested that the local population was far higher and much better organised than previously thought. What is also interesting is that carbon dating and pottery fragments have suggested that these societies were thriving 2000 years ago, and that high quality pottery use began far earlier than previously thought.

It is of further interest that these enclosures are very reminiscent of early bronze age european enclosures, and it appears that many of the burial practices may well have been similar with inhumation of cremated remains in burial jars. This is not to suggest that there is a common link at this period but it may suggest that the development of these ideas may have followed a parallel route, which combined with osteo-archaeology evidence from intact burials showing that the indigenous peoples were at least phenotypically similar to early europeans suggests a different migration path to that usually suggested for north american indigenous tribes which is that they are descended from mongolian/siberian types migrating across the Bering sea during an ice age.

It does make on wonder what the real migration paths were, and indeed whether intercontinental travel was established far earlier than previously postulated. Certainly when we consider the very early settlement of both Australia and Sounth America, now thought to be 60000 years ago at least, it lends weight to this argument. It will be interesting to see how these latest discoveries are interpreted and what difference if any this will make to our understanding of homo sapiens early history....

Why neo-luddism is a waste of time and effort….

The Luddite marchers, toasted in song and story are a strong part of British history. The ability of our populous to take up arms against perceived oppression and to express their fears and concerns in a physical manner, whilst perhaps inappropriate when taken to extreme, but is non the less a function of the right of freedom of speech. The Luddites, followers of John Ludd were cottage industry weavers and carders who were unhappy with the development of mechanized industrial processes which were allowing large mill owners to bring weavers out of their own homes and into the first factories and production lines. There are two points here, firstly that the early industrialists had a tremendously patriarchal approach to their staff, often seeming to work on the principle that their workers were incapable of functioning without constant direction and input, and at times reducing them to components within the factory machine.

Around the UK certainly there is good evidence that this attitude was prevalent throughout the industrial revolution, with industrialists like Titus Salt, Matthew Boulton and Joseph Cadbury creating entire communities of workers around the factory site, providing housing, food, employment and in most cases a religious overtone and moral and spiritual guidance. Under this regime there may well have been an argument for the taking up of arms against what could easily be seen as oppression and in some cases almost slavery. However it can be seen, not just in these early cases, but later through the industrial action taken by the trade unions in the 1960’s and ‘70’s that brought British manufacturing to it’s knees that processes such as these in the long term have at best a very limited effect. The mills maintained production and expanded, the British manufacturing base was relocated offshore rather than give in to the workers, and those same complainants were no better off, and in many cases worse off than they would have been by simply accepting change and working with rather than against the entrepreneurs who controlled the processes.

There have been very few occasions where pressure from the bottom up has actually created change, and in almost all of those cases where it has, the pressure has been on legislation rather than industries directly. Effecting political change is often an easier route than effecting business change, and this, I would argue, is why a direct assault in industry whether that be financial, manufacturing, service or any other is almost always doomed to failure.