The Musings Of An Opinionated Sod [Help Me Grow!]

Where did you find this? Oh yes, I remember.

I was fortunate enough to be in the audience during this speech and it was electrifying.

If only the audience wasn’t consistently made up of chino and jacket wearing senior executives, I’d believe it had the potential to change the face of corporate America.

For Andy …

http://robcampbell.wordpress.com/2007/10/08/where-have-all-the-heroes-gone/

http://robcampbell.wordpress.com/2007/12/14/where-have-all-the-heroes-gone-ii/

I L-O-V-E this TEDtalk. So simple, but if everyone followed this logic, it would make a world-changing difference.

I love your comment Robert, this issue goes very deep with you doesn’t it.

The speech is brilliant, he is brilliant, for me it is even better than Sir Ken’s but that could be because his iconic 20 minutes is coming up to 3 years of age.

The importance of values have been ignored for too long and in the corporate world Landor are especially culperable because they sold the belief that throwing a few words on a page was enough.

what a wind up. All my puters are down and the mobile wont play video. if there’s even a whiff of BJ babes to creatively dramatise and ‘breath life’ into intellectually challenging ideas Im all for it.

We all need a framework in which to work within – whether they are processes, rules or values – but too many companies/governments want to control every aspect of the individuals journey and all that leads to is mediocrity, passiveness and/or self interest regardless of consequence.

I was blessed with my parents and their attitudes/approach to life – but sadly in our rush to get rich/young/old/etc the value of values seems to have declined. Until something bad happens – and then everyone goes on about it.

Values and morals are not things you should be able to turn on and off … and whilst we all probably do that to some extent … there’s too little of these things being promoted in the everyday, and sadly my industry is part of the reason for that – which has now extended to client behaviour, where you talk about values and morals within their communication idea, and they say it is too confusing and they want to focus on the product they want to sell.

Well my answer to that attitude is the same today as it was back in 1988, people aren’t stupid and values are way more of a differentiator than enzyme X that makes your clothes even whiter. Till enzyme Y is invented.

Oooooh this issue really gets my blood pressure flowing.

That’s a really interesting point you raise there mate but I don’t know if I totally agree with your view.

From my perspective, an inherent characteristic of ‘character’ is ‘conscious’ because whilst they can be looked at as separate traits, it is only when they combine do you really experience a person who can think interms of what is the right thing for others, not just themselves.

The key message I get from Schwartz’ talk is that he believes it is something that shouldn’t just be left to the individual to develop, it should be something they learn from their interaction with life – from the educational policies that shape their early years through to the way their employers and Government behave in their later life.

Of course this idea is inherent with flaws [as is anything], but with many Government, Corporation and Education organisations focusing and promoting ‘selfish and visible success’, giving people role models who can inspire them to act in lifes best interests, not just their own, can only be a good thing.

We have to remember, without guidance and inspiration, humans have the capacity to justify anything and so if we can fill the World with examples of people/companies/governments who stood/stand tall when the easier option is to just go with the flow, it might help shift the planet back onto the path of evolution rather than just devolution.

I was lucky because I had parents, teachers and bosses that helped me view the bigger picture. I’m not saying I’m perfect [not by a long shot] and I like money as much as the next person, but I was taught there’s more to it than just obtaining it – it’s how you do it and what you do with it once you’ve got it – and whilst parents definitely have a role to play in this ‘lesson giving’, if they have not been exposed to people with character, then it’s only natural to expect they will be victims of it as well.

I had a massive row with a mate of mine a while back about Governments responsibility to its people – and while we all play a part – the moral code of a culture is set by them as much as the inhabitants and they can’t let go of that fact, especially in how they let corporations develop and act.

I know I’m not answering your point properly – but I have a pitch to go too as well, so maybe we can talk about this on email later.

Good luck matey …

Ha Ha Ha… Even scrolling through the post last night on the mobile, I didn’t pick up that it was the TED talk I blogged about. Bloody brilliant job you’ve done of breathing some well deserved life into it. Great that there’s some more top banter going on in the comments here too.

So ironically I’ve missed a bit of a conversation knees-up that I’d have well enjoyed 🙂

It’s so good that I wont go for the machine gun effect of joining in on all the important points both Schwartz and the comments here have touched upon apart from to say that all the cool kids are into Improv and that Bhaskar and Rob are completely immersed in the subject of Moral Relativism

http://tinyurl.com/qnamu

Which overlaps big time with my ongoing pet project think piece I’ve labeled as

Everything is contextual

http://tinyurl.com/d9dmoh

But which I noticed Sam Ismail the other day has sharpened into a much more accurate

Context is everything

http://tinyurl.com/cnsx3q

Which might sound like it’s splitting hairs but there is a difference and it matters.

One short story that might be of interest though. I went to to speak some monks at the most prestigious temple in Thailand where the His Majesty the King of Thailand was a novice monk.

I’d been mulling over thoughts of permanence and impermanence, as they are both central tenets of Buddhism, and so I got to ask a really awkward question to one of the senior monks.

I asked him that if nothing is permanent, and that if impermanence is a defining condition of life.

Could it mean that truth too was not permanent.

I was impressed with the nature of his response. He said he would need to meditate on the question and get back to me.

So much more honest than the monotheistic religions that are swift to dish out harsh judgments and invariably have a special book stuffed with rules that are quite often not only inappropriate but can in some instances be a danger to life or paradoxically a moral wrong.

Have a great weekend everybody.

Can Bhaskar tell me/us where society has started to decay?

Of course not, but I am not sure that a financial crisis is necessarily symptomatic of a decaying society. I was seeking clarification and education – a futile quest on this blog I know, but I gave it a shot.

Hi John, [thanks for filling in Rob] I just have one more thing add for John – we live in separate societies with a separate set of issues, therefore I view my immediately surrounding, and I guess my comment reflected that. What is said is extremely subjective; the society you are part of may be far different and constructive / positive / going in the ‘right direction  anyway 