Filed under: A Bit Of Inspiration, Attitude & Aptitude, Business, Corporate Evil, Corporate Gaslighting
On the Friday before Christmas, a friend of mine got made redundant.
After 17 years of service.
17 years of highly productive, highly respected service.
What makes it even more disgraceful is he was basically told ‘accept our offer, or we’ll make things difficult for you’.
Of course they didn’t say it like that, they hid behind the carefully constructed ambiguity that is imbued in all redundancy narratives … but the message was clear: ‘don’t be a problem or we’ll be your problem’.
He has asked me not to name him or his company as he goes through the process, but what makes this all the more egregious is the company he worked for has a mission statement overflowing with the ‘transparency and integrity’ buzzwords and tropes that appear in nearly every corporate mission statement.
The ‘transparency and integrity’ buzzwords and tropes that are mentioned in every story sent to Corporate Gaslighting.
Why don’t all these companies just say what they actually believe: ‘to prioritise profit over people, in every opportunity, every time’ … we’d probably all respect that [and them] a hell of a lot more.
But no, instead it’s all ‘our staff are our greatest asset’, ‘we believe in doing the right thing’ and ‘we strive to always be a great place to work’.
So to companies who let people go over this period:
While I appreciate there is never a good time to do this sort of thing – and sometimes, there’s no other choice available but to do this sort of thing – there’s definitely a bad time to do this sort of thing and December 19th is one of those times … especially when you’ve announced you’ve made enormous profit over that year.
So while the industry my friend works in is different to the one I work in, I know there were many who went through a similar situation over the recent festive period … which is why I leave this post with 2 points:
1. If anyone who went through this needs someone to talk to – or just listen – I’m here. Just email and I’ll get back to you.
2. If companies want loyalty from their people, show some fucking loyalty to your people. It really isn’t that hard.
3. If you’re a shareholder who only cares about ever-increasing returns, don’t complain when this happens to you. Because it will.
It’s why nothing is more gaslighting than the justification that ‘it’s just business’, because it isn’t. It’s always – ALWAYS – personal.
That doesn’t mean a company can’t – or shouldn’t – act on commercial issues that need addressing. But it does mean they should consider why, how – and when – they do it.
As many of you know, over the past 2 years, I’ve got relatively fit.
Or said another way, I’ve lost 54kgs.
And while diet has played a huge part to play in this achievement, it’s exercise – specifically walking/running – that’s been the safety net in keeping it off.
I don’t mean that in terms of losing weight – though it has obviously had an impact – I mean it more in being able to consume more calories than my 1675 daily allowance, while still maintaining an overall calorie deficit.
I cannot tell you how much I appreciate that … because whereas the first year saw me being almost pathologically focused on not exceeding my calories, carbs or sugars allowance, now I can be a little looser, safe in the knowledge that exercise will keep things in overall balance, even when I scoff the occasional ‘calorific’ meal.
Anyway, at the beginning of the holidays I saw this thing called The Conqueror being advertised across social media.
Basically you select a virtual route from somewhere around the World and then – once you’ve paid them some cash – you get given a timeframe to complete ‘the walk’.
What makes it work is not just that every step you take in the real world gets translated onto the virtual map on your phone … nor is it that at every ‘checkpoint’, you get a postcard that details the history of wherever you have just reached or walked through … it’s not even that each time you hit a checkpoint, they will plant a real tree in your honour … it’s that once you achieve the route, they send you a real life medal.
And, as you can see from the pic above, they’re impressive.
Full Metal. Very Colorful. Properly Distinctive.
Sure, you’ve paid for them.
In fact, you’ve probably overpaid for them.
But they genuinely make you feel you’ve achieved something worthwhile.
And while I am sure there will be people who say it’s a stupid business – I have a different point of view.
Not just because what were the rules of business, are no longer limited to just those rules – which McKinsey are trying desperately to look like they understand given the incredible rise of companies who, based on the consultant models they’ve been flogging for fortunes for years, simply should not work, let alone thrive – but because The Conquerer has been developed to target how people actually behave, rather than how they’re supposed to.
Or said another way, they address the emotional need, not simply the functional benefits.
I know this sort of thing has been done before – hell, I did something like this for Nike back in 2011 – but apart from the fact the tech just wasn’t there back then, the inclusion of an actual medal that people would actually want to own, is a game changer. So much so that I believe they can truly make someone who doesn’t walk much, to walk more.
Which is fucking impressive when you think how much money sports brands have spent trying to get people to ‘just do it’.
But in my case, I do walk.
A lot.
Which is why – in just over a week of my holiday – I achieved this:
That’s right … while everyone else was scoffing down chocolates and turkey like they were going out of fashion, I was out walking 534.5 kilometers and picking up 4 fancy pants medals.
Which helps explains why I may have won, but I also was a fucking loser – hahaha.
Filed under: 2026, A Bit Of Inspiration, Attitude & Aptitude, Authenticity, Business, Childhood, Clients, Comment, Confidence, Creative Development, Creativity, Dad, Effectiveness, Emotion, Empathy, Experience, Family, Friendship, Loyalty, Marketing Fail, Mum, Mum & Dad, Tom Stoppard
First of all a huge thanks to all the people who got in touch about my good eye news yesterday. Given how much your support through the challenge of last year meant to me, you just added the icing on the top.
So back to the post …
A while back, the great playwright, Tom Stoppard, died.
His death affected me because he was someone my family didn’t just respect highly, but knew well.
Especially my Auntie Silvana, who first met him when they worked at the iconic Aldwych theatre, London.
If truth be told, I’d not thought about Tom for years but on hearing he had died, I realized the people in my life who would be the most upset at this news – namely my Mum, Dad and Aunt – had all gone, and somehow that made the news the more potent.
Unsurprisingly, news of Tom’s passing led to many stories about him being told in the international media.
Stories about his talent.
Stories about his stories.
And stories about his integrity.
The word integrity is one that is often overused and incorrectly used.
Too often used to justify a one-off decision and/or a small act of consciousness within a big pattern of complicit acts.
But Tom wasn’t like that.
Even those who would label his decisions as ‘stubborn’ would grudgingly acknowledge – and respect – he was simply being Tom. Doing what he said he would do, regardless of opportunity, pressure, money or fame.
At a time where people and companies will seemingly destroy any relationship, promise or agreement for the ability to squeeze out $1 more than they had before … it’s beautiful Stoppard would never entertain doing such a thing.
Nothing sums this up more than this story of when Spielberg wanted him to write the screenplay for Jaws …
Isn’t that amazing?
It was also smart … because not only did it make Spielberg want to work with him even more, it had the same effect with the people at the BBC.
As I wrote a while back, our industry loves to talk about integrity and relationships but rarely seems to understand what those words actually mean, let alone how deeply entwined and interconnected they are.
As I wrote a while back about a private client of mine – the biggest street fashion investor and most profitable retailer on the planet – powerful, valuable and sustainable relationships aren’t built on convenience, but on inconvenience … and how your actions, honesty, transparency and focus continually demonstrate how you never lose sight of what you’re building together, how you want to build it and what each other is able to do because of it.
Also known as integrity.
Thank you Tom. We need more people like you … or at least acting like you.
Filed under: 2025, 2026, A Bit Of Inspiration, Age, Attitude & Aptitude, Colenso, Colleagues, Doctor, Eye, Generosity, Happiness, Health, Hope, Metallica, NHS, Nurses, Process
It’s Monday. In the first few weeks of going back to work after a longish break. And all we are hearing is shit, depressing news from all over the World … so you would imagine today’s post would continue that theme of darkness, and yet it isn’t.
No seriously. It’s bordering on embarrassingly cheery and happy. Admittedly, cheery and happy for me – but given so many people have contributed to the reason for this, I’m hoping it has some positive effect on you too.
So as the title of this post states – a lot can happen in 12 months.
I appreciate you’re saying “no shit”, but as I pointed out, I’m not talking about global events, tech companies or the economy … I’m talking about this from a very, very personal point of view.
Truth be told, when you get to my age, a lot of life has found its natural rhythm so while there will be ups and downs, overall you tend to know how to surf life’s waves.
But the last year for me was pretty extreme.
Don’t get me wrong, the overall view of the year was good – as I wrote about here – but apart from the tragedy of losing many friends and a fucked-up situation with someone I thought was a better human than they proved themselves to be, the biggest challenge I faced was my sight.
I’ve had eye problems since I was 21 but in January 2025, my ‘good’ eye got an infection in Penang, Malaysia that commenced one of the worst medical rollercoasters I’ve had in my life.
And I’ve had a few.
What was initially considered to be a few weeks of discomfort turned into weekly – often daily – hospital visits, endless tests, a range of medical experts being called in, over 50 meds-a-day, a diagnosis so rare it become a medical ‘white paper’ and … worst of all … blindness.
Proper blindness.
The impact of all this on my mental health was pretty severe. To be honest, I hadn’t really realised how much until the festive holiday where my body had the time to finally start to loosen the tension it had been holding – and this was despite visiting a psychologist both after a particularly bad test result and when I was weighing up whether to do the operation as the risks were pretty high.
I say all this because last week I went in for another check-up. My first of the new year … and while the operation had been a success – thanks to my doctor, my surgeons and the intervention of the wonderful PM and his high profile ‘clients’, who organised the specialist who actually invented the operation I was going to have, to come to NZ and consult on my procedure – we didn’t know if it would turnaround my situation.
The good news was after the op, I had some vision – which was a massive news, however I couldn’t see much other than certain blurs of beige.
But over the weeks, with the post-op meds, rest and time – I did sense things were improving, but given one of the issues I had was pressure build up [which you don’t feel] I was pretty apprehensive.
Anyway, to cut a long story short, my check-up revealed the pressure was very good – as in, ‘fully under control’, which meant the main part of the operation had not just worked, but was holding. But then the shockingly good news.
My eyesight was better than my other eye.
That’s right, my operated eye was – under certain conditions – performing better than the eye I’d been relying on for the past 12 months. The irony being that eye was previously shit given my detached retina when I was 21 … but such is the magic of the brain, it has somehow improved to compensate for for my blindness, but now – as the other eye was getting better – it decided not to try so hard.
I cannot tell you what it felt like to hear that.
To be fair, even the specialist and surgeon were shocked at the level and speed of improvement … but they have not just given me the ability to see again, they’ve almost returned my eyesight to pre-illness levels.
No more bumping into people.
No more having my phone screen on max zoom.
No more going to hospital every day and week.
And maybe, no more dressing like a ‘festival chick’ for the Colenso Christmas party.
[Which happened post-op so I literally have zero excuse, haha]
I know, your eyes are now fucked after that image aren’t they. Sorry. At least I can recommend some excellent medical experts. You’re welcome – hahaha.
Anyway, while I’ll need medication for the rest of my life, have regular check-ups and be mindful of lifting heavy items … it really feels like I’ve been given my whole life back.
I know that sounds dramatic. I know there are many others worse off than I ever was or would have been. And I appreciate I was very lucky that I saw a GP quickly … they recognised the severity of the problem straight away … and I had the insurance – and unexpected contacts – who got me the best specialists and surgeons in the country (and worldwide) but there were moments where I felt, with good reason, that the life I had may be taken away from me.
I know I’d have survived.
I know I’d have got through it.
But the problem is at the time, you focus on what’s going to change rather than what you’re going to do … which is why I’m so grateful to everyone who helped, supported and encouraged me over the past 12 months.
From family and friends to nurses and doctors to colleagues and clients to acquaintances and strangers. All of you helped make sure that however dark some moments were, the light was never completely out. Even it is was in my eye. Ha.
So thank you. Thank you so, so much.
And god bless medicine and all you work with it and practice it. At a time where we have global leaders trying to diminish and undermine medical science and medical care, it’s the doctors and nurses we should be listening to, celebrating and compensating – they’re the hero’s, not the entitled egotists who claim to represent the people but only care for themselves.
And if I thought I could see through their bullshit before, I can see it even more clearly now.
Literally and metaphorically.
So with that, happy Monday … but probably not as happy as I will be.
Filed under: A Bit Of Inspiration, Anniversary, Dad, Death, Family, Love, Parents
OK, so we got to the end of the first week of 2026.
Or should I say the 3rd week … but you know what I mean.
Anyway, I started the TWENTIETH year of this blog with a couple of nice posts.
Then I followed it up with a couple of things that were frustrating-the-fuck out of me.
And now I am going to end it with something deeply personal to me.
Today is the 27th anniversary of my dad dying.
That not only means he has been out my life for just under half my life, but in just 5 years – I’ll be the age he was when he died.
As I’ve written before, when I turned 50 I went through a real emotional wobble believing that meant I only had 10 years before I too died … and while I’ve thankfully got past that, it increasingly shocks me how young he was when he passed.
Now I’ve written a lot about how much my Dad meant to me … how much he means to me … so this time I’m going to post something else altogether. Not because I don’t want to celebrate my Dad, but because I think this celebrates him in a way he would both want and respect.
To do that, you need to watch this …
This not only hit me, it made me really think hard.
And I get it and I think my Dad would have loved it.
Don’t get me wrong, I wish my Dad was still alive with all my heart and soul.
I miss him every single day and I hate I haven’t been able to share any of the past 27 years of my life with him.
But while he is still in my life and still relevant in my life, I know he would want me to refer to him as dead rather than ‘passed away’… not just because he wasn’t religious in any way, but because the word ‘death’, honours him and acknowledges him with greater dignity and love than any of the more ambiguous terminology that is often used to soften the reality rather than respect it.
Put simply, ‘passed’ sounds temporary and death represents permanency … and the reason that is so important is – as Labi Siffre so brilliantly articulates – the permanency of death not only justifies, but enables the full expression of grief because ultimately, grief represents the deep love you had for someone and the importance they played in your life.
And my god, did I love him.
So here’s to you Dad.
Dead, missed but absolutely not forgotten.