Philip Patston's Blog

Still proud after 24 years

Thu, 17 May 2012 19:55:22 +1200

I've changed my look and language over the years but I was struck by the similarity of my philosophy captured by the Crippled (sic) Children's Society (now CCS Disability Action) Access magazine in 1987.

Thanks to Alex Smith for the nostalgia...the actual clipping appears below.

"We must be proud...”

Pride in one’s disability is an important aspect in Philip Patston’s philosophy of what is required for people with disabilities to succeed in achieving their goals in life.

Asked to expand on his views concerning people with disabilities, Philip said:

“I see a great need for people with disabilities to realise our own and each other’s skills, resources and strengths, to acknowledge our similarities and differences, and affirm them.

We are a minority community and our community is resourceful. People with disabilities have many, many talents, and we must nurture these skills by supporting one another; in short we must be proud of our disabilities!

"We need organisations like NZCCS to be vehicles for this process - organise, share and advocate for our community.

"Somewhere we can come together with people without disabilities on equal terms in a mutual exchange of ideas and abilities. We need organisations, that we, as people with disabilities, have created ourselves and are proud to call our own.”

Philip Patston’s words are matched by the energy he has devoted to the work of the consumer forums of the Crippled Children Society both at local and national levels.

Born with cerebral palsy, Philip , now 20, came from England with his twin brother when he was four years old.

He completed his schooling in the seventh form at Mt Roskill Grammar with a B Bursary.

In 1986 he spend a year at Auckland University studying for a BA. He passed five papers that year but found Varsity lifestyle competitive and lonely and the work too theoretical.

He left after the first few weeks of the second year and the rest of 1987 saw him working as a volunteer recreation officer for PHAB, a club for young adults with and without disabilities.

Philip moved into his own Housing Corporation unit and joined Youthline where he is presently a telephone and face-to-face counsellor.

In addition to being a part-time student at Carrington Polytechnic, where he is completing his Community Workers Training Certificate, Philip is actively involved with consumers at Auckland Branch on a services review of the Cornerstone Workshop as well as with the Cerebral Palsy Society in co-ordinating their skills and therapies programme.

His prime concern is to search for ways in which people with disabilties can be advocates “for those of us who cannot speak for ourselves.

"I feel that gone are the days that able-bodied people can adequately speak for us, fight for our rights, run our residential institutions etc. As people with disabilities, it’s time we took responsibilities, it’s time we took responsibility for ourselves and took pride in who we are...PEOPLE with disabilities.”

Education Minister gets it wrong about performance pay for teachers

Thu, 17 May 2012 08:30:23 +1200

Hekia Parata obviously hasn't read Freakonomics.

The education minister's decision to "introduce performance pay for teachers" has been proven in the US to cause corruption in teachers' marking habits.

In their book subtitled "the hidden side of everything," economist Steven D. Levitt and writer Stephen J. Dubner discuss a study that showed that increases in student achievement correlated to teachers deliberately fudging test marks. Like the NZ proposal, teacher pay was directly linked to higher student grades.

They also quote a Chief Technology Officer on their blog who observes that high grades and student success aren't aligned:

If you look at those who have commonly advanced our thinking, our abilities, our technologies, and our economy (through business sense), many did poorly in schools, yet they persisted. The persistence may have been the critical element, and it would have perhaps been lost had they been encouraged more.

So, we'd be better to pay teachers more for low grades instead.

Once again, NZ politicians repeat others' mistakes and make us more like the US everyday.

Time to think pink

Tue, 15 May 2012 11:55:40 +1200

Pink Shirt Day is coming up! On May 18th, we will all join together to celebrate our national day of awareness and action around preventing bullying and promoting positive relationships. We are hoping you will spread the word and get people involved this friday. I know you have a big reach and this is a worthy cause. We'd love for you to tell your network and promote Pink Shirt Day.

Pink Shirt Day aims to reduce bullying by celebrating diversity and promoting the development of positive social relationships. An annual event celebrated throughout New Zealand and the world, Pink Shirt Day aims to create a New Zealand where all people feel safe, valued and respected. While Pink Shirt Day is celebrated on only one day per year, we all recognize that the work needed to prevent bulling must continue throughout the year to make a real difference. Pink Shirt Day is about starting conversations and taking action.

The event began in Nova Scotia, Canada, in 2007, when a group of students stood up to defend a classmate who was bullied because he was wearing a pink shirt. The students took a stand by all wearing pink shirts to show solidarity. We’ve been celebrating Pink Shirt Day in New Zealand since 2009.

We want to encourage everyone to wear a Pink Shirt on May 18th, 2012 as a commitment to working to prevent bullying, celebrating diversity and creating an Aotearoa where everyone feels included.

We have resources and information on our website. There are posters and toolkits available for downloading, and information for how to get further involved.

Like us on Facebook.

We also have a video PSA about this year’s event, here.

Many thanks for your support.

Drop the WAR on drugs for aWAReness of dosage

Tue, 15 May 2012 08:27:31 +1200

Every substance known to us is potentially useful and harmful.

Marijuana in small doses is great to relieve nausea or pain. Take too much and you get clumsy and paranoid.

Pseudoephedrine, the base of P or methamphetamine, does wonders when you have a cold, but only in a tiny amount. Smoke a heap of it in a pipe and you lose it badly.

Alcohol — a little makes you relaxed and sociable — too much makes you become the opposite.

Even LSD used in controlled amounts was shown to decrease pain, treat alcoholism and increase creativity. Too much and you trip out. And heroin was originally used to control pain.

On the other hand, even so-called safe substances ingested in too large amounts can harm you. A woman's death was recently attributed to drinking too much coke (though this is under dispute) and most of us know how too much coffee can make us feel.

Apparently you can literally drown by drinking too much water.

So let's get this more in perspective.

The random criminalisation of certain drugs, according to the documentary "Our Drugs War", is about the mainstream punishing marginalised groups who are more likely to use them, including young people. This creates crime and black markets. Drug policing is only one percent effective in the UK.

Drugs are not the problem. Teaching people how much to take — and changing social situations that cause overdosing — need far more attention.

Proud to Stand Tall with samRB

Sun, 13 May 2012 20:10:46 +1200

It was a huge pleasure and privilege to be part of the music video for samRB's Olympic amthem, "Stand Tall". Big ups to Sam for including such diversity, including NZ Sign Language, to represent NZ at the Games.

Here's a photo of me and Amy during the shoot, and the video below.

Why bureaucracy fails

Thu, 10 May 2012 15:27:15 +1200

It's fascinating to observe the NZ Government's decision to create the new Ministry of Business, Innovation and Employment (Mobie), which will come in to formal existence on July 1, merging the existing Economic Development and Science and Innovation ministries with the Department of Labour and the Department of Building and Housing. (Stuff.co.nz 24 April 2012)

Minister in charge Steven Joyce claimed the so-called super ministry will result in "efficiency benefits".

My experience has led me to believe that the larger an organisation is, meaning the more people who work there and the more layers of management that exists, the more the following things decay and drop away:

accountability
commitment
follow through
results
customer service.

Simply put, an employee can do nothing and hide in the chaos of everything that's going on. They can "forget" to do things and say they had so much to do. They can not return emails and calls and say they didn't receive them. They can blame a superior for not giving sign-off.

There's very little anyone can do to prove them wrong. Finding evidence of that task, correspondence or authority to act and holding someone to account is needle-in-haystack stuff.

Multiply that by hundreds or thousands of people in a merged organisation and what do you get? Hundreds and thousands of needles spread amongst several haystacks. Prickly.

So maybe there will be "efficiency benefits" in Mobie. But I wouldn't be expecting any effectiveness benefits.

What is diversity? Ask a 7 year old

Tue, 08 May 2012 10:25:52 +1200

Here's what my 7-year-old niece answered in a school project asking, "What is Diversity?"

In my opinion Diversity is when you go another country and you learn, National Anthem and eat new foods, see new flags, famous painting. You can learn different languages, see meet new people (friends), different shops, see a new prime minister. New Zealand isn't the same as other countries we might be better than them we might be worse than them but no one cares we are all different.

Great answer (even though I'm biased). Now let's look behind Sophie's words to see what she's uncovered:

"In my opinion..." — Diversity means different things for different people.
"...you go to another country and you learn..." Diversity requires moving out of your comfort zone and exploring.
"...new foods...new flags...famous painting...different languages..." Diversity is multi-dimensional.
"...meet new people (friends)..." Diversity is about communication, relationships, getting to know each other well.
"...different shops, see a new prime minister..." Diversity inhabits the economy and politics.
"New Zealand isn't the same as other countries..." Diversity is about recognising our uniqueness.
"...we might be better than them we might be worse than them..." Diversity requires recognising uncertainty and admitting we could be wrong.
"...but no one cares..." Diversity requires suspension of judgment.
"...we are all different." Indeed we are (and we're the same too!)

There you go, diversity in a nutshell. Not bad for seven I'd say.

Why diversity strategies don't work

Fri, 27 Apr 2012 09:38:09 +1200

In the last couple of weeks I've tendered for a couple of diversity training jobs and not got them. On reflection about why, I figure the one for the UN in Moldova ("Where's Moldova?" I hear you ask. So did I. It's here) was cost-related. Probably they found someone closer and that wouldn't be hard.

The other tender was to an NZ Government Ministry. Now, they may have found someone closer (in Wellington), but I doubt that was the reason. Even though they didn't respond to my request, I'm picking I didn't offer what they wanted.

Or, rather what they thought they needed. Here's what I offered:

OUTCOMES:

Creative thinking and participant-led exploration of knowledge and assumptions about diversity (modules 1-6)
Sustainable, positive workplace change as a result of new understanding and common language (modules 7-10)

METHOD:

Individual, pair, small group and whole group reflection and discussion.

OUTLINE:

Each module will run for approximately 30 - 45 minutes. Final programme developed in consultation.

1. What is diversity?

Current interpretations — characteristics, categorisation and representation — how they serve and limit
Demographics and statistics (what they mean and don’t mean)
Diversity in a civil society
Changing focus

2. Diversity and you

Why diversity is more about you than others
Becoming aware of your own beliefs, values, culture and lifestyle

Acquiring a balanced ego (confidence and humility)

3. Diversity and others

Knowing vs inquiring
Being comfortable with not knowing
The courage and generosity of being wrong

4. Knowing you, knowing me

Understanding uniqueness
Understanding commonality
Finding synergy

5. Diversity and decay

Why diversity is revealed more in decaying than growing
What needs to decay in order to reveal more diversity
Why you cannot manage diversity

6. The light and shadow of diversity

Understanding light and shadow
Where is your light and shadow?
The space in between (Goethe)

7. Diversity and the workplace

What are people’s fears?
What are the benefits of revealing diversity?
Where are the points of influence?
The employment chain: recruitment, induction, training, management, performance review

8. Diversity and leadership

Leading a culture of inquiry
Empathy vs sympathy
Recognising psychological projection

9. Creating a landscape of change

Sand castles and sand piles - which are more robust?
Becoming certain about uncertainty
What change is sought?

10. What now?

Doing vs being
Self commitment and accountability
Reviewing progress and measuring change
What would failure look like? What would success look like?

Here's what I think they thought they needed:

A diversity strategy

As often happens when I'm planning a blog post like this, my old mate Seth Godin posts about something poignantly relevant. This morning he posted this:

Do you have a people strategy?

Hard to imagine a consultant or investor asking the CMO, "So, what's your telephone strategy?"

We don't have a telephone strategy. The telephone is a tool, a simple medium, and it's only purpose is to connect us to interested human beings.

And then the internet comes along and it's mysterious and suddenly we need an email strategy and a social media strategy and a web strategy and a mobile strategy.

No, we don't.

It's still people. We still have one and only one thing that matters, and it's people.

All of these media are conduits, they are tools that human beings use to waste time or communicate or calculate or engage or learn. Behind each of the tools is a person. Do you have a story to tell that person? An engagement or a benefit to offer them?

Figure out the people part and the technology gets a whole lot simpler.

So, what I what I would say is, "Figure out the people part and the diversity gets a whole lot simpler."

We don't have a saying hello strategy. Politely greeting someone is common courtesy.

We don't have a what to believe strategy. We just need to accept that people believe different things and that someone believing something else doesn't make what we believe less real for us.

Sharing the stories of who we are is what makes diversity work, not strategies.

Bullying - a retrospective

Thu, 26 Apr 2012 11:48:31 +1200

As Pink Shirt Day is less than a month away, on Fri 18th May, I thought I'd put together a retrospective of some of the posts I've written on the subject in the past year or so. Click on the title to see the original post and comments.

Check out the new Pink Shirt Day website and video, too.

Responding to bullying through diversity

I see the issue of bullying – whether in schools, workplaces or homes –as a breakdown in relationship due to fear, power and lack of awareness, in both the triggers (perpetrators) and targets (victims). The way to resolve bullying is to facilitate a dialogue to help them see this commonality, as well as respecting each other's uniqueness.

Note that rather than using use the noun "bully" I refer to bullying as a relationship dynamic. It's a particular type of conflict where one party exerts power over the other.

Both parties need to engage in a dialogue with a facilitator or coach, first separately and then together, about their fears and insecurities, hopes and dreams, roles and identity, strengths and weaknesses, likes and dislikes etc.

Then they need work to feel safe to meet together, again with a thrd party, to share their individual stories. Through this they will identify inaccurate assumptions of each other as well as recognising similarities and differences among each other.

Once they understand and accept their diversity, they can begin to build a relationship where they no longer feel threatened by one another. They will no longer need to compete for power.

Bullying has nothing to do with kids

I've just been emailed links to these two wonderful videos by young gay men who have been targets of bullying. The second is a response to the first. Both these young men thought they were unique in their experience; in fact it was common.

They probably have more in common with the young people who were triggered to bully them than they'll ever know, too.

It's important to understand that these guys aren't the problem. Nor are the young people who were triggered to bully them. Schools are not the breeding ground for bullying.

The problem is the bullying society we live in. The problem is that adults model to young people that it's ok to do anything to get what you want. It's ok to put others down to build yourself up. It's ok to hurt those with whom you disagree.

Bullying is an adult problem. Respect is an adult responsibility. Change is an adult imperative.

5 things you need to know about bullying

There are no "bullies" and "bullied": Labelling people, especially young people, is counter-productive. Most people who are triggered into bullying behaviour have been taught through experience, ie. they've been bullied themselves. It stands to reason, then, that targets of bullying behaviour may repeat the pattern and be triggered to bully others.
Punishing bullying is bullying itself: Adults in authority who punish bullies are being triggered into bullying behaviour because they don't know how else to deal with the situation. Bullying is a relationship conflict. It needs to be mediated neutrally and both parties need to learn new behaviours. Take the "R" (relationship) out of "friends" and you have "fiends" – resolving bullying is about replacing/repairing the relationship
Bullying targets can stop the behaviour before it happens: As a disabled kid, I could easily have been bullied. I had conflicts but was never a target of bullying. On reflection I remember instinctively knowing I had to take charge of my relationships. I always introduced myself to other kids and asked the first question. Once, aged 11 or 12, when I fell out with a large Tongan friend of mine and he stood over me threateningly, I stamped on his foot. I remember waiting for him to thump me — instead he smiled, shook my hand and told me he respected my nerve. We remained friends for years after.
Bullying is fear-based: Both triggers and targets are scared of losing power and control. Triggers want to keep them, targets believe the don't have them. Focusing on what people are scared of is the first step to resolving bullying.
Bullying is sad not bad: One of the most disturbing things I've heard recently was other students blaming and being disparaging and judgmental about a bullying incident. We need to create a culture in all young people of concern, compassion and commitment to having difficult conversations about power and control. Stopping bullying is about community not individuals. It's about replacing fear with confidence. Only this understanding will change things.

Youth potential for constructive creativity: an example

I'm inspired by this US youth initiative. This video proves to me that young people often surpass adult's enthusiasm and capacity for understanding diversity and promoting change in creative and innovative ways.

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Contrast the behaviour of these young people with the alternative bullying culture and it seems that what adults fail to understand is our responsibility to create the opportunity for young people to express their constructive potential amidst the myriad of media and political demonstrations of violence, competition and negativity.

As Samuel's dad so rightly points out, schools are the hub of community and a school that excludes creates a community that misses out on the opportunity to include all.

It's up to us all to ensure that opportunity is harnessed.

Wear pink and think

Pink Shirt Day is more than just a day to wear pink and talk about kids being mean to each other because of their sexual preference or gender identity. I think it's a day to reflect on the bullying nature of our society in general.

All of our major institutions use bullying, stand-over and fear tactics to gain power and control over others. We see it in politics, religion, business, media, sport, welfare, social services, education and our justice system.

Let's face it —we live in a bullying world and we deify people who trigger bullying behaviour.

Donald Trump bullies. Oprah Winfrey bullies. Brian Tamaki bullies. John Key bullies. The All Blacks bully. John Campbell bullies. Teachers bully. Medical specialists bully. Lawyers bully. Work and Income bullies.

The system we live in calls for bullying behaviour, because it's based on competition and getting ahead of each other in order to succeed individually.

But actually we need to get ahead together.

So wear your pink shirt with pride and concern for others on Pink Shirt Day. But remember to check your own behaviour — in conversations, in traffic, in negotiations, even in play — and make sure you're not shoving people aside to get what you think you need to succeed.

Agreeing on not instead of what

Tue, 24 Apr 2012 09:51:09 +1200

Following a bit of a stoush on Face(off)book last night after I objected to John Campbell's use of the term 'intellectually handicapped workers', one thing seems clear to me. In this complex, ever-changing world, we cannot always expect to agree on what is ok to think, say or do.

What is often more realistic and possible, though, is to agree on what is not ok to think, say or do. In the world of organisational governance, it's known as a 'limitations policy' – anything is ok except this, that and the other.

Admittedly, I made the mistake of suggesting an alternative term –'workers who experience intellectual disability'. This incited a social networking riot about the word 'experience' and gave licence to everyone to bid for their favourite terminology, which totally detracted from my point:

Stop using the word 'handicapped'.

It's as outmoded as 'nigger' and 'faggot' and the media wouldn't use those words today, so why do they lack the respect to stop using a word disabled people, people with disabilities, people with unique function - whatever - find offensive?

While I'm on about it, don't use 'crippled', 'retarded', 'suffering' or 'wheelchair-bound', either. Thanks Campbell and Co.

For a more in-depth discussion, you could read this post.

Are we getting used to gay?

Mon, 23 Apr 2012 07:36:12 +1200

Over the weekend I had an email conversation about how social change can seem to be going backwards sometimes. I blogged about it a while back and there are several models that describe the phenomenon, like 'The Hero's Journey' or 'Monomyth' and 'Panarchy'.

Seth Godin's book 'The Dip' is food for thought on the subject too, from a different lens.

It's easy to notice the decay in social progress. The six o'clock news revels in it and, in circles of people trying to promote awareness and tolerance, we can easily fall into what's-the-point conversations with our peers, as we use sado-massochistic flagellation to keep ourselves in the struggle.

Meanwhile we miss the little shoots of growth that show us, yes, the world is in fact changing. Let me share two such instances that revealed themselves to me in the last few days, on the subject of sexual orientation.

First, in an article in the Guardian, entitled 'Was Jesus Gay? Probably', Paul Oestreicher, chaplain at the University of Sussex has written, "I preached on Good Friday that Jesus's intimacy with John suggested he was gay as I felt deeply it had to be addressed."

Was that divisive issue a subject for Good Friday? For the first time in my ministry I felt it had to be. Those last words of Jesus would not let me escape. "When Jesus saw his mother and the disciple whom he loved standing near, he said to his mother, 'Woman behold your son!' Then he said to the disciple. 'Behold your mother!' And from that hour the disciple took her to his own home."

...After much reflection and with certainly no wish to shock, I felt I was left with no option but to suggest, for the first time in half a century of my Anglican priesthood, that Jesus may well have been homosexual. Had he been devoid of sexuality, he would not have been truly human. To believe that would be heretical.

For a Church Minister to be making such a liberal suggestion, we have to recognise a profound shift in the human psyche. Of course, some of the congregation would disagree, but, as Oestreicher says, "to suggest otherwise is to buy into a kind of puritanism that has long tainted the churches."

At the very least, we have to notice that some of the puritanism has been diluted.

The second evidence of change was less profound but as much an indication of the impact of changing tolerance to sexual diversity. I'll leave you to watch the unusual twist at the end of this music video of the song 'Call Me Maybe' by Carly Rae Jepson.

(Spoiler warning: for those who can't see it, the boy that Carly likes gives his phone number to a guy in her band as she goes to give hers to him.)

Embracing the balance

Fri, 20 Apr 2012 06:43:04 +1200

Yesterday I was reminded yet again how much pressure is put on people to expect to feel 'up' all the time and that, if they feel 'down' for some reason, there's something wrong with them.

Someone I was talking to had had it suggested to them they see a doctor because they weren't feeling too good. Of course a doctor would have probably prescribed anti-depressants to "even out' their mood.

It seems to me that we live these days in a strangely anomalous world, which is most obvious when you watch TV. Advertisers try to sell us happiness, while the news tells us how bad everything is. Sitcoms and comedies try to make us laugh and crime series show us a side of human nature you could hardly imagine existed (and probably only did in the writers' minds until it ends up on TV).

Meanwhile, the expectation is to consistently feel ok about living in the world.

I spent half my 20s wondering what the point of everything was. I spent my 30s learning to get used to the fact that sometimes I'd feel great and sometimes I'd feel like shit.

In my 40s I'm enjoying the rollercoaster and learning to use the up and down moments to best effect. Primarily when I'm up I benefit from extroversion and when down I seek solice in introversion.

Of course there are situations where this balance is affected and intervention is needed. But generally I think, embracing the ups and downs without judgement on self or others needs to become far more commonplace.

In a culture where being social and outgoing are prized above all else, it can be difficult, even shameful, to be an introvert. But, as Susan Cain argues in this passionate TED talk, introverts bring extraordinary talents and abilities to the world, and should be encouraged and celebrated.

When technology goes bad

Tue, 17 Apr 2012 18:26:40 +1200

I arrived home at 5pm today to two phone calls from people saying they couldn't apply to our self-employment programme because the form was not working.

There were three possible reasons:

User error (user's resposibility)
Browser error (web developers' responsibility)
Form error (my responsibiity)

As it turned out it was a form error, and therefore my responsibility to resolve. But because I had received three applications successfully, I had to rule out the first two possibilities before I could take responsibility.

It's a fine line to tread. It took some polite investigation to work out that the applications received were flukes that didn't show up the form error.

In this age of technology it's getting harder and harder to work out, when things go wrong, whether users need coaching, developers need feedback or you need to get your shit together.

Working out who is responsible, in a measured and respectful way, is paramount.

And apologising when you get it wrong is nothing to be ashamed of.

Five young white men

Thu, 12 Apr 2012 06:18:23 +1200

It was sobering to watch the 'Young Wing' special of TVNZ7's political chat show Backbenches last night. A line-up of young, white, middle-class men (one of whom was possibly queer, but who can tell and what difference does it make these days?) represented the future of the National, Labour, Greens, Act and NZ First parties.

Host Wallace Chapmen predicted one would be Prime Minister in 20 years. Co-host Damien Christie likened them to a boy band.

It's hard not to fall back on the categorisation and representation perspective of diversity and ask, what's changed? I'm sure that each of them had unique ideas about how the country could be organised and led in the future.

The commonality that struck me however, was two-fold.

Firstly, their method of communication was the same, "I'm right, you're wrong" debate we've heard in politics for time immemorium. Secondly, it seems that politics remains predominantly the white middle class men's game of leadership, with a few others let in to play to make it look less so.

I'm left wondering what leadership games others can start playing more overtly, just to make this playground of ours a bit more interesting, civil and collaborative.

TVNZ Sunday uncovers ironic truth

Wed, 11 Apr 2012 07:15:24 +1200

A recent TVNZ Sunday online promo reads:

The price of life

They are the babies born in the 23rd week of pregnancy and they exist on the very edge of life. They are born so prematurely their survival stretches science to the limit. Is it medicine at its most pioneering and brilliant, or is it pushing the limits of nature too far? Is it always right to keep these babies alive? Sunday has unprecedented access to an intensive care neo-natal unit to follow these babies in their struggle to survive.

This video is unavailable due to rights restrictions. [my emphasis]

Well, you couldn't ask for more irony on a plate, could you?

I've written about this issue before and I don't want to rant and repeat myself. But this medical bragging (aka brilliance) keeps happening and social policy fails to keep up.

So let me reitterate: we cannot have our medical cake and eat it too. We can't celebrate medical science for maintaining life after only just over 50% gestation and then let bureaucracy fail to provide adequate, life-long resources to people whose bodies and brains are only half formed.

It's madness. Claire Curran, Labour Disability spokesperson, seems she may agree.

Let's stop calling these people a burden on society, because it's untrue and our rights are indeed being restricted. (Yes, I'm one of them.)

Someone needs to tell the other inconvenient but, this time, ironic truth: Medical science is a burden on society.

I want the t-shirt. It can't cost more than life.

Then, let's talk about it.

Diversity: it's not out there...

Tue, 10 Apr 2012 16:35:14 +1200

...it's in here.

Watching the episode of the documentary A Child's World on gender difference last night made me realise how far we are from understanding, as a species, our own diversity.

While admittedly it was first screened in 2001 and so probably made in the late 90s, the heteronomative, gender-binary rhetoric screamed at me like a raving banshee:

'Your male baby will develop physically and mentally into a boy and end up liking girls and your female child will do the opposite. End of story.'

No wonder we have the highest teen suicide rate if we are still showing such conservative bullshit on our screens in 2012.

The truth is much less certain and every parent should be aware of it. Your male baby may develop physically and mentally into a boy and end up liking girls. And your female baby may develop physically as a girl and mentally as a boy. And your female or male baby may develop physically as a girl or boy and end up liking other girls or boys. Or both. And may want to physically change to become a girl or boy and like girls or boys or both or other girls that were boys or boys that were girls.

And that's only if your baby isn't both female and male.

Until all parents can be comfortable with saying this about their own babies in here (before they are even born) — not those babies out there — we are nowhere near beginning to understand and accept the complexities of human diversity.

Quitting isn't always giving up

Thu, 05 Apr 2012 09:45:19 +1200

According to an article on Stuff, job resignations are steadily becoming more and more creative as evidenced by this viral video that's had over three million hits since it was posted last year.

Quitting anything generally gets a pretty bad rap in our society. Usually it's seen as weak, giving up, even cowardly.

But actually it's just a form of change.

I quit my job in 1998 when a colleague became my manager and started power tripping – today we'd see it as bullying perhaps –and I knew straight away he'd do his best to make my life difficult. My form of "Joey Quits" was when I went in to work to return my cellphone. On the way out of the house I dropped it, it skidded down the ramp onto the road and my neighbour ran it over in her car, smashing it to smitherines. As you can imagine, recounting such an unlikely story to my estranged colleague/boss felt somewhat like divine justice. To this day I'm not sure if he believed me or not.

In his book 'The Dip' Seth Godin makes the point that it's essential to success that you know when to quit:

Every new project (or job, or hobby, or company) starts out exciting and fun.

Then it gets harder and less fun, until it hits a low point-really hard, and not much fun at all. And then you find yourself asking if the goal is even worth the hassle. Maybe you're in a Dip - a temporary setback that will get better if you keep pushing. But maybe it's really a Cul-de-Sac, which will never get better, no matter how hard you try.

What really sets superstars apart from everyone else is the ability to escape dead ends quickly, while staying focused and motivated when it really counts.

Winners quit fast, quit often, and quit without guilt...

Looking back after 14 years in my own business I escaped a cul-de-sac at just the right time.

Over the years I've mentored and supervised many people in senior management roles, all of whom have ended up quitting their jobs. I now joke when people approach me for professional supervision that they should walk away if they want to stay in their job. My experience is that, when someone, who is open to exploring their job experience and effectiveness, gets to be still enough to examine their values and try to align them to the role their oganisation expects them to play, they realise something has to decay — either their values or their job.

I expect as capitalism clings desperately to life – and community and Government agencies get their lives slowly squeezed out of them –that it'll be harder and harder for people who value principles over profit to find a good job fit.

This is part of what prompted me to apply to the Ministry of Social Development's Employment Innovation Fund to support disabled people into self-employment. We want to offer an opportunity for disabled people wishing to become self-employed, particularly those who are currently recipients of WINZ or ACC income, to benefit from a six-month intensive mentoring and coaching programme.

Not only does self-employment offer you a perfect opportunity to build a job that aligns with your values and principles, you also get to quit your clients if they don't align, rather than quitting your job.

Money's performance appraisal

Fri, 30 Mar 2012 16:08:56 +1300

Over breakfast this morning, my PA Wai and I mused, "What if money were an employee and had a performance appraisal?" We thought it may go something like this:

You're not performing very well lately.
You seem to be involved in some shadey dealings.
Sometimes we're left waiting around for you and you don't turn up until the last minute, or you're late.
Sometimes you don't turn up at all.
You need to learn to spread yourself more evenly between people.
In and of yourself, you're useless.
You take yourself far too seriously.
One minute you're up and then you're down.
You sit around doing nothing and then you seem to have a strange way of multiplying yourself.

And so on. I've forgotten a few. Add to them (and you, Wai, if you're reading!).

Have a good weekend.

Sales or customers - which are more important?

Thu, 29 Mar 2012 14:44:14 +1300

It's possibly poor blogging form to rant twice in one day, but I have to get this off my chest.

A telemarketer from OfficeMax just called, telling me she'd been 'asked' to call me about printer toner. She asked me a few annoying questions about when I last bought toner and how often I bought it. I mean, how should I bloody know and, what's more, why would I care?

Forgiven — I suppose she's got a job to do.

Her first big mistake, though, was when she asked, "Wouldn't it be useful to have a spare one for when it runs out?" Now I'm getting ratty, because that sounded a bit like, "Let me tell you how to run your business." I replied politely, "The printer gives plenty of notice when the toner is low — we restock then."

Here's where she could have said, "Great! Well, just reminding you we're here and when you next get low on toner, give us a call. We'd love to help you out." She would have made a future sale and kept a customer.

But no, instead she made her second, bigger mistake. She said, "Yes, but wouldn't it be useful to have a spare one for when it runs out?"

Bad move, honey. Something snapped inside. "Now this conversation is annoying me," I said in less graceful tones. "I don't have time for this. Good bye."

Not only did she lose a sale, but she probably lost OfficeMax a customer, as I tweeted. (I wonder if they'll bother to tweet back?)

I'm no sales and marketing guru — I leave that to the Seth Godins of this world. But if anyone in sales and marketing is reading, here's five free tips from the customer's point of view:

Don't put sales above customers. If you're going to contact customers, do it to build the relationship, not to make a sale.
Ask if your customer is busy — in fact, expect them to be.
Ask if you can make a time to call back — better still, see if they'd prefer an email.
If they say no, respect that. Remember the old sales rule: ten No's for every Yes. Suck It Up.
Leave your customer liking you, not vowing to never use you again.

Government success fees paid to make sure youth don't die

Thu, 29 Mar 2012 07:22:33 +1300

In its newly released "Youth Services" tender which, as I describe below, seems like a state-funded game of Monopoly, the Ministry of Social Development is from today seeking tenders from non-profit organisations to provide two new services.

The Government tender site GETS describes them:

The first service is for 16 and 17 year olds not in employment, education or training (NEET) or at risk of becoming NEET ... MSD will contract providers to engage with these young people and provide on-going tailored and extensive support to help the young person to re-engage in education, training or work-based learning.

The second service is for those 16 and 17 year olds and 16-18 year old teen parents who are reciving government financial assistance ... We will be contracting providers to work closely with these young people and support them to meet their obligations.

Interesting to note the services are not actually lawful yet:

This tender and associated documents are subject to Government approval and are dependent on legislation passing through Parliament. Consequently these documents and the tender and contracting process are conditional on that legislation being passed, and are subject to change, variation or withdrawal.

The draconian T&Cs and pitiful payment schedule — quarterly payments of amounts as little as $50 per person at each stage of the service process — are absolutely ridiculous.

A provider gets an "additional quarterly milestone payment" of $50 for ensuring childcare arrangements are in place for young parents.

The Government is paying "success fees" of $1000 if young people don't apply for benefits, go to jail or die "within three months of exiting the Service". What the?

Of course if the young person does go to jail, they'll not pass Go and the non-profit organisation won't get that $1000. Instead it will go to private companies like Serco who will be running our prisons so that they get to buy more houses.

Forget landing on a Chance card. I'd say it's Game Over for NZ's young people.

Question is, when will this Government realise we're actually playing The Game of Life, not Monopoly?