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Archives for October 2008

The Credit Crunch – A Catalyst for Progress?

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The credit crunch rumbles on and the picture does not get any better.

I think we can bet that the US Govt will eventually do the same as the UK and divert serious wads of the taxpayers cash to prop up failing banks.  Ah the triumph of the markets and the miracle that is capitalism!

And where will the cash come from?  Well I suppose we might go to war a little less – but more likely we will make cuts to basic services – so if you work in housing, education, enterprise, regeneration, health, policing etc I would get used to the idea of their being some very tight years ahead.

So where do we focus out time and energy to make sure that we can weather the storm?  Do we put our savings into krugerands or stuff cash under the mattress in case the bank goes bust?

Or do we focus on our ability to create value in new economic circumstances?

To recognise that the very nature of what people value will shift and that our products and services need to change to reflect this?  Do we take the chance to be innovative and creative or do we just put our heads in the sand and keep doing more of the same?

Creating Value through the Credit Crunch

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The credit crunch rumbles on and the picture does not get any better.

I think we can bet that the US Govt will eventually do the same as the UK and divert serious wads of the taxpayers cash to prop up failing banks.  Ah the triumph of the markets and the miracle that is capitalism!

And where will the cash come from?  Well I suppose we might go to war a little less – but more likely we will make cuts to basic services – so if you work in housing, education, enterprise, regeneration, health, policing etc I would get used to the idea of their being some very tight years ahead.

So where do we focus out time and energy to make sure that we can weather the storm?  Do we put our savings into krugerands or stuff cash under the mattress in case the bank goes bust?

Or do we focus on our ability to create value in new economic circumstances?

To recognise that the very nature of what people value will shift and that our products and services need to change to reflect this?  Do we take the chance to be innovative and creative or do we just put our heads in the sand and keep doing more of the same?

What stops some people being more enterprising?

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This is a question that rewards consideration with each and every person that we meet.  And with every community (and each grouping within it) that we wish to engage in enterprise.

Is it that they:

  • lack a specific piece of information, advice or guidance? (IAG)
  • need someone to diagnose their problems and broker them to a solution provider? (IDB)
  • just need access to the right type of physical space or social network to get going?

(NB These are the most common assumptions – often un-stated – that underpin the VAST MAJORITY – of investment in enterprise support services).  DO THEY UNDERPIN YOURS?  IF SO ARE YOU SURE THAT THEY REFLECT YOUR ECONOMIC AND SOCIAL POLICY GOALS?

Or is that:

  • At a deep level they won’t let themselves believe that they could succeed?
  • That they are afraid that if they try something new it will probably end in failure and humiliation – again?
  • That few of their peer group go down such a route – so they will risk losing friends or worse?
  • They see entrepreneurs on the telly and can’t see themselves every being ‘like that’.

I personally believe that for the majority of people it is this type of issue with self-image or sense of identity that prevents them really taking up the possibility of a more (legitimate) enterprising way of life.

Yet few of our services are really designed to help people aspire, believe and achieve.