http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=u5um8QWWRvo … [Read more...]
Smile or Die – Why I don’t subscribe blindly to the school of positive thinking
April 19, 2012 by 1 Comment
Bonsai People in a Bonsai Culture?
April 18, 2012 by 6 Comments
Bonsai = An ornamental tree or shrub grown in a pot and artificially prevented from reaching its normal size The bonsai is not a genetic variant but has within it the potential to become a fully grown tree. However it is carefully cultivated to meet the demanding requirements of the gardener. It is fed few nutrients, kept in shallow soil, not allowed to form deep roots, continually pruned and kept 'in proportion'; shaped to the precise requirements of the gardener and the specifications of their profession. Bonsai People Bonsai people have had their development limited, distorted and shaped by the influence of their environment rather more than it has been driven by their own potential and aspirations. To an extent we are all Bonsai People. But some people have been more bonsaid than others. And some seem to be very content with their bonsai nature. While others are frustrated at the sensation that there must be something more in them than this. Yesterday I was on the phone with Rich Huxley and we were talking about developing musicians. I told him of a mentor in Leeds who had boasted to me about how they had worked with a 14 year old boy whose ambition was 'to be the best bass guitarist in … [Read more...]
Big Society and Young People
April 12, 2012 by Leave a Comment
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GnnWwYddkSM … [Read more...]
Some forgotten truths about enterprise…
February 11, 2012 by Leave a Comment
Poverty is not about scarcity – it is not that there is not enough – but that it is not shared The challenge is to give more people the power that they need to play a positive and powerful role in markets; This means accessible and relevant processes to develop individual capabilities and power Markets will always have a place in our society but not everything can be bought and sold. Care for example is an emotional relationship that cannot be bought and sold. Development is a measure of the extent to which individuals have the capabilities to live the life that they choose. It has little to do with standard economic measures such as GDP. Helping people to recognise choices and increase the breadth of choices available to them should be a key objective of development. Developing the capability and power of individuals provides a key to both development and freedom Development must be relevant to lives, contexts, and aspirations Development is about more than the alleviation of problems – stamping out anti social behaviour, teenage pregnancies, poor housing and so on. It is about helping people to become effective architects in shaping their own lives We need practices that value … [Read more...]
Leadership – mass participation or elite sport?
February 6, 2012 by 3 Comments
How does a community get the leadership that it needs to thrive? Is it a question of finding an elite cadre of movers and shakers, networking them, hot-housing them and amplifying their power? Or is it about offering the opportunity for anyone to 'lead' on whatever matters most to them, their loved ones and their neighbours? Can we design leadership development processes that: support and reward mass participation? are inclusive rather than exclusive? respect local starting conditions (values, cultures and issues)? Certainly this kind of leadership development is possible. By giving people space to talk about what matters to them and encouraging them to think through what they can do about it and whether they want to move from words to actions we can find 'leaders'. But they rarely see themselves as such. They don't see their agenda as being 'leadership'. They may see it as developing a 'local community website', or 'starting an urban gardening project' or 'finding opportunities for young people to learn and earn in our community'. There are plenty of people looking to do plenty of good things and the truth is that what we usually describe as 'Leadership Development' … [Read more...]
Howard Zinn on Activism
February 2, 2012 by Leave a Comment
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Q8UB6HYj4DE … [Read more...]
The Purpose of a City: economic development or something more?
January 27, 2012 by Leave a Comment
Why do we choose to live cities? What are they for? Well, for many of us they are 'Where the jobs are'. We don't choose to live in or near them. We do so because that is how our economy is configured. We are drawn into they city and 'enslaved' by it and the economy is exists to serve. But many of us are, on the whole, happy slaves as the city fathers and their investor friends ensure we are regularly supplied with both 'bread and circuses', superficial means of appeasement, from which they too can often make a handsome profit. And, on one level, this is a purpose of the city. To organise a modern population effectively and efficiently for the benefit of employers and those who bankroll and tax them. They are above all else economic entities, where 'culture' and 'community' play secondary roles as part of the mechanisms for appeasement while the primary narrative is about the economy, productivity, profitability and gross domestic product. As Margaret Thatcher put it "Economics are the method; the object is to change the heart and soul." But, we can look at a city differently. We could choose to believe that "Head, heart and soul are the method; the object is to change the economy" We can … [Read more...]
Jonathan Meades on Brand and Regeneration
December 28, 2011 by Leave a Comment
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=A8MEm3eVPNU … [Read more...]
Would Social Enterprise Deliver a Better World?
December 5, 2011 by 2 Comments
Just imagine a world where every business is a social enterprise. There was nowhere to spend your money that was not taking a portion of it to reinvest in social change, to alleviate hardship and increase social justice. You eat at a restaurant that uses part of the price of your ham hock to help the homeless find a job. You pay a premium on your office space so that your landlord can re-invest some of your cash into supporting entrepreneurs amongst the local poor folk. You buy your petrol from an oil company that takes a slice of your cash to improve marine conservation and invest in promoting democracy in the oilfields of the planet. Every time you buy something someone puts a smile on the face of the world. The more we consume the better things get! Growth is genuinely good! Isn't it? Well perhaps, because all of these social enterprises are also genuinely sustainable in a one planet economy, all paying a fair wage for a days work, and are well capitalised as investors recognise that social change is in their 'self interest' too. The return they get on their capital is worth much more than just money. It is a planet fit for the grandchildren. How would the market for 'social change' … [Read more...]
‘The Impotence of All Governments…’
November 30, 2011 by 1 Comment
A provocative phrase used by Jeremy Paxman last night to describe the inability of any government to effectively manage an effective path through the current economic crisis. But we could extend it to many other areas of our lives. The impotence of governments to: build the affordable houses that we need provide the stable macro-economic climate in which trade can thrive keep significant numbers of our citizens, young and old, out of poverty equip people with the skills and attitudes required to thrive in the 21st century reduce carbon emissions to a level that mitigates the risk of significant environmental trauma provide affordable, sustainable and efficient mass transit systems Here in Leeds we have got to the point where all political parties see the construction of a new station at Kirkstall as some kind of triumph. Building one station that will serve a few thousand people in a city of nearly 800 000. A new station that will provide the key infrastructure link to enable further private sector development in that area of the city. I just hope that any future planning application gets the balance of affordable housing right, otherwise I suspect we will see the poor once again displaced … [Read more...]
