🖋️ LongForm
Want to reduce the noice and just focus on things with a little more meat - the this category is for you. Like so much on this site we have a ‘WIP’ as i take some out - and put some in - but safe for at least starting in 2026.
A Preemptive Apology To a Cashier In A Local Store
A short apology to an unknown cashier in a store that I thought had taken advantage - or made a mistake. Turns out - it was all me. Turns out that thirty bucks short is because I didn’t spot that a ‘twenty’ was actually a ‘fifty’. BAD JOHN.
Loneliness Emerges From The Inability To Connect
I don’t think the Beatles were the greatest band that ever lived. There I said it. I know there will be people that disagree with me.
That said, even with two views of ‘truth’ it is still possible to have a deep, interesting, meaningful conversation that might open my mind and who knows … ‘theirs’ as well. In other words in this case true connection is possible even if the participants have different ‘realities’.
BUT - and it is a big but .. that does require a willingness on both sides to bridge those differences through empathy, listening, open-mindedness and communication. It is that very act of seeking to understand others - and in turn be understood - that creates a space where connection thrives.
I think loneliness emerges from the inability to connect.
It remains possible in music, literature and sport to name but three random topics of conversation in the public square (the real public square - not the dumpster fire), so why not in politics? I have an idea.
I think true connection can be fostered when individuals prioritize mutual respect and shared humanity over complete agreement or identical perceptions.
Sadly, when it comes to politics the broad swathe of humanity are being trained by a few ‘bad actors’ (let’s keep it civil) to ignore that.
When did that start? Well, we all have ideas I am sure. Here’s mine …
Either you are with us, or you are with the terrorists.
💬 George Bush
.. but he wasn’t the first.
Anyone who isn’t with me opposes me, and anyone who isn’t working with me is actually working against me.
💬 Matthew 12:30
Lenin and Mussolini also used similar phrasing to get their point across. This is a ‘both sides’ argument that has been effectively used over a couple of millennium to get the support of the masses.
When will they ever learn.
💬 Pete Seger
Never?
I am not sure how to fix it.
We’ve gone deep down the rabbit hole. It’s going to get worse. A lot worse. Before it gets better.
Nuance? We Don’t Need No Stinking’ Nuance ….
I published 🔗 this post back in July last year … after months of delay and noodling and questioning, I finally released it - and as with so many of my posts that I often wonder why I bother .. crickets.
From that piece - if you’ll forgive me for quoting myself …
Sadly the Internet has been weaponized and far from creating a place to be educated about the differences of people and countries and life - we are being forced into submission. It’s a place where ignorance is not so much celebrated as ignored - and ignored because on the whole it isn’t recognized, and if you do anything counter to the noise - expect to be piled on because 🔗 you are either with us, or against us.
It has only got worse.
Since the 6th, I have been thinking a lot about ‘whither next’ … and then, a couple of days ago I became aware of a debacle in this little corner of the internet we call Micro.Blog. Not going to get into it here - if you are reading this - you almost certainly know what it’s about., but were I to reduce the whole thing to a single word it’s called BULLYING.
… and as far as I am concerned … bullies can fuck off.
Here’s the problem - any semblance of being able to have your opinion is rapidly disappearing - if not gone already. That used to be ‘across the aisle’, now it’s wormed its way into every corner of every room. And this is an ‘all sides’ problem - witness the Micro.Blog ‘contretemps’ referred to earlier. Again - you are either with us, or against us - and that means - all of these concepts are being expunged form our discourse;
Ambiguity
Ambivalence
Balance
Complexity
Context
Depth
Duality
Finesse
Gray area
Harmony
Nuance
Paradox
Perspective
Reflection
Relativity
Sensitivity
Spectrum
Subtlety
Tone
🔗 A simple, non viral case in point. - the link jumps to a short thread on Substack where I dropped a throw away comment to a comment from Ken Klippenstein and within minutes I got a reply clarifying my tongue in cheek question and what was meant by the executive order. I have learnt my lesson - I need to punctate any and all comments with a smiley emoji … ‘all’ because I am well aware that I am overly glib and sarcastic in most of my online comments.
To save the click through, I also quote this - from ChatGPT ….
facetiousness seems to be waning touches on broader shifts in communication patterns. The rise of digital communication has led to a decline in face-to-face interactions, which traditionally allowed for the nuanced delivery and reception of facetious remarks. Without the benefit of vocal tone, facial expressions, and body language, the subtleties of facetiousness can be lost or misinterpreted in text-based mediums. Moreover, the immediacy and brevity of digital exchanges often prioritize efficiency over the layered wit that facetiousness entails. As a result, such forms of humor may not translate well in online environments, leading to their diminished use. This shift underscores the complex relationship between evolving communication technologies and the ways we express and perceive humor.
And then just this morning, this popped up in my feeds from Om - posted 18 months or so ago ….
You can read the whole post ‘What’s The Truth?’ here.
Not holding back this time. Serendipity has spoken.
What Do You Think?
The Cost of Living In Places I Have Lived ...
Specifically, New Zealand, Australia, United Kingdom and The United States
🔗 Kevin Drum linking to the cheapest and most expensive places to live.
In New Zealand there is a lot of handwringing that translates to countless LinkedIN posts talking about ‘jump starting’ the economy and what do they have to do to grow their GDP which inevitably leads to attracting the ‘brightest and the best’. I’ve even weighed into a few of the debates myself …
Of course it doesn’t help when one of the leading Kiwi journalists writes NZ now frozen, listless, mean & hopeless
Here is one slice of that data from the Worlddata link above.
United States 14
Australia 17
New Zealand 18
United Kingdom 19
.. but check out the average monthly income which in turn drives the purchasing power index.
United States 100
Australia 81.4
United Kingdom 63.8
New Zealand 63.5
I’ll let the UK number sit for you to absorb. I am more interested in the two antipodean counties … turns out Australia has a little more than 30% MORE purchasing power than New Zealand.
No more handwringing needed. I don’t know the exact ins and outs of the rules of NZ and OZ - BUT to all intents and purposes, citizens of each country can jump to the other almost on a whim much as someone in the US can move to a different state. It’s not exactly the same - but for a while now there has been a steady exodus of NZ nationals to OZ for a long time - but its getting a lot more problematic - through to September(ish) of 2024 - an average of 200 Kiwi nationals per day left New Zealand to settle in Australia. When you look at that discrepancy - is there any wonder?
(Side Note - 200 per day for 365 days is 7,300 people - that is 0.14% of the country!)
Of course - there’s more to life than the cost of living - there is also the 🔗Quality of Life - and delighted to report that New Zealand - despite its poor showing on the cost of living scale delivers a satisfying 9th in the world for Quality of Life - nestling right between Japan and Spain. So at least they have that. BUT … to borrow a phrase from Aoteraoa …
“Yeah … No”.
Turns out OZ is the number one destination in the world for Quality of Life.
Me? For all of that handwringing that goes on … I think the powers are solving the wrong problem really well.
Just In Today
Science overhaul lays out a fundamental challenge for New Zealand
The Business Equation
I have on occasions referenced ‘The Business Equation’ within this ‘Personal Journal’. I shared it last week in a pack of mental models I use as part of my processes that businesses find helpful when building their company. In the sharing, it occurred to me that while pictures are worth 1,000 words - sometimes you might need 10,000.
For example, The Business Equation includes my take on concepts like;
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The Virtual Corporation
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The Future of Work
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Outsourcing and Offshoring
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The Company of One
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Supply Chain Transparency
… and even my extension to Geoff Moore’s Core/Context model - applied to people and the roles they might be looking to take.
I use these models and more during my engagements and advisory services that are designed to grow businesses.
I might write more about this. Should I?
A Reminder About ‘Content’
… because it’s getting worse.
A strategic thinker wouldn’t call it content.
Sorry - no idea who wrote that - not me - but definitely on pace with my thinking - which you will know that 🖇️🔍 I have written about this many times over the years.
To save the click through - in a nutshell …
As long as ‘we the creators’ fall into the trap of using low cost, homogenous, non-descript words like ‘content’ to describe our work, our soul, our passion, our beliefs then our work will continue to be viewed as ‘free - to - cheap - to - low - cost’, as ‘homogenized, non differentiated, interchangeable fodder’. Moreover, we then only have ourselves to blame and the resultant payment for your art, your thinking, your ideas, will continue to race to the bottom.
💬 John Philpin
And
It is not in the interests of any creator to allow that, so why allow their interests to define how we think?
💬 John Philpin
And
Content is a horrible, generic, cheap, ‘anything will do’ kind of word. Which is why ‘content’ has no value. It is also important to know that it is in the best interests of the buyers of our sweat, labour, thought and time to keep their price down. But our costs are not kept down. So our net earnings suffer. And they are suffering badly. And it has to start with you - the creator, because it isn’t in the interests of buyers to change their behaviour and vocabulary - ‘they’ want great work at no cost.
💬 John Philpin
So. What you going to do about it?
Carry-On, 2024 - ★★★
I like both actors - so despite the warnings of ‘the new diehard’ I ploughed ahead. it was a fine movie - but both actors have substantially better performances and films/shows on their cv.
My Three Words ..
I’ve been doing this every year since 2019. My 7th will be out in a few days time.
The History
2024 - substack.philpin.com/p/here-we…
Transform | Transition | Transcend (sic)
2023 - substack.philpin.com/p/its-tha…
Focus | Flexible | Fabulous
2022 - substack.philpin.com/p/take-th…
Clear | Closer | Choice
2021 - john.philpin.com/2021/01/0…
Transform | Transition | Transcend
2020 - substack.philpin.com/p/take-th…
Believe | Move | Ascend
2019 - substack.philpin.com/p/here-we…
Uncertain | Less | Different
Caveat
Caveat | The source of this post is a separate blog where I am experimenting with a new AI app we are building. In other words, for now, no guarantees of the veracity of the contents.
🎥 Juror #2, 2024 - ★★★★
It’s up there as one of his better ones - and like a lot of his better ones .. quiet, tight, personal.
Juror #2, 2024 - ★★★★
It’s up there as one of his better ones - and like a lot of his better ones .. quiet, tight, personal.
🎥 Wicked, 2024 - ★★
Against my better judgement .. decided to go see it. I’m sure it’s a fine movie - just not my cup of tea - but so many people I know kept telling me how great it was. Yeah no. At least for this bear.
Don’t hate me. Don’t tell me that missed something. I didn’t.
Wicked, 2024 - ★★
Against my better judgement .. decided to go see it. I’m sure it’s a fine movie - just not my cup of tea - but so many people I know kept telling me how great it was. Yeah no. At least for this bear.
Don’t hate me. Don’t tell me that missed something. I didn’t.
Winning
In my health fight over the past four years, my oncologist 🔗Pepe Sasso had five rules that he laid on me at the very beginning and kept pushing me every time I saw him - including just a couple of weeks ago. One of two things that I maintain is ‘my secret’. 🔗 This is the other.
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Exercise
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Diet/Nutrition to Maintain a Healthy Weight
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Positive Mental Attitude (the sail of opportunity is always open)
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Pain Management
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Good Sleep and Good Sleep Patterns