š¤ PeopleFirst
The Valueā Of People
There's someĀ fuckingĀ guy, scientist or something. Real sick bastard. Says he measured out the remains, the cremated remains of a dead man. Measured out the, uh, minerals left behind, you know? The iron phosphates, the ... whatever it is we're made up of. Says heĀ addedĀ it all up to the cost of $4.40.
$4.40. Burnt down man'sĀ worthĀ less than aĀ fuckingĀ Big Mac.
Michael Grey played by Liam Cunningham in The Numbers Station
I caught The Numbers Station over the weekend, and that is the opening dialogue. It resonated. I know nought of the truth - but it does seem about right.
After last week's newsletter, and the responses, I have thought about it more and more. How we as a society spend so much ... too much ... time reducing anything ... everything ... to a value based on the component parts.
We know that the click bait mongers of the internet write stuff like this - to save you the click through itās all about adding together the cost of the sum of the parts of an iPhone - and thus by extrapolation conclude that Apple is - as we might say in England ... '
No - this is not a defence of Apple - but to ask a question.
Isn't this exactly what businesses do every day week, month and year to people. You earn a salary or wage based on what they consider is your worth to them while they rent you for the 40, 50, 60 hours each week that you are in their service?
But it's worse. The value is not just for the sum of your component parts, but actually for the sum of your component parts that they think they need, and everything else is ignored. Your component parts are what they have defined are needed to do the job that they have defined needs to be done. Everything else is of zero value.
Thinking Allowed
This is a People First post that was originally on the People First domain. It has been moved here as part of my domain consolidation program. Itās a steady and slow WIP as I check each entry, so do please bear with me.- More about People First
- Other People First Posts
(not just from the āother domainā ā¦ all of them.)
š§ People - Not Assets, Talent, Staff ... People
I just read this and decided to drop in a few People First tenets to remind us all .... the problem Kevin raises is not easily fixed - it is a systemic view of how people are seen by
Bunker19
The Working Day Is Done
No, not Cyndi ... Neil.
They say that life imitates art. In this particular
When the working day is through
Neil Hannon - Divine Comedy
And you're waiting in the rain
For another overdue
Overcrowded railway train
And the movie poster screams
"It's the best film ever seen!"
But it's all a different world
To which you have never been
And you're bored out of your mind
So you keep yourself amused
Reading the Financial Times
Of the fellow next to you
Then something in you snaps
And you shout with all your lungs
"We give and get nothing back!"
When the working day is done."
Unfair - possibly, but Hannon / Divine Comedy has a history of social observation. In this particular case and entire double album on Office Politics. Wont it be grand when we no longer have to deal with them?
Corporate Speak
I have a problem with ‘Corporate Speak’. Putting aside how ‘we the people’ seem to adopt corporate speak as part of our conversation - how else does ‘content’ become part of our day to day vocabulary? (Although that is an entirely different topic.)
Here’s the thing … the same organisations that use phrases like;
āShare of Walletā
āAttacking and Targeting a Marketā (thatās you and me folks) and breaking down those
āAdoption Barriersā
‘Taking the hill’
‘Users’ not ‘People’
And have something called a ‘War Room’ !!! - you know the place where Marketing meet to plan how to extract out last cent. Anyway these organisations are exactly the same organisations that say things like
‘Your Passion Is Our Satisfaction’,
‘Pleasing People Is Our Motto’ and
‘A Customer Is Always Right’.
Which language do you believe reflects the true nature of the corporation?
Me? I think what is said behind closed doors more often reflects the truth. What is broadcast in public is what they think we want to hear. Itās politics, not business, but isnāt that what happened to Mitt Romney?
This week’s newsletter explores corporate language and asks why have people just blindly adopted it without question? It doesnāt serve us - only the corporation.
š Read the whole thing here.
šļø š .. and much more on what I think about language here.
People: Leo
"In Italy I was a photographer. In Rome."
āA pretty place to photograph.ā
"Well, not so much, my job was a police photographer. When someone died, I took the photographs. I was very busy. Ten years .. every day ā¦ click click click ā¦ more death. Depressing. Soul ākillingāā. I couldnāt make a life out of death."
So different city, different country, different job?
"Yes. But same girl!"
"She said to me one day that she is coming here. To England. It seemed a good idea. Time for change."
You didnāt want to do something in photography? Maybe scenery, weddings, commercial ā¦ put your skills to a different use?
"No."
"My girl friend she is always changing. Me too. I wanted change. But Only one change. Change. Stop."
So you have been here for ten years.
"Yes. And will be for another ten. My girlfriend she has had 15 jobs in the same time. Sometimes working 50 miles away. Always changing. Always chasing. But never arriving."
"Me? Iāve arrived."
Any journey is a series of events and one of those events is the destination. [efn_note] I was reminded of this story when I was sharing a bottle of wine with a friend recently. The wine was 'own label' - and on that label was a line ... that he assured me was his, I haven't found it anywhere else so let me attribute accordingly. [/efn_note]
Thinking Allowed
This is a People First post that was originally on the People First domain. It has been moved here as part of my domain consolidation program. Itās a steady and slow WIP as I check each entry, so do please bear with me.- More about People First
- Other People First Posts
(not just from the āother domainā ā¦ all of them.)
Time For A Better Capitalism
When Henry Blodget writes an opinion piece about the inequality in modern America ... concluding with
"It's time for a more balanced approach"
Henry Blodget
Then I guess it must be time!
On the click throughā a good read, some informative images, and the fact that the whole things is sitting in the LinkedIN silo shouldnāt put you off. In particular he writes;
... the problem with the profit-maximization obsession is that it hurts the economy.
Henry Blodget
I have to say - I agree.
It's pretty simple really .. and a central theme of mine. In fact, I go further. It's bad for society.
The 'graphic story' I have in the works shows why. Don't worry - it won't be as complex as the Mueller one.
People: Alfie
How about you? I asked.
"Me? More brothers and sisters than most and none of them talk to me and the missus."
That must be hard.
Not really. It runs in the family. My parents hardly ever talked.
"You can't choose your family, but you sure can choose your friends".
My Dad [efn_note]A long time ago[/efn_note]
Thinking Allowed
This is a People First post that was originally on the People First domain. It has been moved here as part of my domain consolidation program. Itās a steady and slow WIP as I check each entry, so do please bear with me.- More about People First
- Other People First Posts
(not just from the āother domainā ā¦ all of them.)
People: Semera
He looked at me. Eyes piercing my skull.
āYes - I have heard of it I replied. An African nation ā¦ right?ā
African yes.
"Iām sorry, I canāt place exactly where in Africa - but, my memory tells me in the North .. near Ethiopia?ā
You do indeed know my country. He gave me the biggest smile.
And then this young man from Eritrea launched into the story of his journey from Africa to San Francisco. Not harrowing ā¦ though if you know anything of that region, that is more surprising than if it was.
I won a scholarship to America. I am a musician. I came here ten years ago.
Part Four of Episode ZERO : Episode 0.4 in fact.
After a four month hiatus, I once more commit voice to microphone and deliver the final part of Episode ‘zero’.
In this episode, I get back in the saddle, play around with Garageband and spend a couple of minutes getting into what People First is all about.
Next time you hear from me will be Episode 1 - the inaugral episode of the new MicroCast from People First … unless a snickelcast sneaks in first.
Itās Not The AirPods - Itās Bluetooth - A Snicklecast
Getting myself ready for Episode 0.4 before I formally launch the People First podcast .. so, thought Iād give it the old college try. It failed .. but Iām pretty sure itās not me!
FYI @manton and @cheesemaker
You donāt often see truth in straplines but I just did …
āThere must be security for all, or no one is secure.ā
š§ Our Greatest Assets
Our fourth Newsletter just dropped. The focus this week .. People!
Hamid Ulukaya - founder and CEO of 'Chobani Yoghurt' presents his plan - 'the anti-CEO playbook'. A fascinating journey through the early days of the company - and how it's
Secondly, A reminder that when you build systems and make changes in your organization, it's
Finally, for a while now, I have been writing about why we should stop using the word 'Content' to describe our ābook, novel, short story, article, white paper, promotional piece, advert, painting, sculpture, song, opera, photograph ā¦. you get the point.
This week Om Malik and Khoi Vinh have both written about that very topic. Personally delighted if finally this message is catching on and
As long asĀ āwe the creatorsā fall into the trap of using ātheirā words to describeĀ our work, our soul, our passion, our beliefsĀ asĀ ācontentā, then our work will continue to be viewed asĀ āfree - to - cheap - to - low - cost, homogenized, non differentiated, interchangeable fodderā.
John Philpin - People First
At People First, weĆ¢ĀĀve been saying this for a long time - just check out 5 posts ago as one example!Ć¢ĀĀ£ Ć¢ĀĀ£Ć¢ĀĀ£ Ć¢ĀĀ£Today Om has come out with an epic article Ć¢ĀĀ¦. as he is wont. Needless to say - SPOT ON.Ć¢ĀĀ£ Ć¢ĀĀ£Ć¢ĀĀ£ Ć¢ĀĀ£The Problem With Content : om.co/2019/06/1…
DonĆ¢ĀĀt be confused Ć¢ĀĀ¦ get EDUCATED - sure - get TRAINED aswell Ć¢ĀĀ¦ but not instead of Ć¢ĀĀ¦Ć¢ĀĀ£ Ć¢ĀĀ£Ć¢ĀĀ£ Ć¢ĀĀ£#peoplefirst
