Saturday, 17 September 2011 6:17 PM
As an avid agnostic political follower, I am somewhat concerned at the lacks in our politicians at the moment. Granted it is an unusual political environment and an unusual time both domestically and internationally however you do get the feeling that both sides of politics are struggling with exception to a few pollies that seem to have convictions and the fortitude to put them out there.
Politics is the art of compromise. That is granted and I have to say I would absolutely struggle in politics because lets face it, to get anywhere you really have to be attached to the major political parties one way or the other and then you are guarenteed to be compromised on many issues. That is not to say that other walks in life are not full of compromise, its just about getting the right balance. In business, for example, there are plenty of times that you have to put forward a compromised or commercial position in order to achieve a mutually acceptable result.
With this in mind I thought I would share my top 3 business lessons for our ailing politicians....
1. You can't sell what you don't believe in! Whether you are the head of a business or a run of the mill sales person you simply can't sell what you don't believe in. This was an early lesson I learnt from selling cutlery door to door and pushing people for demonstrations. How can you be passionate about a product if you feel the product is not right for the client or is lets say simply inferior.
Politicians - take note. If you don't believe in the core reasons behind policies you will simply not sell it to the people. Does anyone else think that is why Julia Gillard is struggling to convince people on off shore processing, the carbon tax and a range of other policies? I also think people are very clear on Tony Abbott's position regarding climate change and the carbon tax.
Now if you are in a position of having to sell something you dont believe in; it's a pretty simple. Stop selling it or upgrade/change it to something you love and are passionate about. Now if that means you lose power or lose position perhaps you can win in it back by selling the right product that people can clearly see you are passionate about!
2. No Money, No Business. Someone said it right? "It's the economy stupid." Well in business it is simple, if your money in doesnt meet your money out you are simply out of business. This is no different in politics. If the country is bleeding revenue, jobs and opportunities there is simply no room for anything else than focusing on getting back in the black. I agree you must provide services to the community and build a better Australia however quite frankly the basics are getting the economy in good shape.
Right now there are a number of issues that are burning our politicians time, energy and willpower that are simply right out of whack with getting our economy in good shape. Why we have to hear about Craig Thompson, gay marriage and with all due respect a trickle of "illegal immigrants" is beyond me. Surely the livelihood of Australian industry, that provides jobs, which provides money and so forth is a critical issue to address. Surely evolving Australia's economy is a bigger issue than some of the hoo haa we have to carry on about. (Media listen up I am onto you next!)
3. Fear campaigns have a short fuse. We've all been exposed to fear campaigns before right? You know the whole "buy this or your head will explode in 30 seconds!" I can name a few industries that do the fear sell and there are plenty of cowboys in the I.T market doing the fear sell. However as logic would have it the market wises up and the doomsayers largely get discarded.
So pollies if you think you can get ahead pitching on the fear campaign; be aware that people will wise up very soon! This is highlighted with a few gents (no names mentioned) who are able to spout rhetoric, that Cicero would be proud of, but when pushed there is little substance to it...
There are plenty more business and life lessons for our politicians but what are your suggestions?
Author: Geoff Olds | Filed Under: Miscellaneous Stuff, Business, Announcements, Solutions | 1 Comments
Thursday, 22 July 2010 3:33 PM
It seems that we cannot get anything done quickly in this country. The committee of Attorney Generals were meant to meet this month to discuss about the games classification issue in Australia. This has been cancelled and with it goes the hope of a quick resolution to the matter.
This is obviously a very important topic of discussion because it saw an unprecedented number of submissions when it was opened for public consultation.
The proposed date for the discussion has now been delayed to early November.
Author: Nick Heng | Filed Under: Announcements | 0 Comments
Wednesday, 21 July 2010 8:47 AM
TechFlare is turning a grand old age of 6 soon and we're going to be having a bash to celebrate it. As prelude to the occassion, I am posting this video that I did last year (photos by Ronald Atengco).
Quite a slideshow, if I do say so myself.
Heres hoping that it will be bigger and better this year!
Author: Nick Heng | Filed Under: Announcements | 1 Comments