The dangers of committees and what they signal.

The article below by Dr Schori and Mr Garee is quoted wholesale because it’s amusing, anthropomorphic, so easy to relate to, and accurate. Committees have a tendency to be inefficient and ineffective, consuming resources and delaying results.  Consensus is necessary, but usually that’s at strategic or policy level.  If it’s necessary for daily or tactical …
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System change, social media and your choices.

COP21 comes to a close as the wind howls and Jaspar’s rugby game is cancelled because so much water fell on the pitch last night.  Climate change is great, but it’s not good.  I love the warmer weather so here in Ireland it’s almost as warm as Hong Kong in the winter; you can go …
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Numbers That Matter – COP21

Is the scale of marches for change today a significant number?  They are certainly the largest individual marches and the largest globally coordinated march, and the first to include a virtual march which allowed people to participate without travelling long distance. They say about 600,000 marched (excluding virtual marchers) around the world. That’s a lot …
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Terrorism to Happiness – connecting the dots

The news seems to be as bleak as ever, … but the outlook is worse. There have always been stories of blood, death, corruption and pollution but now the consequences are more global and terminal.  There is even a rationale argument that we are past tipping point, but I choose to believe that there is …
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Are you feeling it, Celtic Tiger?

They say that Ireland is back from the brink.  The data shows it, the traffic on the M50 around Dublin shows it and the budget displays a touch of the old hubris we knew from the noughties. GDP might be above 5% but we’re not feeling it so much on the ground.  The growth is …
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Are you beginning to get it? The what, why and how of system change.

There has been an outpouring of love and solidarity because of the tragic and terrific blood-letting in Paris this weekend.  It has been a synchronous focus on thought, feeling and action by millions around the world.  That is good. The answers proposed have ranged from black to white, from vengeance to forgiveness.  (My preference is …
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For some it’s not about people, nor ethics; just numbers.

A former hedge fund manager who bought a drug company has hiked the price of a generic drug 55x to  pay for the purchase.  The drug was $13.50 a dose but is now $750.00.   It costs $1 to produce.  The drug treats toxoplasmosis and is widely used by sufferers of AIDS. So clearly Martin Shkreli, …
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Cyborgs are coming to take your job, especially if you’re young.

The prospect of your job being automated is increasing.  The convergence of neuroscience, computing, biology and engineering has already made robotic prosthetics a reality and everyone carries a small thinking machine so that they can remember phone numbers, birthdays etc (media device/phone). We are certainly choosing a future in which we don’t work.  We haven’t …
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Everyone is good, but our world is unethical. How come?

Everyone is good, yet somehow the product of our civilisation is often pain and suffering. More people are becoming aware that something needs to change and are even doing something about it.  Simply talking about the challenges is a start, while others initiate changes in behaviour such as what they eat or wear.  But engaging …
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You have the power to change the world. Choose!

Words by Charlie Chaplin.  Contemporary images.  The choice is clear.  Have you chosen yet?  Or are you still chasing the machine?  Choose humanity, while the choice remains …   The Great Dictator‘s Speech (1940) I’m sorry, but I don’t want to be an emperor. That’s not my business. I don’t want to rule or conquer …
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