Which way do we go?” asked Dorothy, in The Wizard of Oz. If you’re looking for Anthony Nagle, Tax Accountant, you go to a bustling café in funky Brunswick Street, in Melbourne. Past the counter and up the stairs there is a glass door with gold lettering that says ‘Anthony Nagle and Co. Tax Accountant. Specialising in Film, Music, Media & The Arts.’ Tony never wanted to be an accountant; he wanted to work in the movies. His first job was in a cinema, collecting tickets, but his father was an accountant and it was expected that the boys would be accountants too. Eventually, Tony knuckled down and knocked off the accountancy papers. He got a job on Blue Heelers, the television series, as a production accountant and then moved into finance, putting deals together for new shows. They moved him to Melbourne to set up an office in that city. He decided to open a business; because he reckoned that way he’d be able to still spend time with the children. He did tax returns for people in the movie industry and word spread that there was an accountant out there who gets it. Now, he employs half a [...] Read More »
Building a cathedral
You’ve probably heard the story about the three stonecutters, chipping away at bits of rock. When asked what they were doing, the first replied, “I am making a living”. The second said: “I am doing the best job of stone cutting in the entire country.” And the third said: “I am building a cathedral.” The moral, your Human Resource manager will tell you, smiling, is that the way to motivate staff is to help them see the bigger picture. So let’s talk about the bigger picture, cathedral-wise. Maybe with Sir Christopher Wren, because in some versions of the story those stonecutters were working on his St Paul’s Cathedral in London. Or maybe with Antoni Gaudi, whose Sagrada Familia in Barcelona is still being built, nearly 100 years after his death. Wren will tell you that over the life of his project he had to negotiate the demands of four separate monarchs. He’ll tell you about being caught in the struggles between the Parliament and the Church and how the brief kept changing and there was never enough money for construction. He’ll tell you he never forgave Charles II for diverting him from science to ‘spend all his [...] Read More »
The blossom is blighted…
We asked Mr Micawber, from the Charles Dickens novel David Copperfield, to run his eyes over the affairs of the Otago Rugby Union. The Otago Rugby Union, you may be aware, has debts of $2.3 million and a projected current year loss of $750,000. Mr Micawber is famous for his realisation that when expenditure exceeds income, things are unlikely to end well. In particular, we were keen to hear Mr Micawber’s views on what the consequences might be of mortgaging one’s house (in the ORU’s case, the ‘house of pain’: their stadium) in order to maintain one’s level of expenditure. “The blossom” he reported, dolefully, “is blighted, the leaf is withered, the god of day goes down upon the dreary scene, and, in short, you are for ever floored.” Certainly ORU chairman, Wayne Graham, was floored. Explaining to delegates at the AGM what their Board might have missed, he concluded, “The reality is that it is a business.” At first glance—given the amount of dosh involved—that might appear to be something of an epiphany on his part. But, unfortunately, he got that bit wrong, too. Sport in New Zealand—Rugby, Netball, even Racing—is not a business: Rather, it’s a [...] Read More »
Mama don’t take my Kodachrome
Kodak is bankrupt. Chances are hearing that news made you sad. As Don Draper said in a Mad Men episode where he was pitching to Kodak—showing slides of his estranged wife and children as he spoke—“Nostalgia is a twinge in your heart, far more powerful than memory alone.” Marketing guru Al Ries has a take on what went wrong. He says that it’s not that Kodak missed the shift to digital photography: Kodak not only invented digital photography, they invested over $5billion in digital photography research and development and hold thousands of patents. Rather, he argues, it’s a branding issue. He suggests that in consumers’ minds the Kodak brand is associated with photographic film. Pointing to various other Kodak technologies that never really succeeded—from photocopiers to printers—he says that having a well-known name is not always an advantage. He says Kodak should have created a new brand name for their digital technology, as Eveready did with the Energizer brand for the new alkaline batteries. Maybe he’s right. Or maybe he’s just a marketing guy with a hammer, looking for a nail. Perhaps Lou Gerstner’s experience is more relevant…”I came to see, in my time at IBM, that [...] Read More »
Occam’s Razor
According to a recent poll, 33% of New Zealanders—and therefore (one should assume) a third of those reading this—believe that Earth has been visited by UFOs. To be fair, only 4% are ‘absolutely certain’ that UFOs have visited: the other 29% believe it, but they wouldn’t say they were absolutely certain. So (to diminish the risk of offending anyone here) let’s say that what the 29% would have ticked—if they had been given the option—was ‘I think it is possible that UFOs have visited Earth.’ That way, we can describe them as open-minded, which—given there is no hard evidence either way—is an entirely reasonable position for them to hold. After all, NASA is open to the idea of extraterrestrial life. On 26th November, Curiosity began its eight month journey to Mars: the latest attempt to discover whether—on that planet—the prerequisites to life ever existed. So, every reason to keep an open mind: for E.T.’s sake if nothing else. But the 4% who are ‘absolutely certain’… how should we feel about them? Especially when you read in Time magazine that the most Earth-like planet spotted so far (i.e. the closest place with the faint possibility of supporting life as we know [...] Read More »
The Ambassador’s tie
Imagine a creative writing class being given—as the title for their short story exercise—“The Ambassador’s tie”. In perhaps the most successful attempt, the ambassador is last seen in the company of a beautiful woman at Monaco’s Hotel de Paris. His tie is found on the bannister, but neither he—nor the woman—has been seen since. Another of their stories is set in Bangkok; another Geneva. Sometimes it’s the tie that is missing, in others it’s the ambassador. The common theme is intrigue. As is usually the way, the truth is rather more prosaic. The setting is Wellington and neither the tie, nor the Ambassador, is missing. There is intrigue, however, because the Ambassador in question is an expert at his craft. Everyone in business is a sales person: an ambassador for their brand. And the aspect of selling—of being a brand ambassador—that most people find most challenging is engaging with prospective customers. Be that in person at a cocktail party as the Ambassador was, or in their promotional activities and marketing collateral. Which is why you should remember the Ambassador’s tie. Because it’s a lesson from an expert in creating engagement: in starting a conversation with someone new. The Ambassador—representing [...] Read More »
Hear our voices we entreat
Eli will tell you the first time he came across it. They were doing the New York Times crossword, which they do every morning, and the clue was ‘encircled’. Four letters. And after that it became a bit of joke between them: could they use it on a client job and get away with it? Eli and Ruth Cohen operate from a small office on West 28th Street, just a short cab ride from the United Nations headquarters. They are the go-to firm for national anthems. Visit them, and you’re reminded of Allan and Margaret Hubbard at South Canterbury Finance… a gentle, elderly couple, working away together. There are files piled high on every surface. “Girt by files,” Ruth murmurs, before moving to the piano for a quick reprise of ‘Advance Australia Fair’. They’ve done most of them. Well not Palestine’s, obviously. And they missed out on France (“Allons enfants… marchons, marchons”) because tunes, they concede, are not really a strong point. Their son, Nathan, he was good with tunes, but he left the firm at an early age because of tension over his friendship with Freddie Mercury. Nevertheless, they are proud of Nathan’s contribution to Bon Jovi’s “Livin’ [...] Read More »
No shortage of sausages
The weekend farmers’ market at the show grounds in Hastings is in the sheds at this time of year: not as picturesque as the summer location out under the trees, but no less popular. What’s interesting about the market is that although they sell food, what we buy are their stories: the chef making chicken stock, the lawyer turned farmer, the egg man. Earlier this year, Scotland was beaten by Afghanistan in a One Day International cricket match. Hardly news, you might think, but actually a hell of a story. Until ten years ago cricket was banned in Afghanistan, but kids growing up in the refugee camps over the border kept the game alive and now they’ve made it to their sport’s top level. All of which is relevant because the Rugby World Cup is upon us and the scramble is on to sell the last of the tickets. And the challenge—as the lawyer now meat retailer would have predicted—is not the eye fillet: there’s always demand for the prime cuts, whatever the price; it’s the sausages. There’s never a shortage of sausages, so ignore the Rugby World Cup advertising campaign, because scarcity isn’t the story. The real story is [...] Read More »
Dora the Explorer
First the disclosure: it’s probable that everything I know about archaeology was learned from Harrison Ford. Nevertheless… Every age has its defining artifacts—arrow heads, for example—that mark the progress of civilisation. So what would be your proposal for the defining artifact of our times? Before you answer, you should be aware that I have the benefit of my encounter with James (maybe four) and his sister Isobella (maybe six) at Melbourne airport. You should also know that—despite the modern communication technologies that might first come to mind—air travel has soared in the past twenty years. Notwithstanding our increased capability for virtual connection, there is unremitting expansion in demand for being there in person. Which suggests that—if you had to choose a slice of modern life to examine under the microscope, looking for its DNA—the milieu at a domestic airport might be a good choice. Having selected your slide, as you focused you might be struck by the diversity of artifacts the species carries: this person with a 12 pack of sushi; another with two dozen Krispy Kreme donuts. But you’d move on, looking for the defining artifact: the one thing nobody today can function without. Which is why, right there in the centre of the slide, you’d be thrilled to encounter James and Isobella: [...] Read More »
As radiant as Her Majesty at the races
David Attenborough is in Antarctica at the moment—at Scott’s hut—filming a new series. At 85 years old, he’s not just the best presenter about the planet, he may be the best presenter on the planet. He knows his stuff, which helps. But perhaps the main thing to notice— next time the datashow beckons—is that it’s not about him. As far as David Attenborough is concerned, he’s only there to tell the story. There’s no footage about how difficult it was getting from wherever he was to wherever he is now, or about how cold he is or uncomfortable. If he uses ’I', it’s because it’s necessary, somehow, to the story, but he uses it rarely. He doesn’t tell the viewer what he thinks—we never learn anything about him. He presents the information and sums up what can be learned from the evidence. What he certainly does is make it look effortless: a sure indicator of the care and effort he puts into his preparation. What he also does is get excited. Read this description from Clive James, “Few who saw it will forget Attenborough’s smile of ecstasy as he stood, some years ago, knee-deep in a conical mound of Borneo bat-poo. Miles underground, with cockroaches swarming all over him and millions of squeaking bats crapping on [...] Read More »
CATEGORIES
-
LATEST POSTS
- Talking 'bout my generation 17/05/2012
- Man of Nanotechnology 30/04/2012
- Tax Wizard of Oz 16/04/2012
- Building a cathedral 21/03/2012
- The blossom is blighted... 07/03/2012
- Brought you some whitebait 19/02/2012
- Mama don't take my Kodachrome 27/01/2012
- Driving like Uncle Frank 08/01/2012
- Occam's Razor 15/12/2011
- The Ambassador's tie 25/11/2011
-
Archives