Listening to our souls

In my quest to facilitate teamwork and to discover new ways to generate a passion for excellence I met with a phenomenon called Bruce Copley. Bruce introduced me to, amongst other things, a new musical instrument called the Hang (pronounced “Hung”). Maybe the story I am about to share will explain the strangeness of it all.

During 2001 I was working with a dear friend, Michelle Groenewald, on ways to make the work experience of our team of scientists and engineers more vibrant and integrative. We were trying to help people understand the linked nature of everything in our lives. The idea was for all of us to discover for ourselves how our actions can never be seen in isolation and that we all do things that vibrate through time, almost like the notes of a song on a cold and quiet evening.

After some experience of Bruce’s work, we decided that some individuals in the team might benefit from the experience that Bruce delivers during his events. We caught a plane down to Cape Town and arrived on a cold and stormy night, driving over the mountain to Bruce’s place. There we met in a Teepee, with Bruce playing away on his didgeridoo. He also invited a drummer and maker of African drums. I promptly bought a drum that evening. Not any old drum, but rather a drum that still to this day ring true with my moods. Michelle went on and procured a Hang from Bruce some time after that, and through a twist of fate, she sold it to me after a short while. As with the drum, the specific instrument just spoke to me when I heard its first few sounds.

I still have not managed to master the Hang, but I am not too concerned. Whenever I sit and tap away at it I know that my soul is sending a message into time and years later, with only a few successes at making the workplace a better space, I have come to believe that few things matter as much as allowing your soul’s voice to be heard. Write a Haiku, play a drum, sing or whistle, but be heard. Like the inventors of the Hang did, and how even they have to modify what is seemingly a prefect design to take into account learning, new materials and the demands of our times. Thanks again Michelle and Bruce!

Powerless

One can argue the role of a government from many angles. In a democracy (of any sort), the idea is clear: the people elect individuals from amongst themselves to run the country. The idea is that these elected officials will do what is in the best interest of the people who elected them and that they will serve the country and people in a transparent and responsible manner. Basically, we say to those that are elected: “Listen, we need someone to run the country while we are busy making our lives work. We’ll pay you good salaries and we’ll even hold you in high esteem. Stand in for us in the global village.”

Maybe it is more complex than this. Obviously not everybody in a country gets to be represented by whom they would have chosen, mainly because their ideas differ markedly from that of the majority. I can live with such a view as well. So if a government is allowed to dump a country into abject poverty, then it is the wish of the majority. This sounds absurd. Nobody would ask their representatives to make the country poorer. Or would they?

Maybe the elected spokespeople are not as honest as we hoped. Maybe they have another agenda altogether, it is just that we did not notice. Maybe they give us inaccurate information on many topics.

I need to point out the weirdness in South Africa at this time. We know that Eskom failed to do the job we want them to do, that is, supply us and our neighbours with affordable and reliable electricity. The government (those chosen by the majority) admitted to failing as well when they stopped the plans to upgrade and expand the electricity generating capacity. Mines will now produce less, jobs will be lost and the country will become poorer. One would expect that the majority would be angry, that the servants of this majority would resign and that new servants would be elected to fix the problem. But this is not the case.

Rather we see Eskom and the ministry of energy pointing the finger at the citizens, claiming that we are responsible for the mess by using electricity in a wasteful manner. We switch on too many lights to protect our property, we go to bed too late at night and we wake up too early. We use air conditioners and we actually also take baths too frequently. They must thus take matters in their own hands now and punish us by outlawing normal cheap light bulbs, by sending “electricity police” to private homes and by rationing our electricity supplies by installing devices that will switch our supply on or off when they decide to do so. The majority must be in agreement, because I see no revolution in the streets tonight.

Anyway, I have some ideas for you to get through the next few months.

The average electricity consumption per household in South Africa was estimated at about 1200kW.h The plan is to only allow 500kW.h before punitive measures will be taken – you will pay MUCH more for every kW.h above the allocated maximum.

Have a look at your bills over the last year, work out what your household average is and switch to gas for cooking and possibly solar heating for warm water. Think about how many devices you leave on standby and switch these off when not needed. These include chargers for cell phones, the TV, your DSTV decoder, the printer, etc. See if you can lower consumption by using fluorescent bulbs (and look for those with low mercury content). The Eskom site does have some tips as well. However, some of the tips are just plain silly. Go have a look at http://www.eskomdsm.co.za/resdsaving.php and decide what you should try.

Last, but not least, let us consider who brought this on. If it was us as a silent majority, then let’s fix it by being vocal and saying clearly what we want. If it was the result of individuals not doing what we wanted them to do, that is, look out for us, then let’s make sure they are removed from their positions, as they are not good servants!

General information on pictures in the slideshow.

Photos in the slideshow are from my Picasa files. Many were taken with my Sony Ericsson cellular phones, and some using my Sony video cameras. Every so often I use a Canon Ixus 950 and even a Pentax K1000. Because I was asked, that's why!

This was a quick grab with my phone of very special people in a small restaurant in South Africa, close to Cape Town. As with this photo, my stuff is always opportunistic. I do not try to compose. It is only there to stimulate my memories.

TwixT: Enabled by games

During 1986 I met Jack and Marc, two chemical engineers who introduced me to the world of board games. Over a period of two years we played games like TwixT, Third Reich, Civilization, Diplomacy, etc. regularly on weekends. Being exposed to their great gaming skills opened new thinking patterns in my mind that are still extremely useful today when I need to think at the strategic and tactical levels of business. It plays a major role I believe in helping me solve problems in "out of the box" ways.

We also shared fantastic ideas, good food and great wines during and after our encounters. We came to understand how different we are and how many things we share. I also learned about losing (no mercy with these guys) and still having fun, something that was a foreign concept to me at the time.

Today, our kids are spending an "inordinate" amount of time online or over weekends playing games like Warcraft (http://www.worldofwarcraft.com/index.xml). Recently my son finally gave in and introduced me to the basics of a variant of Warcraft. I played against intelligent agents for a while before taking him on. I played a great game, but finally lost. He allowed me to learn before finishing me of in a flash. And it was great fun. There was little strategy to it, and he assured me that this is because I am playing a simple version at the newbie level! I see him and his friends when they lan, and I recognise so much of what I experienced with Jack and Marc. It is my conviction that some of these games are enabling our young minds in the art of strategy and tactics and we should rather engage and encourage before we criticise our kids.

Last, but not least, I still love board games: there is strategy and intrigue, little cute bits and pieces and the warmth of being engaged in a meeting of minds. If anybody out there has a full physical set of TwixT (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/TwixT) that you want to sell, let me know. Let's play!

On Operating Systems

Is it possible that operating systems will disappear into the background for most users? I certainly hope so, and my reason is simple: I am tired of being held hostage by corporate mind control. For many years now I have had to comply with the choices my company makes on the operating system, the wordprocessor, the spreadsheet, the e-mail programme, etc. I use. And this influences what I can use at home, because I must be able to easily transfer my work from home to work. My day is not broken into work bits or home bits or gym bits. It has elements of everything mixed up nicely to my liking. Being forced to go with Linux (because this is a corporate decision to throw off the tyranny of Microsoft cost structures in poor countries like South Africa (!)) by my corporate masters is rather disabling. Suddenly all my old little apps must make way for new ones and with it new learning and wasting of time. So if someone could come up with a computer system that is fun to use, that allows me to work in a paradigm that fits with that of my clients when needed and fits my needs at other times, I'll go out and buy it. Maybe I'll go look at that beautiful Mac again.

"Black Swan" Events

During a visit to Australia recently, I bought a book (see BOOKS below) recommended by a good friend of mine, Andrew Fields. It is all about the Black Swan events, unanticipated, unimaginable and surprising discoveries that reset our paradigms of thinking. In short, up to the discovery of Australia, the concept of a swan did not include anything but white swans. Swans were white, a fact there for all to see, and I cannot imagine that anybody even speculated about swans being black. The question is: how much of what we hold as absolute truth is in fact absolute! I've been struggeling through another book for about a year now, simply called "Truth: A Guide", by Simon Blackburn. He takes an interesting stance on the epistemology of truth - almost a stance of "you know it when you see it". Well, I am still to get to the end of that book. Meanwhile, back at the ranch so to say, a black swan arrived this week. And I am wondering how much of what I see around me will remain as absolutes. Welcome Jacob Zuma.
Jan

Space-Based Solar Power

Imagine we could get "carbon free" power from space. It sounds like science fiction, but it seems that there are people that believe enough in this concept to publish around it. On earth we are looking at heliostat farms, places where solar collectors are set up to drive power generators that will supply so-called off-the-grid communities with electricity. SBSP takes this concept to space! The picture on the left (taken from "Space‐Based Solar Power As an Opportunity for Strategic Security" - Report to the Director, National Security Space Office Interim Assessment Release 0.1) shows the idea. I would like to hear from you if you have an interest in this!

This blog spot was born on 15 December 2007

Something we wanted to do for a while, but never got round to. We hope you enjoy the images and stories we'll share here.
Jan