RSA Comment - Latest Comments

Re: How to carry on in a warming world

Susan Morgana Thomas — Sun, 11 Jan 2015 14:52:43 -0000

however many climate worriers are all the same quite content to take planes for foreign holidays and use cars...so in spite of their climate concerns people are happy to carry on with their essential luxuries

Re: Heritage Exchange 2014: Forging the next generation of heritage thinking

Benchmark Physiotherapy — Fri, 19 Dec 2014 06:51:49 -0000

Nice Post...

Re: Future universities

Qwathi — Sun, 07 Dec 2014 04:17:27 -0000

Great article. Very inspiring.

Re: Mindful of the cynics

Mark Leonard — Wed, 03 Dec 2014 14:57:59 -0000

Hi Jules,

"Mindfulness" has always been a business. Money is often given to Buddhist monasteries. This brings merit to the donor and social recognition. The money helps the monastery to run. Of course the spirit of giving is more than this but there is no law against earning a living in Buddhism. The precept is right livelihood, not no livelihood.

To make "mindfulness" mainstream, it must engage in secular society in a way that is compatible with the expectations of the social context. In today's secular society, this means providing a service that is recognised as having a benefit that represents a return on investment. With the cost of mental ill-health to business of £26 billion a year (Sainsbury's Centre for Mental Health) mindfulness training should be able to demonstrate its value. The questions is not so much about the return on investment that mindfulness training may offer, it is more about what does it take to make mindfulness training fit corporate/business culture?

Re: Can games technology revive place-making?

Michael Sillion — Thu, 20 Nov 2014 04:09:11 -0000

We are doing a big change to our city of Varberg in Sweden over the next 20 years and are looking for tools to do it with.

Re: Do politicians need a social licence?

Duncanthow — Fri, 31 Oct 2014 10:15:17 -0000

What an interesting piece which really made me think further about the legitimacy of political activities.

Re: Ethics in Business

Jim Wolf — Mon, 20 Oct 2014 16:32:10 -0000

If the assumption is that there can be no effective collection of agreed ethics, then why entertain the discussion in the first place? If in the 21st century we cannot find global agreement on such macro topics, where do you believe our path is for genuine progress?
Many species do not engage in unproductive behaviors. Can we not learn from the lessor among us. Ants do not carry sand into water. Horses do not run into fire. Why would educated people not settle on basic ethics of preservation and progress?
What we seem to lack is a consistent message of the importance of international ethics. As with many goods and services around the world, a quality marketing effort will often stimulate a growth in demand. Where is the focused marketing to help drive the types of good strategic decisions needed?

Re: Is the future of cities smart?

ramkumar — Mon, 20 Oct 2014 11:00:19 -0000

The smartest essay I have read on this issue is this:

http://www.cityofsound.com/...

We need to think about cities as being more than something that can be controlled or tweaked using a bunch of knobs. I won't rehash that article, but it's a must read for anyone think about cities, culture and technology.

Re: When it Takes Courage to Talk Sense

Robert W — Sat, 27 Sep 2014 13:32:59 -0000

5 years ago I implemented a fairly radical culture change programme in my current organisation and it was not about 100% compliance and adherence to the required behaviours, values and standards by everyone, it was more about evolving towards an acceptable level of compliance and buy in. We have the "dissenters", a small "no camp" and some "passionate agitators". However we have a positive, on board majority, realistically around 80/20 saluting and not saluting the company flag. The effort and cost involved in converting the 20% is not worth it. I must stress that there are some behaviours and standards that are completely non negotiable for all staff such as time keeping and dress code but other behaviours such as empowerment or acknowledging mistakes are still not practised by everyone but are much better than they used to be. Our internal working environment, customer service and bottom line have all improved dramatically over the last 5 years despite having some dissenters and even the dissenters have improved - although they would probably hate to admit it!

Re: Brazil: A Neymar Shaped Shadow

pary — Sun, 14 Sep 2014 04:43:42 -0000

I love you neymar you are the best in the world I'm
Iranian student and i live there. In our class the
Students love you and we always argue for you

Re: The best candidate will (probably) be disabled

Coto Blogzz — Thu, 21 Aug 2014 14:44:35 -0000

Andy has a good point.

A good number of Americans were blinded by an eloquent African-American politician who eventually was elected the 43rd President of the United States.

These individuals thought that at the time, America was ready for an African American president and I agreed. However, it was clear to me before the election that Mr. Obama was the wrong person for the job, not because of the color of his skin, but because of his lack of real life experience. Recent polls suggest I was right.

Even so, supporters of Mr. Obama view any criticism leveled at him as a firm of racism.

Consider Mr. Obama dismissing ISIS as a threat by calling it. Jr. Varsity Team, or characterizing the global state of affairs as Tranquil, while it literally is blowing up on our faces. The gap between the rhetoric and reality is so great, it is more than cognitive dissonance, it's psychosis.

Re: Brazil: A Neymar Shaped Shadow

Peter — Mon, 14 Jul 2014 06:19:38 -0000

Dunga, the former Coach and Captain of Brazil, recently made a relevant comment:

Re: Brazil: A Neymar Shaped Shadow

Coto Blogzz — Sat, 12 Jul 2014 15:28:05 -0000

The Law of Attribution says that putting the blame on the type of thinking, positive or negative, for the results of the Germany- Brazil game may be an indication of the poor state of psychology, a superficial analysis, a gross underestimation of the German's team potential, a gross underestimation of the talent -including its coach, of the Brazil team, or a combination thereof.

Positive thinking has been around professional sports for decades. Brazil brought in a psychologist precisely to overcome the loss of Neymar. Surely the psychologist would know about the power of positive thinking, prior to the game. The implications of blaming the outcome on negative thinking after this, is an indictment of Brazil's psychologist and makes the Brazil team look even more impotent.

There are other indicators that point the Brazil team being an overachiever with Neymar, and a mediocre one without him. Not to mention the tactical and strategic approach to the game.

Not too many people would argue against the use of positive thinking. Disregarding other factors in this case is a disservice to psychology, however.

Re: Brazil: A Neymar Shaped Shadow

JP — Thu, 10 Jul 2014 22:03:47 -0000

Perhaps, in an Adlerian sense, the pressure put on the Brazilian national team by the host population created an inferiority complex within the team. This condition may have been extant since the start of the competition (as some rather indifferent displays suggest), but was not as apparent because the collective belief in Neymar's superiority acted as an emotional counter-balance. Once Neymar had been removed from the team there was no mitigation against feelings of inferiority. In carrying totems to Neymar on to the field, Brazil were effectively mourning the passing of their adequacy. As soon as Germany scored Brazil collapsed because they accepted that without Neymar they were inferior. Germany may well have beaten a full strength, emotionally stable Brazil, but the game would have been competitive.
England's problems, of course, are far more subtle and complicated....

Re: Education Is More Than Qualifications

usurykills — Thu, 19 Jun 2014 21:52:43 -0000

"Study means something more than skill." Lost me there.

Two words: Mark Twain

Re: Mindful of the cynics

Jules Fell — Sat, 31 May 2014 09:06:37 -0000

That's a great question. I would love to hear from people who know about the many and varied attitudes we have to money and how they influence and affect our behaviours.
One thought I have about the teacher/learner relationship is that as I give you financial value for your teaching I have a way of telling you that I value what you teach and your ability to do so. I also acknowledge my responsibility as a learner to be an active one. We will have the opportunity for the most mindful relationship by both acknowledging the exchange - the bit we don't find easy - and there must be tried and tested ways of making this conversation work - anyone got experience to share?

Re: Mindful of the cynics

Guest — Fri, 30 May 2014 07:51:41 -0000

Julia, it's a wonderfully rich blog that transcends the convenient black-and-white thinking about mindfulness, and paints a more nuanced picture of the scene. I just pick up one thread from your tapestry of ideas, the one that you sketched out in the last paragraph.

Talking about money, as you said, giving informed choices is what is important. But talking about the financial aspect of our social relations (including the learner/teacher relationship) is one ofthe greatest taboos in our society. How could we have a mindful relationship if a vital aspect of it is withdrawn from what can be mindfully examined together?

Re: RSA Animate – Re-Imagining Work

Thomas Oldham — Thu, 08 May 2014 11:02:51 -0000

This animation almost made me want to think about getting a "real job" :)

Re: Education Is More Than Qualifications

Bob — Mon, 28 Apr 2014 13:57:26 -0000

Sitting on the recruiters' side of the table for a moment suggests that one of the advantages of qualifications is that they are widely recognised as some kind of common shorthand for having acquired some body of knowledge and/or skill, with the same assessment criteria for those sharing the same qualification/awarding body/time of qualification. If an exam becomes discredited, it's devalued, fairly, for all. In a world where this is replaced with letters of recommendation, surely, any notion of privilege is magnified 'You worked for Apple, with this letter? Great' 'What is this Poxware Consulting? I haven't heard of that." We can't all be Apple designers. To say nothing of increased ease of forgery and increased difficulty in assuring the recruiter that the reference provider and their company have good bona fides. Sufficient education including the skill to learn new skills would seem to be a good starting point. But which knowledge and which other skills? For equal opportunity surely we should be offering access to the same courses to all people who match the relevant entry criteria, not just let Jane learn finance because she knows someone who can write a letter and give the nod to a manager at the family's bank for a job. I think if you look at the figures that you're likely to find that far more people learn at evening classes than used to be the case. In a global community standards (qualifications) offer imperfect but, I think, the best, most pragmatic, way to even the playing field for those seeking work. There's room for special cases to be made in a local community, I think where people know each other and for institutions to make allowances, as universities do, for backgrounds of hardship. Back to the days when I was OK if my dad knew the boss's dad? Hardly fair I think.

Re: The problem with leadership

Pascal's Wager — Fri, 25 Apr 2014 17:16:36 -0000

You sum up the case for servant leadership, which is indeed a good starting
point for any organization. In our egocentric world, being called a "leader" has become synonymous with varying degrees of celebrity. We fail
to see leadership potential inherent in every person and encounter. Everyone, everywhere, is influencing someone, positively or negatively.

Yes, a child looks to the parent for leadership, citizens look to elected officials, workers look to managers – but leadership emerges from places we don’t usually recognize, amplified by the butterfly effect. A taxi driver’s simple smile can frame a CEO’s whole day, unconsciously affecting attitude and decisions. That incompetent office goof may be fostering co-worker’s organizational engagement in the same way that standing next to a morbidly obese person makes you feel better about yourself. How many in the crowd passing that annoying homeless beggar every day are subtly inspired to make their little corner of the world a better place?

The most inspirational leaders separate ego from the concept of leadership, and are able to learn from the lessons in every encounter and in everyone we engage, regardless of their “status” - even the taxi driver, office goof or beggar.

Re: The problem with leadership

Adriano Pinheiro — Thu, 17 Apr 2014 10:08:41 -0000

Interesting finding. It would be interesting to know how far the lack of leadership can go (in a growing organization) without comprimising the the public good in terms of speed, quality and meaning.

Re: The problem with leadership

David Erdal — Thu, 17 Apr 2014 08:07:00 -0000

The most interesting traditional societies for me are the hunter-gatherers, in the years immediately following first contact. They suggest the social environment in which we evolved. There seems to have been leadership, but not dominance. Everyone would discuss major decisions, but the acknowledged experts would tend to be listened to in the end – unless the expert became assertive. Then the group would react, by ridiculing the upstart, or ignoring him (men were more frequently the opportunist would-be dominators), or doing the opposite from what he suggested, even in extremis killing him.

Re: The problem with leadership

William Tunnell — Thu, 17 Apr 2014 03:19:02 -0000

Interesting view point. This is of course the way many traditional societies worked.

Re: Weathering the Storm: What can we learn from small countries?

Andrew Percy — Mon, 10 Mar 2014 15:12:29 -0000

Reconciling demand and cost is going to mean we have to move to a universal services model.
We can get about twice the milage out of money used to deliver services (compared to benefits) and it reduces cost across the economy, and of the services themselves after about 5 years, making fiscal balance possible at the same time as enhancing our economic performance and resilience.
www.uklife.org/welfare-debate

Re: RSA Animate – Crisis of Capitalism

PeaceWarrior — Sun, 23 Feb 2014 01:14:45 -0000

The Crisis of Capitalism as spoken here is the exposure of Crony Capitalism involving Government selecting favorites and backing them with easy capital! This ultimately leads to Central Government Control of Markets and People. There is very little Crisis of Free Market Capitalism if Government controls are rather mute and on the sidelines with moderate rule of law and fair regulations!