To quote Desmond Tutu, “A person with ubuntu is open and available to others, affirming of others, does not feel threatened that others are able and good, for he or she has a proper self-assurance that comes from knowing that he or she belongs in a greater whole and is diminished when others are humiliated or diminished, when others are tortured or oppressed.”

For one weekend, we will express what an Internet community that lives and works by the philosophy of ubuntu will look like.

These are the core themes:

1. How we’re stimulating innovation and entrepreneurship on the SA web and looking at opportunities for collaboration.

2. What kinds of principles are defining the way we do business and development on the SA web and where we should be moving (openness, transparency, diversity etc)

3. What kinds of collaborative, community-oriented projects are there out there that help to grow diversity, openness and transparency on the SA web and are there opportunities for more of these?

I set up a liveblog for the event to shareback, because there were some fascinating mind.snacks and brilliant brains to link into. Have a peek in >>

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On the evening of 28th November 2008, I left for the end-of-year break ..and haven’t been seen back at home or work (or online) since.

Thoroughly irresponsible; mercilessly smitten; gently but certainly challenging beliefs I had thought hardwired, fumbling through an identity-crisis, in a city I had rained scorn upon. I’ve abstained from gym, discovered chocolate as a health-food; delved deep into some of the most beautiful music ever created; swum in more addictive US political intrigue than I thought my brain was calibrated for; negligently ignored the existence of modern telecommunications [imagine: no email or obedience to the phone] and worse ¹. All the while, blissfully roadtripping the length and breadth of this magnificent country with the best guide no money could buy.

I have NOT: been learning a new language, writing that book, saving a species, meditating for world-peace or anything vaguely useful to humanity, at all.

Sins of this order were unmentionables, unthinkables only a few short months ago in my busy=virtue world.
[Are you growling at me? You who cannot up and leave your world?] You’re thinking about all the dazzling things you’d do if you didn’t have to do anything aren’t you?
[Should you need to shore up your virtue, be soothed that I certainly haven't emerged gloriously. Nor prepared to take my position among the enlightened. I am happy in a dizzingly undeserving way though, if that counts for anything.]
If there is a lesson or an epiphany² from this indulgent meander, it’s so prosaic that it’s embarrassing (you kind of expect more of a sabbatical).
It’s this:
In hunting for genius, I’ve joined the ranks of those halfwits, who, refusing to sensibly learn from wiser ones or the volumes of sacred texts that dependably spell out that you could go to the ends of the earth, stand on your head, eat only lentils but why go to all the trouble when the answers have been with you all the time [mostly in a blindingly obvious manner]. Even if you’re a burger-noshing clod with no credits in your spiritual log, you know what you’re born to do, even if you don’t know you know, in line with aforementioned obvious manner. We are very skilled at missing the simple solution because complexity is like a honeytrap to the human brain. I doubt you’ll believe me unless you’ve gone off the map yourself; but you don’t need to unplug from the mundane world to ‘find yourself’; grab a gap-year to discover your purpose; or even ‘vision quest’ for Big Meaning³.

I’ve given up on believing the grand answers are magically “out there” for the intrepid to scoop. The angels won’t come chorussing in on cue when we’re ‘good enough’. There is no clarifying certainty. We’ll only ever tend toward it with tantalizing glimmers to keep hope stoked on the cookie trail.

THE SUPER-SUBTLE SOUL SWINDLE

Problem is, a persistent mythology holds: that we should work like the blazes until that ONE DAY when we may be lucky enough to retire/take a sabbatical/live in a small Karoo town or ascetic ashram ..when at last, safely removed from the mediocrity of the masses, enlightenment will timeously trickle in. THEN will we know our rightful purpose on this big spinning ball, and begin our life’s worthy work.

It’s a myth akin to believing that you should suffer during your time on earth, to save up credits for heaven. Being good or Father Christmas will know and you’ll be punished with socks and soap. IT’S ALL A DUPE!

starting small. starting now

Astronomers have discovered a curious way of  searching for deep space objects, a trick called averted vision - stare directly and you miss the fainter stars, which are only caught out of the corner of the eye (an odd glitch in our physiology). Meaning is out there, twinkling just beyond scrutiny. When we focus on other things, it seems to shimmer into visibilty (an odd glitch in our psychology).

Sometimes, with our monkey mind distracted by mundane chores, our higher mind can play at the periphery. Tinkering at the edge, as Einstein did while punching the card as a patent clerk, could yield moments of genius that change how the world works. Or lay the path to change history and human rights on your commute: “My only concern was to get home after a hard day’s work” - Rosa Parks.

Devoting our lives to the search for the elusive Philosopher’s Stone seems to yield only craziness.
Just getting on with things in a fashion that suggests that there is no heaven to expect ‘out there’; no perfection or control of all factors before we begin.  We surely don’t need a “wake-up call” disease to clear the decks? Shouldn’t we live with full gusto by default ..because what the hell else are we holding out for? We all seem to start too late, if we begin at all. It doesn’t mean giving up the day job, getting divorced or married, getting Big funding for the Big idea or running away to the circus/countryside ..whatever your rebooting dream looks like.

“I think you should profit from the mistakes of others. You don’t live long enough to make them all yourself.” – Lowell Ferguson

I guess we read other’s ramblings to grab a morsel or two of vicarious wisdom (hopefully saving ourselves the foolishness of going headlong into trouble we may otherwise feel compelled toward):
Herewith my crumb of hard-earned clarity || release the pause button || quit waiting for the right time, enough time, enough money, the kids to grow up, to get your degree, the clarity to sketch out your grand strategy. Get tinkering. Get messy. Get going >>

Deferring heaven to some angel-thronged post-body subspace where you get to cash in your rewards seems like the real sacrilege. We can muster an army of excuses for shelving our passions like winter jam and labelling them “When I.. (fill in favoured excuse)”. [BTW if you run short of any, don't forget you can mail me for spare ones that sound virtuous enough to leadweight any dash for delight. Workaholic speciality #7.]

Well I’m done with hunting genius, going for good enough to get going now. Ditching any lingering belief in clear strategic plans, finally happy to lay in a course in the approximate direction of that tenacious twinkle in the corner of my eye and see where it leads. Accepting that being human is messy, and precarious. That any genius we stumble on is inextricably tangled in so much paradox and damn luck that there’s little chance of taming it to serve us tidily anyway.
I’m finally paying attention to advice from someone I’ve missed hugely during my 404 -  simply: start small, start now.

So here’s to hopeful, curious tinkering on stuff we love (if nothing else, it may save your sanity if your day-job sucks) and to hell with whether it fits neatly into a business plan, to backing our own unlikely story in a world where the unlikely is increasingly likely.

“Often people attempt to live their life backwards; they try to have more things or more money, in order to do more of what they want, so they will be happier. The way it actually works is in reverse. You must first be who you really are, then do what you need to do, in order to have what you want.” -Margaret Young

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* 404? Webspeak for getting lost in cyberspace – “Error returned when a server cannot find the requested page”. [Also: anthropomorphised to mean a clueless person, as in "don't bother asking him, he's 404".]

PS. I remembered Po Bronson’s What should I do with my life? on Fast Company & had a look through again, not bad if you’re feeling like the world has lost the plot & you need a mission makeover. [Don't expect any epiphanies.]

PPS. okay one last, for the geeks >> as master of your own digital realm, some 404 inspiration for fun.

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1. my beloved friends & family relegated too – NOT something I would do again – this stuff’ll kill ya
2. Why is it that we wait on an epiphany to fling us onto the right road? “Never underestimate our ability to ignore the obvious.” Maybe it’s the fairytale hangover of longing to be divinely “called” to a world-saving mission, to be heralded at TED. Perhaps we’re a little bleak that our heart’s chief desire is to do something so delightfully ordinary that will never land us on the cover of Time.
3. ironically, it seems to  only deepen confusion, self-righteous separation and Don Quixote-weirdoness. IMO: STAY IN THE GAME!

Co-labs, co-working networks and nodes for those of us unshackled from grey cubicles & free to roam.
More on the places, tools & fellow digital nomads in your neighbourhood, global and hyperlocal.

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Generally this kind of thing happens after near-death misses (I’ve had 2 so that’s first-hand talking).

What happens if you suddenly realise how absurd it is living/working/spending your time.money.energy the way you do? And instead of dissolving the irritating awareness in your morning coffee and ploughing back into life.as.we.know.it..

you stop.

And give the idea a bit of room to breathe.

What happens if you don’t want to go back anymore?

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What happens if you decide tomorrow won’t follow the same largely predictible script?
Is it even possible if you aren’t prone to multiple personality disorder, win the lottery, fall desperately in love or somesuch outrageous turn of irreversible external circumstance is foisted upon your being?

[Just asking. I'm feeling oddish & it could be contagious. Perhaps more of us are feeling like this.]

One of the joys of digital globalization is sharing moments of brilliance that can burst into viral meme streams. This is one whose RNA has infected many webheads with humour, humanity and heartbreaking inspiration, its Prof Randy Pausch’s legendary Last Lecture :

This is a fairly long video (just over an hour) & not friendly for those on slimmed bandwidth, but if you save up your bits & watch one video this month.
Make it this one.

“You are the storyteller of your own life, and you can create your own legend or not.” – Isabel Allende

(..and no mom, I don’t think I’m dying of any dire disease. Though I do apparently ail from an appaling addiction to alliteration.)

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We have a Huddlemind event in 3 weeks time [27 Nov 2008 9am - 1pm] >> for all of you who have been waiting for Dave to do a session outside of the business school. He’s teaming up with the man who started Saatchi & Saatchi’s At Play¹ [interactive marketing across all media channels] division and now director of Interactive Marketing at Saatchi & Saatchi in Los Angeles, the pioneering Uwe Gutschow.

It’s going to be a headshaker to break loose traditional marketing paradigms and move your business into the unstoppable flexible, connected, global market.
You’ll leave with practical implementable campaign strategies for web or mobile, that are kind on budget and potent for relationship building with your customers. Powerful stuff!

Check out more here: http://huddlemind.com

BOOK HERE:

When you click, it’ll take you to mail to Sandy at Huddlemind. Pop “book me” as the subject and she’ll get back to you to reserve your seat. Else call us on 021 433 0886

PS. Nomadic Marketing alumni get R100 off = R599 ..or if you apply new marketing strategy already: collaborate as a threesome and book together to get R100 off each of your tickets.

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1. now headed up by Nomadic Marketing lecturer and wildman Allan Kent

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One of the sexy new features is an Urban Tour using GPS, semacodes, mobile apps and other digital exotics to create a blended-reality marketing session through Long Street.² Jon Cherry and Heinrich Hattingh of Cherryflava are rustling up the magic.

The dinner on the 2nd night is a key feature of the programme’s success and gives delegates a chance to meet some of the pioneering forces of social media in South Africa, in relaxed real.world context. I’ll be organising the merriment for NM4 delegates, Nomadic Marketing alumni and social media people with “interestingness”.

It’ll be at the gorgeous new Doppio Zero at Mandela Rhodes Place on the eve of the 15th October. We have only 60 places available, with delegates getting priority seating. 3 bright minds who are doing extraordinary things with new media applications will be giving quick presentations and Q&A so you can learn from their experience: MarcAnthony Zimmerman [Broccoli Project - love this!], DeWaal Steyn [Die Burger] and Marlon Parker [Cape Peninsula University of Technology].

International award-winning wine estate Moreson will be sharing some of their wonderful yield with us. [Thank you so much Nikki!]

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This is an opportunity to connect & re.connect with some great people, sexy ideas & generally have a fun eve together. Want to come join? We’d love to see you there (bring yourself, money for yr meal and your interestingness)

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1. A 3day programme offered by UCT’s Graduate School of Business [Executive Education] – celebrated as South Africa’s leading Social-Media Primer for marketing executives and strategic leadership; it’s worth taking a peek here.
2. thanks to Cape Town Daily Photo for the pic of legendary Long Street.

1. As globalization pervades markets and countries around the world, the wealth gaps are closing and equality across all major indicators of human development are evidence that The World is Flat (Thomas Friedman 2005).
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2. The Washington Consensus encouraged privatization, government deregulation and fewer barriers to trade and financial flows to accelerate the uptake of the free market in developing countries.
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3. “Information technology will have the power to reverse what may have been an aberration in human history: the industrial model of society. Wired technology already is assaulting the industrial concept of the workday; as technology brings greater realism to electronic communications, the work-place for many will become untethered from geography, letting people live anywhere”. The Information Age: An Anthology on its Impact and Consequences (David S. Alberts and Daniel S. Papp).

Has technology or access to cheap outsourced labour has been the primary driver of globalization in the last decade?

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4.”The full potential of trade to reduce poverty cannot be realised unless poor countries have access to markets in rich countries. Unfortunately, Northern governments reserve their most restrictive trade barriers for the world’s poorest people. Competition in the international trading system can be likened to a hurdle race with a difference: the weakest athletes face the highest hurdles. When desperately poor smallholder farmers or women garment workers enter world markets, they face import barriers four times as high as those faced by producers in rich countries. Trade restrictions in rich countries cost developing countries around $100bn a year – twice as much as they receive in aid.” Rigged Rules and Double Standards: Trade, Globalisation, and the Fight Against Poverty (Oxfam, 2002)

This is anti-globalization nonsense, it is laziness rather than trade restrictions that keep poor countries from prosperity.

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5.”Many corporations have a greater turnover than the GDP of most countries. Of the 100 largest economies in the world, 52 are corporations and 48 are countries, and these corporations have sales figures between $51 billion and $247 billion” Reforming International Trade [www.stwr.org/imf-world-bank-trade/reforming-international-trade.htm]

Corporations have stepped into a succession of power, from kings, to the churches, to governments and the filter through which much of the policy regarding our common global resources is formed.

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6. It is easier for capital to move than it is for labour. Capital sees opportunity while labour sees competition in globalization.

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7. Marx’s theory of working-class emiseration – companies seek to reduce wages and working conditions to increase profit margins – is an effect of industrialization, not capitalism.

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8. The Race to the Bottom is a benefit of the “trickle-down” effect of neo-liberal success. The wealthy few feed the “bottom of the pyramid” by investing in human development programmes which creates sustainable economies globally.

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9. “Global firms can only make their billions of dollars selling deadly cigarettes, gas- guzzling Hummers, hormone-filled beef, butter from the other side of the planet, underwear made in sweatshops, and genetically engineered corn if people buy them. There are several ways that individual consumers can strive to ensure that their spending better reflects their values”. – International Forum on Globalization (2007)

If you supported “alter-globalization” would you be looking to free trade or fair trade to make your buying decisions?

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10. “America sneezes and the world catches a cold” – Because of the fragile interdependence created by commercial globalization, a multi-billion dollar bailout was sought to prevent a world financial market crash when major institutions & banks collapsed on Wall Street in September.

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11. The Central Banks, like the US Federal Reserve, the Bank of England and our Reserve Bank determine interest-rates and regulate money-supply for their country. Some are public-owned with shareholders, and some privately owned. They are independent entities and have policies to prevent government interference.

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12. When less-developed countries who have been urged by the IMF, WTO or World Bank to “liberalise” their trade policy open their markets, the first effect is a massive influx of wealth especially for small farmers who can now export to new markets, grow from strength to strength under economic globalization.

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13. Protectionism and government intervention is the only way to ensure that countries prosper and ensure their mutual growth sustainably.

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14. Traditional societies find cultural globalization easiest to integrate because they are technologically innovative and communicate easily using new technologies.

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15. The “lingua franca” (agreed language) of global business is English.

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16. Transnational corporations are accountable to the World Trade Organization to ensure that their dealings are practiced ethically, and with a close watch on labour practice and the environment.

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17. World Bank loans are a great relief to countries that have been devastated by war or natural disaster, and statistically helps to stimulate massive resurging growth within an average of 2 years.

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18. This is the first time in history that humanity has attempted globalization due to the surge in communication and innovation through technology.

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19. ”Almost 3 billion people, about half of the world’s population, live in urban areas and about 160 000 more join them every day..” – United Nations Environment Programme (http://unep.org) 2008.

The majority move to urban areas thanks to increasing personal income and seek access to commercial opportunity because of liberalised markets.

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20. According to the World Bank’s World Development Indicators 2008, “The poorest 10% accounted for just 0.5% and the wealthiest 10% accounted for 59% of all the consumption”.

Private consumption of goods and global resources is evenly distributed because globalization has ensured that those who deserve the best standards of living through working hard can achieve it in the free market.

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If globalization excites you too, share some of my faves http://www.diigo.com/user/maximizen/globalization.. you may notice a little bias.

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Next Wednesday eve, Cape Town will pingback after seeing so many of the blogger community from Joburg for Wordcamp & more last week. At the SA Business Schools Expo at the Sandton Sun, Epiphany (the new baby) in collaboration with Huddlemind (homebase) is doing a transcity mashup of minds. On an issue that seems to be affecting all of us, particularly if we work in new media, mobile and associated tech.

Is there a BUSINESS CASE for staying in South Africa when you’re one of our best & brightest ?

Do you believe that we’re all just biding our time waiting for a big buy-out, and anyone who isn’t has had too much of Nic’s Kool-Aid?

The organic process of establishing a well-rooted economy isn’t being given the chance to flourish in these accelerated times. As soon as the blossoms of our baby blogosphere started to show fruit they’ve been whipped off by corporate harvesters as Vincent & Mike have pointed out. Initially from local companies scooping the ones that glow from the top, but the shortage of talent is a global economic reality (and South Africans speak English), the best & brightest are plucked from here into fueling the intellectual capital needs of those who have the heft to pay handsomely. The vortex of the brain-drain in SA is rapidly accelerating because of crime, corrupt leadership and absurdly unfavourable conditions for entrepreneurs.

Regardless of what industry we work in, there is an unyielding perception that we have to leave SA shores to “make it big”.
Is that still valid in a flattening world? Maybe the cracks are starting to show, opening up opportunities to leverage your geopositioning to strategic advantage. To build what Hugh Macleod defines as a global microbrand, geographically agnostic success.

The best that we can do is to keep refreshing our headspace (doing a Zander challenging our bounds of possibility). There are challenging contrarian thoughts from lucid thinkers and brave pioneers that help stretch our horizons beyond insular dinner party conversation – repeating the same highly charged superficial sliver of reality that makes news. I selfishly want to create more interesting conversations around me so I don’t have to deal with rounds of regurgitated opinion at parties.

An enriched debate may be a fun place to start a good convo & we have some sexy thinkers on the panel: Branko Brkic (Editor, Maverick), Mike Stopforth (CEO, Cerebra), Paul Jacobson (New Media lawyer, Jacobson Attorneys) and Joshin Raghubar (Aspen fellow/ CEO, iKineo) and opening up into a open debate  with the audience, facilitated by David Donde (journalist, GQ and presenter 567/702).

BTW. this is NOT a lecture by talking heads. We’re tackling the question dynamically and collaboratively, engaging through provocative public debate – not only from the expert panel – but from bright minds in the audience too. We co.create the solutions to the issues to make sure they’re practical and relevant to reality.

This session is highly recommended if you’re considering a great trek of your own, or bleeding some of your company’s best and brightest to higher bidders globally. It may make for an interesting inflection point on your future strategy.

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Wednesday 3rd Sept. Sandton Sun. 17h00 – 19h00 (come earlier or stay later because you’ll have access to the Expo at your leisure)
Tickets are R250 (includes admission to the Expo) book online (click here) at www.epiphany.usgeni.us or give me a call on 082 832 6434 or mail me. easypeasy.

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I’ve finally broken through my seemingly impassable writer’s block! And ladies first, with a huge thank you to the fine women who came to Origin. And to the fine staff & the divine David of Origin for letting us loose in your space and being brave enough to run an honesty system on settling our bills.

To brilliant friend & story-engineer Nikki Friedman [Big.Words.Scare.Me] who inspired fascinating conversation about whether we were leopards or tricksy ground squirrels, and why debate on why authenticity is fundamental to successful personal branding. AND for bringing us the sparkling golden MCC from Moreson. Champagne, cupcakes & coffee have a natural affiliation with merriment it seems!

Storytelling is one of the unexpected skills that will stand us all in good stead for the turbulent times to come. It’s one of the cornerstones to being able to discern ourselves from the noise in the attention economy. A skill that can offer tangible rewards for business, whatever your industry; but invaluable if you’re a leader. If you have a moment for a video I heartily recommend Isabelle Allende’s magical session at TED via my commentary on the Women in Leadership page.

Thank you to Cerebella Sarah Blake (check out her great piccies here if you’re curious about how Tim looked in a dress!) for getting the Quirkstars like Katharina and Lyndie there and all those yummy chocolate cupcakes. AND in an evening of but wait.. there’s more >> 5 of the hot-off-the-press excellent eMarketing textbooks (Creative Commons licensed & available for FREE download here BTW) as surprise gifts.

We were honoured to have the Femtrepreneurs from the States represented. My fiercely smart intern Jane Mull & Tascha Terblanche who I lectured to the next morning. There were a host of wonderful women who I hadn’t seen in ages, like the lovely Hajra Bibi (friend of starblogger Tertia, who I miss madly, having started this crazy meme with me), wild&wonderful redhead Tania Odendaal, web-copy queen Kerry-Anne Gilowey, MangoPR beauties Cath Luckhoff, Nicole Capper & Bev Merriman, Springleap’s gorgeous Josie, PopSustainability visionary Kim Heismann, fellow Neophyte Martene Rosenbaum .. and more, like new friends like illustrator.thinker Zara Alyssa who I met at the Flying Solo unconference (brain.child of 2 of  the awesome women who were there - Jo Duxbury and Pam Sykes)  who wrote a great post on the eve’s adventures.

Thank you all it was good fun, and some healthy debate around what it means to be authentic, where to even begin marketing yourself online and some good connections made. I’ll make sure we increase the frequency of our frivolities and cerebrations for the next Cerebella gatherings into the summer.

PS. If you want to join in: just pop on a comment here or mail me here and I’ll pop you on the invitation list (our events are free and co.created – come, share back what you’ve learnt out in the world, maybe contribute/sponsor something that you think will surprise/delight/add value or share the linklove online. happiness)

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