tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-84934777416061556632024-03-05T10:39:06.150-08:00yournavigatorHave fun. Make a difference. Live Globally. Live Sustainably.Unknownnoreply@blogger.comBlogger26125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8493477741606155663.post-15576366380559678342011-04-25T08:56:00.000-07:002011-04-25T09:02:34.452-07:00Simplicity and good food<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiuGO4oWnyYN6CdPYyoQxDbcUVtMi_zgZXQYKwnuJgwgmP4KA5hAJj-8EkdRCy0dT6spxhKP6xpNwnpuOHczNN4K_mt7ADlSNm_GmbEjAzN1cIVC9quvqsPo_ceHgg2xDDDGGLgvftzUzU/s1600/P9200011.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="480" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiuGO4oWnyYN6CdPYyoQxDbcUVtMi_zgZXQYKwnuJgwgmP4KA5hAJj-8EkdRCy0dT6spxhKP6xpNwnpuOHczNN4K_mt7ADlSNm_GmbEjAzN1cIVC9quvqsPo_ceHgg2xDDDGGLgvftzUzU/s640/P9200011.JPG" width="640" /></a></div><br />
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<div style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;">Today I came across the blog/site <a href="http://www.threenewleaves.com/">Three New Leaves</a> by Matt Madeiro</span>. It is an elegant and inspiring site written by a young man who has dramatically improved his life in a very short time through some deep thinking and research. <br />
<br />
Essentially - he has pared his life back to core elements and simplified his food intake back to the <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Paleolithic_diet">paleolithic diet </a> (also called the caveman diet). </div><div style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;"><br />
</div><div style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;">You eat meat, fish, eggs, nuts, fruit and vegetables - and oils such as olive or nut oil - but no grains, dairy foods (except a bit of goat cheese) or any processed foods.</div><div style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;"><br />
</div><div style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;">The proposition is that in evolutionary terms our bodies are perfectly adapted to this kind of diet - and that processed food makes us sick.</div><div style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;"><br />
</div><div style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;">You can see the dramatic impact on Matt's body from following this diet in his post called <a href="http://www.threenewleaves.com/how-i-got-in-the-best-shape-of-my-life-picture-proof/">How I got into the best shape of my life </a>.</div><div style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;"><br />
</div><div style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;">Really food for thought (poor pun) - and now I'm reading Matt's ebook - "<a href="http://www.threenewleaves.com/free-ebook-simpler-available-now/">Simpler</a>" - I'll let you know what I think down the track.</div><div style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;"><br />
</div><div style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;">I did something similar earlier this year and dropped 5 kilos in a couple of months by following the guidance of <a href="http://www.montignac.com/en/livres_detail_montignac_diet.php">Michel Montignac</a> - who was one of the pioneers of what is now called the "Low GI" diet movement. Similar themes to the Paleo diet used by Matt Madeiro - protein and vegetables are good - beware of processed food and especially refined carbohydrates.</div><div style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;"><br />
</div><div style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;">More recently I have been reading Dr Perricone's "<a href="http://blog.perriconemd.com/a-closer-look-into-forever-young-by-dr-perricone/">Forever Young</a>" - and integrating this with the work of Montignac. As I integrate this material I'll share some conclusions. However - in the meantime - it's a great read about what is happening in our cells when we eat the right and wrong foods. </div><div style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;"><br />
</div><div style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;">The core message - keep it simple - and eat like our hunter/gatherer ancestors. </div><div style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;"><br />
</div><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Eat meat, fruit and vegetables and avoid processed food.</span></div>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8493477741606155663.post-59875125428920778812011-04-23T08:11:00.000-07:002011-04-23T08:11:27.078-07:00Down South<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">Living in Perth, when we want to get away for a break - we head along the coast.<br />
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We are either "UP NORTH" or "DOWN SOUTH" sort of people.<br />
<br />
I am more of a "DOWN SOUTH" person and have wonderful memories staying on the South West Coast with friends and family.<br />
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At the moment I am "DOWN SOUTH" in <a href="http://www.westernaustralia.com/en/Destinations/Australias_South_West/Dunsborough/Pages/Dunsborough.aspx">Dunsborough</a>, enjoying the Easter Break with my love.<br />
<br />
We had a great day today, with perfect sunny autumn weather and a gentle warm breeze. Now in the evening it is raining with heavy coastal showers that are drumming hard on our metal roof.<br />
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The gentle light, the lack of "busy jobs" and the forced slowing down allows time to think. <br />
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We went to an opening at <a href="http://www.gunyulgupgalleries.com.au/">Gunyulgup Gallery</a> tonight. And I fell in love with some paintings by <a href="http://www.szydlowski.net/HS%20BIOGRAPHY%201.html">Henryk Sydlowski</a> <span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Helvetica;"><a href="http://www.szydlowski.net/HS%20BIOGRAPHY%201.html">.</a></span><br />
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</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhpT_DH1j_EAMCmK5Cd9qcLpPEt6pjCJ6bVnQj-MP8eo-_JRXypEnvvGwCrvdS41-zoETEW6zWdjmTLty5NJPB3PESj06vQeZBn8trJuDWBra5sekwt0_kgu-GD1pQR4dypm9k19GBT2gU/s1600/P1020668.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="480" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhpT_DH1j_EAMCmK5Cd9qcLpPEt6pjCJ6bVnQj-MP8eo-_JRXypEnvvGwCrvdS41-zoETEW6zWdjmTLty5NJPB3PESj06vQeZBn8trJuDWBra5sekwt0_kgu-GD1pQR4dypm9k19GBT2gU/s640/P1020668.JPG" width="640" /></a><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiiuRhRlLtq-runmmR3e5x76NQ7ev1hhrBTXCWbIuzsOaicRbk2mhX4rH4BAOeBKcfq9Io3MEHY36cIYrjw1HmPeEVDPanMg2XWvYny0lxOd5sND_A_coMz5T6N9NKClvuGHaBpmHtB_0s/s1600/P1020666.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiiuRhRlLtq-runmmR3e5x76NQ7ev1hhrBTXCWbIuzsOaicRbk2mhX4rH4BAOeBKcfq9Io3MEHY36cIYrjw1HmPeEVDPanMg2XWvYny0lxOd5sND_A_coMz5T6N9NKClvuGHaBpmHtB_0s/s640/P1020666.jpg" width="480" /></a></div><br />
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We have had the time to<br />
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1. Re acquaint ourselves with ourselves and our game plan.<br />
2. Think over the things we will be working on over the next few months.<br />
3. Read some good books, and enjoy some time together - not in a rush.<br />
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Make sure you give yourself time to head DOWN SOUTH - wherever your place is.<br />
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DOWN SOUTH is a state of mind - to carry back with us into our busy lives.</div>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8493477741606155663.post-17469213208774735322010-11-28T08:27:00.000-08:002010-11-28T08:27:46.766-08:00It's like making a cake<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEic6-AQ4CD0e503SEM8_l4mg6ic42OLoE1f8k3zYIsH4BkF8UZ-Ey5WFkilgP0o9AyZIG2LxVtEzMH2xmxLkjOe_RE0VpDWF71WfMQEc1D9WLO2nr3gJ7SIHAme-8gqyvHwGDeJIve9tqk/s1600/P1010363.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="480" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEic6-AQ4CD0e503SEM8_l4mg6ic42OLoE1f8k3zYIsH4BkF8UZ-Ey5WFkilgP0o9AyZIG2LxVtEzMH2xmxLkjOe_RE0VpDWF71WfMQEc1D9WLO2nr3gJ7SIHAme-8gqyvHwGDeJIve9tqk/s640/P1010363.JPG" width="640" /></a></div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: xx-small;"> Cake Ingredients at Dean and Deluca, NYC, October 2010</span><br />
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Investing is like making a cake. For the best results you need to have a range of good quality ingredients, you need concentration and a steady hand, you need a constant temperature - and most of all you need patience.<br />
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This is my conclusion after reading two interesting pieces today.<br />
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The first was a <i>New York Times</i> <a href="http://www.nytimes.com/2010/11/27/your-money/27money.html">article</a> by Ron Lieber on November 26, 2010 headed "A Dying Banker's Last Instructions". Gordon Murray - a 25 year banker with Lehman Brothers and Credit Suisse First Boston - has terminal brain cancer - and has used his remaining months to write a book "The Investment Answer" with his co-author Dan Goldie. <br />
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The book is a lesson on patient asset allocation instead of trying to beat markets. And summarises some sound principles:<br />
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1. Hire an advisor who is paid by you, not the funds you are investing in.<br />
2. Divide your funds across both multiple assets (stocks and bonds).<br />
3. Spread across the globe - diversify your country risk.<br />
4. Choose passive funds (like index funds). Few managers can beat the market.<br />
5. Re balance by selling your winners and buying more of your losers (if you have done 1 - 4 above, and this is hard to do).<br />
<br />
The second <a href="http://www.investmentnews.com/article/20101128/REG/311289977">piece</a> was written by Deborah Nason in <i>Investment News</i> on November 28, 2010. Nason describes some new funds that have been established for investors who wish to invest in local food systems and local economies close to them and are patient with modest returns. She describes some funds established by <a href="http://rsfsocialfinance.org/">RSF Social Finance</a> which seek to invest in local sustainable food production businesses. RSF report a 30% per annum growth in client numbers. Their investors are not expecting double digit returns, and are concerned by climate change and carbon footprints.<br />
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Can you see why these two stories synthesised for me? Have patience, mix your investments around, read some good recipes and listen to good advice, support your passions and convictions (great to invest in local sustainable food production systems!) and don't listen to people who are promising they can beat the market or who are being paid by the funds they trying to sell to you. Pay for good advice and be patient with steady returns. <br />
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Like a lovingly baked cake - your investments will do fine.Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8493477741606155663.post-12859381390632458922010-10-15T20:24:00.000-07:002010-10-17T13:33:42.339-07:00Food As an Asset Class<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEicWKF_jhtsBIs5qeQ_vgioU80-4swm-Xmz1yVMLSqgJdtYoufMxSODfTI4byHUcTORpDbEP5IxC6S6lTWSrFVUgj0pe5rC_gdUST2QM-9KXC0pNnpeXzq2QOQX1mHfCiokc6TVz-qSXHs/s1600/P1010296.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="480" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEicWKF_jhtsBIs5qeQ_vgioU80-4swm-Xmz1yVMLSqgJdtYoufMxSODfTI4byHUcTORpDbEP5IxC6S6lTWSrFVUgj0pe5rC_gdUST2QM-9KXC0pNnpeXzq2QOQX1mHfCiokc6TVz-qSXHs/s640/P1010296.JPG" width="640" /></a></div><br />
In her Australian <i>Age</i> article today ( <a href="http://www.theage.com.au/world/food-for-more-than-thought-20101015-16nhe.html">Food for more thought</a>) Jo Chandler talks about her trip to Malawi in October 2005 when she saw the desperate famine and the awful spectacle of western aid agencies having to ask village elders to choose who should receive the limited food aid available. She then contrasts this with Malawi in 2010. The country is now a net exporter of food to its neighbours after the president introduced a program to subsidise fertiliser and seed and encourage a drive to self sufficiency.<br />
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Chandler talks about the emerging food crisis and the consequence of limited investment in agriculture research and development compared to the need. She quotes the <span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 20px;">director-general of the UN Food and Agriculture Organisation Jacques Diouf.</span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 20px;"><br />
</span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 20px;"> "</span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 20px;"><i>More than 70 per cent of the extremely poor live in rural parts of developing countries, and those areas need investment in seeds and fertiliser, and better access to markets, to reduce hunger. Developed countries promised to invest $22 billion in aid to agriculture from 2009 to 2011, but so far only $425 million has been spent. Movement is in the right direction, but the pace needs to be accelerated".</i></span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 20px;"><br />
</span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 20px;">And she quotes from the Australian director of Oxfam Australia. </span><br />
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 20px;"><i>''We have seen the results of decades of immediate interventions without long-term planning, and it has not helped people in developing countries to have sustainable access to enough food. What we need is a long-term response that invests in small farmers who feed their families and communities, that helps farmers adapt to the impact of climate change, and that provides sustainable ways to use the land and water resources we have.''</i></span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 20px;"><i><br />
</i></span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: medium;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: 15px; line-height: 20px;">The UK based Financial Times today (Friday 15 October) contained a special supplement titled "World Food" which profiles the emerging food production crisis in the world. Reference is made to the recent decision by the Bill and Melinda Gates to now focus on agricultural research and development as part of its new focus on food security. There is also reference to the the bid by BHP Billiton, the world's largest mining group - for the Canadian fertiliser company PotashCorp. </span></span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: medium;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: 15px; line-height: 20px;"><br />
</span></span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: medium;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: 15px; line-height: 20px;">And in Australia - there is a race by Canadian agribusiness companies to win control of the Australian grain sector - with Viterra of Canada acquiring control of the Australian wheat and barley exporter ABB and the more recent bid by the Canadian fertiliser company Agrium for control of the former Australian Government owned grain exporter AWB Limited. </span></span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: medium;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: 15px; line-height: 20px;"><br />
</span></span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: medium;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: 15px; line-height: 20px;">All this "food crisis stuff" is attracting serious attention from the world's financial press. What is it telling us? That perceptions are shifting about food production assets as an asset class - and that food itself is now becoming a <b>strategic lever</b> as the world starts to realise it needs to re-scope the capital base around food production technology and infrastructure - within the new constraints of the post GFC liquidity and capital rationing, declining sustainable fresh water sources, limited arable land availability and the impact of volatile climate change. </span></span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: medium;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: 15px; line-height: 20px;"><br />
</span></span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: medium;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: 15px; line-height: 20px;">The challenge is in three parts:</span></span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: medium;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: 15px; line-height: 20px;"><br />
</span></span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: medium;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: 15px; line-height: 20px;">1. To equip the rural poor around the world to feed themselves (using the Malawi model).</span></span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: medium;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: 15px; line-height: 20px;"><br />
</span></span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: medium;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: 15px; line-height: 20px;">2. To provide sufficient food to the world's city based populations.</span></span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: medium;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: 15px; line-height: 20px;"><br />
</span></span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: medium;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: 15px; line-height: 20px;">3. To understand how and where the global investment community should place capital into food production assets (following the lead by BHP with it's potash play).</span></span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: medium;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: 15px; line-height: 20px;"><br />
</span></span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: medium;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: 15px; line-height: 20px;">I prefer to be optimistic about these challenges. What an opportunity for the innovative use of capital and for fresh thinking!</span></span><br />
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</span></span>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8493477741606155663.post-17407640687892411572010-10-05T07:49:00.000-07:002010-10-15T18:49:26.762-07:00Look to the East for Liquidity<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgnwMeawz9GN31Rerk3QDi8-J-k-LPlf2JuhhqXxZtaXc1lQCiUvFcyR9i6hgdiPTwt2X1v8B11_06goGAaFl7JA3ptg12bu-a_kxIYWc7wFf2VPzbxMPOdbkL42FW6yyABCgWiLdikUmI/s1600/PA030011.JPG" imageanchor="1"><img border="0" height="480" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgnwMeawz9GN31Rerk3QDi8-J-k-LPlf2JuhhqXxZtaXc1lQCiUvFcyR9i6hgdiPTwt2X1v8B11_06goGAaFl7JA3ptg12bu-a_kxIYWc7wFf2VPzbxMPOdbkL42FW6yyABCgWiLdikUmI/s640/PA030011.JPG" width="640" /></a></div><br />
We continue to see the impact from the collapse of liquidity and erosion of value in the old world economies flowing from the global financial crisis of 2007 and 2008. The Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania recently reported ( <a href="http://knowledge.wharton.upenn.edu/article.cfm?articleid=2600">In Search of Capital</a> ) that during 2009 angel investing in the USA in start ups declined a further 8.3% to $17.6 billion - following an earlier massive drop of 26.2% in 2008. This didn't really overcome the positive news that because deals were slightly smaller in size last year there was actually a 3% increase in the total number of firms that got financing. If the US stops funding entrepreneurial activity there is something seriously wrong.<br />
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In June we saw Dave Kansas pose the question <a href="http://online.wsj.com/article/SB127760334654511011.html?mod=googlenews_wsj">Did China Save Your Retirement</a> in his Wall Street Journal article - proposing that unless the Chinese let their yuan appreciate against the US dollar US retirement savings were under severe threat - and expressing some relief that there appeared to be some signs that China appeared to making moves to loosen controls on their currency. More recently we have seen the US legislature approve new laws empowering the administration to take punitive action against the Chinese unless they relax their currency controls. I won't hold my breath. Why should/would they?<br />
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To me the best indicators of what is happening is to watch where the private bankers and investment bankers are going with staff, infrastructure and to source capital. And it's not Europe or North America. It's India and China. Look at the example of Lombard Odier Darier Hentsch, the small and venerable old boutique Swiss private bank - which is <a href="http://www.financeasia.com/News/233265,lombard-odier-boosts-hk-team-slams-product-pushing.aspx">boosting its Hong Kong team.</a> At the time it made this announcement in September it criticised it's larger private banking rivals also rushing to China stating that the days of product pushing are over and the future of private banking is "where the client is still the focus". "The deleveraging that has occurred following the global financial crisis in 2008 has resulted in a structural change in the market. It is not a cyclical change".<br />
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I am excited by this. As an Australian living in our island at the bottom of Asia I am living right in the middle of the largest global power shift since the war.<br />
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What opportunity there lies for the brave and the agile!Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8493477741606155663.post-63943333318722840132010-05-21T07:57:00.000-07:002010-05-21T07:57:58.916-07:00The West must try to age gracefully<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgAlBQrhBoRkPJ2zygJ4c9brppFXqDDOspxWzvXSDtWPydGWuKC-0LlWqcJtgx_PUHk1b6W42NNwI6AaPRO_T1qeXYj8yaRFeRahawIvCEhdlBuMXQU8XU7-6x5w8ov1kQHHKmiUMstf28/s1600/P1010734.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="380" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgAlBQrhBoRkPJ2zygJ4c9brppFXqDDOspxWzvXSDtWPydGWuKC-0LlWqcJtgx_PUHk1b6W42NNwI6AaPRO_T1qeXYj8yaRFeRahawIvCEhdlBuMXQU8XU7-6x5w8ov1kQHHKmiUMstf28/s640/P1010734.jpg" width="640" /></a></div><br />
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<a href="http://www.moneycontrol.com/news/economy/us-should-age-gracefully-hsbcs-stephen-king_454872.html">HSBC's Stephen King says that the US should age gracefully</a> in his latest book. He is pointing to the tectonic shifts in global power that are evident in the the current financial crisis in Europe - which he says - just like the US - has borrowed too much money for too long (over 40 years of living on deficit budgets) and supporting an unsustainable way of life.<br />
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Will the Western Europeans with money (Scandinavians, Danes, Dutch and Germans) bail out the rest of their colleagues in the EU if the USD950 billion bailout announced on May 9 by the EU Finance Ministers does not restore confidence in the Euro? As Time magazine points out (May 24 2010, page 19) - this bailout amounts to a massive 8.2% of the EU Gross Domestic Product.<br />
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More voices all saying similar things (refer my earlier post about Standard Chartered Bank's commentary about the future being with countries with cash, commodities and creativity - or at least one of these).<br />
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The only countries with cash now are the Gulf States, Russia and the strong emerging nations of East Asia - lead by China. <br />
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Indeed, the West - at best - will do well to age gracefully!Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8493477741606155663.post-31191549026468709122010-05-15T03:00:00.000-07:002010-05-15T03:05:50.443-07:00Super Tax - Super Silly?<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjzVDuGCBZCKBeh2fzqKjOEly9KbTDJhOtd7Q9WgBSZ5pAxNnsile5qyyAz5Sk4_Ag-Az1klNO0IAP2WJVEey7hxe5cq2watGaZnI7la8NyXpAqkSW-gkcHDDgqixtxy6g9eOo92oBz9-M/s1600/P1000870.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="480" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjzVDuGCBZCKBeh2fzqKjOEly9KbTDJhOtd7Q9WgBSZ5pAxNnsile5qyyAz5Sk4_Ag-Az1klNO0IAP2WJVEey7hxe5cq2watGaZnI7la8NyXpAqkSW-gkcHDDgqixtxy6g9eOo92oBz9-M/s640/P1000870.JPG" width="640" /></a></div><br />
I was recently in Geraldton - which is a dynamic regional centre about 1 hours flight north of Perth in Western Australia. The town was historically wealthy from grain farming and fishing, but more recently the local economy is booming with the development of a handful of new mining companies and the commitment by industry and government to build a new deep water bulk commodity export port which will be known as Oakagee.<br />
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The sunset is looking over a new children's water playground on the foreshore - taken from my hotel balcony. I remember staying at the same hotel ten years ago and trying to go to sleep over the sound of grain trains rumbling through the night along this same foreshore. The town has relocated the railway to a new route behind the town and has created a new beach by trucking thousands of tons of sand to the foreshore - creating a beautiful seaside lifestyle with marinas, coffee shops and apartments. This is wealth from mining and commodities, and the thing I like about Geraldton is that food production is still powering ahead in a complementary way. <b><i>The locals are developing an integrated economy</i></b>. And one of Australia's largest wind farm projects is just outside town.<br />
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With the financial rumbles in Europe the world is a buzz about Gold as a store of value. This is an article about the "Super Pit" gold mine in the town of Kalgoorlie in Western Australia- which is apparently now one of the largest man made holes in the earth's crust (soon to be 3.6 km long and 650 metres deep) and also one of the world's richest deposits of gold. Australia is the second largest producer of gold in the world after China and in 2009 Australia earned $17.5 billion dollars in revenue from gold sales. <br />
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You can check out the <a href="http://www.googleearthcoolplaces.com/related.php?place=superpit_australia">Google Earth Super Pit</a> to see how big it is.<br />
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But all this wealth has now attracted the attention of the politicians trying to shore up government revenue streams. Australian politics is currently dominated by the announcement by the Australian government that they intend to introduce a new "super profit" tax on mining companies in Australia. This weekend the Australian mining lobby is running advertisements saying that if the tax is introduced, Australia will have the highest tax regime on resource extraction in the world at 58%. And with an election due in Australia within 6 months or less - the main opposition party has responded by saying that it will abolish the "super tax". The battlelines are drawn and it will be a fascinating contest. But like all things political - the focus is on the short term and the spin.<br />
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My view? We have the mineral and energy commodities the world needs now and should develop them in a sensible way - but instead of a super tax (which is fundamentally discriminatory and anti competitive) we should provide global best practice tax and capital investment incentives to attract capital investment into <b>sustainable food, water and energy systems</b> and research and development in these areas. <br />
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Look at the example of the Middle East Gulf economies - who know they are running out of energy commodities and are aggressively investing in food, water and sustainable energy assets around the world. <br />
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A little town like Geraldton is starting to get its act together - is it too much to hope for our politicians to think past the short term and do the same?Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8493477741606155663.post-22661414458582985942010-05-01T02:28:00.000-07:002010-05-01T02:37:31.108-07:00How lucky are we?<div style="font: 12.0px Helvetica; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;"><b><br />
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</b></div><div style="font: 12.0px Helvetica; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;"><span style="letter-spacing: 0px;"><b>How lucky are we?</b></span></div><div style="font: 12.0px Helvetica; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; min-height: 14.0px;"><span style="letter-spacing: 0px;"></span></div><div style="font: 12.0px Helvetica; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;"><span style="letter-spacing: 0px;">I snapped a iPhone photo of this graph from an Australian newspaper (Australian Financial Review) a few weeks ago and am now tracking down the sources cited. In the meantime - living in Western Australia (WA) and looking at the effective Real Prices quoted - we would have to be thinking - how lucky are we to be sitting on significant quantities of mineral and energy resources and to be so close to the growing power of China and North Asia? The hype is huge and everyone in WA has stories of multi-million dollar contracts being let for roads and infrastructure and stories about rapidly escalating house prices and the congestion at Perth airport. The share registries of our small and medium resources companies are being pored over by fund managers looking to get exposure to commodities in a politically safe environment. This investment has included sovereign wealth money from China - similar to Chinese investments in energy and mineral assets in Africa and Latin America.</span></div><div style="font: 12.0px Helvetica; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; min-height: 14.0px;"><span style="letter-spacing: 0px;"></span></div><div style="font: 12.0px Helvetica; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;"><span style="letter-spacing: 0px;">Yes - we are lucky to be here in this hot spot at this cycle in our history. However, the problem with having lots of base metals is that other places have them too - and ultimately it is a price game in a market where more supply can be brought on very quickly. And we have a high cost base compared to Africa and Latin America.</span></div><div style="font: 12.0px Helvetica; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; min-height: 14.0px;"><span style="letter-spacing: 0px;"></span></div><div style="font: 12.0px Helvetica; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;"><span style="letter-spacing: 0px;">I am much much more excited by the upswing in the red curve - which tracks the rebound in demand for food commodities. As Asia builds cities over it’s productive coastal agricultural land and starts to run out of water - this is where Australia’s competitive advantage will start to build sustainable value - because Australia is one of the most efficient sources of food production in the world - and without the benefit of government subsidy. </span><br />
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0px;">Food and water assets don't yet excite the stock analysts - but they will.</span></div>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8493477741606155663.post-86391366180540581972010-04-29T07:04:00.000-07:002010-04-29T07:09:13.542-07:00People have to find their own way<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br />
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</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">At a meeting in Sydney and then drinks on a pub rooftop in the Rocks with my colleagues watching the sunset over the Opera House - and listening to the traffic and trains rumble over the Harbour Bridge just behind us. </span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br />
</span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">I got thinking about the reminder we had heard earlier in the day of the </span><a href="http://www.cbmg.com/"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Cohen Brown</span></a><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"> </span><i><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">10 Elements of Good Leadership</span></i><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">:</span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br />
</span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">1. Vision</span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">2. Goals</span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">3. Plans</span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">4. Actions</span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">5. Results tracking</span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">6. Follow up and feedback</span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">7. Coaching</span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">8. Resource Management</span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">9. Motivation</span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">10. Relationship Techniques</span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br />
</span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">And the summary that <b>Leaders have a vision, Managers follow a process</b>. Now I am not going to argue with Cohen Brown (CB) - the improvement in sales and revenue in so many organisations that have implemented CB speak for themselves. The 10 Elements are so strong and obvious we forget them easily!</span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">In the back of my mind though I was reflecting on something I had read earlier - which was an article about </span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="line-height: 24px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Hans Monderman - the Dutch traffic engineer who was asked to resolve the problem of a high rate of accidents in a busy intersection in the Dutch town of Drachten. He thought about it for a while and then decided to remove all rules, signs and lines from the intersection. "Who has right of way? I don't care", he said. "People have to find their own way, negotiate for themselves and use their own brains". Accidents plummeted in the intersection and his approach became known globally in town planning management.</span></span></div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Marker Felt'; line-height: 20px;"><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Monderman recognized that increased control by the state actually reduced the individual and collective responsibility of the citizens.</span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">CB badly applied ignores this element of human nature - which is that people are essentially independent thinkers and don't like following a formula. The art of the leader is to help people share a vision and then to help them work out how to implement it themselves. </span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">This particularly applies when your team is young and smart.</span></div></span>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8493477741606155663.post-29421069857660642412010-04-24T06:52:00.000-07:002010-04-24T06:52:37.987-07:00The Shift from West to East - driven by Cash, Commodities and Creativity<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgPQABKevE0Ke7hVWADnUwVwob4ulZgpk_wUUyxJB1dG86WsqWWsmdlj-LsRiQmAxGBHhasrvNyqj3ehDulpuIvCVoIj79FwRvlE-a0hE_snPjANhYwBqb1RDALid738tl99Q45qkpVqyM/s1600/P1010712.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="566" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgPQABKevE0Ke7hVWADnUwVwob4ulZgpk_wUUyxJB1dG86WsqWWsmdlj-LsRiQmAxGBHhasrvNyqj3ehDulpuIvCVoIj79FwRvlE-a0hE_snPjANhYwBqb1RDALid738tl99Q45qkpVqyM/s640/P1010712.jpg" width="640" /></a></div><br />
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I have just been doing some research on the emerging trends of demand for food and energy commodities in Asia and came across this paper from Standard Chartered Bank (<a href="http://research.standardchartered.com/researchdocuments/Pages/ResearchArticle.aspx?&R=69068">Standard Chartered Research</a> ). <br />
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In summary:<br />
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<ul><li>There is a huge fundamental change is underway in the global economy. </li>
<li>The shift in the balance of economic power from the West to the East will last for decades.</li>
<li>There will be winners and losers in this shift. The winners will be those with financial, natural or human resources, or one or more of the three Cs: <b>cash</b>, <b>commodities</b> or c<b>reativity</b>. </li>
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<ul><li> Creativity may be the most powerful of all the resources to be rich in. With vast numbers of people entering the workforce, huge improvements in productivity, and continued globalisation, the rewards for innovation and creativity will become even greater. </li>
<li> The three Cs are shaping the New World Order, as well as the path of the current recovery. For example, China’s cash has allowed it to inflate its demand and raised Asia’s exports back to pre-crisis levels, despite an uncertain outlook clouded by weak G3 demand and growing protectionism. </li>
<li> In Africa, the rebound in commodity prices and a growing share of trade with emerging markets have also supported the trade recovery. </li>
<li> Strong fundamentals and flush liquidity are supporting Asian credits and currencies, especially as USD strength peaks in light of Europe’s improving situation, rising risk appetite and shifting interest rate expectations.</li>
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Further developing this thinking - if you don't have cash or commodities - <i><b>then you need to be creative</b></i>. <br />
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In a context where economic power (the cash) rests with the Chinese and East Asia - access to the food, energy and water based commodity economies will be critical - and if you don't have these - you need to develop cash flow from your THINKING.Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8493477741606155663.post-89871724208254115492010-04-02T04:23:00.000-07:002010-04-02T04:23:58.291-07:005 Big Themes for the next 5 years<!--StartFragment--> <br />
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</b></div><div class="MsoNormal"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="mso-ansi-language: EN-AU;">5 Big Themes for the next 5 years<o:p></o:p></span></b></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="mso-ansi-language: EN-AU;">A few weeks ago the <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Australian Financial Review’s Boss Magazine<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>(10 March 2010, page 22)</i> ran an article on the fads and trends for the last ten years and the expected themes for the next ten years. <o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpFirst" style="mso-list: l1 level1 lfo1; text-indent: -18.0pt;"><span style="mso-ansi-language: EN-AU; mso-bidi-font-family: Cambria; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">1.<span style="font: 7.0pt "Times New Roman";"> <i> </i></span></span></span><i>The internet</i><i><o:p></o:p></i></div><div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="mso-list: l1 level1 lfo1; text-indent: -18.0pt;"><i>2.</i><span style="font: 7.0pt "Times New Roman";"><i> </i></span><i>Employee self sufficiency</i><i><o:p></o:p></i></div><div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="mso-list: l1 level1 lfo1; text-indent: -18.0pt;"><i>3.</i><span style="font: 7.0pt "Times New Roman";"><i> </i></span><i>Spinning off centralised functions</i><i><o:p></o:p></i></div><div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="mso-list: l1 level1 lfo1; text-indent: -18.0pt;"><i>4.</i><span style="font: 7.0pt "Times New Roman";"><i> </i></span><i>Networking</i><i><o:p></o:p></i></div><div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="mso-list: l1 level1 lfo1; text-indent: -18.0pt;"><i>5.</i><span style="font: 7.0pt "Times New Roman";"><i> </i></span><i>Globalisation</i><i><o:p></o:p></i></div><div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="mso-list: l1 level1 lfo1; text-indent: -18.0pt;"><i>6.</i><span style="font: 7.0pt "Times New Roman";"><i> </i></span><i>Customisation (the whole CRM thing)</i><i><o:p></o:p></i></div><div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="mso-list: l1 level1 lfo1; text-indent: -18.0pt;"><i>7.</i><span style="font: 7.0pt "Times New Roman";"><i> </i></span><i>Collaboration across sectors</i><i><o:p></o:p></i></div><div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="mso-list: l1 level1 lfo1; text-indent: -18.0pt;"><i>8.</i><span style="font: 7.0pt "Times New Roman";"><i> </i></span><i>Sustainability</i><i><o:p></o:p></i></div><div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="mso-list: l1 level1 lfo1; text-indent: -18.0pt;"><i>9.</i><span style="font: 7.0pt "Times New Roman";"><i> </i></span><i>CSR (Corporate Social Responsibility)</i><i><o:p></o:p></i></div><div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpLast" style="mso-list: l1 level1 lfo1; text-indent: -18.0pt;"><i>10.</i><span style="font: 7.0pt "Times New Roman";"><i> </i></span><i>Work /life integration (balance implies separateness).</i><o:p></o:p></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="mso-ansi-language: EN-AU;">Fads that had “waxed and waned”:<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpFirst" style="mso-list: l2 level1 lfo2; text-indent: -18.0pt;"><span style="mso-ansi-language: EN-AU; mso-bidi-font-family: Cambria; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">1.<span style="font: 7.0pt "Times New Roman";"> </span></span></span><i>Paperless, open plan offices</i><i><o:p></o:p></i></div><div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="mso-list: l2 level1 lfo2; text-indent: -18.0pt;"><i>2.</i><span style="font: 7.0pt "Times New Roman";"><i> </i></span><i>PowerPoint</i><i><o:p></o:p></i></div><div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="mso-list: l2 level1 lfo2; text-indent: -18.0pt;"><i>3.</i><span style="font: 7.0pt "Times New Roman";"><i> </i></span><i>Free Agents and telecommuting</i><i><o:p></o:p></i></div><div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="mso-list: l2 level1 lfo2; text-indent: -18.0pt;"><i>4.</i><span style="font: 7.0pt "Times New Roman";"><i> </i></span><i>Hot Desking </i><i><o:p></o:p></i></div><div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="mso-list: l2 level1 lfo2; text-indent: -18.0pt;"><i>5.</i><span style="font: 7.0pt "Times New Roman";"><i> </i></span><i>24/7 casual dressing</i><i><o:p></o:p></i></div><div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="mso-list: l2 level1 lfo2; text-indent: -18.0pt;"><i>6.</i><span style="font: 7.0pt "Times New Roman";"><i> </i></span><i>Total Quality Management</i><i><o:p></o:p></i></div><div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="mso-list: l2 level1 lfo2; text-indent: -18.0pt;"><i>7.</i><span style="font: 7.0pt "Times New Roman";"><i> </i></span><i>Six Sigma (for everything)</i><i><o:p></o:p></i></div><div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="mso-list: l2 level1 lfo2; text-indent: -18.0pt;"><i>8.</i><span style="font: 7.0pt "Times New Roman";"><i> </i></span><i>Bringing the whole person to work</i><i><o:p></o:p></i></div><div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="mso-list: l2 level1 lfo2; text-indent: -18.0pt;"><i>9.</i><span style="font: 7.0pt "Times New Roman";"><i> </i></span><i>Knowledge management</i><i><o:p></o:p></i></div><div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpLast" style="mso-list: l2 level1 lfo2; text-indent: -18.0pt;"><i>10.</i><span style="font: 7.0pt "Times New Roman";"><i> </i></span><i>Positive psychology</i><o:p></o:p></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="mso-ansi-language: EN-AU;">And Boss Magazine’s suggested “Buzz Themes” for the next ten years:<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpFirst" style="mso-list: l0 level1 lfo3; text-indent: -18.0pt;"><span style="mso-ansi-language: EN-AU; mso-bidi-font-family: Cambria; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">1.<span style="font: 7.0pt "Times New Roman";"> </span></span></span><i>Working smarter, not harder – focus on outputs not inputs; put people first</i><i><o:p></o:p></i></div><div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="mso-list: l0 level1 lfo3; text-indent: -18.0pt;"><i>2.</i><span style="font: 7.0pt "Times New Roman";"><i> </i></span><i>Social capital, connections, within and beyond the organisation</i><i><o:p></o:p></i></div><div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="mso-list: l0 level1 lfo3; text-indent: -18.0pt;"><i>3.</i><span style="font: 7.0pt "Times New Roman";"><i> </i></span><i>The integrated scorecard</i><i><o:p></o:p></i></div><div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="mso-list: l0 level1 lfo3; text-indent: -18.0pt;"><i>4.</i><span style="font: 7.0pt "Times New Roman";"><i> </i></span><i>Communityship; collaboration leadership</i><i><o:p></o:p></i></div><div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="mso-list: l0 level1 lfo3; text-indent: -18.0pt;"><i>5.</i><span style="font: 7.0pt "Times New Roman";"><i> </i></span><i>Diversity (age, gender, ethnicity, skills).</i><i><o:p></o:p></i></div><div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="mso-list: l0 level1 lfo3; text-indent: -18.0pt;"><i>6.</i><span style="font: 7.0pt "Times New Roman";"><i> </i></span><i>Long life learning</i><i><o:p></o:p></i></div><div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="mso-list: l0 level1 lfo3; text-indent: -18.0pt;"><i>7.</i><span style="font: 7.0pt "Times New Roman";"><i> </i></span><i>True sustainability – monitoring and measuring the right things.</i><i><o:p></o:p></i></div><div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="mso-list: l0 level1 lfo3; text-indent: -18.0pt;"><i>8.</i><span style="font: 7.0pt "Times New Roman";"><i> </i></span><i>Team leadership – let everyone get ahead.</i><i><o:p></o:p></i></div><div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="mso-list: l0 level1 lfo3; text-indent: -18.0pt;"><i>9.</i><span style="font: 7.0pt "Times New Roman";"><i> </i></span><i>Zero Waste.</i><i><o:p></o:p></i></div><div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpLast" style="mso-list: l0 level1 lfo3; text-indent: -18.0pt;"><i>10.</i><span style="font: 7.0pt "Times New Roman";"><i> </i></span><i>The ambidextrous organisation – simultaneously exploring new frontiers and exploiting short-term shifts and opportunities.</i><o:p></o:p></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="mso-ansi-language: EN-AU;">This has been percolating in my mind as I go about my daily business.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I am challenged by the <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Buzz Themes</i> and I grimace at some of the fads that have waxed and waned.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I remember being part of a committee that commissioned a CRM system – we spent thousands of hours and millions of dollars – and looking back – I’m not sure we really built any more sustainable customer relationships than we had before.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Maybe we did – the company is still a dominant player – but I remember the zeal of the consultants with whom we spent all this money – I wonder if they also grimace!<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="mso-ansi-language: EN-AU;">I also fight the immediate temptation to switch off now when someone fires up a PowerPoint presentation and reads out their slides.<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="mso-ansi-language: EN-AU;">My <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">5 big themes</b> for the next five years (ten years is far too distant):<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpFirst" style="mso-list: l3 level1 lfo4; text-indent: -18.0pt;"><span style="mso-ansi-language: EN-AU; mso-bidi-font-family: Cambria; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">1.<span style="font: 7.0pt "Times New Roman";"> </span></span></span><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="mso-ansi-language: EN-AU;">The value of relationships</span></b><span style="mso-ansi-language: EN-AU;"> and the relearning of the importance of spending time face to face with people – the promise of the WEB2 and social networking has sold lots of iPhones and created lots of Face book pages – but hasn’t built enduring interpersonal relationship value.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Technology will however drive the re-distribution of power (see 5 below).<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpFirst" style="mso-list: l3 level1 lfo4; text-indent: -18.0pt;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="mso-list: l3 level1 lfo4; text-indent: -18.0pt;"><span style="mso-ansi-language: EN-AU; mso-bidi-font-family: Cambria; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">2.<span style="font: 7.0pt "Times New Roman";"> </span></span></span><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="mso-ansi-language: EN-AU;">The desperate “smarts” vacuum</span></b><span style="mso-ansi-language: EN-AU;"> we see in corporate organisations which – after endless restructures - have no skilled middle management left to mentor and guide younger staff – who in the mature economies of the world <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>(statistically) are most probably without a stable mother or father influence in their home lives.<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="mso-list: l3 level1 lfo4; text-indent: -18.0pt;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="mso-list: l3 level1 lfo4; text-indent: -18.0pt;"><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span style="mso-ansi-language: EN-AU; mso-bidi-font-family: Cambria; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">3.<span style="font: 7.0pt "Times New Roman";"> </span></span></span></i><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="mso-ansi-language: EN-AU;">The relentless focus on cost will accelerate </span></b><span style="mso-ansi-language: EN-AU;">as the Indians, Latin Americans, Chinese, Africans and Central Asians continue to try to drive up their people’s standards of living and undercut existing value chains <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">in everything</i></b><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><o:p></o:p></i></span></div><div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="mso-list: l3 level1 lfo4; text-indent: -18.0pt;"><i><br />
</i></div><div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="mso-list: l3 level1 lfo4; text-indent: -18.0pt;"><span style="mso-ansi-language: EN-AU; mso-bidi-font-family: Cambria; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">4.<span style="font: 7.0pt "Times New Roman";"> </span></span></span><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="mso-ansi-language: EN-AU;">Food, water and energy</span></b><span style="mso-ansi-language: EN-AU;"> will become the critical success factors to sustainable society – control of these three – in the context of climate change – will determine the future global power structures.<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="mso-list: l3 level1 lfo4; text-indent: -18.0pt;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpLast" style="mso-list: l3 level1 lfo4; text-indent: -18.0pt;"><span style="mso-ansi-language: EN-AU; mso-bidi-font-family: Cambria; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">5.<span style="font: 7.0pt "Times New Roman";"> </span></span></span><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="mso-ansi-language: EN-AU;">Power is distributed:</span></b><span style="mso-ansi-language: EN-AU;"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Twitter users demonstrated this in the recent Iranian elections – elected and tyrannical governments alike will not longer control agendas like they did.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>We have too many informed and connected people using information technology to be swayed by the spin doctors.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Are big advertising agencies and the traditional media in big trouble?<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
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</div><!--EndFragment-->Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8493477741606155663.post-73048394429533908022010-03-18T06:19:00.000-07:002010-04-12T08:47:48.007-07:00Taking Lots of Small Steps<div class="MsoNormal"><i><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Lucida Grande'; font-size: small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: 11px; font-style: normal;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Times;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;"><br />
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</i></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjVrZV7vwuGEIvWn1XYPnKbrjj-3jSKYks3_L1tQ6p1KG5RYx5O0H23AHK6F9fO7rtxdxQJpf43YwAVKVXZxjiGBwIVlr4ew0SVrjIcVXDAWDYukIVMfJzjBwyi1a5fslH1hmGVwmaE2rU/s1600-h/P9170005.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="480" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjVrZV7vwuGEIvWn1XYPnKbrjj-3jSKYks3_L1tQ6p1KG5RYx5O0H23AHK6F9fO7rtxdxQJpf43YwAVKVXZxjiGBwIVlr4ew0SVrjIcVXDAWDYukIVMfJzjBwyi1a5fslH1hmGVwmaE2rU/s640/P9170005.JPG" width="640" /></a></div><div class="MsoNormal"><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Shoe department at Gallery Lafayette Paris 2009<o:p></o:p></i></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal">I have just read the article by columnist <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Chanticleer</i> on page 64 of the <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Australian Financial Review</i> (Thursday 18 March 2010) talking about the strong results of the Australian specialist high-end retailer David Jones Limited – which is the Australian woman’s little slice of Paris. <o:p></o:p></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal">David Jones Limited – or as it affectionately known in Australia - “DJs” – has sparked a minor rally on the Australian Stock Exchange by returning a global best practice 40 percent gross margin on its sales revenue of Australian dollar 1.086 billion in revenue for the half year to December 2009. It will pay an interim dividend of 12 cents on May 3<sup>rd</sup>. Naturally this sparked a rally on its shares – which flowed over into the general market.<o:p></o:p></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal">This is an awesome result in the context of the Global Financial Crisis. I wonder how many global fashion retailers have achieved similar results over the last 6 months? The general reporting suggests that the market for discretionary fashion goods has been stagnant.<o:p></o:p></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal">How did Chief Executive Officer Mark McInnes and Chief Financial Officer Stephen Goddard achieve this outcome? <o:p></o:p></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal">As <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Chanticleer</i> points out; by<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span style="font-size: 14pt;"> taking lots of small steps</span></i></b><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">.</i></b><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"> <o:p></o:p></i></div><div class="MsoNormal"><i><br />
</i></div><div class="MsoNormal">McInnes and Goddard achieved this result by focussing on the small things:<o:p></o:p></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpFirst" style="mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; text-indent: -18.0pt;"></div><ul><li><span style="font-family: Symbol;">·<span style="font: normal normal normal 7pt/normal 'Times New Roman';"> </span></span>By constant attention to removing costs (through 58 separate cost reduction projects they reduced cost by 0.3 % in the 6 months).</li>
<li><span style="font-family: Symbol;">·<span style="font: normal normal normal 7pt/normal 'Times New Roman';"> </span></span>Persistent striving to better supplier relationships (including a line by line review of their day to day banking arrangements).</li>
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<div class="MsoNormal">Through this focus on incremental small steps – they have achieved a global best practice result. <o:p></o:p></div><div class="MsoNormal"><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Chanticleer </i>adds that DJ’s has never lost its focus on its core value proposition – to appeal to women and to attracting them back for repeat purchases – rather than on new customer acquisition.<o:p></o:p></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: 14pt;">Whatever your goal, you can achieve great outcomes by focusing on the details and taking lots of small steps.<o:p></o:p></span></div>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8493477741606155663.post-65710675167857828802010-03-16T05:26:00.000-07:002010-03-16T05:29:35.814-07:00Management Matters in Australia<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Lucida Grande'; font-size: small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: 11px;">For some who have asked me - here is the link <a href="http://www.innovation.gov.au/General/Corporate/Pages/ManagementMattersinAustralia.aspx">Australian Government paper "Management Matters"</a> to the paper released by the Australian Government in November 2009 called "Management Matters". It has some disappointing findings - on most criteria against global benchmarks - Australia has average performance at best from its management pool. I will also post the file on my LinkedIn page. </span></span>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8493477741606155663.post-83375591563412295642010-03-16T04:18:00.000-07:002010-03-16T04:18:56.926-07:00The Exceptional Performance Formula<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgkdvZYygK5p5nKdjMxYzh3mYjtb_FvP3jncXTqe3LABTpVpsmb-n2-BFzttU8gS282J0v2rOC7rtLEPbYlqLJcsa6T8r8r_LQENwgkz0jq0MeQOzMfv5S6vmPSEgj_JQo5e_XVyRGQ0zA/s1600-h/P9230028.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="480" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgkdvZYygK5p5nKdjMxYzh3mYjtb_FvP3jncXTqe3LABTpVpsmb-n2-BFzttU8gS282J0v2rOC7rtLEPbYlqLJcsa6T8r8r_LQENwgkz0jq0MeQOzMfv5S6vmPSEgj_JQo5e_XVyRGQ0zA/s640/P9230028.jpg" width="640" /></a></div><br />
I was fortunate today to participate in a leadership training workshop facilitated by rogenSi IP Limited in Sydney Australia. It was one of the best training sessions I have attended in many years. I was particularly struck by the Exceptional Performance formula:<br />
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EP = (K+S+P) x M<br />
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where<br />
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EP = Exceptional Performance<br />
K = Knowledge<br />
S = Skill<br />
P = Process<br />
M = Mindset<br />
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Most managers are reasonably good at providing their people with knowledge, skills and good processes.<br />
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The exceptional leader provides the multiplier of creating the Right Mindset - thereby creating Exceptional Performance. <br />
<br />
The rest of the workshop was about how to create the right mindset in your team - through a combination of rational and emotional drivers around:<br />
<br />
<br />
<ul><li>Setting direction (Vision, Strategy, Reality)</li>
<li><b>Engaging and exciting your team </b>(which often is the most important missing ingredient)</li>
<li>Executing</li>
<li>Sustaining Momentum.</li>
</ul><div>I have learnt a lot today and am grateful for the opportunity to grow as a leader.</div><div><br />
</div><div>I was curious to check out the rogenSi website tonight. Again - I was impressed with their Values (<a href="http://www.rogensi.com/About-Us/rogenSi-DNA.aspx">rogenSi DNA Page</a> ) - which I have copied below:</div><div><br />
</div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: none; border-collapse: collapse; color: #666666; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 11px; line-height: 16px;"><h4 style="border-bottom-width: 0px; border-color: initial; border-left-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-top-width: 0px; color: #333333; font-family: inherit; font-size: 1.1em; font-style: inherit; font-weight: bold; line-height: 1.25em; margin-bottom: 6px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px;"><strong style="border-bottom-width: 0px; border-color: initial; border-left-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-top-width: 0px; font-family: inherit; font-size: 12px; font-style: inherit; font-weight: bold; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px;">VALUES</strong></h4>Our values direct our energy, our expertise and our choices.<br />
<br />
<strong style="border-bottom-width: 0px; border-color: initial; border-left-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-top-width: 0px; font-family: inherit; font-size: 11px; font-style: inherit; font-weight: bold; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px;">Honour Clients</strong><br />
• Know their world<br />
• Anticipate<br />
• Work magic<br />
• Challenge boundaries<br />
• Own the result<br />
<br />
<strong style="border-bottom-width: 0px; border-color: initial; border-left-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-top-width: 0px; font-family: inherit; font-size: 11px; font-style: inherit; font-weight: bold; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px;">Create Buzz</strong><br />
• Energise<br />
• Play<br />
• Create<br />
• Inspire<br />
• Celebrate<br />
<br />
<strong style="border-bottom-width: 0px; border-color: initial; border-left-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-top-width: 0px; font-family: inherit; font-size: 11px; font-style: inherit; font-weight: bold; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px;">Be Courageous</strong><br />
• Talk straight<br />
• Embrace feedback<br />
• Break with convention<br />
• Be bold – take risks<br />
• Follow your instincts</span></div><div><br />
</div><div>They certainly delivered to their values today - Well Done and real inspiration!</div><div><br />
</div>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8493477741606155663.post-28097220372689563882010-03-15T05:13:00.000-07:002010-03-15T05:13:05.417-07:00Australian Business - Opportunities for improvementThe Australian Financial Review publishes a business magazine on the weekends called "BOSS". It ranges from good to mediocre - the latter when the editor has had a bad month and fills it full of reprints from the Harvard Business Review or the Guardian. <br />
<br />
The edition on the 10th March 2010 was very good. I was particularly struck by a review on page 23 of the strengths and weaknesses of Australian business - which drew on some research funded by the Australian government and published in a report called "<i>Management Matters in Australia</i>" released by the Australian Government in late 2009:<br />
<br />
Where Australian Management is strong:<br />
<br />
<ul><li>International Outlook</li>
<li>Team Leadership</li>
<li>Risk aversion</li>
<li>Strong operational management skills</li>
</ul><div>Where Australian Management is not strong:</div><div><ul><li>People practices - attracting, developing and retaining employees</li>
<li>Measuring and improving management practices</li>
<li>Over rating management performance</li>
<li>Centralised thinking and reluctance to foster autonomy of operations</li>
<li>Investment in management training and education</li>
<li>Fostering innovation.</li>
</ul><div>I think this is absolutely correct. Australia is very lucky at the moment that we have lots of things that North Asia (in particular) needs - especially natural gas and mineral commodities. So we are enjoying a fantastic standard of living selling our wares and buying some time. We are in danger of becoming complacent about the need to build strategic sustainable advantage - and in particular the need to invest in our people skills and the quality of the people in our business enterprises.</div></div>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8493477741606155663.post-36532754900317208532010-03-06T20:43:00.000-08:002010-03-06T20:48:55.463-08:00Training for sustainable competitive advantageI once worked in a bank where the CEO decided to shut down the training division. He was chasing short term cost advantages (and got them) and his view was that the leadership of the bank should provide the training. I remember once when - after spending a lot of money on developing a new system to better manage customer files and records - he decreed that the line managers would train the staff in implementation. So instead of spending time building market share and helping my team win new business and retain customers, I spent three weeks showing staff which buttons to click on a screen (after I had learned the system myself through trial and error). In effect - for the time I worked there - the only training I was able to provide for my staff was that which I implemented by scratching budget in from other areas and doing some ad hoc training through external providers - or by piggy backing my staff onto a little bit of training that was being done by another division in the bank.<br />
<br />
Really what was happening was that we were mining the experience of the longer serving staff (who had been properly trained) without replenishing the organisation's talent pool.<br />
<br />
Needless to say, the bank found it could not retain young talent and a huge part of the line managements activity was in recruiting new staff to replace those who had left to join another organisation. End game? The bank was taken over by another bank not long after I also moved on.<br />
<br />
This research by McKinsey is really interesting reading. Organisations that will build competitive advantage are those whose senior managers are critically supportive of both technical and soft skills training.<br />
<br />
<a href="http://www.mckinseyquarterly.com/Building_organizational_capabilities_McKinsey_Global_Survey_results_2540">McKinsey Survey on Building Organisational Capabilities March 2010</a><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial; font-size: small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: 11px; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br />
</span></span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="white-space: pre-wrap;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: x-large;">So - don't skimp on training your people. It is probably the biggest thing you can do to build sustainable competitive advantage.</span></span></span>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8493477741606155663.post-73298797302604536272010-03-04T07:31:00.000-08:002010-03-04T07:38:21.853-08:00Bhutan - getting readyI love to go trekking - and like to be always planning my next adventure. Having pored over maps and atlases since childhood - I have always been fascinated by the Himalaya region and Tibet. This could be because I was born in Darjeeling to Christian missionary parents - but I don't have any conscious memory - so it must be subconscious linkage (collective unconsciousness and all that Mr Jung!).<br />
<br />
I have decided that I would like to visit Bhutan - and then - when I can - the areas around Mustang on the Tibetan border with India.<br />
<br />
In the months before I go on the next trek - I like to read as much as I can about the people and the place I am going to. So I bought some books on Bhutan. I have just finished reading Jamie Zeppa's "Beyond The Sky and the Earth". Such powerful and honest writing - about a Canadian Masters graduate in English who goes to teach in Bhutan - and how it transformed her life. It is a gritty, honest and beautiful read - and has sharpened my desire to go and see this Buddhist mountain kingdom. <br />
<br />
Zeppa learns to understand how a culture based around material possession provides no lasting happiness, happiness is within. Happiness is driven by how we think. <br />
<br />
I thoroughly recommend this book.<br />
<br />
<script charset="utf-8" src="http://ws.amazon.com/widgets/q?ServiceVersion=20070822&MarketPlace=US&ID=V20070822/US/yournavigator-20/8001/9616e3fb-374e-426b-a4a5-57c30d6e79b2" type="text/javascript">
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<noscript><a href="http://ws.amazon.com/widgets/q?ServiceVersion=20070822&MarketPlace=US&ID=V20070822%2FUS%2Fyournavigator-20%2F8001%2F9616e3fb-374e-426b-a4a5-57c30d6e79b2&Operation=NoScript">Amazon.com Widgets</a></noscript>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8493477741606155663.post-32759552343038218352010-02-17T05:10:00.000-08:002010-02-17T05:10:00.926-08:00Two worlds<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><b>Two Worlds</b></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">I spent yesterday in the Western Australian country side visiting with a client who grows grain and raises sheep on a large farm near the town of Katanning. It was a beautiful day and there was a magical quality to the light as I drove home. The vistas were vast and it was good to stretch my eyes to a far horizon.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhO02GPfHRNMRsaIkQeKuBmgTY-PXxK2kuLIpCvKlDgDUSlu2DHgJA9xzO9pIf-7ldZBSNUjGuHULPc0d7wldZ0jaNHP25mKw_U8sC8J6g51hhhgoXR_avJTA0aOXjL1oARQuFgnBegNOA/s1600-h/P1000455.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="293" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhO02GPfHRNMRsaIkQeKuBmgTY-PXxK2kuLIpCvKlDgDUSlu2DHgJA9xzO9pIf-7ldZBSNUjGuHULPc0d7wldZ0jaNHP25mKw_U8sC8J6g51hhhgoXR_avJTA0aOXjL1oARQuFgnBegNOA/s400/P1000455.JPG" width="400" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><i>Farmland near Katanning in Western Australia.</i></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">Then I finally stopped to take a picture of this old abandoned farm house that I have driven past on previous occasions. I thought about the lives lived here. The house is crumbling but a few trees planted around it by the pioneers of the district are sprightly and healthy. I imagined children in bare feet and scabbed knees playing under the trees and then running to the kitchen door for supper when Mum calls.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br />
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</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhO02GPfHRNMRsaIkQeKuBmgTY-PXxK2kuLIpCvKlDgDUSlu2DHgJA9xzO9pIf-7ldZBSNUjGuHULPc0d7wldZ0jaNHP25mKw_U8sC8J6g51hhhgoXR_avJTA0aOXjL1oARQuFgnBegNOA/s1600-h/P1000455.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"></a><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh_bjGSUvIAqjTRJccOspjGdclfU4qoZEiHdZqAudNvGi7apXF5CAtovMMMyjJStgJGW6QJB4se7KYEc3OiHWRajMHCBcJgVn06XoYxW8rd483_r1fbESCY6fa3JQJTz8rqXUfR8_V3Izg/s1600-h/P1000457.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh_bjGSUvIAqjTRJccOspjGdclfU4qoZEiHdZqAudNvGi7apXF5CAtovMMMyjJStgJGW6QJB4se7KYEc3OiHWRajMHCBcJgVn06XoYxW8rd483_r1fbESCY6fa3JQJTz8rqXUfR8_V3Izg/s400/P1000457.JPG" width="400" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><i>Abandoned mud brick farmhouse near Kojonup</i></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">Then the very next day I flew to Melbourne to attend a meeting of our leadership team. That is a four hour flight across Australia in an Airbus. The sun was setting as I checked into my hotel. The view from my hotel window tells many stories - including two competing churches on opposite corners on Collins Street, and the buoyant towers and construction cranes in the background. </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh_bjGSUvIAqjTRJccOspjGdclfU4qoZEiHdZqAudNvGi7apXF5CAtovMMMyjJStgJGW6QJB4se7KYEc3OiHWRajMHCBcJgVn06XoYxW8rd483_r1fbESCY6fa3JQJTz8rqXUfR8_V3Izg/s1600-h/P1000457.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"></a><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgcUX96DF4M8k_ZPkZS9P0mtjR9cgxleJs_MA9u8o3KuXN1BK__HRrl66tNsddAotT_OHd8jMvEl1F9P8yYMya1yDwZKuc-m-CPnbrhCKYMKef62hhnf21pc2avtohSVgS0xjvKVY_Rvms/s1600-h/P1000463.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgcUX96DF4M8k_ZPkZS9P0mtjR9cgxleJs_MA9u8o3KuXN1BK__HRrl66tNsddAotT_OHd8jMvEl1F9P8yYMya1yDwZKuc-m-CPnbrhCKYMKef62hhnf21pc2avtohSVgS0xjvKVY_Rvms/s400/P1000463.JPG" width="400" /></a></div><br />
<div style="text-align: center;"><i>Twilight in Melbourne from my hotel room</i></div><div style="text-align: center;"><i><br />
</i></div><div style="text-align: left;">I have been tossing the clash between the two worlds in two days around in my brain. We are an urban culture and our towns and regional communities are shrinking. Yet there is such raw power of Nature's life out there - can we see it and feel it in our cities? Or have we lost our way a little? </div>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8493477741606155663.post-934909050260656512010-01-02T05:52:00.000-08:002010-01-02T05:52:34.938-08:00At the Beach on 2nd January 2010<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiEV1WgORxwUFlbr0yuLi7i5EWseV1P_iC-5VIVfp4qOdxq67CACeyFMVseMnwNw1Pwxxy7QgxRLrhZ1DA1AMyTRVuklQmS-tQBJa9RpXuQZRQjv3yw_4odkmGSz4cKzruJVyXQ2_Nw9bA/s1600-h/P1000280.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="213" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiEV1WgORxwUFlbr0yuLi7i5EWseV1P_iC-5VIVfp4qOdxq67CACeyFMVseMnwNw1Pwxxy7QgxRLrhZ1DA1AMyTRVuklQmS-tQBJa9RpXuQZRQjv3yw_4odkmGSz4cKzruJVyXQ2_Nw9bA/s320/P1000280.JPG" width="320" /></a><br />
</div>We enjoyed fish and chips on the beach tonight and thought over 2009 as we watched the sun set over the sea. The last lingering colours of dusk ranged from a golden orange through to a viridian blue - and then the black night sky with the first stars. The wind stopped blowing around 8.30pm and it was perfect.<br />
I decided my theme for 2010 was ENERGY. By applying it I will create more of it - within me and within those around me.Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8493477741606155663.post-50678420649820471372009-11-22T02:35:00.000-08:002009-12-26T21:13:16.626-08:00All you need to know about Leadership and Management in one blog post!<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Ken Blanchard wrote the famous book </span><i><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">The One Minute Manager</span></i><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">. He has since gone on to write many more. </span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">The most useful Ken Blanchard book to me was </span><i><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">The One Minute Manager meets the Monke</span></i><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">y - which he co wrote with a guy called William Oncken. </span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: 'Lucida Grande'; font-size: 11px; white-space: pre-wrap;"><iframe frameborder="0" marginheight="0" marginwidth="0" scrolling="no" src="http://rcm.amazon.com/e/cm?t=yournavigator-20&o=1&p=8&l=as1&asins=0688067670&fc1=000000&IS2=1&lt1=_blank&m=amazon&lc1=0000FF&bc1=000000&bg1=FFFFFF&f=ifr" style="height: 240px; width: 120px;"></iframe> </span><br />
<div><span style="font-family: 'Lucida Grande'; font-size: small;"><span style="font-size: 11px; white-space: pre-wrap;"> </span></span><br />
</div><div><span style="font-family: 'Lucida Grande';"><span style="white-space: pre-wrap;">I recommend you read this book if you are new to management or just need a refresher. You will need an hour or so to digest it.</span></span><br />
</div><div><span style="font-family: 'Lucida Grande';"><span style="white-space: pre-wrap;"> </span></span><br />
</div><div><span style="font-family: 'Lucida Grande';"><span style="white-space: pre-wrap;">Or you can use these notes from an interview we recently heard when Blanchard was asked to summarise his thoughts on leadership and management (not the same things - but I think you need to be a good leader to be a good manager). </span></span><br />
</div><div><span style="font-family: 'Lucida Grande';"><span style="white-space: pre-wrap;"> </span></span><br />
</div><div><span style="font-family: 'Lucida Grande';"><span style="white-space: pre-wrap;">Blanchard said there were only 4 things to remember:</span></span><br />
</div><div><ol><li><span style="font-family: 'Lucida Grande'; white-space: pre-wrap;"><b>Set down your goals and objective</b><b>s</b> (what you want to achieve with your team). and then tell your team. <i>This is a top down process</i> and must be done. You need to let your team know your vision, mission and strategy. You also need to clearly let them know what the deliverables are (some people call them targets or key performance indicators), and also what behaviours you will expect from your team.</span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: 'Lucida Grande';"><span style="white-space: pre-wrap;"><b>Then ask you team to develop an implementation plan</b>. <i>This is a bottom up process</i> and must also be done. You are asking your team to "tell me how you are going to do this". Once you and your team area happy with the plan - get into it!</span></span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: 'Lucida Grande';"><span style="white-space: pre-wrap;"><b>Then - for your experienced staf</b>f - you support them, remove roadblocks and get out the way!</span></span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: 'Lucida Grande';"><span style="white-space: pre-wrap;"><b>For your inexperienced staff</b> - you watch and guide them and redirect them before they get into too much trouble. You need to make time to teach them. This is the real sign of a good leader - over time you will bring your inexperienced staff up to the level of your good operators and yourself!</span></span></li>
</ol><div><span style="font-family: 'Lucida Grande';"><span style="white-space: pre-wrap;">Only 4 things to remember and you will become a better leader. </span></span><br />
</div></div>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8493477741606155663.post-64621118128229366282009-11-19T06:45:00.000-08:002010-03-03T05:14:56.582-08:00Farmers Markets and the Food Revolution in the Developed WorldMt Claremont Farmer's Market in Western Australia was started two years ago in the playground of a government primary school of the Perth suburb of Mount Claremont. It was started by some parents on the committee of the schools Parents and Citizens committee to raise money for badly needed facilities at the school. It is now so popular that the local shire council is trying to tax the stall holders to raise revenue - always a sign that something is working! The school is now flush with funds to spend on improvements and the Government Education Department is looking at creating markets in other schools based on the success of this one. And the locals are complaining about cars parking on their verges. The irony here is that the market is only 5 minutes by car from a large and brand new shopping centre in the suburb of Claremont which has three supermarkets selling a range of quite good fresh food. These shopping centres all have lots of parking (and pay the shire lots in taxes and parking fees).<br />
<br />
Today I heard that the major radio station in Perth - the Australian Broadcasting Corporation's 720 AM station - is broadcasting from the market this weekend - which will publicise it across the whole of Western Australia.<br />
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I have friends and contacts who also work in the commercial food business and who complain about the growth in farmers markets around the world. They argue that they are making it harder for small businesses to stay viable - and also that they operate with an unfair advantage. They don't have to operate under the same regulation and rules as shops and shopping centres, and don't have the same burden of health and safety compliance and regulation. Some of them are lobbying the government to try to stop the farmers markets.<br />
<br />
I think trying to oppose this force is like King Canute trying to stop the tide coming in. I think that people are tired of the commercial solutions offered by the large property chains and the commercial retailers - and are trying to reconnect with community. And food - and the passion and melodrama of food - is part of this. I actually think it is the sense of community - and a sense of rebellion against "the corporations" which is driving this. <br />
<br />
I was in Paris earlier this year and visited an organic farmers market in the middle of a street above a subway station. It is held two times a week and is packed with shoppers from all over Paris. Interesting to see that the market is encouraged by the City of Paris - which is trying to set up more around the city.<br />
I spent a fascinating hour drooling over the produce - and regretting I couldn't buy anything because I was a tourist staying in a hotel without any cooking facilities. A couple of pictures:<br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhqubwmaa6m2fhyphenhyphennlbPmhKTQEGcK0jfE-KGgUhyphenhyphenRe-El6qz1jgqwYYHDIgP24HDOM1Jf0_bw-XpSyqlO8JCRJXX0KIBPGgQZRGkWwxMrXFnHOQim3WAT9jRl56e5WKrgRrNC50Og1tManQ/s1600/P9200009.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhqubwmaa6m2fhyphenhyphennlbPmhKTQEGcK0jfE-KGgUhyphenhyphenRe-El6qz1jgqwYYHDIgP24HDOM1Jf0_bw-XpSyqlO8JCRJXX0KIBPGgQZRGkWwxMrXFnHOQim3WAT9jRl56e5WKrgRrNC50Og1tManQ/s320/P9200009.JPG" /></a></div><br />
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In the New York Times there was an article on 21 March 2009 titled <i>I</i><i>s a Food Revolution Now in Season? </i>by Andrew Martin<i>. </i><br />
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Some of it is clipped below:<br />
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: 15px;"><span style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif;">AT the heart of the sustainable-food movement is a belief that America has become efficient at producing cheap, abundant food that profits corporations and agribusiness, but is unhealthy and bad for the environment.</span></span><br />
<div style="font: 15.0px Georgia; line-height: 22.0px; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 15.0px 0.0px;"><span style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif;">The federal government is culpable, the activists say, because it pays farmers billions in subsidies each year for growing grains and soybeans. A result is an abundance of corn and soybeans that provide cheap feed for livestock and inexpensive food ingredients like high-fructose corn syrup.</span></div><div style="font: 15.0px Georgia; line-height: 22.0px; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 15.0px 0.0px;"><span style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif;">They argue that farm policy — and federal dollars — should instead encourage farmers to grow more diverse crops, reward conservation practices and promote </span><a href="http://topics.nytimes.com/top/reference/timestopics/subjects/l/local_food/index.html?inline=nyt-classifier"><span style="color: #195785; text-decoration: underline;"><span style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif;">local food</span></span></a><span style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif;"> networks that rely less on fossil fuels for such things as fertilizer and transportation.</span></div><div style="font: 15.0px Georgia; line-height: 22.0px; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 15.0px 0.0px;"><span style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif;">Last year, mandatory spending on farm subsidies was $7.5 billion, compared with $15 million for programs for organic and local foods, according to the House Appropriations Committee.</span></div><div style="font: 15.0px Georgia; line-height: 22.0px; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 15.0px 0.0px;"><span style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif;">But advocates of conventional agriculture argue that organic farming simply can’t provide enough food because the yields tend to be lower than those for crops grown with chemical fertilizer.</span></div><div style="font: 15.0px Georgia; line-height: 22.0px; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 15.0px 0.0px;"><span style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif;">“We think there’s a place for organic, but don’t think we can feed ourselves and the world with organic,” says Rick Tolman, chief executive of the National Corn Growers Association. “It’s not as productive, more labor-intensive and tends to be more expensive.”</span></div><div style="font: 15.0px Georgia; line-height: 22.0px; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 15.0px 0.0px;"><span style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif;">The ideas are hardly new. The farmland philosopher and author Wendell Berry has been making many of the same points for decades. What is new is that the sustainable-food movement has gained both commercial heft, with the rapid success of organic and natural foods in the last decade, and celebrity cachet, with a growing cast of chefs, authors and even celebrities like </span><a href="http://topics.nytimes.com/top/reference/timestopics/people/w/oprah_winfrey/index.html?inline=nyt-per"><span style="color: #195785; text-decoration: underline;"><span style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif;">Oprah Winfrey</span></span></a><span style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif;"> and </span><a href="http://topics.nytimes.com/top/reference/timestopics/people/p/gwyneth_paltrow/index.html?inline=nyt-per"><span style="color: #195785; text-decoration: underline;"><span style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif;">Gwyneth Paltrow</span></span></a><span style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif;"> who champion the cause</span>.</div>So where am I going with all this? Essentially, my argument is that people in the affluent world are starting to understand that food needs to be both fun and good for you. The commercial food industry needs to recover the passion and excitement of food - and think again about how to present it in healthy ways to a much more discerning buyer - or increasingly be left wondering why people drive past their smart shops with acres of parking to visit a farmers market in a school playground.Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8493477741606155663.post-19156603527991745912009-11-18T04:22:00.000-08:002009-11-18T06:29:53.874-08:00More evidence for a shift to gold<span style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; font-size: small;"></span><br />
<div style="margin-bottom: 6pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;">Reflecting more on the theme developed in my last post, I was fascinated today to see the following chart and commentary today from David Moore of the Commonwealth Bank (<a href="http://www.commbank.com.au/">Commonwealth Bank of Australia</a> ):</span><br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhIHYJYjy6OF4ZNOF2TvOesw5UxHhoe4cbklJkGXUmEwRkv5qrSDI_NA-BF6mcyWV03eZ-3blnp0qG7CBMOkYwN2Ucqq_mST5zsNLje6vITnogJtDN3mqhFEZ9mwJh208Dj9eYc9_s_tw0/s1600/Unknown.jpeg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="206" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhIHYJYjy6OF4ZNOF2TvOesw5UxHhoe4cbklJkGXUmEwRkv5qrSDI_NA-BF6mcyWV03eZ-3blnp0qG7CBMOkYwN2Ucqq_mST5zsNLje6vITnogJtDN3mqhFEZ9mwJh208Dj9eYc9_s_tw0/s320/Unknown.jpeg" width="320" /></a><br />
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</div><div style="margin-bottom: 6pt;"><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;"><b>Chart of the Day: Index of the gold price and the EUR/USD</b></span><br />
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</div><div style="margin-bottom: 6pt;"><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: xx-small;"><i>Source: CBA</i></span><br />
</div></div><ul style="margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-left: 14pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;">
<li style="margin-bottom: 6pt;">USD fragility has been an important factor underpinning the gold price since early-November. However, we have also observed something of a ratcheting effect in the gold price. The gold price has continued to trend higher since early-November even as the USD, although being at a low level and having a fragile feel, has essentially fluctuated about a relatively flat underlying trend.</li>
<li style="margin-bottom: 6pt;">This pattern suggests that either there is a compounding of investment flows into gold as a result of continued USD fragility or that other factors have contributed to the strength of the gold price. </li>
<li style="margin-bottom: 6pt;">Such other factors might include inflation concerns on the part of some investors or anticipation that central bank net gold sales will remain at a lower level in the coming year.</li>
</span></ul><div><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;">It will be interesting to see if individual investors follow the lead of the Chinese Government and continue to move to non financial assets like gold or commodities to store value.</span><br />
</div>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8493477741606155663.post-18476841455603327622009-11-17T06:06:00.000-08:002009-11-17T06:18:30.597-08:00Where to store value now? Not the US dollar!I live in Australia and there is a lot of interest at the moment about the Australian dollar and where it is going against the currency of our major trading partners and against the US dollar - which most trade is nominated in as a reference currency. Today one Australian dollar rose to a new high - it will now buy over 93 US cents - and just a year or so ago - it was about 60 cents. The graph below shows how the Australian dollar has risen over the last few days. Will it soon reach parity against the US dollar? This has only happened once before in my memory.<br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhM8RxtbFz7u0jjRyM10nE2fhxThyCeR105zWK4vajKOCMpO_0rgaM3VqP5ACuJWqzaZuURx04xb9970um4i4Jg_zpPj4T_SCEBDfmvcO6aUlhkRvoJXGYoBEDiZCk-5G9CRN06tNq1NeE/s1600/graph120.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="123" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhM8RxtbFz7u0jjRyM10nE2fhxThyCeR105zWK4vajKOCMpO_0rgaM3VqP5ACuJWqzaZuURx04xb9970um4i4Jg_zpPj4T_SCEBDfmvcO6aUlhkRvoJXGYoBEDiZCk-5G9CRN06tNq1NeE/s320/graph120.png" width="320" /></a><br />
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Australia imports a lot of consumer goods and a lot of its inputs for industry and construction - so a high Australian dollar is a good thing for most people on the street. It is also good for Australian travellers abroad - and Australians love to travel.<br />
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However - Australia exports a lot of grain and agricultural products and also a lot of minerals (iron ore, alumina and many other metals) and energy resources (coal, natural gas and uranium) - which drives our wealth and standard of living. For exporters a high Australian dollar is not good thing and damages our competitiveness compared to our major trading competitors such as Brazil, Canada and the US. <br />
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I came across this blog article today (<a href="http://blogs.marketwatch.com/fundmastery/2009/11/16/can-china-dump-the-dollar/tab/print/">http://blogs.marketwatch.com/fundmastery/2009/11/16/can-china-dump-the-dollar/tab/print/</a>) which has one of most thought through comments I have read recently on the dollar and the interdependence between the Chinese and US economies. Bottom line is that the US will not hurry to protect the declining dollar because it needs to maintain the interest of external investors in US nominated assets relative to the value of their own currencies.<br />
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And China can't rapidly liquidate the $2 trillion plus it holds in US dollar reserves because it doesn't really have any alternatives other than the Euro or the Yen - and neither are really attractive to the Chinese because they don't really have the trading depth or liquidity of the US dollar.<br />
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Then this article gets to the punchline - which is that the Chinese have developed a strategy to hold their sovereign wealth reserves also in commodities - hence their buying spree over recent months in base metals, soft commodities and fuels. Some of these have been going into the rebounding industrial production in China, which has been increasing again during 2009:<br />
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</div>But a lot of the commodities bought by the Chinese are just sitting stockpiles - they have bought far more than than they will consume in the medium term. So the proposition is that the Chinese are storing value in commodities to reduce their reliance on their holdings of US dollars. <br />
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Still getting my mind around that one - it defies a lot of contemporary thinking and academic training - but after the meltdown of the global financial crisis - maybe people (and governments) just don't trust paper based assets any more - and are looking for something that won't disappear down a computer screen!<br />
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So getting back to the US dollar. Maybe it will start to be replaced as the currency of exchange - and we will see more trade in other currencies - or dare I say it - in gold! Look at the rise in gold (and silver) prices in recent years (source: <a href="http://www.the-privateer.com/">www.the-privateer.com</a><span style="color: green; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: small;"> </span><span style="font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: small;">). </span><br />
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We need to challenge a lot of accepted wisdom and really think about what is going on. I have a few Chinese friends who tell me their families hold value in gold. The Indians traditionally do too. There just might be something in this traditional wisdom.Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8493477741606155663.post-4495542369456136762009-11-15T07:06:00.000-08:002009-11-16T07:04:53.241-08:00It pays to conserve<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgdF_zkP5_NEiWJ1u-EfqbQnMf44ARtHASvdfHH_cbWlAtqd0SU3BSBhts97PiiB9DU6G1EB2Shg_9KOm6g_gimi7Ko0JEpTKtEGnVRDmIJJ-qZuLMyJirnST8K48Djoj2JzqFo-MRWWrc/s1600-h/P1010004.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgdF_zkP5_NEiWJ1u-EfqbQnMf44ARtHASvdfHH_cbWlAtqd0SU3BSBhts97PiiB9DU6G1EB2Shg_9KOm6g_gimi7Ko0JEpTKtEGnVRDmIJJ-qZuLMyJirnST8K48Djoj2JzqFo-MRWWrc/s400/P1010004.JPG" /></a><br />
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I have just come across this study (<a href="http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/science/nature/8357723.stm">BBC story on TEEB</a>) by The Economics and Biodiversity Study ("teeb") - reported by the BBC. Essentially demonstrating that if we protect wetlands, coral reefs and forests we can get back - in economic benefit - many times more than we spend. For example - if we expand marine parks from 1% of the ocean area to say 30% - this would cost about $40 - $50 billion per year globally. But the economic return would about $4-5 TRILLION. How so? By increasing fish catches, improving tourism revenue - and most significantly protection along shorelines from storm damage.<br />
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The picture is Longreach Bay just before the sun sets to the West - one of my favourite spots on Rottnest Island off the coast from Perth Western Australia. <br />
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With sea levels anticipated to rise by over a metre on the west coast of Australia over the next 20-30 years - see the recent Australian Federal Government study( <a href="http://www.aph.gov.au/house/committee/ccwea/coastalzone/report/ch%202.pd">Australian Parliament Study</a>)<br />
Longreach will disappear - because scientists in the study estimate that for every 1 meter of sea level rise the shore will recede 50 to 100 meters. <br />
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Great to see some disciplined analysis around the issues of conservation.Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8493477741606155663.post-1193946763912297332009-11-04T05:46:00.000-08:002009-11-04T05:46:57.254-08:00<b>Infinite Earth?</b><br />
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I came across this site on <a href="http://CEOExpress.com/">CEOExpress.com</a> - which I have used for a long time to store favourites and for search purposes (check CEOExpress.com out - one of the most innovative pioneers in making the internet useful for business users). It is a compilation of photographs submitted to the National Geographic. Readers have submitted photographs and then someone clever at National Geographic has worked out how to develop an infinite series of mosaics using the photos submitted. I found myself lost in the beauty of our wonderful world - and melancholic too at how fragile it really is - it's an infinite photograph of a very finite world.<br />
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Have a look at the infinite photograph on National Geographic and reflect: <a href="http://www.thegreenguide.com/infinite-photograph">http://www.thegreenguide.com/infinite-photograph</a><br />
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I submitted this photo taken from our front porch in Australia about 6 months ago - looking at the sun setting over the Indian Ocean.Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0