March Articles 2011

The Articulate CEO

‘Freedom’ of Speech – The Devil is in the Detail

The International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, signed by almost every country, guarantees freedom of expression.

That basically means Freedom of Speech is a principle that pretty much everyone agrees with and yet debate rages over whether or not such freedom of expression should be allowed.

Like so many debates in the modern world though the debate is centred on the application rather than the principle because when everyone agrees with a proposition chances are it is either enormously profound or totally meaningless.

Freedom of speech is a case in point.

If I knew you were presenting, I’d have baked a cake…

If ever a client of mine is concerned about their lacklustre presentation style, I ask a logical question: “Can you make a cake?”

If they haven’t already started backing slowly away from me, most will say yes.

I delve further: “Can you make a cake that’s as pretty as someone who makes cakes for a living?” Most admit they probably couldn’t. (But there’s always one.)

The Mistake of Assuming a Common Definition

When I worked in HR I saw the same problems arise time and again, regardless of the type of industry or size of organisation.

Not surprisingly, the problems all related to ineffective communication – specifically, a difference in values.

Not a clash of vastly different values, as they’re easy to spot; it was usually a result of closely related values not aligning exactly – or ‘What I think is slightly different to you’.

The Stupid People: They are legion, and dangerous

Enough. Unpopular though it may be, it is a time to take a stand.

We have to stop celebrating morons and their attendant antics. We have to stop defending idiots and their self-imposed tragedies.

Whether it be a middle-aged former cricketer with a penchant for romancing equally vacuous bimbos or drug-addled footballers with a natural gift for screwing up every fifth chance offered to them – it’s about time we drew a line in the sand and said “sod off!”.

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