Seth Godin makes an interesting observation in his blog today - Seth's Blog: Eternal September.
In all our businesses, we have to deal with this. This year alone, in one of my businesses, I've had to deal with external audits on social responsibility, in order to confirm that we do not use slave labour, that our dormitories are clean and similar. However, we only manufacture in the UK, and these audits are all predicated on outsourced production to low wage economies. So as in many other areas, we spend huge amounts of time doing things that generate very little value, but result in lots of boxes being ticked.
I often wonder what the impact would be if we qualified those we deal with. We don't go to college, and go straight into final year. Almost every area of endeavour we undertake productively is based on trust, not compliance. As Jonathan Aitken noted earlier this week in relation to MP's expenses, compliance kills conscience. If we comply with the rules, we do not have to think about what we are doing. I don't think so. Depends who sets the rules, and why.
Increasingly, I feel inclined to deal with those who are in the same year as us, and who help us move forward together. We can make separate rules and conditions of engagement with Freshers that reflect the effort we have to put in.
In all our businesses, we have to deal with this. This year alone, in one of my businesses, I've had to deal with external audits on social responsibility, in order to confirm that we do not use slave labour, that our dormitories are clean and similar. However, we only manufacture in the UK, and these audits are all predicated on outsourced production to low wage economies. So as in many other areas, we spend huge amounts of time doing things that generate very little value, but result in lots of boxes being ticked.
I often wonder what the impact would be if we qualified those we deal with. We don't go to college, and go straight into final year. Almost every area of endeavour we undertake productively is based on trust, not compliance. As Jonathan Aitken noted earlier this week in relation to MP's expenses, compliance kills conscience. If we comply with the rules, we do not have to think about what we are doing. I don't think so. Depends who sets the rules, and why.
Increasingly, I feel inclined to deal with those who are in the same year as us, and who help us move forward together. We can make separate rules and conditions of engagement with Freshers that reflect the effort we have to put in.
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