The Obvious?

Consulting 2.0

Olivier has a great post on a report from KPMG that appears to confirm just how clueless conventional consulting firms are about social computing. Good news for those of us who believe that the traditional model of consulting has to change to be more in tune what is happening and I am not sure the big companies ever will.

However as he says there are bright people in there who will try to catch up and hey some of us are even getting paid to help them!

Facebook ....

... the cappuccino of social networking. Loads of froth and chocolate shaken on the top.

Give me a double espresso any day.

Sometimes ....

.... I feel like the Banksy of the business world.

But then I get a grip ...

iTunes TV Shows ...

.... start in the UK today.

It's a small, American, start, but it's a start.

The trouble with living in the country ....

... is that no matter how many neighbourhood apps I play with no one lives near me!

However I keep trying - latest one is www.myneighborhood.net

(I'll even forgive them for not spelling neighbourhood properly.)

Paolo Coelho

I don't read many novels but when I read anything by Paolo Coelho I can't put it down until I have finished it. I just romped through Eleven Minutes in less than 48 hours and as ever with his books it has left me with ideas buzzing around in my head.

The author says himself that this book is a departure from his normal focus on uplifting spiritual tales and it is the story of a Brazilian girl who becomes a prostitute in Geneva. Its focus on the darker side of life is fascinating and leads to an exploration of why we do what we do, the degree to which pain and suffering are intrinsic to our experience and the fact that any meaning we ascribe to our experiences is totally in our own control.

Highly recommended.

Normality

Normality is such an illusion and those most protective it are invariably those most scared of themselves.

Accountable in accounts

I have been trying really, really hard not to write this post. Firstly because, believe it or not, I still try to keep The Obvious? focussed on the positive things in life rather than the negative, and secondly because I am really wary of having a go at my ex-employer, The BBC, in case I appear as some sort of disgruntled ex employee sniping from the sidelines which is very far from the case.

However ....

I have been trying to get paid for some work I did for the BBC twelve months ago and have still not succeeded. I have filled in really important forms for various really important people - at least once. I have engaged in e-mail conversations and phone conversations and yet today - after all this effort - I was told I had sent a form to the wrong person!

Being on the receiving end of the incompetent bureaucratic overhead of large corporation is painful but doesn't half stiffen resolve. These are the "grown ups" who would have us believe that they are running things and are indispensable. They are not and they aren't. They are cogs in a badly designed wheel and their existence makes the possibilities of their demise all the more realistic.

Things don't have to be this bad.

Reverse engineering

I am starting to compose blog posts in my head as if they were Twitter posts - ie statements of current activity. Not sure this is progress .....

Home ....

... after a wonderful break in Croatia topped and tailed by great hospitality from Paolo and Monica in Trieste. Returned to the deep joy of driving rain and a head cold.