People Matter ∴ Do Good

Lead a vivid life that does good

Month: April 2007

Natures artwork

25 April 2007 /

The sun was persistently making its way towards setting, casting long shadows that ducked and dived over lush green rolling hills that were intermingled with native bush. No artwork or picture can capture such beauty.

Just 30 minutes later, the sun had set and its intensity was made known by illuminating some high streaky strata cloud with beautiful reddish orangey bands of light. The cloud twisted and turned just a little to create an incredible image that only a few privileged people would enjoy that day. In minutes they would be gone and never reappear.

These images made me thankful for my life.

They were an incredible birthday present!

25april07

In other news 200 people die in Iraq…

20 April 2007 /

Imagine living in Iraq at the moment. Imagine going to the markets and always having to scan the people around you, always wondering if that guy is the next suicide bomber.

NZ Herald

Think for a moment about the shock and outrage as news filters around the city of another 200 people being killed in your city that day.

500 people in your country this week!

Over 62000 people since America arrived!

You have already had more than a few of your friends and family die or been injured.

‘We are ‘fighting terrorism’ in Iraq, that is why we are there, said Tony Blair this week. This story has changed so many times: first we were removing the WMD threat, then we were removing a dictator, then we were bringing democracy and free elections, and now we are fighting terrorism. ‘It is a worthy cause,’ echoed Dick Cheney.’ ^

How would you feel about Tony Blair “fighting terrorism’ for you?

How would you feel if you found out that the media in a small country in New Zealand found the ruthless, unnecessary and sad death of 33 Americans 4 days ago more important that 200 people in your city today? The 200 people dieing was the third news story in and only made it to that slot because it was one of the bloodiest days in months.

What the media reports is in direct response to what we want to see. We want to know about the US shootings, just as people would if it happened here. ‘The shootings happened in a free country’ we resonate, ‘What happens in Iraq is sad, but that’s what happens in the Middle East.’

How would you feel if you lived in Iraq?

Did you choose to get born in Iraq?

Did you choose to have America invade?

Did you choose to have an ill-equipped police force and poor intelligence that cant stop the bombings?

Wouldn’t you long for the freedom and the life you once knew?

How would you feel?

Implication: It blows my mind how insensitive we have become to real issues in the world. It appals me. But I don’t know what I can do about it.

Some Easter heresy?

8 April 2007 /

Hot Cross BunsSince its Easter I thought I would share two notions that have spun around in my mind over the last week.

Awe…

I love going for a ralk (part run, mostly walk) by the river. I love the fresh air, the smell from the wet autumn leaves and the sunshine that breaks through the natural canopy. I’m amused at the way the ducks quack, in a way that it sounds like Donald Duck laughing, particularly when I start running.

I enjoy solitary ralks and ralks with friends. At some point, I am almost always filled with awe for the creation I am witnessing. I am reminded that it is too big and beautiful to be an accident. I contemplate how God made the beauty and the smells and the sights. It prompts me to remember that the earth doesn’t revolve around me, It doesn’t exist for me. 

I got an email the other day that simply said “thanks for ….”. The awesome thing about the email is that it was from a person I didn’t expect thanks from. It made me smile because I know this person has had a tough life and I see the person changing and growing. Its awesome.

Very awesome!

You know I think awe is a form of worship. Maybe it is worship in its purest sense. Not the stand up and sing songs kind of worship that my friend posted about. You know, where you stand and sing words because that’s what everyone is doing, even though nothing is happening in your heart.

No, awe is a feeling of being alive, of understanding that Gods grace isn’t just shown to the people in the church, but to everyone.

Through many things.

Everyday.

I would rather be filled with awe through seeing a person learning or through creation any day, compared to orchestrating awe or worship at a church service.

His Grace is shown to us everyday.

I think the problem is we are just to busy, mostly with dumb stuff, to notice!

Jesus as a kid…

Now, if you had grown up with Jesus, as a boy that is, wouldn’t you have noticed something different about him? Wouldn’t you have seen something different in his life for 30 odd years and thought, wow, this guy is the Messiah!

Well his friends and family and fellow villagers didn’t. He came into his hometown and started preaching one day and they said “what is he talking about, isn’t this Mary’s son, the brother of James, a carpenter”. Their attack was relentless.

How does that work? Why didn’t they see him for who he was? I guess it is because Jesus was real. The gospels show Jesus to be a man who was often annoyed and frustrated, sometimes scared, sad on occasion, and even angry.

Why is it then that Christians think they need to be perfect and ‘holier than thou’. Why do so many Christians lack authenticity? Why of all people do they have to pretend like everything is OK? If Jesus friends and family struggled to see the real him because they knew him, why do Christians pretend to be other than the real them?

Two thoughts. Evocative; hopefully. Heresy; maybe!

VC: The ones that got away!

7 April 2007 /

Bessemer Venture Partners is perhaps one of America's oldest venture capital firm, carrying on an unbroken practice of venture capital investing that stretches back to 1911.

They have a "Anti-Portfolio" section on their website discussing some of the names they have passed on in the Venture Capital stage. Just small names like Apple, eBay, Fedex, Google to name a few.

Check it out here, its mind blowing to think about how much money they missed out on.

[Hat tip: Idealog]

Free Prize Below

4 April 2007 /

Freeprize

Come to the edge. We might fall.
Come to the edge. It's too high!
Come to the edge! And they came,
and he pushed …… and they flew.  – Christopher Logue

I have just finished my sixth book for the year, Seth Godins "Free Prize Inside" (and it actually has one). It is a book that challenges business to go to the edges and beyond.

The key implication for me: Ideas are worthless if no one owns them and makes them happen.

To read the full review and get your free prize click here. If you post a comment on viewpoint.net.nz, I'll email you a free prize.

Setting up in Australia

3 April 2007 /

Mainfreight today announced that they have conditionally sold Pan Orient Project Logistics business and its 75% interest in LEP (New Zealand and Australia) to global logistics company Agility Group for A$83 million. It is the last of the non core Owens businesses to be sold. The funds released from the sale will be used by Mainfreight to fund its ongoing international expansion.

With Mainfreight, Freightways and others slowly establishing significant off shore businesses I wonder what a successful strategy would be for more NZ companies to do the same?

The road to overseas subsidiaries it would seem is littered with more stories of failure than success. Air NZ and Ansett, Telecom and AAPT (yet to see the end of this movie) are examples of huge companies struggling to make it happen. How then is it possible for a NZ company to stem the tide of Aussie investment and head into their backyard? What are the key points to consider?

#1 It is harder than you think.
Summed up well by Josef Roberts who launched Red Bull in the two countries. "Don't rush overseas. Australia might have five times the population, but it also has five times the competition, and Kiwis aren't used to dealing with Australian bureaucracy. Roberts worked out a worst-case scenario, and then doubled the cost and doubled the time. "We were about right," he says. "It took three times as long and was three times as expensive." [From Idealog "Meet the man who gave Red Bull wings"]

x NZ Herald

#2 You need to avoid the Valley of Death
Rod Drury wrote about the Valley of Death "From New Zealand, once you have saturated the local market, you then have a massive transformational change to address another market. You may need to introduce capital, add new staff, learn foreign rules – the list goes on. For us to take almost our first step of expansion, to enter only our second market – we bet our businesses. I'm calling this – the Valley of Death."

#3 You need to take your time.
This would be the key lesson I have gleamed from companies like Mainfreight, Freightways or even Michael Hill who have set-up in Australia. They seem to make slow educated decisions about their growth into other countries. They take the time to understand the markets, people, culture and regulations and they take small incremental steps. They have done this well and don't bet the NZ business on it.

I don't have much first hand experience. Hopefully one day I will, but in the meantime I am interested in your thoughts.

Nature, floods and awe!

1 April 2007 /

x NZ HeraldOne of my friend's parents could not get home the other day because of the flooding in the Far North and for some reason I had this urge to fly over the region and see it first hand. I love floods, they amaze me! If only I had my pilots licence and fine weather and spare time I am sure I would have done it – Yeah Right.

It is funny how we are often drawn to want to see natural disasters. I guess floods blow my mind for the same reasons that we are drawn to sit by rivers, stand on a wind blown rocks gazing out into the pacific ocean, look in marvel at the full moon or to sit on mountain tops and soak in the view.

I think in all of us, seeing the disaster or the view or feeling the wind reminds us that there is a force in the universe greater than us. That there are beautiful and awe-inspiring things in our life everyday that we take for granted.

For me it makes me feel human and reminds me, yet again, I don't spend enough time soaking in creation.

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