The weekly round up:
- It is getting ridiculous – The story of an Australian PM and Treasurer giving themselves whiplash holding to both sides of an argument that is based on a folly in the first place. "We need to cut Government spending because the economy is at full capacity, and more would be inflationary" AND "We need to cut Government spending because the economy is weakening and tax revenues are down" … I'm getting dizzy. Unfortunately the Opposition is just as clueless, so there is no sensible political debate
- How Can We Measure Currencies like Sustainability & Corporate Social Responsibility? – Explores the availability (and desirability) of alternative metrics (currency) for non-financial outcomes like environmental sustainability and social responsibility. Some interesting projects/tools mentioned here, including the UN's Earth Dashboard project (https://earthdash.org/ – would like to see this get to the web)
- Norms, Values, Working Agreements, Simple Rules – Groups can be created by others, but this post affirms that group will only become a team if they develop so themselves – you can' "make" a team with a set of rules, or by bringing people together. A team forms when the group accepts objectives, establishes its own norms and ground rules, and forms itself around them.
- Oracle licensing: just say no – If you're using Oracle products, you may be interested in reading this advice on licensing and keeping it close at hand next time you speak with your account manager. Oracle's maintenance fees run at about 95% profit, and often represent "empty calories" for the customer …
- Why Social Really, Really Matters – A slightly different perspective on why "social" matters in business. Working from the perspective that initiative, creativity and passion are by necessity voluntary, unleashing the potential of the people within the organisation means allowing self-determination and empowerment for employees, rather than subjecting them to the "organisation of misery".