The Age of Innocence or Paradise Lost

One of the things that I regularly enjoy about talking to my parents on a Sunday is when they have read something in the newspaper that makes them both shake their heads. I'm going slightly off topic as I think their views have some validity.

Apparently there was a review published a few days ago by the Cambridge-based Primary Review, children at primary school in England are suffering "stress" from having to grow up too soon. Apparently they face ' intolerable pressure' at school and from the wider world. The culprits are school testing, family breakdown, celebrity culture, and everyone's now favourite climate change. (Funny how things change in my day the biggest fear was vapourisation by a nuclear bomb.)

To my parent's eyes kids today have never had it so good.

To my parents childhood was a case of making do and mend, rationing (my parents didn't eat a banana until the mid 1950's after a 16 year gap. One of my fathers strongest memories is him and his brother moving an inciendary bomb down the path into the road using a dustbin lid without wearing the appropriate health and safety considerations and risk assessments we need to carry out today. Though despite this they both felt they had a good childhood.

To my eyes and to my parent's eyes yes there are different pressures on the family and our children but it isn't not having the latest iPod or whatever must have our consumer society says we 'must have'.

However this wasn't the thing that got my parents hopping - it is the idea that government should 'do something about it'. does this mean that there will soon be an innocence czar with a ten year plan and key performance indicators and maybe even an OFKID.

If the problem does exist perhaps it is based on what a lot of government undertakes at the moment with testing and also encouraging dependence on the welfare state that has undermined the role of family.

To my parents and I would imagine the vast majority of families in the UK responsibility for a happy childhood does not and should not fall within the states purview . It's up to parents to decide what their children watch on TV, whether they play video games or read a magazine on celebrities.

Perhaps parents should even be allowed to choose what school their children attend and let the forces of choice and competition improve our schools and to allow M& A's in the education world and allow private sector providers to run schools rather than LEA's and also set challenging standards using things like the International Baccalaureat rather than the rapidly tarnishing A Level standard.

I always remember Ronald Reagan's comment that "The nine most terrifying words in the English language are, 'I'm from the government and I'm here to help.'

Adam Smith Esq & Harnessing the power of internal networks

Readers who have read my post of a few days ago, will be interested to read that the excellent Bruce MacEwen has also picked up on the article (click on the link in the title).

Bruce and I go back as I've been speaking to him from time to time. I actually took the time to send him a copy of my masters thesis of 2005, which proposed as one of the comments that to help develop the mentoring relationship that a partner and a junior solicitor sit either on a side by side basis or a face to face basis.

This was aimed at the junior solicitor so that some of the partners "deep smarts" could be picked up. I'd noticed that one senior lawyer had done this in one of the firms that I was analysing and that the junior solicitors or trainee solicitors who had gone through this process had learnt a great deal more non book knowledge than they had with other mentoring lawyers.

Bruce's article however does not pick up though that the process is not all one way. As part of my research I discovered that the senior lawyer can benefit from the juniors new knowledge especially when they have just been on a course or just come out of law school. They too can bring new insights which helps a senior to lose redundant knowledge and replace it with more appropriate and up to date knowledge.

Both parties can benefit from this process and also as Bruce points out the cost in reducing your space requirements is quite handy.

Work Wise week in the UK

I noticed in this morning's paper that it is Work Wise Week which is sponsored by the IT Forum foundation with the laudable 5 year aim of making the UK work place to develop smarter working practices such as allowing people flexi hours and allowing flexible working practices. This has been going for a year now and they have had a conference today setting the 2nd year objectives.

For more details - click on the link below

Work Wise

What I did note is that this Friday is National Work from Home day. No I have to say that I find working from home once a week a really good idea. As a knowledge professional it allows me to catch up on some reading and to reflect on the lessons learnt and also from my reading renew my dynamism for work by reading fresh ideas. I also know that I get more done in a day at home in terms of forward work - than I would at two days in the office.

I have said in earlier posts that we all need the time to reflect - but that in today's work place it is difficult as a manager to be seen to sit in a chair at your desk and read some articles - because invariably questions are asked as to what work you are undertaking. From some managers I have talked to over the last few months - they share that sense of guilt - but also can't find a quiet and comfortable place to read without being disturbed - even if they have the luxury of an office where they can close the door.

In a knowledge based economy - managers need to work on ideas to take their team/department forward and maybe it is time that managers at their next round of appraisals ask for one day say every two weeks to work at home without interruption. It also might be something that companies can do to help the environment - just imagine if more people didn't commute in one day a week not only on public transport but also in car levels. Maybe one day in the future people will have permits to work in the city 4 days a week as an aid to reduce traffic congestion.

Anyway do look at the web site and see if you can get your company to embrace a different way of working practices and not always the 9 to 5 system.