Even the name Cambridge Analytica gives me the creeps. Cambridge obviously is a famous University in England and has a great standing, after all some famous people were students there.
So using the University town’s name in your business title is a clever move. It just feels reputable and very knowledgable. Add a bit of Harry Potter sparkle by adding the word ‘Analytica’ and it sounds like a spell straight out of one of J.K. Rowling’s novels.
[embed]https://youtu.be/zOL4aeOz5xQ[/embed]
I use a regular excuse to give direct feedback to people that connect with me on LinkedIn by saying that I’m a straight talking Dutchman. The Dutch have a reputation for that, right?
I give feedback because I’d like to help them. I also give it because I see so many dreadful profiles and after having been a LinkedIn trainer for 5 years, I can spot the rubbish instantly.
Why do so many folks write such nonsense on their profiles? What makes them rush the process so much? Is it to just get their profile published quickly? Many then never go back to it to improve it. We are so distracted in our lives that it shows through in the way that we present ourselves online as well.
Just take a few moments, maybe a few hours to improve what you write about yourself on LinkedIn. It’s not a CV or an advert, it’s an opportunity to present who you are, what your passion is, how you got to where you are now and what vision you have for yourself. Be personal, your story is the most important thing about you.
Whether you’re looking for a job, wishing to further your career or looking for new business relationships, people always buy from people. The way you write about yourself tells us a thousand times more about who you truly are.
The LinkedIn summary is probably THE most important piece of content you can write about yourself.
This is what I witness on a regular basis in LinkedIn summaries.
And you actually believe it’s good enough?
We must all have higher standards for ourselves and show the world that we care about coming across coherently and that we’ve taken the time to express our intimate world to others.
Happy writing!
Well he’s Russia’s new president for a further 6 years, that means 2024!
Hindsight is a wonderful thing.
If we knew what we know now about his regime, the Sochi Winter Olympics doping scandal, The US election collusion and the latest Salisbury nerve agent poisoning, would we have awarded him the 2018 football (soccer) worldcup?
This made us wonder and inspired our latest cartoon. Will anyone be attending or even watching the football (soccer) this June?
I attended a sales training keynote by Nick Davies, a barrister turned trainer in the legal profession. He delivered probably the most common sense sales keynote I’ve every experienced and I promise I don’t say that likely.
One of the key messages was ‘ASK’. Something most sales people don’t actually do. We must do this, Nick said. It’s the one thing we are afraid of doing, asking for the business, we leave things too long and hope that the prospect client will make their mind up eventually.
The other message was following up and keeping control.
How many of us actually don’t follow up and don’t keep control, we hand control over to someone else and then hope they will turn it our way, often that doesn’t happen.
And stop sending emails, pick up the phone and call them. We’re hiding behind email and Social Media. People receive hundreds of emails and they had getting more of them in their email. A phone call will actually make you stand out from the crowd.
You can get Nick’s book, ‘How to be great at the stuff you hate’ at your favourite online bookstore.
[embed]https://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B0075RSBTI/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_ep_dp_d2LQAbDB6WDBZ[/embed]
And below is a Mind Map I created from the talk. They are just my own notes and memory joggers but hopefully you will get a feel for it.
Happy selling!
Background
In recent years, an increasing number of scholars have sought to study and measure the impact of social networks (social media).
A 2010 study by the University of Maryland suggested that social networks may be addictive, and that using social networks may lead to a “fear of missing out”, also known by the acronym “FOMO” by many students.
Introduction
Networks are not new; they have existed since the very first existence of cells on planet earth. It’s quite amazing to know that our cells work together in networks to achieve tasks together. One such example is wound healing. For wound healing to occur, white blood cells and cells that ingest bacteria move to the wound site to kill the microorganisms that cause infection. At the same time fibroblasts (connective tissue cells) move there to remodel damaged structures. This is a wonderful example of how cells behave together in networks.
Even our brain neurons wire together in associative networks to create our memories and skills. Cell division even mirrors the way that networks grow.
We humans are no exception in nature. We exist and flourish as part of networks. We seem to have some inborn instinct to behave in this way, actively involving ourselves in many different systems of connections.
The first network we experience in our lives is the immediate family, where we learn how to be social by watching our parents and siblings. Beyond that, we soon learn how to ‘network’ with other groups of adults and children. We then start our social journey by joining many different networks, the nursery, primary and secondary school, the college and university and then our work and leisure networks.
The size, membership and complexity of these networks may grow or contract during our lifetime, but they always remain an important part of our experience. There are several theories put forward to explain this networking phenomenon, from Social Comparison Theory,Role Theory,Homogeneous Theory and the Social Identity approach. The evidence seems to point to the conclusion that networking is in part driven by our genetic make-up.
Tribes
These networks have a major impact on our lives. They determine how we see the world and how we see ourselves; we constantly monitor how we are accepted in our various networks.
Perhaps another word for these networks could be ‘tribes’.
Belonging to a ‘tribe’, gives us the feeling that we are part of ‘something bigger’ then we are. It helps to give our lives more meaning and significance. The belief that you belong to a ’tribe’ is reinforcing, as it encourages you to relate more strongly with the other individuals in that ’tribe’. It helps with the identity that you have given yourself as you became an adult.
When your ’tribe’ behaves in the same way that you do, you will consider them the same as ’you’ and somehow feel a connection. It triggers an automatic approval, telling yourself that they are OK as they behave in a similar way to you.
The way that this translates in social networks is that individuals will follow people on twitter, send each other friends’ requests on Facebook or ask to be connected inside professional networks, like LinkedIn. We may have never met the person but for some reason we want to share intimate details of our lives with them.
Never in the world have we seen this kind of behaviour before. It did not exist before social networks appeared on the worldwide web. You could not have imagined walking up to strangers, people you have never met and suddenly start sharing your personal life with them. It just didn’t happen. We as humans need to trust someone first before we will share personal details. In social networks personal details are being shared all the time without any apparent shyness or reservation.
And the only reason this happens is because we have connected at some level with this stranger in a social network where their behaviour mirrors our own. In social networks we behave for around 80% of the time exactly the same way as everybody else. Just the act of being in a social network together, posting updates, sharing content means you are doing the same as everyone else and that makes you part of that tribe.
Significance
Social networks give us a platform for significance. According to Anthony Robbins, significance is one of the 6 human needs as per his Human Needs Psychology model. We all have a need to be significant in our lives and when family and friends, like, comment or respond to our activity inside social networks, we feel good, we feel loved, we feel significant.
[embed]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Cpc-t-Uwv1I[/embed]
Dopamine is closely associated with reward-seeking behaviours, such as approach, consumption, and addiction. Recent research suggests that the firing of dopaminergic neurons is motivational as a consequence of reward-anticipation. This hypothesis is based on the evidence that, when a reward is greater than expected, the firing of certain dopaminergic neurons increases, which consequently increases desire or motivation towards the reward. This is why social networks are so addictive and why games inside social networks (e.g. Farmville) are so popular. Equally though, aggression is also evident in social networks and recent studies indicate that aggression may also stimulate the release of dopamine.
Why do humans enjoy social networks?
Humans are social beings, they thrive around other humans and other humans make them thrive. Without human interaction we have no reason to exist. Compassion and love is a ready built-in operating system, which we are born with. Without the love we experience on the day of our birth we would probably die. Throughout our lives we crave that love and connection with other humans. Especially as those humans are the same as us or expressed in another way, exist in the same tribe as us.
Anthony Robbins’ Human Need Psychology says that one of our 6 human needs is love and connection.
Physical social networks, whether it’s the family unit, our workplace unit or other tribal social networks, which we belong to for our sport, hobbies and political activities, all exist because there is some love and connection that takes place.
Virtual social networks via the web also exist for the same reason. The creators of these networks have been able to create certain activities to allow us to feel love and connection with a connection or a tribe that exists inside these networks. Whether it is ’liking’, ’commenting’, ’sharing’, ’re-tweeting’, ’favouriting’, ’re-posting’, the user feels good when this takes place or in other words they do feel loved. This is very addictive and when dopamine is released in the brain, we want to experience more of this feeling.
As human beings we also want to give out love and this is another one of the human needs and is called ’contribution’. And therefore in social networks we also like to contribute to our fellow human beings.
The way that this translates inside of virtual social networks is no different. For example by actively ’liking’, ’sharing’, ’commenting’, it makes us feel good and drives us to do more of it, whenever the recipient rewards us in some way for taking this selfless action. And guess what happens more dopamine is released and the more addictive it becomes.
Put on top of that Ivan Pavlov’s dog experiment
and ’ding, ding, woof, woof’, every time our mobile device makes that familiar notification noise, we know that this could mean more dopamine and more love, so we’ll react instantly to the need of that possibility.
How social learning grows networks
In 1961 Albert Bandura conducted a controversial experiment known as the ‘Bobo-Doll ‘experiment, to study patterns of behaviour associated with aggression. Bandura hoped that the experiment would prove that aggression can be explained, at least in part, by social learning theory, and that similar behaviours were learned by individuals modelling their own behaviour after the actions of others. The experiment was criticised by some on ethical grounds, for training children towards aggression.
Bandura’s results from the Bobo Doll Experiment changed the course of modern psychology, and were widely credited for helping shift the focus in academic psychology from pure behaviourism to cognitive psychology. The experiment is among the most lauded and celebrated of psychological experiments.
This study can be viewed as quite significant and why social networks grow so fast. When we see the activities of others in social networks, we start to wonder if we’re missing out on something and whether we need to start involving ourselves. When we then discover that our tribe, (whether family, work, hobby or other tribe), is doing the same, we will stay and investigate it further. And that is when we start enjoying shots of dopamine in our brain and when the addiction of this social network interaction starts working.
[embed]https://youtu.be/Pr0OTCVtHbU[/embed]
Conclusion
Social networks are here to stay, they’ve always existed and whether they are physical or virtual they are an important piece of our human make-up. My personal view too is that back in the times when humans went through war and terror they would draw closer to each other and grow closer socially. For example, during World War II, it was easier to connect with our fellow humans as we were all going through the same terror and strife. We would look out for one and other and support each other.
Basically we were giving each other a lot of love.
As the human population has grown and spread across the globe, some of the physical connections may have been lost. Virtual social networks have allowed us to make that re-connection with each other and in fact get in touch with people who we may not have seen for many years.
Of course this makes us feel loved and appreciated too.
And now, because these virtual networks show us how many fans, followers, and friends we have, this is proof to the world and ourselves how popular we are. We take this metric as an important measure of how many people approve of us or rather love us, a kind of ‘love-o-meter’!
…or in Bryan Ferry’s — Roxy Music words…”Love is the drug I’m thinking of…”
[embed]https://youtu.be/0n3OepDn5GU[/embed]
This article was originally published in 2013. I purposely have not updated the stats and I’m sure you’ll appreciate that the stats have just increased two-fold. My attempt was to wake people up. I failed…
Over 7 years on and things haven’t really got any better, in fact they’ve gotten a lot worse. We’ve experienced Cambridge Analytica and their dirt tricks campaigns. The whole story (The Great Hack) can be seen on Netflix. (https://www.netflix.com/watch/80117542)
Many youngsters and adults alike are being affected, brainwashed and even nations, governments and its armies have reacted to fake news and propaganda being spread by bad actors trolling the social media airwaves.
And now Netflix have released their latest instalment The Social Dilemma, where Tristan Harris and others walks us through the unbelievable issues those creators have contributed to the world. It is quite ironic that Tristan and the others being interviewed were actually part of creating the problem and they are having to live with the legacy of death and destruction they have created for the world. I feel for them but have no pity, they have their millions in the bank, so they are okay.
Tristan now runs the Center for Humane Tech for a number of years, I’ve been following him ever since I saw his Ted Talk in 2017. I’ve embedded his Ted Talk below, “How a Handful of Tech Companies control Billions of Minds every day!”
The Center for Humane Tech presented their New Agenda for Tech, see video below.
[embed]https://youtu.be/09Jeyu4-Fcc[/embed]
One aspect of the Center for Humane Tech’s work I am particularly impressed with and that’s their ‘Ledge of Harms’.
After watching those two documentaries and these talks you should be well versed to make some decisions for you, your family and especially your kids.
An excerpt from the book ‘Surveillance Capitalism’ by Shoshana Zuboff who also features in The Social Dilemma documentary on Netflix.
90 seconds for videos is too long. I remember when YouTube first came out and the limit was 10 minutes. We all cried in despair, we wanted more time. Think about it, our attention span is about 20 seconds. Therefore videos need to be just 20 seconds.
They need to get to the point quick and grab your attention even faster.
During our #dailycartoon series, our cartoons are just 20 seconds long. About the right length.
Do you have more to say? Of course you do, you need to make sure all your solutions are heard and as a result they will pick up the phone and call you, right? WRONG!
After 90 seconds you are totally forgettable.
So here’s my new formula and you can have it for free.
The best stories in Hollywood are told along a timeline of ‘what is’ and ‘what could be’. Okay so remember that.
Thinks about it, 6 assets, drip feed campaign, stacking methodology, viewer is looking for the answer, waiting for it.
All educational, promotional, storytelling campaigns need to be told in 20 seconds video clips.
Happy storytelling!
Mergers are dangerous beasts. Corporations that once thought they owned the space they operate in, decide that they have to merge with a past competitor in order to survive globally.
But it’s a reality in today’s world and we likely will see this increase as the greatest corporations in the world decide they must not have any competitors in their sector.
So when a friend of mine, let’s call him John, told me about a meeting that was about to take place between some senior executives and the subject is mergers, I was astounded when he mentioned that the order from the top was that they were happy to discuss anything in connection with mergers with the exception of employee wellbeing.
I have been involved in companies merging and I can confirm that the only things management focus on are, financial capital (includes lay-offs), machine capital and renumeration capital.
They never ever focus on the human capital. Well I have news for them, without human capital the organisation doesn’t exist.
I’ve seen plenty of losses during mergers, which occurred because the two production directors, the two financial directors and even the two HR directors could not agree on the best solutions.
Mergers are about the people, always.
Unless you have a plan in place for merging the people, properly, compassionately and sensibly, your business will take 5 years to recover from not having a plan.
Happy merging!
Rex Tillerson was sacked via Twitter. Rex is a dog’s name right? He was such a loyal dog to Donald Trump. But as the saying goes every dog has his day and unfortunately it was Rex’s time. He inspired our latest cartoon.
It really is a new dawn in the era of social media and hiring and firing of people, thanks to the President of the USA.
It’s being suggested that Donald Trump and Kim Jong-Un are going to meet up in May 2018. You might assume it’s to discuss peace but then again it might be to compare each other’s military might. This cartoon suggests one view. Who knows what might happen?
Happiness is almost always conditional. How many times have you uttered the sentence in your head ‘I’ll be happy when…’.
You’ll remember the following thoughts that flow through your head on a constant and never-ending basis.
- when I have enough money
- when my parents leave me alone
- when I get the right job
- when my partner stops doing annoying stuff
- when I am my ideal weight
- when my boss stops hassling me
- when my neighbours move away
- when my ex stops controlling me
- when I have the right house/apartment
- when they stop bullying me on social media
And many more variations and examples, which I am sure you can think of.
These constant and never-ending thoughts will guarantee to never make you happy, ever.
A better thought process is to think about the things that already exist in your life that you can be grateful for. A much harder thought process to adopt, because we’re so programmed with those negative thoughts that we’ve hardly got any space to replace those thoughts.
Every habit starts with a tiny little step. I love Leo Babauta a mindfulness blogger who has perfectly captured the art of changing habits in his blog, ebooks and books. You can find his details via:
[embed]https://zenhabits.net[/embed]
Happy thinking!
Carillion is one of the major company failures of 2018. The UK government select committee suggested that the ex FD Zafar Khan was ‘asleep at the wheel’.
Despite warnings from new staff joining Carillion the directors ignored those warnings and they failed spectacularly. Seeing as they are a major supplier to the UK government, it makes you wonder how these massive organisations can get away with it.
This cartoon shows Zafar Khan asleep on one of those driving arcade games and on the screen there’s an actual chart showing their profit declines.
[embed]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OSbLS481Iew[/embed]
I recently watched a documentary named ‘The True Cost’ of course it was on Netflix.
[embed]https://www.netflix.com/watch/80045667[/embed]
It documented the true cost of our incessant desire for the latest fashion, yes men and women of course.
I used to work in the fashion industry for 28 years, I worked in fabric mills, yarn mills and garment mills, never in retail though. But the garment makers were our clients and the retailers were our enemy! How ridiculous to say they were the enemy. Well because they wanted lower prices and higher quality every single year. I’m talking in the main Marks and Spencer here.
They asked us to fund their discounting and made us hold on to stocks in our warehouse when sales didn’t happen as they expected.
The retailers really are the scum that causes all the pollution, the destruction and the mental and physical health issue sin humans in the developing worlds.
But they are not alone, you and I must also take responsibility. We want things cheaper and faster and we are addicted to consumerism. There are young women on YouTube making money from their videos unpacking shopping bags and sharing their excitement and delirious delights on the garments they reveal live on air. Only to get you to buy them.
Little do we know that these young women are being sponsored by the retailers and receive not only a handsome advertising revenue from YouTube they receive money from the retailers to advertise their products too. They’re called influencers. It’s the latest tactic on the web and you are totally oblivious to it.
Watch the documentary and weep. Your shopping habits will change forever.
Happy shopping!
In the UK we heard that two big retailers in the UK have gone pop. They are the US retailer Toys R Us and also the electronics store Maplin.
It’s sad to see a further couple of big retailers go from the UK high street and I’m sure they won’t be the last either. Owing to our appetite for everything Amazon and most things online, the high street and out of town shopping malls will continue their demise. The #Amazon robots are winning the race! More coffee shops please?
This cartoon shows Amazon, the rocking horse, with a robot jockey, crushing the logos of Toys R Us and Maplin. The rocking horse is plugged into the wall, trying to show the fact that Amazon do toys (rocking horse) and electronics (plug and robot) really really well. And of course Amazon employs a lot of robots too!
[embed]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=F2TQ8CC2AAE[/embed]
In one way or another you have or definitely will experience betrayal in your life. Does it mean then that you should stop trusting? Maybe.
Just recently we experienced a betrayal in our lives by a close family member. Now this person is not a blood relative, nevertheless is still a very close member of the family. Well until now that is.
In good faith we had done everything to support this person for over 6 years, during her darkest days of fear, anxiety and ill-health to the point, we are very pleased to say, that she can totally look after herself now and her life is back on track.
I prefer not to reveal the person’s identity and will try and describe the incident.
We offered support and guidance on using new technology, in this case an iPad, which we supplied. It was one of our old ones, so it was fine and in fairness were paid a small amount for it, so happy days.
We cleared the iPad of all old data so it could be set up as new. We also activated family sharing from one of our accounts. And if you are familiar with family sharing, the person that has activated it, in this case us, allows other family members to make purchases through the app store using our credit card. We can also share photos, music and some files.
We are not able to see what the other person is doing, nothing, this is not a screen sharing process.
But…
A bank staff member, a library staff member and a printer supplier all told her that anyone who has installed family sharing can see everything the other person is doing on their iPad. Untrue, not blaming them, but they are untrained, uninformed and negligent in giving that advice. I’ve even spoken to Apple and they confirm what I already knew.
This family member then bought a new iPad to make sure any spying could be avoided.
Happy trusting!
Here in the UK we LOVE the weather, it’s probably the biggest topic of conversation we have as humans in this country. When there’s a shift in weather fortune (usually bad weather) we go into overdrive, we even cancel trains before any weather (in this case snow) has arrived.
Early March 2018 we had a new phenomena, which only shows up every 10 years or so. He’s (or maybe it’s a she) called the Beast from the East, meaning that the weather is arriving from Russia (with love).
In addition we had storm Emma arriving from Spain, which collided with the Beast to deposit unprecedented amounts of snow in the south-west of England. Some people are still cut-off for about 10 days.
This cartoon shows the Beast from the East, a businessman on his sleight going to work being pulled by a gritter lorry and of course the message that the trains are cancelled.
[embed]https://youtu.be/QcqEyGTq1yw[/embed]
I recently attended a TEDx day of talks here in the UK at Warwick University. On of the speakers was Tim Edwards, Executive Trustee of the Bhopal Medical Appeal.
Somewhere in the back of my head I remember the Bhopal disaster but I hadn’t realised it’s scale and long lasting affects over 30 years later.
You can read the full story here,
[embed]http://bhopal.org/what-happened/union-carbides-disaster[/embed]
But I wanted to explain a few headlines to get us all reflecting on what is going on here.
On the night of December 2nd, 1984, a Union Carbide plant in Bhopal, India, began leaking 27 tons of the deadly gas methyl isocyanate. None of the six safety systems designed to contain such a leak were operational, allowing the gas to spread throughout the city of Bhopal. Half a million people were exposed to the gas and 25,000 have died to date as a result of their exposure. More than 150,000 people still suffer from ailments caused by the accident and the subsequent pollution at the plant site.
The company is now owned by Dow Chemical who are the biggest chemical company in the world with a market cap of $163 billion, yes that is billion with a ‘B’. There was a payout to the victims amounting to just $2000 per each death and $500 per victim. The victim numbers are obviously heavily disputed and they continue to rise too. The disaster only hit the company by just $0.49 on the share price at the time.
From what I can see nobody is listening or appearing in any requested court appearances. There have been countless requests, demonstrations and petitions for compensation. Nobody is answering.
You and I are consuming maybe hundreds of products each and every month that are being made by these chemical giants and we have no idea what they are, they are present in what we eat, wear and use. It makes me sick to think that in the supply chain I have supported these criminals who are not being held accountable.
There is a moral responsibility on the Directors of these colossal corporations to do the right thing and look after the victims of Bhopal, where it’s medical, mental or financial.
There is a place where you can add your name to a letter, although I am sad to see not many have actually signed up, it’s called ‘Don’t Bury Bhopal’.
[embed]http://bhopal.org/what-happened/union-carbides-disaster[/embed]
Thank you.
The US rocket enthusiast ‘Mad’ Mike Hughes is looking to blast himself into outer space to check for himself whether the Earth is flat or round.
It’s incredible to believe that in 2018, the 21st century we have people walking on the planet convinced that the earth is flat. ‘Mad’ Mike has spent millions of his own money to build this rocket. Where does he get the money and why is he doing it would be my question!
This cartoon shows ‘Mad’ Mike sitting on his rocket flying over flat earth and proving his point.
[embed]https://youtu.be/bGPXa-jLl88[/embed]
Is the title of a 2014 non-fiction book by Michael Lewis about high-frequency trading (HFT).
The story is told about a trader, Brad Katsuyama who discovers that computer programs on exchanges play dirty when it comes to buying shares.
The computer programs operated by ‘stock scalpers’ allow you to purchase part of the stock, so they know that you’re in the market for buying. Then they race to other exchanges and then buy the stock ahead of you to only sell it on to you at higher prices and make a handsome profit.
In essence this is AI at it’s worst, allowing crooks to manipulate the markets and if trained traders didn’t even know this was happening, the ordinary punter doesn’t stand a chance.
It’s incredible to think that we are living in a world where we are all trying to make money from each other for the benefit of ourselves instead of the greater good.
There are millions, no billions of people on the poverty line on this planet, hundreds of thousands of individuals who are homeless in the Western World and we have traders who are making billions from other traders by manipulating the systems with AI.
Thankfully Brad Katsuyama is doing something about it although he’s getting a rough time and is having to fight against the trading exchanges mafia.
Happy trading!
KFC UK & Ireland recently ran out of chickens. Something to do with transport and changing supplier to DHL. Was wondering if any chickens managed to live longer as a result, which inspired our cartoon. So the question is: ‘Why did the chicken cross the road’?
I saw on the 5th March that supplies are back up to 97% and nearly all stores are back to normal. The chickens nearly got away with it but not quite.
[embed]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tsQyYSlVq4c[/embed]
I've got 3 publications there so far. Medium allows me to be freer then I am able to be on either my own website blog or here on LinkedIn. There are other writers there who write great stuff, so I'm learning much more too. It allows me to have different publications, it feels a bit like having a book there, the book of me. I really enjoy being on Medium. Hope to see you there. https://medium.com/@stayingaliveuk
This is a daily blog post, quite short and to the point. It's basically about stuff I notice across the digital and the physical, which makes me want to make a statement.
This is our daily cartoon series. Well we publish on a Monday, Wednesday and Friday. I try and look out for topics in the daily news and take some sort of spin on it.
https://medium.com/michaelandjosh
Well this one was basically a copy cat from this blog, so not been updating that much lately. Will have to think where this one goes in the future.
https://medium.com/stayingaliveuk