Will Facebook exist in 5 years time?

In jail with Facebook — Michael de Groot

Mmmm, not sure actually. They’re getting a fair amount of stick at the moment and probably justified. When a big tech company who is making billions of dollars and has been found to lack integrity, the house of cards starts falling down pretty quick.

A couple of people I respect highly, Scott Galloway and Kara Swisher are definitely doubling down on Facebook and especially Mark Zuckerberg and Sheryl Sandberg and Facebook’s board of directors.

Money and greed allows many misdoings to be buried in deep graves, however there are many journalists who love digging and digging deep. Couple that with disgruntled ex employees and you have a rich recipe for the truth to be exposed.

How do you deal with that truth? Well, Mark calls it ‘BS’ and Sheryl, well Sheryl is just hiding, because she managed to make a few million dollars from her books and her books are all about authenticity and integrity. To just say ‘we should have done better’ doesn’t cut it any longer when it gets repeated over and over. By the 3rd time you get a bit sick of it and wonder, actually what’s going on? What is the truth? We really want to know.

Why?

Because Facebook has made billions from our data, we kinda want to know what’s going on, especially as our data gets stolen on a regular basis. It’s serious stuff actually.

I was a massive fan of Facebook back when they started but in February 2018 I decided to uncouple myself and stopped posting, stopped being active, deleted the app from my phone, adjusted all the advertising preferences and minimised my personal details on my profile, basically deleted most of it. But not everything and didn’t close my account and that’s because my wife wants me there, so she can tag me!

I also decided to delete Instagram and WhatsApp, both Facebook products now.

Those actions has improved my emotional wellbeing significantly, I stop seeing all the fake news and adverts that my network posts, because that’s in the main what happens. Our lives have never been as good as they appear on social media. It’s sad actually very sad, I have compassion for our need for love.

Of course it does some good too, I get that, but the bad far outweighs the good. Remember you heard it here first. I give them 5 years, tops and although they may still exist as I really don’t believe they will completely disappear, I do believe it will be a totally different experience, reduced, more private and less adverts with maybe even paid profiles to stop the ads.

Enjoy it whilst you can!

Happy Facebooking!

Michael de Groot

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More interesting reading on the topic by Gina Bianchini, which I discovered after I wrote this.

[embed]https://www.linkedin.com/pulse/facebook-era-over-gina-bianchini/[/embed]

Yoda gives advice for #Brexit

Yoda — #weeklycartoon — Michael & Josh

Whilst witnessing the hashtag#brexit fallout, the debates and hysterics in the media, the finger pointing among politicians, the fear amongst business leaders, the doubts discussed in homes and at business networking events, the great guru Yoda came to my mind and his famous quote: ‘Do or do not, there is no try’. It sums it up perfectly for me. It inspired our latest cartoon.

[embed]https://youtu.be/vEVLoUyGZWg[/embed]

Michael de Groot

Brexit Pizza Plotter — Michael Gove

Michael Gove — #weeklycartoon — Michael & Josh

There’s a group of 5 MP’s who are in the UK government and are plotting against the Brexit withdrawal agreement. They have been given the name ‘Pizza Plotters’, which is such a great title. Presumably, because they get together plotting their plans whilst eating Pizza. It conjured up this image in my head of a man standing on Regent Street, London, dressed as a Pizza and promoting a discount Pizza. Michael Gove has the best face for such a Pizza man!

[embed]https://youtu.be/-diqWHZzVfk[/embed]

Michael de Groot

The Time Doctor

Mike Gardner

The Time Doctor is such a great name for a business which taught us all how to make better use of the short hours we have in our day and even in our life. His name is Mike Gardner.

Today (Monday 19th November, 2018), I heard the news that Mike passed away on Sunday 18th November, 2018, whilst he was out running with his wife. Running was his passion. He was a proud cardiac athlete.

I still remember the day that Mike walked into a room at St. Andrews Hotel in Droitwich. I was hosting a networking and training session called Social Media Monday on behalf of a networking group called TLC. We gave free advice to small business owners how to better leverage their social media to get in front of potential new clients.

Mike joined the session, to learn I guessed, but instead he gave, he gave so much invaluable advice to the people in the room, so many nuggets and knowledge. Mike was a fountain of knowledge and what was great, he didn’t mind sharing it so openly with us all. He was a breath of fresh air. So many business people guard their knowledge like it’s the Crown Jewels. Not Mike, he shared all of his knowledge freely.

Business had been good to him, he used to say and his mission was to give something back to his local business community.

He took this even a step further, he volunteered to run a business networking group himself, called Coffee & Natter based in Bromsgrove to appeal to the surrounding small business community. He used to openly state at the start of every meeting that his mission by organising and hosting this event was again to give something back.

At every step of his business journey he wanted to give back. What an amazing and generous chap he is.

At one of the Social Media Monday events Mike attended he mentioned he would unlikely make it the following month as he was expected to receive a hip operation. A hip operation, he was a young man and I was perplexed about this news. I think most of you will know the story. It didn’t work out too well for Mike in post operation, he suffered a number of heart attacks. But he survived them all and managed a remarkable quick journey to recovery.

Mike’s incredibly positive mindset meant he kept a record of his journey in hospital and shared it openly on Facebook for everyone to witness and read. It was so inspiring to read about his recovery and also some set backs, his trips into hospitals and his journey to full fitness.

I guess if you call yourself the Time Doctor, time will inevitably catch up with you as it will with all of us. They say the best are taken early and there is no doubt in all of our minds that Mike was one of the very best we have all experienced.

RIP Mike Gardner.

They call you the Time Doctor
But you’re much more than that Mike
You definitely had time for everyone
You even had time for our plight

You told us we only get 24 hours
So decide how to spend it wisely, you said
You gave us free tips and ideas
And all because you just wanted to give back

Your love for the RAF was clear to see
The way you presented yourself was impeccable 
We learnt so much from the way you conducted yourself
We’ll miss your teachings that’s for sure

Believe us when we say you’ve left a definite legacy
Yes Mike, you can be proud of that
Everyone who knows you, now has a bit of Time Doctor inside of them
Etched inside their beating heart

Michael de Groot

Give Way!

Road Signs created by Michael de Groot

There is a great line that originated in Star Trek in connection with an alien race called The Borg. ‘Resistance is Futile’.

So what does it actually mean?

The refusal to accept or comply with something. Incapable of producing any useful result; pointless. So “resistance is futile” means that refusing to accept what is happening is pointless, and you should just give up.

In fact when you push your hand against mine, what do you feel?

Resistance!

Whenever you push against something that can push back, you receive resistance. Ever felt you could never win that argument? You got it, it was resistance. So what do you do, keep pushing and keep getting resistance? Probably not, it may actually be quite debilitating for you.

I was sitting in my car one evening at around 10pm, waiting to give someone a lift and ahead of me in the darkness was a road sign and the sign seemed huge to me and the words beamed out at me, sharing with me a huge message and the message was ‘Give Way’. It’s the British version of the ‘Yield’ sign in the USA, that’s why I included both in the image.

So what did I take away from this?

Giving way doesn’t mean being weak, it doesn’t mean giving up, it just means allowing what is. Sometimes it’s tough to do this and allowing things to just be. We and I’m including me in that have been told throughout our lives that you have to take action, you must do something if you want to achieve your dreams, nothing else will happen unless you do. But when you move into a space of allowing, into a space of yielding/giving way, the right things may just come your way.

Less resistance allows for better outcomes.

Happy giving way!

Michael de Groot

Fear and Doubt

‘Fear’– by Michael de Groot

I watched a video the other day recorded by Nic Askew, one of his soul biographies, during the last days of Kay Denise Cannon’s life. Kay was amongst other roles the President of the International Coaching Federation. I’ve included a link to video below and really advise you to watch it.

[embed]https://nicaskew.com/kdc/?doing_wp_cron=1608548705.8818171024322509765625[/embed]

One of the overwhelming messages I took away from her very moving account of her realisation that she had to prepare for death, is the fact that we spend most of our time in ‘Fear and Doubt’.

Thank you Kay for this message, which I will treasure for the rest of my life, because it’s such a truth and so obvious that this is indeed the case.

I had the realisation a few months ago that most of us walking on planet earth are in suffering. Some you will have heard that saying from Buddhist teachings. And that suffering is clear to me now, it’s ‘Fear and Doubt’.

It inspired me to create the Graffiti image above.

Stay away from ‘Fear and Doubt’ as much as you can please?

Michael de Groot

Trump Pinocchio at Whitehouse Press Conference

Trump shouting at the Press — Michael & Josh — #weeklycartoon

We’ve portrayed Trump previously as ‘Pinocchio’. We were inspired to produce this one based on the ‘stories’ that come out of the Whitehouse on a regular basis. Enjoy!

He tells them that they are fake news, whilst he’s the one telling the biggest stories ever told.

Michael de Groot

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[embed]https://youtu.be/VjqEUBIREvc[/embed]

The Pentagon is sending over 15,000 troops to the border with Mexico as thousands of Central…

Donald Trump blocking the Caravan — Michael & Josh — #weeklycartoon

The Pentagon is sending over 15,000 troops to the border with Mexico as thousands of Central American migrants walk towards the US in a caravan. You know who is being quite vocal over it all. It inspired our latest cartoon.

The US is like the old Wild West with Trump in charge. I picture him on horseback down the streets of Washington DC, wielding is rifle.

Michael de Groot

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[embed]https://youtu.be/lt6DfTTwenI[/embed]

Leaders are failing is everywhere

Hugh MacLeod

How do leaders become leaders? It’s a question I have asked myself since 1977.

That’s the year I started work in London and have worked for a variety of leaders, some good, some bad and some very ugly.

The ugliest of leaders walk around like they own the joint, order us to follow their commands and if we step out of line will tell us in no uncertain terms to either buck up or ship out. I’ve seen plenty of those in my career and in fact those are the ones I remember the most.

Bullying behaviour has a massive influence in leaders becoming leaders. You only have to look at Korea, Russia, Syria and the big old USA.

At heart we’re still all apes and warriors and our evolution hasn’t changed much in our desire for ‘dominance hierarchy’.

So when the loudest ape in our community shouts, everyone listens and takes notice. Generally the loudest ape walks away with the prize, in the world of apes it means controlling the tribe and getting priority in choosing mates. No different in human communities then!

I know the population delivers some pushback from time to time, dictators have indeed been toppled, but usually only to be replaced by another one. Somehow we want the bully in control, because they have the best chance of winning over our adversaries, our enemies, other threatening neighbours. If the bully is in charge we feel we’re safe and our family group is protected.

We have chosen our leaders, whether you like them or not, we’ve all voted them in, believing they will be our saviours and of course they have no such intention. They are only out to save themselves, just like you and me.

Happy voting!

Michael de Groot

But what actually is your purpose?

Hugh MacLeod

This for many of us is the question we contemplate for a lifetime. Often we align ourselves with the purpose of an organisation, a charity, a community and maybe even our own family.

And rarely do we get to fulfil our own individual purpose on this planet. Sure we may get some epiphanies along the way, when we say:

“I know what I’m here to do!”

And when we follow that calling, when we go down that route, that route which confirms to our minds what we’ve been put on this planet to do, we notice a small bit of doubt in the back of our minds that says:

“What if this isn’t it?”

That’s when the fear strikes, the fear that stops us from moving forward, the doubt that cripples us, that holds us back from being our true selves.

We’ve all had this feeling and even if you believe you haven’t been struck by this bug, I promise you, you will!

It’s okay, you are normal, you are part of the human race and I believe that we’re all put here to overcome that immense feeling of failure, that feeling of not fulfilling our true purpose, even if we think that we know what it is or was.

Let’s imagine, what if your purpose is actually to do exactly what you’re doing right now. I’m not talking about the work or non-work, I’m talking about what you’re doing right now in this moment.

In this moment you’re reading this article, correct?

Well that’s your purpose right now. Right now you’re reading the article, nothing else matters, that’s your purpose. When you finish reading the article and leave the screen to go and grab a coffee, then that’s your purpose now. And so it continues.

Your purpose are all those small elements of your life strung together into one long thread. The story thread of your life. If you want to innovate along the way by all means do that. Change direction with confidence, knowing that this is your purpose for now. I personally changed direction, pivoted into different projects about a dozen times. It’s only when I look back on those that I realise it was my purpose in those moments. Some worked out and many didn’t, but they all contributed to my story and made me who I am today.

Happy Innovating!

Michael de Groot

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Poem by Nic Askew, which arrived in my inbox the day after I wrote this!

THE WHISPER AND THE ECHO

A man looked for meaning.
For his very place in life.

He searched high and low.

He’d often hear a whisper, calling
his name from the other side
of what seemed like a door.

A door that remained hidden
from his ability to see.

Frustrated, he’d knock on
everything that resembled
a door. Turning here,
and there. Turning
just about anywhere.

Then one day,
unannounced,
it opened.

And he realised that he’d been
knocking from the inside.
And that the whisper
had been an echo.

The echo of his own soul
reminding him that
he was already home.

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Nic is a Former (Geographical) Explorer and (Business) Managing Director. Now an Educator and Film Maker. He is the creator of Soul Biographies (®), which includes the search for ‘The Soul of America‘. And the profound INNER VIEW Method. His work is in the arena of the Transformation of the Human Experience.

The Season’s adverts have started!

Hugh MacLeod

It’s barely the 1st November and I saw my very first Christmas advert on TV. I was having some lunch in the kitchen, whilst ‘Loose Women’ was playing on the TV. As this was on a commercial station, I saw and heard my first 2018 Christmas advert.

It’s only the 1st of November!!

This means we nearly have 2 months of Christmas adverts ahead of us. And that’s why I try to avoid any commercial TV or radio stations, because the adverts drive me insane.

The trouble is with the digital world we live in, it’s going to be almost impossible for me to avoid seeing and hearing adverts, especially the Christmas ones. Whenever I deliver any kind of talk or presentation about storytelling I ask the audience if they like the adverts. Usually I have just a few hands that go up and that’s because they work in the marketing industry, most of the room keep their hands down. 99.9% of everyone dislikes the adverts.

I work in the industry too and I can’t bear (or is it bare?) them.

Why?

Imagine a large rock and think of that rock as your brain. Now take a hammer, doesn’t matter what size, think of that hammer being the advert. Pound the hammer on the rock multiple times, what do you get?

A dent on the rock, that will stay there forever. And that’s what’s happening in your brain when the advertising industry continually repeat their adverts on all the possible channels and networks they can think of. You know the ones I’m talking about right?

Whether you’re browsing on the web or walking through the high street or shopping mall, notice what you are looking at. Might some of those items be the exact items that were being advertised?

Did you ever experience a phenomenon called ‘Amazon Amnesia’? Made up word of course, it’s not real but it has a nice ring to it doesn’t it? It’s when you receive a parcel in the post and you can’t even remember what it was that you ordered! Well you can thank the advertisers for that. You may even have experienced bringing home a product from the shopping mall or high street and wondered why you bought it. Yep, exact same reason. The hammer (advert) created a gorgeous neural pathway for that product in your brain. When you saw it you may have been compelled to buy it, without realising why.

99.9% of the junk we buy we do not need.

There are children going hungry, there are people living on the streets and all because society is too obsessed with wanting the next iPhone in their hands, when the current on is working absolutely fine. Nobody wants to connect the dots between buying stuff and the state of the world, whether it’s hunger, homelessness or climate change.

We’re all so totally self-obsessed with our own wants and needs that we dig our heads in the sand and just think of number one, yourself.

Happy shopping this Season!

Michael de Groot

Sending a letter to Steven Avery

Netflix Design Team

So, I came across a tweet by Kathleen Zellner — Law Offices of Kathleen T. Zellner, the lawyer who is working incredibly hard to prove Steven Avery’s innocence. It contained a few words by Steven, including his prison address if you’d like to write to him?

[embed]https://twitter.com/ZellnerLaw/status/1057026464523141122[/embed]

We only caught up with his story this year and have just finished watching season 2 of the documentary. It definitely is the best produced documentary I have ever watched, it is raw, very very real and heart breaking.

So here is my letter to Steven, which I am posting today.

Dear Steven

It’s only a short note but it is coming to you with love and best wishes. It’s only this year that my wife and I watched the first MAM on Netflix and we were astounded, upset and very angry with the US legal system. Then we watched MAM2 and we are delighted of course that Kathleen Zellner has taken on your case and she’s truly an amazing individual. We are setting the best intentions that Kathleen will have a major breakthrough on your behalf and is able to overturn the biggest crime of this century. We could see instantly the character of that disgusting man, the prosecutor, I won’t even bother to mention his name here. It is so clear to see what has occurred and it’s totally obvious what’s going on in the US legal system, just incredible. We’re equally disgusted with the whole Brendan case.

Keep strong, believe and remain focussed on the day that you will walk free again.

This is the intention mantra I have written for you.

“I am innocent, I am free and I’m living in joy and happiness”.

Just repeat this daily, either in your head or out-loud, it doesn’t matter if people hear you, they may wish to join in and replace it with the following sentence.

“Steven is innocent, Steven is free and he’s living in joy and happiness”.

Then move into the ‘art of allowing’. Release the thoughts of what might be, just focus on the outcome, not on the events, episodes, rumours and hear-say. Just keep focussed on that mantra.

It will work.

Wishing you a long life in freedom very soon.

Michael

It may help him, maybe not and maybe Kathleen won’t succeed, but this whole story is such a clear example of never giving up. Never giving up on your dreams, your aspirations and your goals.

Do write Steven a letter from you, help him to continue to believe that his life will be happy again.

Thank you!

Michael de Groot

How to grab your window of opportunity!

Hugh MacLeod

Vincent van Gogh made some breakthrough paintings for about 5–10 years, before his life ended.

Andy Warhol was making some pretty radical art for about six or seven years, before going all popstar-formulaic for the rest of his life.

The Beatles had been together just over five years, before they started running out of gas.

Doonesbury was the world’s greatest comic strip in the early seventies, but around 1977–1980 it started losing a lot of its early charm and became a bit more “manufactured”.

J. K. Rowling spent a decade writing the Harry Potter books, then kicked back, a very rich woman. Fair enough.

The Clash, the greatest punk band ever, had a good run of about five years, then imploded.

Even Pablo Picasso, probably the most inventive artist in the history of the world, maxed out at Guernica in the late 1930s and coasted till he died in the 1970s.

And businesses are not that different.

They’ll do amazing work for their first decade as a growing concern, before going public and becoming same ol’, same ol’ commodified, or being bought out and swallowed up by a larger competitor (or going out of business altogether).

What does this tell us? That even with the greatest creators in the world, inventiveness is not unlimited. The gods give us a brief window, and we either jump through it or we don’t.

Five or ten years is not a long time. Five or ten years goes very fast.

Know this when your time comes, and act swiftly.

—

I received this article via email from @gapingvoid and thought it was too good and I had this overwhelming feeling to share it. You can see the original email below and here. Note they misspelled van Gogh’s surname, oh my I was distraught about that. A fellow Dutchman and they misspelled his name!

Hugh MacLeod

It happens in ‘Micro-Moments’!

Hugh MacLeod

I came across the term ‘micro-moments’ when I attended a talk by Qasim Majid, the CEO of digital agency ‘Wow-Zone’ — https://www.wow-zone.com.

It made perfect sense to me at the time. According to Google ‘Micro-moments’ are critical touch points within today’s consumer journey, and when added together, they ultimately determine how that journey ends.

You can download Google’s e-book on the topic here: https://styin.me/2P9uzoF

We hear a lot these days about being in the moment, instead of living in the past or future but very little is discussed about those ‘micro-moments’ in marketing. Nowadays we are so addicted to our mobile phones, surfing the web and social media channels, whilst also communicating via text with our business colleagues and loved ones. This means we are absorbing tiny (micro) bits of content in split second increments because we jump from app to app, experiencing a ton of distractions along the way.

So how do we capture the attention of those micro-moment actors?

Only by knowing what they are actually searching for or even having some insight into their habits, their dreams and desires.

That’s why Amazon are so incredibly successful, they already know and can deliver the right messages with incredible accuracy. How many times have you bought something from Amazon and wondered afterwards why you actually bought it. Was it because they suggested it or was it because you did actually need it? Probably the former.

It’s a never-ending puzzle for marketers to solve.

Happy creating!

Michael de Groot

Dr. Christine Blasey Ford, Brett Kavanaugh and The Muppet Show

Dr Christine Blasey Ford, Brett Kavanaugh hearing — Michael & Josh #weeklycartoon

After following the Dr. Christine Blasey Ford and Brett Kavanaugh’s testimonies in connection with the sexual assault incident, it reminded me of The Muppet Show with these old guys sitting in their box shouting abuse at the performance.

It inspired my thought process for our latest cartoon.

[embed]https://youtu.be/Xuu48oNe_e0[/embed]

Michael de Groot

Theresa May and Michel Barnier

Theresa May and Michael Barnier — Michael & Josh #weeklycartoon

The current debate at the moment gave me a sense of the ‘Wizard of OZ’. Theresa May is the ‘Scarecrow’ (a scared crow) and Michel Barnier is the ‘Tin Man’ (inflexible).

I then saw them on that famous game show, ‘Deal or No Deal’.

It inspired our latest cartoon, enjoy! And the media are whipping up a ‘fear frenzy’.

[embed]https://youtu.be/EwHbw_afvPQ[/embed]

Michael de Groot

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brexit

Carillion Goose with the big 4 UK Auditors

Golden Goose — Michael& Josh #weeklycartoon

The Goose that laid the golden egg…Carillion The partners at Deloitte (the auditors) are receiving a £832k bonus because of their profits when they failed to spot the issue with Carillion.

The others, KPMG, Ernst & Young and PWC are not guilt free either.

The other day I met a homeless gentleman from Romania who lost his cleaning job at Carillion.

[embed]https://youtu.be/WiyL2oqCnV8[/embed]

Michael de Groot

Donald Trump and Michael Cohen discuss ‘Consience’

Donald Trump & Michael Cohen — Michael & Josh #weeklycartoon

When the story of Michael Cohen’s guilty plea broke, I wanted to have Josh create an illustration featuring Trump as Pinocchio.

But how could I feature Cohen in that as well? So I did a couple of searches on YouTube to see who Pinocchio’s leading characters were.

To my amazement I found this clip, where Jiminy Cricket becomes Pinocchio’s Conscience.

https://youtu.be/kYtjcu5GFLo

The fairy puts a spell on Jiminy Cricket and leaves by saying: ‘Now remember Pinocchio, be a good boy and always let your conscience be your guide’. Perfect I thought and it inspired our latest cartoon, enjoy!

[embed]https://youtu.be/dS4MFH8_omg[/embed]

Michael de Groot

Mike Pence and Donald Trump launch #SpaceForce

Mike Pence and Donald Trump on the Moon with Deathstar behind them — Michael & Josh #weeklycartoon

I’m a bit behind with posting our cartoons here. This one was about when Mike Pence, US Vice President, announced the SpaceForce battling against space terrorists!

I couldn't get Toy Story out of my head, seeing Mike and Donald hand in hand on the Moon!

[embed]https://youtu.be/VjjO-35S7jE[/embed]

Michael de Groot

My Mind is not my own!

Hugh MacLeod

It doesn’t answer you, yet you speak to it often

In the quiet times when nothing is spoken
You have a conversation that isn’t real

You believe words are being spoken
And none of it is really a big deal

Those words that emerge from the confines of your brain
Don’t speak the truth but you believe them

Challenge them, challenge them, challenge them!
Create new ones that serve you better

Nobody is in charge, except you, you don’t
need to believe a single letter

They say thoughts create things, so choose the right ones
You’re not in control, you’ve not even learnt them

They appear out of nowhere like aliens out of space 
Hunt them down, I would, but it’s all in vain

Resistance is futile you’ve been assimilated 
Your mind is not your own, they have control of it.

When you examine what you actually do
You will appreciate it’s just a matter of habit.

My mind is not my own, but who actually owns it?
Ask everyone else, they also have no clue!

Michael de Groot