Founder's Thoughts: The pros and cons of technology

Today has just about finished me off internet and technology wise, as from my own experience in the last couple of months alone what was once wonderful and helpful for all is now becoming almost too problematic to even consider bothering with. Why is that though. Surely all problems have a logical and ethical solution... don't they? Well yes they do but with something as powerful and as influential as the internet that would take some doing.

Think about it... to fix ever single glitch takes not just one highly intelligent team of professional boffins but thousands of them at least. And in the meantime what are all it's customers supposed to do while that is happening? Stop functioning altogether? Nope... we do the sensible thing and stop hounding, moaning and complaining and revert to old tried and tested methods of communication prior to the advent of the internet is what we do. We calm down because let's face it... aren't we ALL rather overloaded by the pace of life and progress anyway? Couldn't we all do with slowing up.

To take one example from today... Twitter is busy trying to improve it's facilities to cope with ever increasing demand and, no doubt in response to what we ourselves are screaming out for. Unlike other services, Twitter can not just close up shop for a week while it does that as it would cause chaos, so it does it's best to fix things 'live'. Being an American company, of course we in Britain get the worst of it because during our working day, most of American (a larger business and social population) sleeps.

In addition to close down for repairs facilities such as social media have to agree globally on a shut-down time schedule which automatically turns it into a global political nightmare if you think about it. Is that really likely to happen in the next 50 years given mankind's history on this planet... I mean... really. We all know it ought to be possible but... realistically, is it in our lifetime.

So my advice on all this is very simple. Take the opportunity to relax, meet people in the flesh and to review your own contingency plans should the internet ever fail completely. Could you cope? I have a hunch you could even if telecommunications failed too. The reason I think that is logical too... it's better than the alternative and we already have functioned wonderfully well prior to the advent of the internet and technological revolution/explosion. They are tools only. Use them if they help. Don't use them if they don't. Simple as that.

Sorry to all those expecting Part 2 of my Jobsite list (for the most disadvantaged), but actually I'd rather get more links in properly listed anyway, so I am grateful for the chance to rest up myself so that I will be in better shape to do just that.

If you can get onto to Twitter though and are in anyway disadvantaged... just see the many organisations, companies and initiatives that I currently follow to help you get started. That's after all the bit I haven't got round to listing anyway, and frankly I could spend all day everyday collecting more, but I know you can do these things (with or without a bit of help) all by yourselves anyway. Eventually I will publish what I've got... maybe even tomorrow just as it is. Be patient (because no one wants to be ill with stress), and take your time to get what you both need and want. Needs always outrank wants.

I think I spend the rest of the day doing more arty things now, or at least until I am ready to try again.

Hope that helps avert a panic!

Founders Thoughts: Where are we heading and why?

The primary reason I am passionate about the arts is that they are the safest of all havens for all our thoughts, feelings and opinions. It is there and nowhere else that we have an absolute freedom to express ourselves regardless of the judgement, prejudice and criticism of others. Whether we share such personal expressions is entirely in our own hands, but I would argue in many ways we are foolish not to because it is the safe outlet for our fears, doubts, outrages, anger and deep concerns. It is also though, the home of our laughter, our joys and most of all our dreams of a Utopian world.

If we take a look at how science fiction has become science fact at an alarming rate this becomes more obvious, yet it is just one example of how the arts can help us. (Stick with me and I'll explain how and why I believe it can help even in business terms). From science facts come new initiatives to help with solving health care, new inventions for manufacturing and every kind of product which in turn inspire the arts to generate a whole new batch of dreams.

Any word in the English language ending in 'ology' is a science (a study of), so the relatively new kids on the block of sociology and psychology also are beginning to play a huge part in influencing where we are heading and why but, their influence is not powerful enough yet to help us to avoid the pitfalls that we as a species keep repeating because we are fallible. All of us are fallible, without any exception.

Sadly the truth is, we will never become less prone to cock-ups unless and until we learn to be honest about our own faults, face the hard lessons that they teach head on to overcome them before we can ever hope to avoid the repeated mistakes of mankind since we learnt to think. 

That in essence is the nub of all our problems in my opinion. No, I am not the Messiah or Einstein but frankly for the mess we've collectively made of things, if I were God I would be throwing rocks at the planet by now too simply out of frustration for not learning from our mistakes.

What I feel needs to happen is for us all to stop, pause and reflect and use our capacity to be logical and ethical to collectively work things out through negotiation and yes, through tough decisions and measures to stand a chance of cracking this eternal knot of boom and bust, rich and poor, famine and feast etc etc. On our side we have information, but what use is it if we are only going to waste it by continually deploying it as a weapon instead of using it as an asset that can help.

Information is power

Scary to think how much information every government has on it's people. In safe hands it should never be a problem, but sadly we can not ever guarantee we have safe hands as power has this nasty habit of corrupting and confusing even the best of us. Perhaps though if the world leaders were to agree to use personal information to help identify people at risk or those likely to commit crimes we might start to get somewhere rather nice. Interesting fact: 75% of criminals are illiterate! Er... hel-lo! So what does that tell us then? It tells us that to reduce crime all we have to do is find other ways to teach people to read, write and count. Viola! One problem could be solved as easily as that.

A question of money

Here we go... This is the most problematic issue of all to agree to get right to be fair to all. As I've stated many times before I have no problem with people earning huge salaries so long as they pay their taxes and sadly some of the worst offenders of all are big businesses including many multi-nationals. This I hope explains why I am so passionate about social enterprises as that model, in it's myriad of forms, I believe is the way forward because... at it's core it means that we can only ALL benefit, simply by giving back to the communities which precisely are what the foundation stones that supports everything we do and supply everything we need to be able to function. It really is (or could be) that simple.

Finally, and this is something I have learnt from psychology, we all have the capacity to imagine ourselves to be as wise as Solomon or as villainous as Hitler. Which do you and your loved ones wish to be? It comes down to a matter of choice and in that choice we can all do a bit to help each other just from our own doorstep, be it at work, in the community or at home with our personal relationships. There really never need be a situation whereby a few are responsible for so much if we all help. It is perhaps the most sad indictment of all that we have awards for what we consider to be remarkable people for their dedication to caring for others. Surely we all should share in such accolades for do we not all have that capacity?

"Never in the field of human conflict does so
much depend upon so few to rectify so much." 

Mel Dixon 2013

Are we a team or not? Do we want to be? More pointedly, do we need to be?

Article: Are grown up politics on the agenda?

I was reminded this week of a well documented and reported case of Institutional Neglect where an estimated 1,200 died due to (as the investigation found) cost cutting measures taken in order to meet government targets. The cost cuts were made to staffing levels and in training and the industry in which this happened was health care - Mid Staffordshire NHS Trust 2005-8. I believe it's since improved enormously due to additional support from government. Does that mean deaths have to occur again before government will assist?

Alarming to think how recent that was, and alarming to think what might be happening right now as a result of so many cuts to community and public services. A different government it maybe but the same high risks are there. The same questions have arisen over the Winterbourne View abuses in August of this year.

The cuts have also hit charities, advice services, benefits, councils (who provide a vast range of community services from refuse collection to housing as well as being involved in the provision of educational and social services), and all three of the emergency services - fire, police and ambulance. Don't be surprised if rescue services cannot attend in time when cuts have meant a reduction in equipment and resources all three services want to attend fully equipped, but... If you are contemplating riots though, think again. The police are not the hardest hit, the ambulance service is so if you get injured... good luck.

Meanwhile financial services seem to have found the money to continue to advertise the latest 'must have' products and services such as personalised credit and debit cards and extortionate rates of lending for short term loans e.g. 3-4000% APR interest rates among other things (that means for borrowing £1 you could end up paying £4001.00 unless of course you can pay back early). They strike me as insensitive at best but mostly out of touch with the majority of their consumers - the latter example seems hell bent on profiting from other people's misfortune. I have never fathomed how usury could be legal, but apparently it is; nor can I fathom how it can be legal to have such advertisements on television in an age when ads for smoking is quite rightly banned as detrimental to well-being.

While Mid Staffordshire NHS Trust will undoubtedly have no choice but to learn from it's mistakes, it seem less likely that big business ever will. The drive for consumerism has reached obsessive levels it seems regardless of whatever suffering maybe happening in the world outside of the commercial world. It's almost as if there is a growing belief that any and all hardship are just nasty myths to spoil commercialism's fun.+
Perhaps what is even more alarming is the charting of government responses to serious issues such as child abuse cases, discrimination and equality as it's only really in the last decade or so that much has been done, but boy, what a flurry of activity there's been. Here's just a few examples...

• No Secrets Guidance 2000
• Every Child Matters Initiative 2002-3
• European Convention on Human Rights Act 2003
• Children Act 2004
• Mental Capacity Act 2005
• Safeguarding Vulnerable Groups Act 2006
• Mental Health 2007
• Health and Social Care Act 2008
• Common Assessment Framework for Children & Young People 2009
• Working Together to Safeguard Children Guide 2010
• Health and Social Care Bill 2010-11
• Equality Act 2010
• Protection of Freedoms Act 2012

It's as if our governments (for they've changed in the last 10 years) are on a catch-up spree with what has been widely reported and known by professionals and communities for years. I'm not complaining that it is at last happening though. these laws apply to every single individual working within any and all sectors involved with the provision of services for others. It's a serious commitment and yet the wages for the average person working in these sectors remains below the national average. By contrast if you are a business, Employment Laws, particularly the Equality Act 2010 and Health and Safety Laws are the minimum you need to know about. Perhaps governments in the future will eventually also get round to penalising and amending laws to reduce bad practises in businesses as vigorously as they do social and health care and come to understand what the majority of honourable businesses need to be able to function.

I've noticed on twitter that ethics are rapidly becoming a 'must be considered factor' in governmental policy making now. Disgusting that it should have taken this long to get to be on the agenda if that's the case. Perhaps if it had been factored in earlier we might have averted another global economic crisis. Maybe in this decade, new laws will not only finally catch up with what is required to protect the vulnerable, disadvantaged and basic human rights, but also aid businesses and encourage an increase in ethical practises there too.

Most significant of all would be a change from governments that instead of catching up with the rest of us, are ahead of us in anticipating what we will need so that instances of institutional negligence and financial crashes become less likely due to laws being brought into effect in time to prevent such things ever escalating to such woeful proportions. One can but hope, but there's a snag with all this.

While different parties continue to concentrate their efforts on bickering and slating each other I fear we will continue to get no where useful fast. In addition, while some legislation such as the above is undoubtedly beneficial, other edicts have proved counter productive and led not only to people feeling their can't or shouldn't do things for themselves but that they are safer in legal terms not to do so. A simple example: Some organisations will sack staff if they use a fire extinguisher to put out a small fire in a bin as having a building burn down is less damaging to their reputation than risking staff injury. It's as if we are heading for an age whereby none of us will do anything unless under license from the government. Costs can be recouped for a burnt building through insurance in a lot of cases after all.

More or less legislation?

For me, it is not a question of whether we have more or less legislation, but a question of whether or not the legislation is of value. Sensible legislation that empowers rather than debilitates us all from being able to function and develop regardless of which sector we work or are involved in is, in my opinion wiser than legislating on every issue that arises. We should amend and create laws that help protect, secure and safeguard our goals to work, live and co-exist in harmony and safety, but not have laws that restrict or discourage our ability to work things out for ourselves as it can all too easily prevent and prohibit progress.

Sooner or later, (though probably not in my lifetime), I would like to think that politics and democracy itself will have a major overhaul for as it stands, changes of government seem to invariably lead to more confusion, u-turns in approaches of the management of vital services when they should of course just be evolving and developing for the benefit of all.

It is why whoever is in power these days invests in independent think tanks. However, given that each political party employs different 'independent' thinkers one cannot help but question if they are independent at all. Is anyone devoid of political bias? Does the party in power actually follow their recommendations or only as and when it suits their own political agenda? In short I feel we need more agreement from our all our politicians these days rather than discord. Why is it that our focus is continually on our differences instead of what we all have in common as human beings?

Having think tanks in place now, begs the question... shouldn't we be electing the think tankers rather than politicians? Perhaps we should be thinking about dispensing with political parties in order to force them to collaborate for the common good. Would it not be better to elect individuals according to their expertise and comprehensive knowledge as even within political parties there is disagreement.

For most people politics has become a mix of who has the most convincing rhetoric at any given point over any issue or a question of which personality appeals; but is that how it should be? Policies, when they are revealed, never seem to go into detail about how they are to be implemented. Is that what we want to be voting for in the future?

Just a pondering - I have not reached any firm conclusions myself yet. Collectively though I believe we could do better than what I have witnessed so far during my lifetime and, so long as our emotions and private agendas don't cloud what could be fairer for all regardless of whether we are rich, poor; healthy, ill; working or not, I believe it should and could be possible.

Founders Thoughts: Fibonacci, mugglism and other riddles

Despite having a punishing time of it myself recently I invariably find that what doesn't kill me will, sooner or later make me stronger and more determined. The prospects for the next 12 months for everyone still look decidedly grim with the threat of more cuts and more hardships on the way. Why though, when the answer I feel remains in our own hands?

Either the same amount of money is still milling around somewhere so all that needs to really happen is for it to start circulating again, or people lied about the amount of money there was in the world. To me that's the long and short of it. Why complicate it further? Why panic?

That, to many I know sounds crass and naive, but the truth often does. Keep It Simple Stupid (KISS) is I think a useful maxim to help us all whittle things down to the bear essentials to ensure that functioning in our highly complex world can continue. There are occasional glimmers of hope here and there, but perhaps the greatest cruelty of all is to give hope only to snatch it away again from those in most need.

Economists will no doubt argue that due to inflation and the complexity of modern financial systems of trading etc that things are not that simple. Track back to the Dark Ages and we find similar mumbo jumbo gobbledegook to try to distract us from the truth - the implication being that ordinary mortals are stupid. Yes, there is more money about than in the Dark Ages but it is proportionate to the increase in global population and our concepts about wealth along with other silly ideas that have cursed our beautiful planet since the year dot. Don't get me wrong, I don't think money is the root of all evil, but what we do with it can be.

Economists I feel are rather like doctors and solicitors, it's not that they are all bad many are honourable trustworthy people, but some are... shall we say... slightly less ethical than others simply by not being entirely straight with us. Sometimes that is for our own good, sometimes they assume that covering up is wise when it is emphatically not. Privately most such professionals would agree with me - publicly few would as they would rather not end up unemployed themselves.

Facts do have an unavoidable pitfall, namely our individual interpretation of them - most so called stats are usually edited to suit a particular argument. Too late not to educate the general population on such things I'm afraid - they already know. It rather begs the question of why so many try so hard to continue to bamboozle ordinary folk. Yep, I own that I am guilty of it too, but I at least attempt to see both sides of any argument.

I also confess to being mischievious, glib and challenging to prompt reaction in order to hopefully help people to think beyond their lot in life and relate it to the whole. Everyone's action or non-reaction has a bearing on the rest of us to a greater or lesser extent. If others take that the wrong way, well that tends to say more about them than it ever could about me.

A curve ball thought

What would happen if all banks throughout the world suddenly went on strike? Or if all multinationals did? Would human life suddenly cease? No, it would not but not for the reasons that many would suppose. A voucher system is money by another name. Barter systems are not viable as the crew that builds your home only has to do it once while you might have to spend a lifetime working to feed them in exchange with little time for much else. Like it or not money as a system for trading remains the only system that is viable but we need not be as reliant on it as we think.

We're lumbered with this inanimate crazy substance and its quirky system, but we don't have to be lumbered with how it is used. Now steady on, don't get excited, I don't advocate violent revolutions here, quite the opposite. In the most democratic of nations of recent times we have neatly avoided those by using protests, voting, lobbying, petitions with the occasional strike and riot thrown in for good measure. Shame about the latter two, but at least we haven't resorted to civil wars for a while so it's progress... of sorts. Long may it continue that way but preferably without with strikes and riots - not being a deity I'm afraid I have no control of that.

The root of the difficulty is not money, but our own addiction to it's potential to provide power. However, through working for many years in the world of theatre and events I can assure you that not many reach positions of fame and fortune and survive it well as I'm sure former inmates of both the Priory and the Betty Ford Clinic would testify. In short, money isn't life or death in itself, what we do or choose not to do with it can be, but it remains a matter of personal choice and that is something that has never changed throughout human social history and will not change unless we collectively agree to change how we use it.

Muggles and mugglism

I've referred to us all being as muggles (JK Rowlings' term for not very bright humans or non magical types), and following on from that I had a conversation with someone who works with victims of domestic violence on the hypothesis that we are as children no matter how old we are. They commented that we are brought up with fairytales of good triumphing over evil precisely because as adults it's what we perceive to be facing every day. It's a way of preparing our children for that world. I say perceive as we often mistake one for the other because as humans we are all endowed with a degree of fallibility. I am no exception at all as on occasions I have allowed my passions to get the better or me - hence the moralising, hence the at times appallingly phrased tweets at times for which I most humbly apologise. Who of us has never been guilty of mistakes and therefore mugglisms?

In the business world we tend to be less forgiving of such things, yet expect the slack to be cut for us whenever we blunder. So are we all muggles and hypocrites? I would say so, but we also all have the potential to be the most magical creatures of all and to do all manner of wondrous things.

Fibonacci sequence

Unlike a male friend of mine, I don't happen to be a whizz at the sciences or mathematics as being at school in the 1970s and female I got streamed and encouraged into the arts despite having an equal aptitude for both. I used to mind, now I don't. The arts and humanities are far from the easier option given employment challenges that ensue which is part of the reason I like both - I usually rise to challenges even when most come in unwelcome form. Interestingly organisations like NESTA have recognised that there is much to be gained by challenging the arts and sciences to work collaboratively.

With regard to the sciences, I remain for the most part like a window shopper peering in enviously at what's on display. It doesn't mean to say I don't understand concepts though - when time permits I read up on things. For those who are not acquainted with the Fibonacci sequence it's in essence a mathematical equation that 'seems' to be behind the structure of about 80% of life on Earth. Nearly every tree, plant, animal or insect can be analysed and identified as having something about its structure or formation that matches up to the Fibonacci sequence. I doubt anyone has quite worked out why yet. The question "why" is an infinite one as any parent will tell you when their child first starts getting the hang of using it. "Yes, but why does it do that? Okay... but why is that? I don't understand! Why, why, why?"

Mathematics and science always seek the patterns behind things by way of trying to find answers and just like the arts, science too has it's trends. The laws of gravity were at one point in question when Einstein came up with his theory of relativity only to have those 'laws' brought into question when science embarked on the world of quantum physics. Just as in the world of business, science makes educated guesses based on what information is available and sets about exploring them by trying to prove or disprove theories. We all use what we know to capitalise on that knowledge and use it to our best advantage. We take a gamble - well you've got to go with something as a starting point. The more information we have the better equipped we become to reduce the risk of getting that gamble wrong.

What often happens when there's a conflict or dispute in the world of science is that eventually a kind of negotiation takes place until a compromise is found to make all systems still able to co-exist. So it is with science on gravity, relativity and quantum physics... at the moment. Sooner or later something will come along to throw a spanner in the works again no doubt, but here's where science seem to differ from the world of business and in part even to the world of arts and community services.

Instead of tearing at each others throats trying to win a war by discrediting anyone who disagrees, scientists have a greater tendency to huddle together to resolve the issue more often than not to find an alternative way to look upon things that helps explain things once more so that we can continue to function and, more to the point, develop and progress. Business, community services and the arts tend to diversify instead as a result of differences, but as we're in a recession, where there's a safe common ground to thrash out economic solutions perhaps...

Hence one of my quirky tweets... maybe scientists and mathematics will find the equation to fix the world's troubles once and for all one day. A rather happy thought I think, but yes, idealistic. The question is... Would we listen and act on it such a solution if science did find the answer to such a riddle? I think we have the knowledge, skills and ability to do resolve everything anyway, so just as a child might say, why don't we?

Co-existence of ethics and principles

I personally don't think it's in anyone's interests to prevent people excelling and getting handsomely rewarded for their skills and talents, so long as they truly merit it. We all have strong opinions on that which is why it's such a long standing bone of contention. I don't think it wise to stop people being rich because if we impose a restriction on others as to the level of reward that can be achieved we will deny such opportunities for ourselves. The wish to be rewarded for our efforts is a natural, normal, healthy human desire.

However, I think some public service salaries should be capped so that it deters corruption to a degree. Earning a big salary and gaining bonuses just doesn't fit with what should be the motivation behind those who choose such careers however much those who serve and often do merit the highest salaries of all. A trainee nurse could be saving someone's life from their very first day for example, so I'd rather see their salaries increase before directors of services do.

We should be realistic about who can reach the very top. No, it's not always the wealthy and well placed as programmes like the X Factor show. You just need to be particularly good at something and get lucky enough to be spotted and encouraged be it business, sport, arts or community services. You can even get ahead through personality alone. Who'd have believed someone who can stay in the same house for a few weeks and watched on TV 24/7 could end up famous? A far cry from that male friend of mine who could have been another John Nash (see the film A Beautiful Mind), had he been luckier early in his life, and had he been born at a later point in history. Who else have we missed out on I wonder, and why?

Do not expect a level playing field because life isn't fair as we will never all be born equal, but DO try to level out the bit you are playing in and if possible grab the whizzing goalposts when they least expect it and cement them in once and for all. That would just leave the rules of play to contend with.

TOP TIP: silly rules you can always use against the originators of them, but you mustn't break them even when others do. Two wrongs have never made a right even though in the English language a double negative makes a positive and how it can in science which could explain a few financial figures. The concept I believe is termed 'a negative profit situation' and I've heard some organisations and politicians have gone for this in BIG way!

Reality Check

The real truth is, no society will be able to function if we have just leaders and no workers. Lucky then that we have so many different interests and preferences for our working lives. How fortunate that we have diversity as far from it diminishing possibilities, it increases them. A pity though that although an entrepreneurial spirit seems to be the order of the day for the next generation, it still isn't as yet fully embraced or encouraged among ordinary workers who... build our homes, office blocks and factories and man them, install and maintain our utilities, grow and distribute our food, dispose of our waste, look after our health, educate our children, save us from fire and crime, install and operate transport and communications systems, manage our finances etc and hopefully help us with their expertise and advice.

"How to be wise: 1. make mistakes but learn never to repeat them. 2. learn to avoid the mistakes of everyone else." Tweeted by me.

I firmly believe we have great possibilities as a species, but only if we learn to be wise on what we should compromise on so that all can enjoy a quality of life of our own individual choosing. Yes, that's idealistic, but as the maxim goes - "aim high and be prepared to drop."

I believe we will always find what we seek so long as we are dedicated enough to keep looking. The trick is to spend the bulk of our time seeking possibilities to overcome the barriers in our way and to be flexible enough to adapt. For example I never thought I would suit care work or that it would suit me. I was wrong. It doesn't mean I will stop doing other things I enjoy just as much. Enjoyment it seems can come from the most unexpected directions, better to be open to that possibility than fixated with what happens to be the latest fad, especially if you want to excel and be unique.

My final thought is a question for scientists... are you absolutely sure the Fibonacci sequence only applies to 80% of life structure on Earth and/or beyond? What explains the other 20%?

Hoping my readers enjoy my musings and take them in the spirit they are meant - always.

Article: Ethical Trading

Despite appearances I don't like getting involved with politics, but the fact is that the political landscape affects us all, all the time. In a democracy it is a landscape that is shaped by our demands upon it. It is not helpful to merely criticise, nor is it helpful to stay silent when things that have been introduced then turn out to cause more difficulties. Just as no business can correct mistakes if it is not aware of them nor can any government. I wholeheartedly advocate not only highlighting the difficulties we all face but to use our imaginations to think up more viable solutions too. The one without the other is no solution at all. I certainly don't have the monopoly on solutions, no one does. Collectively I believe we can and do find them and always have and will. They we always need amending though, because progress never has had a reverse gear.

Over the past year I have encountered many organisation that are not wholly organised, or ethical in how they trade. If it their administration right, it slips up on it's customer service, marketing, budgeting or how it treats it's staff. While that could be true of any time - enterprises, like government reforms, take time to evolve - it seems more prevalent during an economic crisis. I strongly feel therefore that resolving these challenges requires time out to do so if we are to get on a better financial footing sooner rather than later. Hasty, knee-jerk emergency measures without due research, careful planning including contingencies and a thorough and detailed understanding of all the elements that are in play will only ever result in a deeper and more complex mess to unravel.

Information is the key to all matters, but in a time when goalposts seem to be whizzing about at hyperspeed it is perhaps no surprise to find so many enterprises struggling to function at all, even at a basic level. Take comfort though as throughout history, people will eventually slow down, calm down and stop acting rashly, it's just a question of when.

Do not assume that silly edicts will last - they never have. Do not assume they have been instigated from a sense of malice or cruelty - they seldom are. They arise mostly out of ignorance and fear due to there being little time to think clearly or collect information while the demand is for change. It's as if change of any kind will do, when in fact change at all could be the worst thing to do. Changes only help when they have been well planned and all the information has been collated to restructure a business and/or lead to government reforms that are sensible, logical and wise. I believe we can learn much from history, but what we learn and what ideas we come up with do need to be adapted to factors that we are encountering in the here and now to be effective and for the good.

From where I am sitting, the key change of our times is the growing demand for ethical trading. While it has always been in most people's psyche, it seems to have gathered momentum and a stronger voice in recent times - hence my interest and passion for social enterprises as it seems to yield more solutions than anything else on offer. That is not to say though that it has a monopoly on solutions though.

Why ethics is becoming more influential
In the UK in recent years we have had the scandal of cash for honours and politicians using their power for the betterment of themselves as individuals long before the economic crisis actually hit. It is not surprising therefore that many are still calling for parliamentary reforms to correct such things even now when such things have been reported to have been improved and fixed. The level of trust from individuals and businesses alike in any government has been seriously damaged by these things. It's led to all manner of petitions, protests and new movements starting. Add to mix the struggles that always ensue during a recession and it's no wonder at all that any government will have a hard time of it trying to effect sensible reforms while people are less inclined to trust and therefore talk to them.

What is true of our governments is also true of the world of business and industry. People are much more informed about scandals and corruption in those circles too thanks to the development of the internet and in particular social media and there is no going back on that now. With more information comes understanding of what is unjust, unfair and of how these things have come to happen but without full details again no viable solutions will be found. It has led to a growing sense of unrest and dissatisfaction with how things have been run.

Add to that how the Paralympics and the Time to Change campaigns etc have given disadvantaged people a platform to have a voice this year and it starts to become obvious why morals are becoming an element of social structure which will have to be factored in. I cannot see how such sections of our society can ever go back to being forgotten, overlooked or silenced now. For myself I think that's a positive step so long as we can avoid extremist reactions which could result in a reversal of discrimination against people who have not been so disadvantaged.

Ethics is complicated
We are all products of the societies in which we live. The smaller the circle of influence we move in the more insular we become and the less informed we are. Again the internet and media can help us to be informed but we can only ever make decisions based on the information we obtain. The maxim of 'we only find what we seek' holds true. People do not tend to believe anything that does not suit their own agenda, belief or ambitions unless they actively make an effort to understand and be considerate of their opposition to improve communication and negotiate. When it comes to social issues (which without exception helps form who we are and our opinions), we find the intensity of emotion at it's peak.

For example, is is right for governments to spend large amounts of money on trying to reform convicted criminals and less on supporting victims of crime? The hope is that by making such efforts there would be no victims as there would be no crime if they were wholly successful. Add in the fact that many people turn to crime because they are illiterate and the solution might seem simple at least for illiterate types. You might think it would it be right to say criminals are all mentally ill but by doing so you'd make it more difficult for victims of crime to be treated fairly and NOT be tarnished as criminals by mistake. Yes, we want to contain the worst offenders and punish them, but even some of them have become offenders because of what they have been subjected to. I often confuse people because I refuse to come down on one side of the fence or the other without access to all the facts.

A law has to apply to everyone regardless of circumstances but it should in my opinion have discretionary powers to allow for individual exceptions e.g. parking on double yellow lines to save someone's life, but you'd have to prove that that is precisely what you were doing. Ethics is extremely complicated, so it follows that governments and businesses alike have a hard time of it in attempting to be fair to all.

Gearing up in business and industry
Fortunately in business and industry, away from public and community services (including charities), ethics are far more easy to get right. No sweat shops, no excessive hours of work, rest and meal breaks, and a fair wage that reflects the value of worker's skills are all a good start. Paying staff promptly so they don't have to struggle with finances to get to work, allowing them time off to look after relatives in an emergency and providing good training to help both parties develop and succeed all help too.

It's my guess that those businesses and organisations who are already supportive of their staff AND the community will be ahead of the game for the future. Those who provide work for disabled and disadvantaged people, who support public services through giving a slice of their profits will be the most profitable by growing ever more popular and therefore successful. The one common factor all people respond to, is giving more to those who support them in their hour of need and this is something all employers would do well to invest in as their greatest asset will always be their own staff and the broader community, as working or not we are all a part of it. Employers could, and I think eventually will, change not just our current economics with regard to trading, but the political landscape too. For me, it's just a question of when, however, now seems to be as good a time as any to start trading ethically if you are not already doing so.