Monday, March 16, 2009

Teach a man to fish…

Occasionally on my morning walk I catch up with Fiona, a friend who is a power user of Web 2.0 technology in the education sector. It’s great to hear what tools and approaches she finds useful in her quest to effectively communicate to and with her cross section of colleagues.
We were discussing the Medias ongoing obsession with negative stories that drag us down rather than inspire hope to make positive change in these challenging times. We discussed the concept of “Teaching a man to fish”, an age old proverb about empowering people to help themselves rather than looking for handouts.
A full page advertisement in yesterday Sunday Herald couldn’t have reinforced this message better. An innovative initiative by advertising gurus at DraftFCB offers 1000 hours of free creative service to any company judged to “have the best potential for creating or protecting jobs for New Zealanders”.
They rock! Inspired thinking and a catalyst for change that makes you wonder why they didn’t make this the theme of the jobs summit (Whatever happened with that anyway?).
I’m going to put forward Monday Morning as a contender. Monday Morning is our initiative to change the way we think about our business, to give New Zealand business people help, ideas and motivation when and where they need it the most.
To be a great fisherman there are only a few things you need, some functioning equipment, not necessarily the best, and some sound advice from someone who knows the best place and time to cast your line. The rest is up to you.

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