Eldon-Online

Ambitious Dreams - Never Let Them Die!

In this increasingly chaotic world, it is nice to know that there are still people willing to follow their dreams, and not get sucked into the treadmill of routine and job-security - whatever that is these days!

Our daily news sources, no matter what your favourites may be, are constantly regaling us with tales of the outrageous from Syrian acid attacks, through political shenanigans and so much uncertainty in many countries around the world (French elections today), rampant corruption, and down to United Airlines sinking to the lowest depths of customer engagement, and then on down to the pathetic - such as verbal foul-mouthed and racist tirades from a once revered tennis star who should know better – even though when he was playing he had something of a “brat” reputation.

As a result, there’s actually often enough out there that would make the saner people that still inhabit this planet say “What the hell; I give up!” and go seek some quiet corner of the earth (preferably one that has a likely ongoing supply of water) to live an orderly life.

But happily I know people who still wake up in the morning with a dream in their head; with an ambition to do something that is different. I don’t, in writing this, mean just people who want to better themselves in their chosen profession. That of course is ambition and it is a totally worthwhile cause. Ambition in my view is something that should be pursued by everyone who is alive. An ambition to better their own lives in some way – and look, it doesn’t have to be financially driven or all about status although heaven knows there are enough people around who seem to think that is the only reason to be ambitious. And if they improve other peoples lives in the process then better still.

I know for myself I always held the view, wrongly on reflection, that I was not particularly ambitious. My upbringing was unusual, as people who know me will testify, and I was taught to behave in a certain way that manifested itself in a large supply of insecurity and diffidence. I was unlikely, therefore, to take ambition to an “all-conquering, let nothing stand in my way” level, which is what I used to think ambition was all about. Anyway, to cut a long story short – I got kind of lucky at various points in my career that meant my “ambitions” were being satisfied almost without my being conscious that I had them.

But ambitions aside there are also the dreamers. Not in the woolly-headed sense of not having their feet firmly on the ground, but dreamers who have visions. And again, for clarity, not people who want to become a Bill Gates, Steve Jobs, Elon Musk or Mark Zuckerberg, but people you will meet on the street, or perhaps at a social gathering of some sorts. I would describe them as “ordinary” people, but they are not. There is something that drives them along a path that is somewhat different from the one they had perhaps intended.

I am lucky enough to have three wonderful children who are all very different. I’m not about to discuss their various qualities here, but our second child falls somewhat into the “ambitious dreamer” category. University degree, talented musician and performer, linguist with varying degrees of fluency in Mandarin and Spanish, and his English isn’t bad, so what does he do? With his husband in Australia he has a café, wine bar and bookshop. No business experience to begin with, but a wish to do something different; to follow a dream. It won’t make him rich but he’s making a real go of it.

I am finding more examples of people like this, the most recent of which has been the revelations of (now former) FT Lex writer in Asia Lucy Colback who, despite having already done a few interesting things has chucked it all up to pursue the ambitious dream of writing a book. If you are able to get hold of a copy of the Weekend FT for 14 April you will find in the Life and Arts section a piece written by Lucy on “why ….”. She writes much better than I do, so explains it more clearly than I could. Oh, and as an aside, if anyone reading this has contact with old war horses from the Second World war who would have seen action in and around China and might be willing to share experiences, do please pass on contacts.

Lucy is an old friend, and I wish her well in this latest endeavour, but as another friend said of the venture “I would say that is a bold move, or as Sir Humphrey Appleby (Yes, Minister!) might have said “very brave” !!

And the point of all this? Never ever think that you are too old or too young to follow a dream, an ambitious dream. If you do it and it fails, you put it down to experience and you go look for something else. If you don’t do it … you will never know!

Historical Limitations - An Increasingly Slippery Slope

I read a number of magazines in addition to my daily diet of newspapers, but a couple of years ago started to read one, aptly perhaps, called “The Oldie”. I guess my curiosity was to see whether I was doing what I was supposed to be doing at my age. In other words acting my age rather than my shoe size, although the latter in truth is something more like my preference. But I have to say, the last edition rather put me off. Almost every page I turned seemed to contain a comment about those of us of a certain age only having “a little time left”, or that most people die in their seventies. Great – clearly I need to clear out my desk and write my memoirs, if I can find the time. 

But it set my mind thinking. First of all there are limitations all around us during our lives, and indeed life itself has a natural limitation. But that’s looking forward. Today the media certainly in the “west”, for want of a better description, has in recent years provided a regular diet of witch-hunts relating to historical events that are now being judged against 21st century standards. That is one side of the coin, and now there is another and to me more sinister element emerging.

I grew up in an era where a war had just ended. Times were not exactly easy but they were easier for me than they had been for my parents, as it had been for their parents and so on. Wars, slavery, invasions, injustice were almost normal behavioural patterns. We have, through each generation, moved on in many aspects thank heavens, but just how far back do we have to take history to apologise for the deeds of our forbears who, in their day, were doing whatever was demanded of them? It seems from what one reads there is no limit, and of course under such a limitless scenario Britain should be sending a bill to Scandinavia for the Vikings invading Britain and then try and get some money out of the Romans for the ravages of Julius Caesar and others - and as for the French in 1066!! It goes on around the globe; let's face it the Mongolians (think Genghis Khan), the Spanish, the Dutch, the Portuguese all invaded other countries, and of course the Brits were hardly angels in any of this and probably owe more to most - if we go back in a limitless history.

Let's not hide behind the facts; it was how life was lived and it wasn't pretty. But are we not in danger of starting it all over again?

There will be few who do not, even in some cases perhaps secretly think that the recent US strike on Syria was a good thing. Let's give Assad a "bloody nose". But it won't stop him, until he is removed. The reaction from the Russians has, apart from the initial "that wasn't a good idea", been relatively muted. But let's face it, the Russian population is getting a little tired it would seem of Mr. Putin so they have a few more things to worry about at home and facing down a US/Europe (slowly in the case of the latter, but led by the United Kingdom) that could make life just a little awkward for them.

This whole USA involvement thing internationally, by the way, given the pre-election rhetoric of President Trump is something I find intriguing. Was the reaction from the White House really as a result of the horror expressed by the President's daughter - well that was what the media reported- so it was probably false news!!

But there are also the bigger issues of North Korea and Iran to consider. Is the USA similarly now going to get more involved? If so, and if they do not think about the broader effect of their actions, we are in my view already on the slippery slope. But none of this worries me nearly as much as the growth in isolated incidents. These so-called "lone wolf" attacks (rarely lone, of course, but at least small cells) are really not going to go away any time soon.

In the last few months we have seen attacks in France, Nice being critical, and then Belgium, we've had London and Stockholm more recently. You will have noticed the recent commentary, reflecting something that was being said a while ago that all of this is in retribution for "The Crusades". These, to save you looking them up, took place between 1096 and 1291. And if the world is now going to face this sort of disruption, it demonstrates that there is no limitation on history. Or that people do not learn. Or that we are indeed just at the beginning of a slippery slope and that actions or rather reactions that are not coherently thought through just adds fuel to these zealots and people seeking revenge - apparently. And they are not that easy to find.

Historical limitations - common sense please. But how do we encourage rational thought? I don't qualify for the Snowflake Generation by about 50 years but both mine and their generation, and all those in-between, need to do something, or that slope is going to get very slippery indeed.

TechnoTrad

I admit it: I had no idea what title I was going to give this piece. It's all about the technological world in which we live today and the surprising amount of tradition that is still around. And around almost to the extent that it might not go away any time soon, giving hope to those over and above a certain age that they still have a role to play. So I combined technology and tradition. Simple.

We are surrounded on a daily basis by reports of the advances in technology, artificial intelligence, robots taking over our jobs, driverless cars, no need for money in cash form - the list is actually endless and growing.

That growth is in the hands of the digital natives and millennials, and although facing extinction dinosaurs still roam the world and seem to revel in the fact that they are happier living in the past. No computers, they don't use ATM machines and I am sure in some cases they may even use a typewriter or have maybe mastered a fax machine. Hands up anyone under 25 who has actually seen one of these things? But how long can they hold out against advancement and a tech-savvy generation coming up rapidly behind them.

Now although of dinosaur age I have always prided myself on kind of keeping up with technology but it is growing at a much faster pace than it ever was, and therefore in time and as the brain cells start to function at a slower speed I am sure I will get left behind, but not disinterested. But you know, despite all these advancements it appears to me that there are still some traditional attributes about living in this world that are not actually changing so fast, or are drawing back from the edges of where they had reached.

 On the latter point, for example, take books. They are still being written and thereafter appearing in paper form despite the obvious online attractions of downloading them to read. There are an increasing number of people now who tell me they are going back to the paper versions of the books because they like the feel of the book and they can see easily how far they have read. It seems to be a comfort for them, and it's not just the older folk but young ones too. And I get that. Indeed my own Kindle is lying quietly in a corner at present. Having said that I read just about all my newspapers online, and 90% of the companies on whose Boards/committees I sit deliver the papers to me using technology. When you end up with Board papers for a meeting these days that run to a length in excess of War and Peace (seriously) - by using technology you are saving the environment for sure. It is of course possible to annotate those papers, but I admit to the occasional temptation to print some of them out if only to save my eyesight.

I am talking about other things too that today technology cannot replace. You can use technology to contact people easily and instantaneously. You can use various social media networks to call them, diarise meetings, exchange information - BUT you cannot use technology to substitute for human interaction. Not yet, anyway. The more traditional means of looking a person in the eyes, watching their facial expressions, gauging whether they are being truthful, reading the body language. That all takes time, practice, and in person.

Then there is that fact lurking in the back of the minds of individuals today, in what I find to be an increasingly cynical world (and being by nature one of the most cynical it is concerning even to me) is a growing mistrust of technology. Those of you who know some of the things I do in Hong Kong will be aware I am involved with Octopus cards, the almost 20 year old, and definitely ahead of its time (at the time), transport and retail touch card. We have a facility that enables people to automatically top up their cards through their Bank account but the take up of this facility in relation to the number of cards in issue is very small. I ask why.Hong Kong people love technology. I am told it is because if the card is lost or stolen and used, unlike cash which once spent is gone, you run the risk of it being topped up from your account automatically. That is true, but the vast majority of people in Hong Kong are sensible folk who would keep their card safe, and would know quickly if it were lost so they could stop it. And if there are a number of top ups being made on a card with Automatic Top up, the company will pick it up the unusual pattern and call you to ask if it is you using the card. That is from practical experience I had, and it was way before I was involved with the company.

Also, I get asked to talk to groups of people about joining Boards for example, and also about subjects like Corporate Governance. These are things that require people to understand what is needed, to do the right things, be ethical - and while technology can provide much of the background information you need quickly, it cannot yet replace human nature. If it could, we would now be heading even faster down some slippery populist slope where you are not sure whether the information you see in front of you from the media is true or false.

So the next time you get excited about the prospect of jumping into a driverless car, make sure your enemies are not tech-savvy enough to be able to drive you off the road - or indeed the 10 year old next door hasn't decided he or she is going to get their own back because you told them to get off your garden wall!

For all the advances in tech, there's still a need for past history and tradition. Maybe TechnoTrad's not such a stupid title after all.