Gary Ling, Digital Producer, Data Monetiser, Political Savant, Information Economist, Solution Seller, Business Strategist.
"Life, is a Virtual State of Mind" - Gary Ling
  • Garys Balls
    • Ballsy Start
    • Marketing
    • Economics
    • Project Management
    • Business Strategy
    • eCommerce
    • Business Intelligence
  • Theory of Balls
    • Ling's Theory of Balls Rule 1: "Play Ball"
    • Rule 2: "Have Balls"
    • Rule 3: "Crystal Ball"
    • Rule 4: "Play The Ball"
    • Rule 5: "Talk Balls"
    • Rule 6: "Listen For Balls"
    • Rule 7: "Juggle Balls"
    • Rule 8: "Eye On The Ball"
    • Rule 9: "Score With The Ball"
    • Rule 10: "Have A Ball!"
  • Digital Thinking
    • ...Hi-Tech Cities
    • ...eCommerce
    • ...Bloomberg Reuters
    • ...User Behaviour
    • ...LoveIn My Blacky
    • ...GDS Digital By Default
    • ...InfoWorker BullsEye
    • ...The Cloud
  • DigiShorts
  • Ballsy Thinking
    • ...WikiLeaks
    • ...Stop Iranian Nukes
    • ... on UK Economy
    • ...on the EuroZone
    • ....on Terrorism
    • ...UK Independence Party
    • ...on Crime
    • ...on Social issues
    • ...on China
    • ... on Soviet Union
    • ... on Companies House
    • ... on Drones
  • Ballsy Shorts
  • Chicken Balls
  • Pit Balls
  • Maggie Balls
  • Military Balls
    • British Balls
  • Greenwich Balls
  • China Balls
  • Soviet Balls
  • Scotland Balls
  • Watford Balls
  • Adult Balls
  • Twitter Balls
  • Marketing
  • HOME Tiled

Life Working on Mars

16/1/2013

0 Comments

 
The globally successful TV programme 'Life on Mars' noted how the police operated in 1970-80s society. Perhaps judgments of workplace behaviour back then should also be seen by the cultural norms prevailing at the time. How do you judge this slideshow of 1980s office life? Click here to see an office leaving do 1980s style!
Picture
Wed, 16 Jan 2013. It's amazing to me how we judge events of the past by the standards of our own time. Of course, some events, for example the Holocaust, should be judged the same no matter from which historic point you view it. But what about the cultural mores of office life at a point in time with respect to Sexism? Chauvinism? Discrimination?  How different are these things judged even in our lifetimes?

Two events have caused me to write about this.  First, the scenes shown in some old photos that I found recently in the basement of my last days in a 1980s office environment before joining the army. The prints were going moldy and I just about saved them through digitisation. They portray scenes of rude gestures and nudity so please don't click on the link above if you are easily offended. Second, and I never thought I would ever write these words in a million years: the points raised in a recent article in the Daily Mail (yes I read everything!) by TV presenter Esther Rantzen  ("Esther blasts Savile police squad over its star arrests: Focus on famous could jeopardise young victims seeking justice, says ChildLine founder").  

Now Esther Rantzen is a woman who I know most as wanting to be the MP for Luton of all places! (If you understand that I am from Watford and comprehend the rivalry between Watford and Luton - you'll get a feeling of my opinion of her!).  In any case, Esther's Daily Mail article, criticises the UK Metropolitan police task force's Operation Yewtree, which was set up to examine claims of widespread child abuse in the wake of the Jimmy Savile revelations, yet has now started to arrest celebrities for ‘historic’ allegations of sexual abuse brought by women who were in their twenties at the time.

I know nothing of these allegations other than what has been made public and make no judgment whatsoever on the merit of them. However, is it now time for the hardworking detectives of Operation Yewtree to revisit the culture of the workplace in the 1970s and 80s and put things into context of that time? For them to experience a kind of "Life on a Work Place Mars". What they may find is that the type of things that were thought 'funny' then may not be thought so funny now. In fact, what happened in offices just a few years ago may get you arrested today! 

A slideshow of a particular workplace experience of mine when I was a consultant with Arthur Andersen (now known as Accenture - see The TOB Rule 8 for more on this) which took place in the office of one of Britain's biggest companies in the 1980s might just be the sort of Martian experience that they need. So officers, click on this link here to visit another planet...and, please remember, you have been warned!
0 Comments



Leave a Reply.

    Check the 'Categories List' below to select by topic.
    Follow this Blog to discover how the
    ebbs and flows of markets, politics, conflicts, countries, people and money
    make the world go round.
     For comment on eCommerce, technologies, IT, Big Data and more see
    'Digital Thinking'.

    Picture

    (Pron. "bawl-zee thing-king")

    defined:
    adj: 1. Slang courageous and spirited reasoning; judgement  2. Characterized by clear, straightforward thought or thoughtfulness; rational: “That’s the sort of Ballsy Thinking to move us towards our objective”.

    n.  1. The act or practice of one that thinks differently, innovatively; new thought.  2. Leading by way of reasoning; judgment: “This is not ballsy thinking, it is too timid an idea.”


    Picture

    Archives

    November 2018
    August 2017
    June 2017
    August 2016
    July 2016
    June 2016
    April 2016
    November 2014
    July 2014
    March 2014
    September 2013
    May 2013
    February 2013
    January 2013
    December 2012
    October 2012
    September 2012

    Categories

    All
    Brexit
    China
    Companies House
    Conflict
    Crime
    Drones
    Eurozone
    Get Connected
    Global Finance
    Global Sport
    Iran Nukes
    Millennials
    Social Issues
    Terrorism
    The Meaning Of Life
    Uk Economy
    Ukip
    Uk Politics

    RSS Feed

Picture
Current Status: 
Gary welcomes the opportunity to discuss projects that he might be able to work on with you.  
Tel: +44 7508 157 892 Email: ideas@garyling.com

Picture
Photos used under Creative Commons from jdn, Editor B, WDanRoberts, Mike Licht, NotionsCapital.com