I caught the bus today and somehow got chatting to the driver. He went on a rant about the giant floor to ceiling windscreens buses use. They cost $3,000 a pop and because of the height of the bus, often get cracked on tree branches etc.

The bus driver thought it was a stupid idea, and that the windscreen should consist of two panes of glass so even if one gets cracked, the replacement will be cheaper and the damage generally limited to the top part of the screen so visibility isn’t impaired.

He made the comment “No bus driver would have designed a window like this”

It makes you wonder how we still manage to design and produce products without the users driving or even being involved in the process.

A lot of people have laughed at me for getting so enthusiastic about this idea. I think it’s brilliant. For the first time, I have seen, people have the right attitude towards ‘rehabilitation’.

The idea of trusting high security prisoners with puppies that they will train into drug/weapons detectors or companions for disabled people, may, on the surface see a ridiculous hippy, bleeding heart concept. However, when you look at it, sometimes these ‘radical’ ideas are exactly what’s needed to change the world for the better.

The people who need them win

These dogs cost a FORTUNE to train. A large part of this cost is the training they go through when housed with a family. There are a bunch of people sitting in prison with nothing better to do. They have 24 hours a day of dedicated time and as the results have shown, produce the most well trained dogs in the programme.

The prisoners win

Our prison system is MEANT to be based on rehabilitation. Often I think it seems to be more about punishment – which may help us all feel better, but doesn’t achieve anything. In this example, many of the prisoners had never succeeded at ANYTHING in their lives, this is their first win. I firmly believe that no babies are born bad and I think that trusting someone who has NEVER been trusted before with something that is really important and that has a visible social benefit has the power to change some hardened criminals. Not all of them, but there is no perfect solution.

Society wins

Yes we do. Because often these people get released. And if there is any chance that partaking in a programme that makes them feel like worthwhile people rather than the scum of the earth will actually WORK, then when they leave, they will leave as better people.

Why is this important?

Because on a smaller scale, this philosophy affects us all. It can certainly be applied throughout business. Show someone you trust them and they are much more likely to strive to live up to that trust, rather than having to work hard to just earn it.

It may seem simple, but I think business owners struggle a lot with that attitude and we could get a lot more done if we embraced it a little more.

It was a big week last week. My first appearance in a magazine

Not quite the cover, but it was a real-life magazine, that’s even in print edition. And the author doesn’t know me and I didn’t bribe them (Could have photoshopped the hair off my face though.).

Wow.

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I have no set topics or themes in this blog.

What my blog says about me, is that I’m utterly random and waffle about anything and everything.

Find out about yours here: http://www.wordle.net

I just read at Seth Godin’s blog that the Pulitzer Prize people have altered the rules so that they effectively ensure that no individual blogger can ever win an award.

I think it’s stupid.

The Pulitzer Prize people have made the same mistake governments make when they ban same-sex marriage, or when anyone tries to use their influence to define who gets in and out. They create a hole in the market.

As more and more people move away from traditional mainstream media sources, all that happens when they are unrecognised is that people move towards other forms of recognition.

There are some spectacular bloggers out there and their numbers are growing by the day. If Pulitzer doesn’t recognise them, then an alternative award system will be setup and Pulitzer will slowly fade into obscurity.

And they deserve it for trying to abuse their power to shape the way people write.

When will people learn that trying to stop the inevitable will inevitably fail and they will be the worse for it. Dumb move.

In my favorite night of the year, we totally outdid ourselves.

It all started late last year when mum and I found reindeer outfits on sale for $2 a pop. We bought 9.

I then managed to convince 9 people plus myself and a Santa that going to the carols dressed in theme was a brilliant idea. Actually I never really convinced them, I think they were just scared of me.

I have have a renewed sympathy for movie stars… I am sure we hardly had any time to talk to each other, given the amount we were swamped by babies, mothers and teenagers. We posed for photo after photo, the MC (a FAMOUS GUY) came up and introduced himself, the police got in on the act and we started conga lines that stretched for tens of meters. Santa even got coloring ins and I was told by a lovely (drunken?!?) 12 year old that he loved me. There is a lot of fun to be had in a reindeer suit.

The Wellington event raises money for some of my favorite people, those who look after our sickest children (They also happen to be our customer). I hope they raised a fortune because they deserve it.

Yesterday’s human-powered number 350 on Parliaments lawn, was, in my opinion, a resounding success.

Initially, it appeared that the failure to attract 350 kids was going to be a major disappointment. It’s very difficult to appear as the voice of NZ youth, when many youth would rather race home to their tv’s than get involved in politics (democracy in action!). However it was awesome to see how seriously our politicians took the crowd.

New Zealand is indeed turning into a global laughing stock on the climate change issue. While several politicans still regard their attendance at these events as nothing more than a photo shoot, I was impressed at how happy they were that we managed to gather a crowd, spell out 350 and explain how we felt it was important to reduce Carbon Dioxide in our atmosphere down to this life sustaining level.

Many news cameras arrived, and due to (we’ll I’m claiming this anyway) my gagging motions in the background when Nick Smith sat down to discuss climate change for the cameras, they winded up focusing on the good stuff and not the posers. Ok the segment was at the end of the TV3 news last night, but that’s still pretty good if you ask me.

As everyone left, Verity and I found a cardboard sign floating around the lawn and felt it would be a valuable addition to our Decisive Flow memorabilia wall. Unfortunately, we had found the one sign that didn’t proclaim ‘down with climate change’

After experiencing the reverse on numerous occasions and in my endeavors to be a Good Person, I have instigated a new policy of Being Nice.

Man oh man does it pay back big time.

The one example I have at the top of my head is my lunch shop. i go there between once and 3 times a month, I’m kind of a regular but they never really knew me before. Back i the days getting lunch was a task rather than a friendly opportunity, I just ordered, got my food and paid.

Now I am like BFF’s with the guy on the counter and in the past week I have received a large discount on my lunch and today got about twice as much of it as I should have.

On top of the physical benefits of more food and lower expenses, it is FUN to have a casual chat with people when you are out and about. Your day is just a little bit more shiny and you can turn a task into an opportunity to have a good chuckle or other nice moment with a stranger.

It just occurred to me that it is so nice to find simple, easy ways to make life that much better.

The joys of living in NZ (as we introduced to Ronan on Friday night) is how inclusive our government is.

Anyone can wind up having a couple of drinks and a photo with and MP while wandering through the corridors of power.

Most people are related somehow to the prime minister, and if not, have at least had a beer with them.

However, we have just voted in a new one, so if you are unfortunate enough to have not had a meet and greet yet, come along on Thursday to parliament at 3.30pm to have a yak to JK about how New Zealand is performing so dismally on the world climate change stage… and what we can do about it.

WHY: The concentration of CO2 in the atmosphere is currently 387ppm and going up at 2ppm every year. Scientists have shown us that the safe concentration of CO2 in the atmosphere is no more than 350ppm.

OK so I’m not sure if JK actually knows that we are turning up… But this IS NZ, so I’m sure even if it’s not an official meetup, he’ll pop out for tea and scones.

Doing my rounds on the blogosphere yesterday, I came across this article, which describes someone stumbling upon their OWN picture being used in a dating profile for someone else.

Aside from the obvious joys of learning that you are so attractive that people WANT your image associated with them, it raises a whole bunch of weird questions and issues. Apparently it’s fairly common for dating sites to create a whole bunch of fake profiles to boost user numbers, however I suspect that doesn’t make finding your own image any less shocking.

The joys of living in 2008 :)