Tag: Work

Uru people and saving the human race.

Posted on by philipdodson
"Uro boy" by Christopher Crouzet - Own work. Licensed under CC BY-SA 3.0 via Commons.
“Uro boy” by Christopher Crouzet – Own work. Licensed under CC BY-SA 3.0 via Commons.

While having dinner on the beach with the everyone from the Copass Camp, in Corralejo, Fuerteventura, at the strangely named Waikiki restaurant.

Although sounding very touristy, it is not at all and the food was awesome. Half the group had amazing Chateaubriand steak, which they cooked to their liking on the hot stones at the table and other half of the group, we had super tuna fillets.

Not sure how relevant any of this is yet to the title, but in any story it is important to set the scene.

So at one point Stefano, co-founder of Copass, was talking about a trip he made to Peru, and especially he talked about these native people, who still lived on islands in the middle of lake Titicaca, and how they lived.

I found out from Wikipedia this morning that they are called the Uru people, they live on floating islands, which were originally for defensive purposes.

The interesting thing about these people, that even in the 21st century, they live a simple existence, relatively free of technology and the things we all take for granted in the ‘first’ world (not a term I like, but a label we can all understand).

We also talked a little about the nomadic people of Mongolia, and having watched Ewan McGregor’s bike ride round the world, where they passed through Mongolia, the thing that struck me about these people, is that to many they would seem to have nothing, but in fact they had everything they needed. They are happy.

Stefano also talked about the amazing community that Uru have and there is no money, people do everything for the community. So the little money they do have is raised from the ferry, enabling to buy some essentials they need from the outside world. Again they were happy people, not feeling unworthy because they didn’t have an iPhone 6s or troubled by poor broadband speed.

I blogged a while ago about the idea of not having money, of resetting everything and everyone to zero, and then perhaps using the Echo model, where everyone’s time is worth the same, 1 Echo for 1 hour of time, you could stop a tiny few on the planet accumulating much needed resources.

We would not need to work in the same way, as we wouldn’t need to earn so much money, as an element of what we all did would be for the community.

This may seem to many as fluffy and utopian, but you know what, with $61 trillion owed in debt, who to, I have no idea, isn’t it time we ditched money and found a better system. In fact in the time it took me to look up that fact $2m of interest had accrued.

One that will enable us to ensure as a human race that no one is hungry, homeless or poor, to ensure that the wealth of the community, is enjoyed by everyone in the community, not just a tiny elite.

Yet another interesting chat during our camp here and more evidence of when people get together to work, and live together, no matter where that physical connecting point might be, that you can discuss ideas and perhaps collaborations can form to help construct an alternative.

The way to save the human race is to connect, form communities of people from all over the world and to bypass the system, that most are forced to serve and comply with.

Dodson and son

Posted on by philipdodson

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Taking on a new employee often has it’s challenges for both the organisation and the new employee. Why is that?

There are those painful first few days, when the employee knows very little about what is required of her, they feel like a ‘fish out of water’, as everyone around them seems to know what they are doing, they have their heads down, and they seem to be fully occupied.

Whereas, the newbie is often twiddling their thumbs, awaiting for the next bit of induction and training. It can be a touch frustrating and boring.

For the employer or the manager, there is this new person, who is totally dependant on them for their daily activity, induction and training in their new role. Yet, she still has all the daily tasks to do that her job requires, so every moment spent with the new person, means time not spent doing her own stuff.

However, most of this is caused by the pressure of thinking that the new person has to be trained to a certain level within a short as possible time frame, often in a very unrealistic amount of time. As it is often about the term ‘when can she be revenue generating?’. The mentality that is all pervasive in our society.

Often, it is the classic conundrum between just getting it done ourselves versus showing someone else to do it, as in the short term it is quicker to do it ourselves. Give a woman a fish, she eats for a day, teach her to fish, she can feed herself for a lifetime (or something like that!).

The root of this, is the dogma about how things have to be immediate. Like all things, training or working with a new employee takes time, time for both to become ready. It is a journey and the more time you’re prepared to invest in that process, the more reward will come for both. You will become a team, together creating something better.

It is not about who the ‘boss’ is either, you could see it as, you are both on the same crew, with different responsibilities, one needs the other to succeed.

After all the most important person in any organisation is not the owner, shareholders, investors or customers, it is the employees.

In my business, I have just taken my son on as an apprentice, it is an investment for both of us, it is a journey and whatever time it takes for it to work out, is the time it will take. There is no pressure on him, or me, to reach any level and it is up to him to learn and work in a style and pace that suits him.

So today is the start of Dodson & Son, an opportunity for an amazing journey.