We have fair-trade coffee and various other ethically sourced and manufactured goods such as non-sweat-shop clothing.

Given most electronics manufacturing is now done in countries like China where labour is cheap and plentiful, and where sweat shops have most opportunities to grow, far from the eyes of Western consumers; is it now time for ethically manufactured electronics?

Read the article about Apple’s iPod factories on MacWorld UK.

Read the …

The customer is not always right. A real relationship demands two-way respect. You need to respect your customers, and they need to respect you in return.

The following a true story – I saw it with my very own eyes as I was sitting at a café writing up my notes after a meeting.

A middle-aged woman turned up with her baby and a friend. After she placed her order, …

Spotted at a supermarket:

Context affords a huge amount of information - it enables understanding. Without context, the phrase “Glass Juice” is utterly meaningless.

Contrast this with how databases, knowledge management systems (KMS), customer relationship systems (CRM) works with information. In order for these systems to manage information effectively, we are forced to pare down the rich context of knowing a person, a skill, or an …

The people who build systems unconsciously or consciously affect the culture we live in. Their unique world view, cultural quirks, and beliefs will inevitably seep into the systems they build. These systems then become ways to export the creators culture to others.

Example: games that fetishises women – think Lara Croft. As with all craftspersons, game developers design and build what they themselves want. And given a lot of …

An African proverb. Worth reflecting on in light of the impact of business decisions on our collective future.

A child is the product of the society it grows up in. Ergo the society we create determines our future.

What sort of society has conventional business created today? When was the last time we stepped back and took a serious sniff?

Business has a direct influence on society. It shapes media, advertising, …

The IOC is worried that they many not be able to “manage” what athletes say about the Games through their personal blogs. They are concerned that blogs “could lead to scurrilous rumours being broadcast on the Internet”.

Welcome to the real world! The Internet gives us (ok, those of us who have the means of accessing it) the power to say exactly what we want to. To express our …

I believe that conversations/dialogue is a big thing for the world at the moment. It is time we all come out of our self-imposed exile behind the walls of culture/politics/religion/politeness to start talking to each other in our real voices. There is all too much postulating and couching going on at the moment.

Speaking of integrative – perhaps it is worth meditation on not splitting home and work, but rather a holistic approach to your craft that is a seamless and fluid combination of “work” and “non work”. I am consciously going down this path this year – there is no work vs non work, but rather, there is only the main thought of how I want to spend the time …

You are disconnected with your creative self if you are often bored or you rely primarily on extrinsic drivers to organise your thoughts.

Have you noticed how young children can often amuse themselves for long periods of time just about anywhere and with anything? This child-like curiosity and present engagement with the world around them is an expression of their innate creative selves.

In our hyperstimulated society, we often become …

Our brains are very good at supporting and bolstering our ingrained beliefs and perceptions of the world. Left to its own devices, it dutifully filters all the incoming information and stimuli to present only what supports our current worldview.

For example – I may be freely giving my attention, energy and time away to everyone and anyone because deep down inside I do not believe anyone would pay …