Three of my favourites clips…

Validation

A wonderful short film which is worth the sixteen minutes you will spend watching it.

Where The Hell is Matt?

Maybe it’s because I worked at Epcot’s International Showcase at Disney World, maybe because I Speednetworked the Globe.  Maybe it’s because I’m just a sucker for this kind of thing…

That John Lewis Advert

I’ve loved the Billy Joel song in this John Lewis advert since I was eleven years old.  It’s one of my favourite commericals of the past few years….

If you drop a frog into a saucepan of boiling water, so the story goes, it will jump straight out.  And frankly who can blame it?  It’s not easy being green at the best of times.  If, on the other hand, you place the frog in a saucepan of cold water, and heat it up very slowly, it will not sense the danger and will boil to death. 

This, I think, tells you all you need to know about the expenses scandal which has gripped and dirtied British politics over the past year.  It is also a reminder that we need to involve more outsiders in our lives.  When someone from a different country, industry or even generation is first confronted with the way we do things, they are far more able and likely to say ‘hang on a second – this is nuts’.  Immersed in the cauldron of an organisation’s stupidity, their reaction may either be to jump straight out, or shout ‘Eureka’.   

I have been meaning to write something about procrastination but to be honest, I’ve been putting it off.  Seriously though, they say the trick to getting things done is to do the least enjoyable task first.  They call it ‘eating the frog’.  I’m not sure how well this works in France, where such a thing might be considered something of a treat.  Also, anyone lucky enough to work for themself, frog-eating can be challenging because it is counter-intuitive.  Your whole life has been designed around the principle of doing what you want to do.  For business owners, entrepreneur Lara Morgan recommends a ‘Misery Day’.  This day, once a month, contains all of the absolutely worst, grottiest jobs you could possibly imagine.  By calling it Misery Day, you are revelling in its awfulness, underlining its importance and using it as one big reason to get things done.

Finally , a question, which relates again to our amphibious friends: 

Two frogs are sitting on a log.  One decides to jump off.  How many frogs are now sitting on the log?

The answer, is two.  Did you guess?

Why two?  Because one of the frogs only DECIDED to jump off.  He didn’t actually go anywhere. 

          “Then indecision brings its own delays,
          And days are lost lamenting over lost days.
          Are you in earnest? Seize this very minute;
          What you can do, or dream you can do, begin it;
          Boldness has genius, power and magic in it.”

       Johann Wolfgang Von Goethe

A few months ago, an email arrived from an organisation which connects student entrepreneur societies from around the country.  Would I, they wondered, be interested in speaking at their upcoming event, on the subject of ‘Shameless Self-Promotion’.  I nearly spat out my cornflakes.  No beating about the bush there.  I replied, suggesting that the title could do with some work, however yes, in principle, I would be interested.  Taking my feedback onboard, they put another angle to me;  “How about a session with Oli Barrett, the ‘notorious networker’?”  Reader, I practically toppled off my high horse.  Me, notorious?  Moi, a shameless self-promoter?  The very thought of it!  The idea that I would shout about my own activities is just beyond belief…

It is with great excitement then, that I can tell you that Wired Magazine in the UK have drawn up a list of 100 names of the people who, in their opinion, are ‘shaping the digital world’ here in Britain.  I seem to have snuck in at 74, between the Guardian’s Carolyn McCall (who is soon flying off to run EasyJet), and Dr Tim Hubbard from the Wellcome Trust Sanger Institute. 

The list is online here, and it’s great to see some friendly faces, including Rishi Saha, Michael Acton Smith, Tom Loosemore, Bindi Karia, Nic Brisbourne, Rory Sutherland, Mike Butcher, Joe Cohen, David Bott, Natalie Massenet, Andy Gibson, Richard Moross, Matt Locke, Andy Hobsbawm and Judith Clegg.

I’m listed as ‘entrepreneur, connector’ and so, perhaps predictably then the list (which of course is totally unscientific), has got me thinking about which of the 100 know each other.  My mission then, over the coming months will be to try to trigger a few introductions of my own between its members.  I’ll let you know how I get on!

“NOTORIETY, n. The fame of one’s competitor for public honors. The kind of renown most accessible and acceptable to mediocrity. A Jacob’s-ladder leading to the vaudeville stage, with angels ascending and descending.” Ambrose Bierce

I was asked by the good people behind the London Twestival, to name my favourite teacher.  I named Mr Parkinson.

Michael Parkinson.  MCP. Sometimes wore a tie with pig on it.  A joke, you see.  And he let us in on it.

Yes, I chose MCP.    

Firstly, because although I was only ten when we met, he treated me like a grown up.  What I mean is, he didn’t talk down to us. 

One day, he had a list of words which he wanted to see disappear from our essays forever.  Banned, they were.  Instead of chalking them up on the board, he made us write them on little scraps of paper.  These were then folded up into tiny pellets, and we had to line up to throw them into the bin, several metres away.  Good shots were rewarded with a sweet.  It was fun. 

When we became unruly, he wouldn’t get angry. Instead , he would kick us out, all of us,  and send us running round a far away tree, within eyeshot of the classroom.  Around the oak we would run, screaming and chuntering, returning breathless to our seats, to the next poem or chapter.  He knew that our excess energy was unlikely to be burned off by sitting still.

Finally, he taught us a poem.  I think I’ve shared it before.  It may sound silly, but I think it changed my life.  It’s called ‘It’s All In The State Of The Mind’;

If you think you are beaten, you are,
If you think you dare not, you don’t,
If  you think you’d like to win, but can’t,
It’s almost a cinch you won’t.

If you think you’ll lose, you’ve lost,
For out in the world you’ll find
Success begins with a fellow’s will—
It’s all in the state of mind.

For many a race is lost
ere even a race is run,
And many a coward falls
ere even his work’s begun,

Think big, and your deeds will grow;
Think small, and you’ll fall behind;
Think that you can, and you will—
It’s all in the state of mind.

If you think you’re out-classed, you are;
You’ve got to think high to rise;
You’ve got to be sure of yourself before
You ever can win a prize

Life’s battles don’t always go
To the stronger or faster man;
But sooner or later the man who wins
Is the fellow who thinks he can.”

Now I know that the idea of a little ten year old with big eyebrows running round a tree then reciting this poem is something bordering on the preposterous.  But I still remember it, by heart.

So thank you Mr Parkinson.  For making learning fun.  For treating me like a grown up.  For the runarounds and word games. 

For the poem.  I’ve tried to discover the name of the person who wrote it. 

It is listed as ‘anonymous’.  Ironic then, that the author’s name has been forgotten.  Unlike yours. 

Yours, I will remember forever.