I didn’t want to write something negative about a cause I believe in and think that others should too. This led to a wider conversation with the lovely Katy Cory who agreed and added “this is the problem with movements that we want and need to believe because the headlines of what they are they for and what they do are so important but generally they don’t deliver, for example the United Nations (UN)”. We wouldn’t want to ‘out’ the UN as not having the muscle to deliver what it needs to because we know the world is better because of the concept of the UN but is this right? Do we expect less or are our expectations too high, after all it was Mandela who said “After climbing a great hill, one only finds that there are many more hills to climb”.

That conversation has haunted me all afternoon. My disappointment with the ANC is firmly with its political transition where its leaders are failing the people who really need them while they indulge in the power struggles and greed that plights politics all over the world. The movement that that freed people from the Apartheid regime was amazing and resulted in a change that should always be believed in, they seem to have lost their way and I hope this anniversary puts a spotlight on that.

We were so quick to judge an organisation like the UN for its lack of tangible delivery but the truth is some things need to happen and they don’t always have a hard output that can be measured, does that mean they have failed, disappointed us or worse don’t give us a reason to believe?

When I though about this in the workplace I realised it had been 3 years since we had worked on an enabling project, a project that will help get a tangible result, but not directly, it provides the infrastructure or the glue that brings a number of people, concepts and processes together to get the result. Enabling Projects need a reason to believe that goes beyond a hard deliverable, something that you know should happen because so many things will be better because of it, the greater good…sadly this kind of thinking doesn’t resonate in these economic times but it should.

So, when you are reviewing what projects you are supporting in 2012, think about what you need to deliver in terms of output and how many of these deliverables could be brought home if you linked them together through an enabling project – the glue, infrastructure, sanctions that could provide the greater good that makes it all happen. Spare a thought for those organisations like the UN without which the world would be a worse place (Major Achievements of the UN).

Homelessness is more than just a housing issue; family problems , mental health issues, losing your job and so confidence, not feeling like you can be part of society for a variety of reasons – every person has their own story, you need to get beyond the drink and drugs issues, of course sometimes that is why they are there but it’s also a way of surviving where they are.

When I lived in Bristol I could walk to work everyday (the only time I have been able to do that), when you walk through a city early in the morning and late at night you can’t ignore how many people are living in subways, under bridges, doorways and park benches – I just couldn’t walk past them day in day out as if they weren’t part of my life, I saw some of them more than my family at that time! So I didn’t, I made them part of my life and it was an experience so rewarding I remember them dearly…BUT generally people thought I had finally lost it and I found the preconceived ideas of why people are homeless and the way they were judged very sad.

So this year we have donated the money we would have spent on Christmas cards to The Wellspring in Stockport, they have done a fantastic job for years and this year you will add to their Christmas cheer.

From everyone here at Cheeky Monkey we would like to thanks you for your support this year and hope you have a brilliant Christmas and New Year. Spare a thought for those not as lucky as we are and as you walk past the homeless as you rush getting your last minute bits, stop for a chat make them feel part of your life – it’s the warmest feeling you’ll get all season.

The difficulties with the Euro have of course now spread into the European Union, it’s a messy project without the involvement of politics and I for one, would find it easier to follow if I didn’t have to listen to the politicians jockeying for position, if I hear one more time that Labour would have done…

Europe is the world’s largest borderless market and we benefit from being part of that. When I studied Business at University I was always amazed at how much the UK drove and underpinned the European agenda, without the UK it wouldn’t be what it is today and still we are key players in that forum but are we really committed?

When France and Germany decided to support the Euro as a common currency and we didn’t – our relationship changed then didn’t it? Now the Euro is in trouble and although our financial institutions are exposed to this, we aren’t committed in the same way those that did are…it’s that eggs and bacon thing we aren’t as committed as the pig?

It feels a little bit like we want a bit of everything in a time when there isn’t much to go around. The concept of Europe as a single market with a single currency is like the idea of Communism, it works on paper but in practice human nature takes hold and it never works as planned. Maybe the Euro should be given up as a bad job and energy back into the strength of a single market that can compete against Asia & Latin America…my thoughts aren’t clear on this and my enthusiasm for clarity is waning the more that the press yabbers on about power playing and tribal rifts

The role we play in Europe is critical to us all, we need to understand the decisions that are being made and the consequences of those actions and we need to make those decisions openly, while exercising leadership in this international forum.

I would like to see Cameron and Clegg get together and have a televised debate on the pro’s and con’s on the decisions being made like the leader’s they are meant to be and showing the benefits of having a partnership in charge of this country – that two people with differing opinions surely means we cover all bases.

Ultimately Cameron has to make a decision and history will tell if it’s the right one. For once my day doesn’t seem too bad, what about yours?

The reason Evolutionary Novel Behaviour…basically kids with a higher IQ grow up searching for the new stuff. This makes perfect sense and normally that fact would focus on the positive outcomes that you would expect to see, this though shows that it’s good and bad and of course gives me a reason for my willingness to indulge in an extra glass or three!

Although the articles are interesting, the comments left by people were more so…

“Drinking is a social lubricant; most days you don’t fit in but with a few drinks you do; Ignorance is bliss; Dumb people are happier; Intelligent people are more sensitive to what is going on around them, drinking creates a moment in time; Drinking helps to cope with the idiots”

The use of the word intelligence is also well debated; the studies used empirical data (IQ) but we have progressed enough to know that is only one measure, that is what makes the study of the brain so fascinating. Before anyone draws any egocentric conclusions on my behalf, I’m not putting myself in the traditionally intelligent bracket but I do have a mind that never switches off and the comments about alcohol creating a moment in time did resonate with me.

I was also taken by the social nature of all the comments, they weren’t about going home closing the door on a world that didn’t understand you and drinking in isolation, they were about fitting in, being social, getting on with everyone…the real element of “social” in our world of virtual networking.

So as the party season kicks off and we are at our social best, when someone raises an eyebrow at you enjoying a festive tipple or two, remind them you were a smart kid – kick back enjoy the moment and enjoy the company of all the other smart kids around you.

When was the last time someone asked you or even considered “what it was like to be you?”

This thought has been in my head since I watched The Help the film based on the book written by Kathryn Stockett.

Set in Mississippi during the 1960s, a southern society girl returns from college determined to become a writer, but turns her friends’ lives – and a small Mississippi town – upside down when she decides to interview the black women who have spent their lives taking care of prominent southern families as part of a secret writing project that breaks society’s rules and puts them all at risk.

Every day I am astounded by the lives that people lead, the number of different people they are caring for and or the difficulties with health issues they are trying to overcome the concerns, hopes and dreams they have for the future it is always inspirational and humbling.

It’s all about courage and taking the opportunity to change: starting with the simple premise just one person deciding to understand what it’s like to walk in someone else’s shoes.

When I get the opportunity to bring people together to work on global initiatives, it is always amazing that wherever in the world you live at a basic level what people are juggling is the same although the environments may be staggeringly different.

I have very fond memories of a night out in Jakarta with a group of women from Indonesia, Bali, Nigeria, Kenya, Ghana, Thailand, Poland, Greece and the UK. We as a group represented every religious faith and cultural background you could mention and to begin with the conversation was polite.

As the night went on and we got to know each other barriers came tumbling down as it was clear we all shared the same thoughts, the things that occupied our minds were the same, the way we had to deal with them was different but in a way that we could all understand and take something from. That night changed the relationship I had with those women and dramatically changed the way we worked together resulting in the delivery of change within the project I never thought we would see.

If you are struggling to get an initiative to realise it’s true potential and you think that people are your blocker take some time to walk in their shoes, ask them what it’s like to be them right now, you could change the course of history.

The question is, “Why do politicians seem to struggle to address questions from the general public?”

Do you believe that your change will make the right difference?

• Do we know what we are doing this for?
• Is what we are doing it for measurable?
• What needs to happen for it to be success (or what would we stop the project for if it wasn’t happening)?
• Which individuals are going to do deliver what and by when?

• It gets everybody focussed on the goal (pun?) as well as the process.  It’s not just about them delivering something; it’s about them delivering something that creates a benefit.
• It makes sure that everybody understands what they are doing before the game begins.  The manager can still guide from the side lines but the team has a focus to carry them through.
• It also helps the team understand how the game is going to be played.  As well as agreeing the goal and the steps to deliver it, the kick off meeting should also help the team understand how they are going to communicate with each other or what to do if they see a risk or issue.

• Who needs any more meetings?
• That sounds like it would take a really long time
• Not everybody involved will attend