As a working title it was something very new to me 'Viral Change' although not an original concept.
The person that introduced this working style to me had called change by stealth but this had a manipulating aura therefore the change in name. The notion that we all have a responsibility but we don't see it in terms of mass action. The aim is to get a chain of action started by a simple act. The consequential reactions create benefit to a wider group.
I saw it work with a housing project, by i…
Continue
Added by Mark Trotter on December 2, 2009 at 8:35pm —
No Comments
Try as we may to be the difference until governments accept that current policies and activities are really not geared to the needs of those least able to represent their needs then we are doomed to see more exploitation, corruption and strategic tomfoolery.
What narks me most is that we should have known that the rhetoric really was just too good to be true, politicians the world over haven't got a clue, and what a mess they are creating. Every step forward is a revelation on just how little i…
Continue
Added by Mark Trotter on June 7, 2009 at 7:31pm —
Comment
Stand on any street corner and just look up, wait to see how many people join you. You will be supprised! Similarly I found something interesting this week, I was working with a group of redundant people and they asked me what I do with my time, because part of what we were discussing was putting positive things on CV's.
So I started pointing at my object in the sky and found that many in the room felt the same they just didn't know how they and their family could change the world they live in.…
Continue
Added by Mark Trotter on May 28, 2009 at 8:05pm —
No Comments
Every now and then something magical happens around you and you stop and stare in amasement. This happened for me today.
The start of the day was interesting a discussion on what is real corruption based on what happened in the UK Parliament that delved into the very suspect dealings of those working for the people. My comment was that if an employee had claimed expenses from my company, shareholders, community that they were not entitled to then it would be a matter for the police if got over…
Continue
Added by Mark Trotter on May 14, 2009 at 5:21pm —
No Comments
What is GDP? why does it impact on ordinary people in their lives?
Most people can manage day to day living without thinking about Macro economics their aim is to survive, and that isn't just the 3rd of the world that requires investment and support to grow the economies preferred by the existing economic structures like the IMF and World Bank.
In the UK today the government announced a drop in GDP, this will mean continuing job losses for some time to come, the true level of unemployment will…
Continue
Added by Mark Trotter on April 24, 2009 at 11:48am —
No Comments
What is good for the masses isn't always good for the politicians that has to be an accepted truism today and the role of government is less influential at home than it is in the wider global community.
I heard a great sketch the other evening on radio 4 whilst travelling in the car, it basically followed a phone on debt and the young woman rang in to say that she had a small overdraught and the bank wanted to call it in so she borrowed, from a bank to cover that overdraught but the debt with a…
Continue
Added by Mark Trotter on April 22, 2009 at 12:25pm —
Comments
Time to join the debate the belief is something is better than nothing but is that really so.
The choices we take often present two fairly simple aspects, hard or easy and that really is the challenge between direct supply and fairtrade.
Direct supply requires a real knowledge of your supply chain - some people view it as a chance to map the carbon footprint of a product effectively but rarely are the fforts as indepth as they need to be. Fairtrade massages the socially conscious who really do…
Continue
Added by Mark Trotter on February 25, 2009 at 11:41am —
Comments
I fall foul of this so often these days reading the interesting regurgitation of other peoples views that are neither original nor are they well informed they quote quotes of people quoting someone else.
It reminded me of something someone said:.......... orhere is an interesting link where someone wrote and article on this subject or that topic.......
Original quotes often create thought provoking dialogue and actions to the point that really opens innovation.
Two that challenged the church…
Continue
Added by Mark Trotter on February 23, 2009 at 11:49am —
No Comments
When a friend of mine in Denver told me what he and his wife had achieved in this single venture I started to imagine the results of a network that linked postive small actions like this local project, the impact of collating that information would be immense.
Chris decided that something had to be done in his local community, homeless people now living on the streets in the cold winter, through the hardest weeks needed more than just good thoughts and prayers someone had to do something.
The…
Continue
Added by Mark Trotter on February 19, 2009 at 7:03pm —
No Comments
One of my close colleagues had heard about my decision to do something he thought was crasy relating to poverty. He felt that my current efforts were taking profits and turning them into lost opportunities and this new measure would be more of the same.
When I asked him about his ethical approach to business and the CSR programme his company operated his quick and honest response was he did it for two reasons - one tax efficiency and two increased consumer loyalty. Pictures from the community h…
Continue
Added by Mark Trotter on February 12, 2009 at 4:09pm —
No Comments
Some many people place their hope in politicians, the so-called great men of history (future) but as we look back in time have the lessons been learned?
Politics of any culture is intrinsically based on self interest. The greater good of the community comes behind personal preference and belief. If governments really wanted to create a stronger economy one of the most radical solutions would have been to wipe out the individual debt that leads to the market meltdown. Take the sting out of the b…
Continue
Added by Mark Trotter on February 4, 2009 at 10:25am —
No Comments
The cycle continues to develop and evolve but the truth is constant all mans efforts to create change lead to poverty and pain.
How can society adjust to the cycle and accept that leaders can meet in Davos, Entreprenuers can recieve awards but what really builds the world is not money but skills.
300 years ago someone began to perfect and change metalwork on a mass scale, 100 years another made mass production the norm but behind each was the tradesmen who had the craft skills to innovate. To…
Continue
Added by Mark Trotter on February 3, 2009 at 8:18pm —
No Comments
Today both BBC and Sky have been criticized for taking a position on an issue we all need to address, media impartiality.
With all honesty few of us can say we haven't a personal view on the rights and wrongs of the Arab/Israel situation. This post isn't going to cover my views nor should but it asking the real question about when does the media have the luxury of Morality?
Many conuntries have a share in the responisbility for the ongoing wars and that includes the superpowers (economic and m…
Continue
Added by Mark Trotter on January 26, 2009 at 2:58pm —
No Comments
I had to find a title that didn't overly criticize international businesses but the point that has to be made is that trade in itself does not empower business. That was the concept that organisations like Fair trdae addressed in their beginnings, but the lure of money has skewed best intentions.
To empower local communities through businesses and trade activities requires such a open and often vulnerable stance most companies will not take the chance. That is why we have so many rules protecti…
Continue
Added by Mark Trotter on January 23, 2009 at 1:55pm —
Comment
Over the winter break there has been time to reflect on twenty years of boom in the business sectors, but one of the things that the bust has highlighted is the fragile nature of business if it has no real markets.
To illustrate the automoitive industry, everyone wants a car, not everyone needs a car but we can create the desire for a car, is the marketing philosophy behind the industry. The vehicles are sold on reliability (but change yours every three years), economy (but the newer ones are m…
Continue
Added by Mark Trotter on January 5, 2009 at 10:41am —
No Comments
As we close out this year and governments get concerned over the failure of all market based economic structures because the one big flaw in the system was exposed again it is a chance to start thinking about radical approaches that could potentially change the social economic climate worldwide.
For this piece of thinking I looked at the reports about the Giants of the international Auto industries going to governments and saying give us money or lose jobs in your economies.
SO what would the…
Continue
Added by Mark Trotter on December 23, 2008 at 3:44pm —
No Comments
Well today new life has been breathed into one or two projects just because they have been able to get their point across through using video and audio records.
No script just showing what it means to people, don't forget we hae become a visual society and our attention span is so short in reading matter so we tend to opt for what we can see and hear.
A great addition to this for the outcome was to show somewhere there had been an improvement or the scale of improvement the local people were l…
Continue
Added by Mark Trotter on December 2, 2008 at 2:59pm —
No Comments
The world financial markets are set for a rude awaking the international bailout has it's limits because it it doesn't matter any longer what the great minds think unless commercial confidence is bouyant all the money the world has will not provide the sustainable get out gaol card they hoped for.
So with a shrinking globe we need to create community trade location to location giving footprint in each community across the globe. Tye the communities and see the local grwoth on both ends.
I have…
Continue
Added by Mark Trotter on November 25, 2008 at 7:24pm —
No Comments
We all have a limited view of the world and sometimes it is intentionally obscured by many things. A conversation over the weekend reminded me why more work in the whole area of health improvement has to be completed. For the want a few public health measures many countries would be able to eradicate whole diseases, but once out of sight it is forgotten.
I used to have contact with Lepra and once friends told me that leprosy was now controllable mistakenly I believed that the njeed for my conti…
Continue
Added by Mark Trotter on November 3, 2008 at 11:51am —
No Comments
Over the past few months I have had an interesting change in my approach to working with projects in Africa.
I recognise the need for money and the public benefit that is achieved by underpinning new social infrastructure, but I was asked by a project leader to justify the fundraising and the application of the funds using my own cost benefit analysis tool.
Well the results were surprising and I wanted to guage what this forum felt was the real benefit of this. I am not going to stop but I am…
Continue
Added by Mark Trotter on October 29, 2008 at 5:08pm —
Comment
