Processes of change
One of the joys of travel is reading foreign newspapers. Not only does this enable me to read about different places but it also enables me to read news from a different perspective.
A significant event it is an important factor in the process of change. A significant event can release pent up forces and achieve a step change.
So, I was interested to read when I was in Singapore that earlier this year, before the financial crisis erupted, two different senior bankers had moved from London to Dubai. My conclusion is that when the financial world settles down and we come out of the current recession things will not be the same as they were before. In particular, the trend to move from Europe and the “New World” of America eastwards to Asia will accelerate. We can expect a significant move in the centre of gravity of affairs.
I was interested to read in The Times of India the following heading: “Earn & burn Gen Y starts saving up”.
The economic slowdown is turning a generation of earn-and-burn the Indians into cautious savers who scrimp, stash away and cannily budget for tomorrow, the article says.
It has taken just a few weeks to transform a generation raised on seemingly endless supplies of everything. But the effects are clearly visible. Sales of cars, mobiles and iPods, whose consumption is mostly driven by youth, have slumped 5-15% since August, according to consultancy firm KPMG, which tracks spending patterns.
Many of India’s new young savers believed the change is all to the good Amit Khandelwal, a 26-year-old equity analyst at a Mumbai investment firm, says his new, cautious saver mindset led him indefinitely to defer a housing loan application, even though it went through without furnishing proof of employment.
Another theory of change is the “tipping point”. And if Gen Y people in India, which is still growing and likely to continue growing, are changing their habits, then a tipping point has been reached.
I was in India at the end of 10 days of festivals including the Diwali festival of light. The Times of India reported some debate about a decision taken by an Oxford council that this year’s festive celebrations for Christmas should be renamed the “Winter Light Festival”. The council leaders have done this to make the celebrations more “inclusive”. The paper’s editorial claims that this is an instance of multiculturalism gone haywire.
It is interesting to read the debate about British attempts to respect their relatively new immigrant populations and their religions from the perspective of a country in which religions have long been mixed. I further quote:-
The Oxford City Council could take a leaf out of the celebratory nature of Indian and multiculturalism. All religious festivals are celebrated with great fervour in India and many of them involve people belonging to different religions. So, during Christmas it won’t only be the Christians who will be celebrating in India. The same holds true for Hindu or Moslem festivals.
The Times of India also discusses the success of Barrack Obama in using the Internet to generate funds for his recently successful campaign. An increasing problem in politics and the government has been the need for political parties to depend on organisations for funding who later expects favours in return. There have been a number of scandals as a result of this in the UK and the USA is well-known for the power of its lobbyists in Washington.
The theme of The Times editorial is that Internet technology has enabled Barack Obama to rise above this problem because the majority of his funding has come from many, many individuals who have contributed amounts $200 and thus remained anonymous. Such donations, apparently, comprise about half of the $650 million that Obama has raised since last year. At a time when the influence of big money in politics is obvious, grass roots financing has the potential to give candidates a way of raising money that does not leave them beholden to big corporate sponsors. Obama has reached small donors through social networking websites, e-mail and SMS, who reached out virally to more donors.
Once again, technology has come to the rescue of society!
I would like to introduce you to somebody whom I met while I was in Bangalore this week. Krupalatha Martin Dass runs a school for children from the slums. She and her mother have been doing this for the last eight years and this week they have been able to expand to a second property. They have been providing this service from their own funds and from such funds as they have been able to raise.
The mission of the Sukrupa Organisation is this: -
“Sukrupa’s mission is to help underprivileged children escape a background of poverty, slum-life, illiteracy and ignorance, replacing it with hope and opportunities available to mainstream children.”
I encourage you to visit their website and to consider how you can support them in this. I have been particularly impressed at the emphasis they put on not only educating the children but giving them the life skills and experience and support that are necessary to ensure that these children can go forth to play a full role in society and not revert to the helplessness and drunkenness which are rife within the slums.
In a couple of days I leave for Montreal for the Annual Conference and Exhibition of the International Coach Federation. If you are attending, I hope that you will visit us at Stand 616.
Richard Winfield is founder of Brefi Group.
An international facilitator, he coaches and
facilitates directors and boards in transition:
helping them to make progress by
bringing structure and clarity
to their thinking.
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