The extraordinary event this week of the manager of Manchester United, Louis van Gaal, being sacked the day after his team won the FA Cup – one of the four trophies available for the year and Man U’s first trophy win since Sir Alex Ferguson retired in 2013 – raised several issues. What does a coach have to do to be regarded as ‘successful’? How much of ‘success’ is due to the coach? And how long does a ‘success’ last before a coach is given the bullet?Read More »
Month: May 2016
VOLUNTEERS OR PAID WORKERS? GETTING THE JOB DONE BETTER
In one volunteer organisation in which I work (let’s call it Volunteer Co), I have been trying to organise a series of meetings with a major organisation (let’s call it Paid Worker Co) which employs thousands of people to get a series of agreed tasks completed by them.
But I have had endless trouble arranging mutually acceptable meeting dates. Volunteer Co employs no one. We are all volunteers. Our committee meets on the weekend, as we are too busy during the ‘working week’. At first, Paid Worker Co managers agreed in principle to come to our Saturday meeting, but it soon became clear that the actual employees would only meet within ‘working hours’ (Ie Mon-Fri), whereas we volunteers were happy to meet anytime, anywhere.
How is it that Volunteer Co is so flexible while Paid Worker Co isn’t?
WHY I LIKE ‘AUSTRALIAN STORY’… BUT NOT ‘Q&A’
My friends often ask me if I watch ‘Q&A’ and are surprised to find that I don’t like the show. When I say I like ‘Australian Story’, they express little interest. Yet both programs are around contemporary Australian issues, both are on ABC and both are on Mondays. Separated by perennial ‘Four Corners’, another current affairs program about very significant issues, you’d imagine the viewing audiences might be very similar. But there are fundamental differences between these two programs that emphasise the difference between ‘entertainment’ and challenging, engaging human interest current affairs.Read More »
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