Media convergence is overrated …..

What does 2009 have in store for the South African media community?  Check out this article:

http://www.bizcommunity.com/Article/196/423/31774.html

2009 and the quest for balance

‘What can I do to make me a better me?’  The start of a year always results in me asking myself this question and this year is no different.  One year down and on reflection 2008 was by far my most sucessful year yet in achieving  this, and in ways I could never have imagined possible.  That’s why it always worries me when people feel their life plan has to be spelled out …. sometimes the round-about route to something, or somewhere, is more fun than the most direct route available.  That was certainly true for me in 2008.

With success though there are often disappointments as well.  At the start of the year I wanted to set about making business ethics ’sexy’ and ‘cool’ (or is that ‘kewl’?).  Boy was I naive.  Professional bodies want it as academic as possible, regulatory authorities want it as legalistic as possible, and business schools have yet to embrace ethics in business in anything even approaching a  meaningful way.  As long as I dressed business ethics up as ‘reputation’ and ‘reputation management’ there was interest but nowhere near the level that the current state of capitalism requires – no demands – of each of us. 

Imagine my surprise reading the Dec 5 2008 issue of Financial Mail and coming across a book review by Richard Steyn of  “What they teach you at Harvard Business School’ (Philip Delves) that specifically addresses this problem.  Of more interest to me than what they did teach at Harvard was the author’s take on what they don’t teach …. you guessed it:  ‘Balance’ and how to perform while doing the right things right.  So if Harvard Business School can’t get it right why would our business schools?  On a corporate level companies like Adcock Ingram, Liberty Life, Standard Bank Africa, TBWA Hunt Lascaris and Levi’s are all really making an effort in this area.  And if for no other reason that’s why this subject is going to stay one of my pet subjects (or is that passions?).  To be successful in business you require balance and a genuine desire to balance performance with how you get there. There’s a phrase for that and its called business ethics.  Leadership is balanced.  Leadership is inspirational. Be inspired.