I was interviewed to talk about the Omnibus Bill that passed Victorian Parliament. We answered questions about what the new powers mean, what didn't make it through, what some concerns might be, and what hope there is for Victoria. Watch the full interview on Youtube: https://youtu.be/mC42PtUQhwo
Sanjeev Sabhlok resigned in protest from the Victorian Department of Treasury and Finance. He has a long history of campaigning for freedom, the individual, happiness and rational thinking. To know that such an intellect was working within our public service in Victoria is encouraging but also devastating that they lost that intellect. In this interview we explore not just his thoughts on the illegality and immorality of the lockdowns around the world, but also how he came to his classically lib...
If you’re old enough to remember the advent of computers – they used to be a specialised device sold in specialised stores for specialised purposes. Somewhere around the 1990s they became commoditised and now the choice of store is mainly determined by price. Nathan Jungwirt has run a computer store for 6 years in a highly competitive and commoditised sector. Not only that, he has a keen interest in investing, e-commerce and entrepreneurialism. If you are interested in e-commerce, small business...
Dr Catherine Fyans is a practising G.P. of some 40 years in Melbourne. She was one of the most popular guests in the history of my other show ‘The People’s Project’ where she was able to demonstrate common sense positions on COVID-19, masks and government lockdowns. Catherine seems to have a great deal of empathy and she agreed to an interview for our EMPATHY SERIES where we sought to explore all things COVID-19, as well as the psychological role lockdowns (and emerging from them) play in all of...
The Covid-19 Hotel Quarantine Inquiry wrapped up this week with counsel assisting submitting that the Government's failures were responsible for 768 deaths and the entire second wave in Victoria. Ken Phillips from Self Employed Australia has triggered a prosecution request by writing to the OHS authority - WorkSafe - under section 130 of the Occupational Health and Safety Act 2004 (Vic). They are now required by law to take action or detail reasons why they failed to take action, by late Decembe...
When you think of the word 'champion', you probably think of a 'winner' -somebody who takes first place. But the true meaning of champion is more than winning a competition. It's a 13th Century concept for a person who fights on behalf of another. A champion advocates for something or someone, especially when that someone cannot do it themselves. This is the noble goal of our political system but I'm sad to say that our parliaments are not necessarily filled with the people's champions. That's w...
If you grew up in suburban Australia, you would be familiar with the green and gold trailers regularly appearing on our streets to mow our lawns. Jim’s Mowing has since expanded and the Jim’s Group is now the largest franchise in Australia and New Zealand with some 4,000 franchise owners turning over more than $500m a year serving 35,000 customers a day! But don’t let the blue-collar grass mowing success story fool you – Dr David Jim Penman, that’s right…Dr, is an avid student of history and how...
Arron Wood is not your typical politician. In fact, I'm not sure he's a politican at all! Granted - he does hold the office of Deputy Lord Mayor for the City of Melbourne, and he is campaigning in next month's council elections to become the Lord Mayor. But when I came across Arron on social media, it wasn't via a political ad or a sponsored post. I simply noticed someone who was posting sympathetic, thoughtful, and engaging content, and perhaps most tellingly a majority of that interaction was ...
Today we are going to the gym. My guest Pia Therese is a small business owner in Melbourne, Australia who risked it all and opened a fitness studio called MFW Fitness. Under what is now likely the world's longest and most severe lockdown, small businesses like MFW have been smashed. And this is despite plenty of evidence that small businesses are not only willing but are capable of opening up in a COVID-Safe way. Take for example gyms, where we are now learning that they were never a source of C...
Topher Field demands attention. Not for his own popularity - quite the opposite! In fact, he would rather the spotlight pass him by so he can quietly raise his young family in the suburbs of Melbourne. But when the world that you are raising those children into appears darker and more authoritarian than the world we grew up in, silence becomes complicity. For years Topher has warned us that the freedoms we enjoy may have been free to us, but they didn't come cheap. They were in fact purchased, j...
Damien Silm is an apple farmer in regional NSW who stands to inherit a fortune. I'm not referring to assets, to land or even to the legacy of his great-grandfather who planted those apple trees so many decades ago. It is clear to me that Damien, as one of the most empathetic people I know, will inherit the future as our world increasingly values empathy in all spheres of life. Not only does empathy make you a more agreeable person it means that you are more easily able to understand other people...
Recessions, depressions and downturns are probably the most fertile ground to plant a new business. This is why, and this is how to get started! It's all based around research by the Harvard Business Review, Joseph Schumpeter, Peter Drucker and Bain&Company. In this podcast we explore: The demise of Australian companies. Global C-Suite retirements. Employees re-evaluating their careers. Great companies that were born during recessions. The Bain study that proves recessions breed successful c...
Are you better at managing uncertainty or risk ? They are not the same thing, and we all gravitate toward one side of the spectrum. All leadership/management jobs are primarily about managing uncertainty or risk , and yet often we fail in careers and in business not because we are ineffective, but because they are mismatched to our strengths. In this episode we discuss: the difference uncertainty and risk as defined by the famous business thinker Frank Knight; Case studies of Aldi vs Kaufland an...
Competent crisis leadership isn't just about taking wise action, it's about persuading people to carry out those actions. The CEO of Toyota used a 3-Step Crisis Model for communicating and it is far more effective than what world leaders are doing right now. Use this to rally your people and get them through a crisis! Download the 3-Step Crisis Model PDF at https://www.discernable.io/post/crisis-model ....
Discretionary effort can predict the future when it comes to staff turnover. Use it as a leading indicator! Read about it here: https://www.discernable.io/post/discretionary-effort-can-predict-the-future
Getting people's attention with mere words is our aim in every single email but the more we write, the more we dilute any potential impact. This is a short podcast on why you should cut anything you write in half and a tool that will help you do it.
What is strategy? Does your organisation even have a strategy? These 5 profound questions will identify (or create) a business strategy, and comes thanks to the Harvard Business Review. You can read the original article at https://www.discernable.io/post/strategy5 .
Is it really important? Or just URGENT masquerading as 'important'? We conflate them all the time. It's tempting to chase urgency but that's a counterfeit of the significance we truly crave: growth activities that are important but never urgent. Meet the Eisenhower Boxes and the Macro Priority Matrix. They help us to properly prioritise our time and teach us how to: avoid trading boredom for urgency; cut out interruptions through delegation; grow profitable habits by focusing on what is not urge...
