The 3 i's of decision making

When making decisions it's important to:

1. Get good quality information

2. Interpret the information using various perspectives

3. Implement the decision with benchmarks in place to measure progress & success

A land of milk & honey

Whether it was the lure of a better life or an escape from an existing one, New Zealand held the hopes and dreams that drew people to its shores, whether it was in the last year, last 100 years ago or thousands of years ago.

The British Government rallied people in the early 1870’s to recruit:
“married agricultural laborers and single female domestic servants, provided they were ‘sober, industrious, of good moral character, of sound mind and in good health.”  

Posters were put up & newspapers ran stories like this one from November 1873 in the Labourers’ Union Chronicle wrote,
“Not a farm labourer in England but should rush from the old doomed country to such a paradise as New Zealand – a good land – a land of oil, olives & honey – a land where in thou may’st eat bread without scarceness... Away then farm labourers, away!  New Zealand is the Promised Land for you,

There was a flood of immigrants, being enticed by the promise of a better life coupled with a range of cheap & free fares.

My Great Great Grandfather was one of those, a farm labourer who chose to leave Ireland back in July 1876.  I wondered what hope he & his family packed when they left an impoverished Ireland where demand for farm labourers had fallen by 16% due to cheap imports.  

Imagine a 31 year old George McCombs & his wife Kate with their 2 sons James aged 2 years & Charles who was 2 months sailing for 93 days to the other side of the world.  

Imagine you had been travelling on an old wooden boat for the last 3 months.  I start feeling bored travelling in an aircraft for too long.  The 18 hours it took to get the family to LA a few years ago seemed long enough, let alone 2,230 hours on a boat.  

There were 290 people, including 81 from Ireland, on the boat that came into Wellington Harbour in October 1876.  It’s hard to imagine what these pioneers would’ve thought about old Wellington.

The ship’s doctor recorded there were no accidents or sickness however 3 children under 2 died and one was born.

The ship’s passenger list was a mixture of families, single men and single women.  There were farmers, carpenters, a couple of tailors, a 16 year old teacher, servants, dairymaids and a range of others from all over England, Ireland, Scotland and Wales.

New Zealand wasn’t everything that people expected and about 40% of those who arrived in the 1870’s left again.

The McCombs family arrived in Wellington harbour but made their home in Christchurch.

Who would’ve thought that their eldest son, James, who left school after standard 6, would represent the Lyttelton seat in Parliament from 1913 to 1933 and when he died, his wife, Elizabeth would succeed him as New Zealand’s first woman Member of Parliament until she died in 1935, and their son (my grandfather) Terry would then hold the seat until 1951.

I’m sure George & Kate didn’t expect these things to happen, but by taking a risk and choosing to follow a path into an unknown world, they created opportunities for their descendants.  If they hadn’t taken that risk I wouldn’t be here today, just as if your ancestors hadn’t made certain decisions you wouldn’t be here either.

The dreams that our pioneering ancestors had still hold true for us today.  

Although we are told the world’s economy is in a recession and some say on the brink of a depression, we certainly have a better quality of life than a farm labourer in 1876, when the life expectancy for a male was only 50 & females could expect to live until 54.  Those born in 1876 only had an 86% chance of celebrating their first birthday.  Today we are concerned about outliving our savings and many are already choosing to continue working beyond the retirement age of 65. 

My 16 year old son was recently awarded a farming scholarship.  He had a dream for his future – of one day owning his own farm.  This is a dream that he had when he was 2 & he told me a story that he called “The Tractor Boy”.  We had visited an uncle on his farm and that had sown the seed.  He often talked about farming being in his blood.  Part of me believes that this dream of my sons, could’ve also been the dream of his great, great, great grandfather while working on a farm back in Ireland, that even if he wouldn’t maybe his descendants could own their own farm one day.

I encourage you to reflect on the hopes and dreams that your ancestors had.  The promised land we call New Zealand still holds great promise.  That promise is held within us – it’s people – He Tangata.  

Those hopes, dreams and aspirations exist for us all if we are prepared to take risks and look for the amazing opportunities on this sliver of land on the edge of the world, we have made our home.

My Waitangi Day speech

I am proud to be a New Zealander, to be a thread in our diverse and beautiful tapestry.

On Waitangi Day we can look around at our nation, our community, our neighbours and our whanau, the tangata who have chosen to make Aotearoa our home.

Whether we are tangata whenua or tangata tiriti, the Treaty of Waitangi is a frame like an unthreaded loom.  The threads on the loom that bind the nation are its' tangata!

Let us not just come together on this one day, but let us bind as a nation so together we can become stronger and cohesive.  

Let us stand proudly and acknowledge the past but focus our eyes firmly on the future and support each other to be the best little nation on the edge of the world!  

Together we will weave a future that we can individually and collectively be proud to call our home.

It's fine to celebrate success but it is more important to heed the lessons of failure.- Bill Gates

I read this quote in Kirsty Dunphey's weekly newsletter today.  There is some truth to reflecting on failures, however I have come to realise how important it is to reflect on successes.

Being able to replicate & build on success is the key to continued success.

Reflecting on why we are successful  helps us do the right things more often.  Whether it's winning a new client or a round of golf, learning what we did right is often more valuable than trying to fix what we might've got wrong.

The revised quote could be:

"Celebrate success, then learn from it & build on it to replicate the success!" - Tony

Staying ahead of the pack

By the time we hear about new ideas or trends it's probably too late.

Remember when we were all told to write articles like "7 reasons to buy such as such"?  Now everything I read seems to have been based on this golden rule - except now it's boring & the gold has turned to tin...

Companies like Saatchi & Saatchi try and stay ahead of the pack.  When all other companies seem to be going green, they are talking about blue.  But they are also working on the next colour!

In New Zealand we have a lot of sheep - but it doesn't mean we need to follow each other like a flock of sheep.  The challenge is to play our game by our rules & change them every now & then to keep the relevant.

I'm sorry

Often in times of conflict an apology is all that is needed to diffuse a situation.

An employee can apologise on behalf of a workplace, rather than apologising for something they have personally done.  I remember doing this when I worked for the Railways & the person complaining consoled me by saying "It's OK, it's not your fault".

Likewise, it's possible to say sorry that a situation had occurred.  Again, it's not taking personal responsibility but acknowledging the disappointment of an event.  This is useful if each party blames the other.  An apology can open the door to constructive dialogue.

Finally, if you are responsible - fess up & apologise - fix it - learn from it - and then move on positively!

My 4 top diet tips

Water - A glass of water before a meal can fill the stomach & leaves less room for over-eating

Brush teeth - Changing habits like brushing teeth after a meal rather than before bed can stop snacking after meals.

Leftovers - Leaving food on your plate can create a feeling of control over the food.  Parents may have drilled in negative messages of starving children or making the cook feel bad by leaving food.

Exercise - A work out is a great way of burning calories.  It also creates healthier eating patterns.  Careful not to cut back the calories too quickly while the body adjusts to the additional exercise.