In the lead up to the 1946 Federal election, Allan Guy held the Tasmanian seat of Wilmot. It had been a liberal stronghold for decades. When Gil Duthie discovered the ALP did not have a candidate, this young church minister stuck up his hand. No one gave him a chance. Many of his state ALP colleagues hadn’t even heard of him.

He spent the next 6 months on his own on the road; literally. Some weekends he returned to see his young wife and daughter. He drove to every nook and cranny of the vast and often remote electorate through a particularly vicious Tasmanian winter. He knocked on door after farmhouse door, his own estimate was 70-80 homes a day. Never once, he says, did he ask anyone to vote for him. His agenda was simply to introduce himself and say what he stood for.

On the Monday, a week following the October 21 election, with all the postal and absentee votes counted, Gil Duthie came out ahead by 855 votes. The hard behind-the-scenes work that defined his first campaign kept him in office for an incredible 25 years until the unravelling of 1975.

As I start another week, like others of you in business, I am thinking about business development. As the mantra goes, ‘it is a numbers game’. We could learn a lot from my Great Uncle Gil. Strength of conviction that we’ve got something to offer and the willingness to get out there and rack up the numbers.

I’m weak really. This morning our central heating packed it in … again. The thought of a heaterless house for the weeks it will take the repair contractors to arrive in the depths of Melbourne winter is not very pretty. And then I see a photo of Gil Duthie’s old Standard bogged in snow somewhere near Tarraleah deep in Tassie wilderness during his first campaign.

John Mellencamp sings about the soul American life; personal searching, family struggles, injustice and the need for justice love and happiness. Perhaps I shouldn’t have been surprised at how the lyrics and beat reconnected me with some deep convictions and elevated my sense of purpose leading into another working week.

There are a few ‘disciplines’ that predictably move me to a higher level. If you are like me, it is too easy for these disciplines to get squeezed out in the busyness of life. But to go through even one week without being plugged in to the things that really matter to me is a waste of a week.

Over dinner with some friends recently we were talking about how in the West we unquestionably accept that longevity is a good thing. Health, sustainability etc are typically about prolonging life rather than enhancing it. Now undoubtedly there is a complex relationship between prolonging and enhancing, but the point is that we probably need to redress the emphasis on longevity to make sure we make the most of what we already have; today.

For me, this means plugging into the things that matter most, so that whatever I do is framed by those motivations. Even though the routines of business are the staple weekly activity, routines only become a meaningless treadmill when divorced from higher purposes. So, I hope you get a chance to ‘plug in’ this week.

I came pretty close to this a couple of weeks ago. 2 days after swimming in the Mediterranean on a stinking hot French Riviera day I was standing in sub zero temperatures on the Jungfraujoch in Switzerland at 3500 metres. So, what did the experience teach me?

In a phrase, the ‘power of now’. While immersed in an extreme context it is nigh on impossible to muster the physical sensations associated with another. In other words, the warm waters and carelessness associated with the [stoney] beach may as well have been on Mars while the icey wind battered my naked ears.

Clearly this is not the case with emotions from extreme events, which we carry with us as involuntary baggage. What I am talking about here is the sensation of physical environments. So what?

For me it reinforced two things:

1. All I’ve got is now, or put slightly differently, ‘I’ve only got now, now.’ We can waste so much of our lives by wishing for another reality, often one that never comes. So, as my friend Steph reminded me the other day, the imperative is to be alert to truth, beauty and goodness now, right now.

2. The emotional skill of managing our emotions in any given context is non-trvial yet fundamental to a healthy life unless we want to be at the whim of circumstances. Our work with leaders helping to develop emotional intelligence encompasses this.

So, I wish you an alert week, a week where you have eyes open to truth, beauty and goodness … especially at work, while you simultaneously seek efficiency, effectiveness and profitability.

On the 24^th June 1859, Henry Dunant, a Swiss business man witnessed the aftermath of a bloody battle in Solferino, North Italy that left 40,000 men killed or wounded as the Austrians were expelled with the help of the French. He was appalled at the abandonment of the injured and mobilized the local population of deliver relief with the resources that were available.

On his return to Geneva he wrote “A memory of Solferino”, in which he proposed that the States should ‘formulate some international principle … for the relief of the wounded’. Along with four others (The Committee of Five), 100 years before my birthday in September 1863, he formed The International Committee for the Relief to the Wounded Soldiers’ and drew up the First Geneva Convention. The Red Cross was born. Again the story of one person’s vision and commitment has had a cascading impact for good beyond imagination.

While debate about its effectiveness is live and appropriate, the subsequent story(s) of the League of Nations (post WWI) and the United Nations (post WWII) similarly evokes in me a swelling of pride in the capacity of humanity to do the right thing. Maria and I were guided through some of the meeting rooms in which very significant negotiations and agreements were forged and got a glimpse of the scale of ongoing conversation that happens between leadership of nations. Perhaps the time has come for the UN to get a renovation, but the idea of facilitating a coming together around the most significant challenges facing humanity with objectives that embrace peace and human rights is indeed a great thing.

So why am I thinking about cars and transport? Because my limited recent experience of Germany and France makes it so clear that there is another way. Some people who read this blog are Europeans, so you might not appreciate how your governments have invested in public transport infrastructure in ways that are fanciful for us Australians. For example, the Paris metro has 300 stations. Yes, it is true that Paris was already a big city when the technology to build underground railway got implemented for the first time, but the government still had to have the foresight to design the infrastructure that would serve the people as it does.

Bicycle paths and hire bikes seem to be the norm in French and German cities. Not particularly complicated, just great common sense for the common good.

OK, so it will cost billions to create a system even approaching this kind of coverage in a sprawling Australian city. But where is the vision for the future in the planning that is happening now? The ‘spider’ train systems of Melbourne and Sydney are not real networks. Even the complementary tram and bus systems hardly create the kind of network that make getting around efficient.

Instead of debating road network extensions, which are of course good for the car, we should be having robust arguments about a truly visionary approach to building public transport infrastructure, even if it is 50 year plan.

The first signal that it was going to be something special was the mint condition pale green FJ Holden parked outside. Inside the 15,000 crowd, (I was with a Kiwi, I reckon the other 14,999 were Aussies! - so much for a foreign exhibition) was as vocal and yobbo-ish as I’ve experienced. Some bloke had a life-size cardboard cut-out of Sticks Kernahan; whenever the ball ended up the other end, he would do a dash across the half forward line with his cut-out … how he got the thing to England I’ll never know.

It was the era when Ange Christou’s raking left foot kicks were greeted by the crowd with the ‘wooosh’. Weird stuff in England. The half time kick-to-kick with an estimated 10,000 people with Sherrins that emerged from everywhere was a total kak, even funnier was the bobbies trying to get everyone off the field for the start of the 3^rd. Ever been on the London tube with the train totally packed with Aussies? I have, totally brain bending.

Anyway, last night we had another special cultural sporting moment …

It has been a stinking hot day, mid 30s and the evening is balmy. We are in the centre of Avignon in an outdoor café, it is 8:30. For those who have not been to Avignon and how know Melbourne, imagine Lygon St. closed to traffic with every restaurant spilling their tables out onto the road. Except it is paved and the building are centuries old. Every place has a plasma … so there are screens everywhere.

It is the final of Euro 2008, which doesn’t means heaps to the average Aussie punter … believe me, it has been mania here. Spain has not won for 44 years. Last night they were against Germany. So here we are, and through no planning or design, we find ourselves surrounded by tables of loud Spanish males. When the totally brilliant Spanish striker Torres managed to conjure a goal toward the end of the first half, it was, well …. special.

• Waiters ‘flamboit’ around crowded outdoor café tables
• Well dressed business people drop by patisseries on their way home to pick up their baguette, which then protrudes unashamedly
• Young women in summer dresses ride bikes purposefully but ordinarily around bustling streets
• French suave is apparently intentionally oblivious to the hazards of smoking
• Vesper riders abuse delivery van drivers as routine

In Melbourne this would be pretentious, in Paris this is life.

I have found myself searching for an adjective for this incredible city. It’s an ordinary word but I have landed on ‘great’. What does it take to be great?

1. substance and depth

2. uniqueness

3. longevity

It is a total brain strain to wander across the floors of Notre Dame and wonder, as Maria did out loud, about the stories of the people who have stepped on the same tiles over the 800 years since the Cathedral was built.

And although we are talking Italian rather than French, it was striking to see how ‘small’ the greatness of the Mona Lisa is. I was naively expecting a painting of greater proportions than the small canvas that greeted us. Greatness is not always big.

The French do ‘big’ without doing kitch. The scale and vision of the Lourve is breathtaking. The ‘density’ of the city, with its laneways and 6 storey buildings overwhelms the simple notion of a ¼ acre block to call home.

I have heard many people use emotive rather than descriptive words in reference to this city. Now I know why.

“Is Mr Wall there?” [No], “Is Mrs Wall there?” [No]. “Well is Tommy Wall there?” [No]. “Are there any Walls there?” [No]. “So how does your roof stay up then?”

They give us shelter and warmth. They provide protection. We decorate them to make us feel better about the space they create. They give definition to the variety of spaces we live in. At best this allows us to function in a variety of ways. At worst, they promote misunderstanding by hiding reality or segregating.

Perhaps the most potent icon of the changes we experienced in the late 20^th Century is the Berlin Wall. Contrary to popular conception, it was the ‘free people’ of West Germany that were enclosed within its walls. Completely surrounded by East Germany, the Westerners found themselves trapped in a ‘free enclave’. One road out through the East German countryside connected them to the outside world. This accurate picture subversively helps to reframe the idea of separation.

I cannot imagine what it must have been like for Germans generally and Berliners particularly, so experience the collapse of the Wall. I recall tears welling up and the lump in my throat. I knew nothing and had not even sipped from the cup of segregation that defined so much of their lives.

Much of the Wall still stands. A small length is preserved untouched, most of it has become a canvas for Berlin’s thriving art community. Meandering along beside it in the hot sun, it is as good as impossible to imagine what this city must have been like just 20 years ago.

We still build Walls like this. Maybe not ones of steel reinforcement and concrete, but Walls none-the-less. They are the Walls that keep ‘otherness’ away from us. Our separateness feeds our misunderstanding so our prejudice snowballs. It is dangerous to try to cross over.

There are political divides - TV networks do well out of pitting tribal thought leaders against each other like legal cock fights. There are culture divides. Just walk around the city and observe the stereo-typical uniforms of the different tribes; executives, emos, indigenous people, retail workers and on and on. Age, race, economic status, gender …

So here is the point. It is not that we need a pseudo-homogenous society. How violating would that be? The point is that our lives could be so much richer if we were able to embrace diversity. Indifference might be replaced by curiosity. Misunderstanding by appreciation. Dislike by deep respect.

The parliament building spans the Spree (River) in Berlin. The modern glass buildings on either side of the river are joined design and by walkways. A great symbol if unification in contrast to a Wall.

Immersion experiences in which we suspend judgement and listen are much needed in our world. Without them, the safety and protection that some of our Walls apparently give us is illusionary.

Sometimes, change for change’s sake is a good thing because we get stuck in ruts. What began as good habits, typically become behaviour patterns that are get well ingrained, which would not be a problem if the context and circumstances stayed the same as they were when the process or habit was born … but this is seldom the case. So, changing things just to break things up can help us see things differently and find new solutions to our current problems.

But sometimes change for change’s sake can be a good thing, even when things are ticking along well. In the next 6 weeks, we will have two members of our team at Ergo move on to new adventures. Plenty of pain. It will be sad and challenging to learn to work without them. But, change ushers in opportunity … always.

In the midst of change, and it happens to us, in us and around us constantly, the opportunities are there for the taking. In our case it will mean new people, new team dynamics, new skills, new possibilities … I can’t wait to see how it turns out.

And the opportunities are, of course, not just for those left behind … the doors that will open up for our colleagues who are leaving will expand their horizons and hopefully enrich their lives.

So, I wonder what changes lie around the corner this week … some we know are coming, others are unknown at tis stage. Lets hope we can grab the opportunities they bring to expand our lives, and not get held back by the realities that have passed on.

Not so. The more I read, the more the idea warmed on me.

Apart from the list of honours that always headline the news on the Holiday there is nothing about the long weekend that is celebrated other than that it is a long weekend … The last before the long slog through until Melbourne Cup Day, at least in Melbourne. Now imagine a day that is focussed on the future.

Cooney suggests that the Federal Government could release a national report card on the state of schools; there could be prizes associated with investing in young people. He also other suggestions including making the traditional Collingwood v. Melbourne game a celebration of junior football.

What about young people holding some kind of summit? Imagine young people fronting TV and radio station broadcasts … there is so much that could be done that affirms our commitment to invest in and listen to the people who will shape our world tomorrow.

On a related note…

We’ve all heard of home schools. There are more and more parents choosing to educate their kids in integrated and more efficient ways outside the traditional system. A friend of mine used talk about work-schooling - bringing kids into workplaces to expose them to how business operates. I reckon this could be a great idea given the right environment and resources.

There are more creative and informed minds than mine when it comes to educating and affirming kids, although with four of my own that probably gives me some credibility. Bottom line, wouldn’t it be fantastic to figure out new ways to celebrate Australian youth and give them more opportunities to learn and develop.

Clichéd but true, our future is in their hands.