John Lennon: A flawed genius but we wouldn't have it any other way!

The last blog referred to the passing of time possibly changing the perception of Tony Blair. This blog is about one of the most famous 20th century icons, John Winston Lennon. Lennon was a member of the Beatles and the foremost song writing team in history. This month marks what would have been his 70th birthday and 2010 is the 30th anniversary of his brutal murder by a crazed lone gunman.

Lennon not only changed the dynamics of the music industry by storming the USA before becoming one of the most famous people in the world. Lennon and the Beatles were at the vanguard of a cultural revolution in the 1960’s which ushered in women’s rights, the permissive society, the erosion of class distinction, youth political protest and recreational drug use. The fab four “ordinary working class boys” were (with the exception of Ringo) grammar school boys, college educated and Lennon lived in an affluent part of Liverpool. But hey! Let’s not let facts get in the way of a good story!

Songs such as "Baby you can drive my car", "Norwegian Wood", "Day Tripper" and "Girl" where songs that described empowered women who had the upper hand. They were responsible for a musical phenomenon that effectively put his idol, "The King of Rock and Roll", Elvis Presley out to pasture and relegated him to Vegas. The Beatles 1966 record “Rain” sung by Lennon was pivotal in the “unique” sound of Beatles fan Liam Gallagher of Oasis (they initially named the band "The Rain") and was the precursor of the Psychedelic revolution.

Lennon’s post Beatles years were characterised by his life with Yoko Ono, Peace protests, fatherhood and his struggle with gaining his US green card. Some doubters claimed that Lennon was a spent force after the Beatles. Yet he has three post Beatles compositions in the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame: Instant Karma, Imagine and Give Peace a Chance. Most serious artists would kill to get one of their songs in this chart! Lennon is viewed by many people as the smiling joker in the pack of the Beatles who changed when he met Yoko.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rvBCmY7wAAU

However a revealing and much maligned book in 1988 by the late Professor Albert Goldman was published which involved over 1000 interviews with friends and acquaintances of Lennon. The book was viewed as heresy on the Lennon icon and Goldman was demonised and his work was considered a character assassination. However with the passage of time more recent films about Lennon and the Beatles have been faithful to the Goldman book. Films such as: The Hours and Times, Backbeat, Nowhere Boy and Lennon Naked reveal the flawed genius that was John Lennon.






Lennon was a gifted musician and media manipulator with a dark sense of humour and an irascible manner. Listen to the humorous youtube anecdote by Tom Jones when he first met him when Lennon tried to provoke him into a fight before becoming good friends.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lXhMTOLJWH8

Jones continues to recount his last public appearance with John Lennon where Lennon felt he was “blanked” by a member of the Royal Family. The show was honouring the late Lord Grade (Michael Grade’s uncle) who at the time owned the rights to Lennon and McCartney’s back catalogue having acquired them in 1969. Lennon being Lennon performed a little known rock and roll number called “Slippin’ and a Slidin’” and his backing band members were made up with two faces. I will let you draw your own conclusions on Lennon’s “Salute to Sir Lew”.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wT6tm5BSY1M

In addition as his US immigration status and possible deportation was still hanging in the balance he had to insert “and no immigration too” into his iconic “Imagine” ballard. Perhaps it’s not a surprise that the late Lord Mountbatten blanked him at the backstage glad handing. Still the exasperated John Lennon felt he was done an injustice.

For those thinking this was barren time for Lennon he had just bagged a US number 1 with Elton John and helped David Bowie compose his first US number 1 “Fame”. He even sung backing vocals and played guitar on that track too!

Despite his flaws he was and remains an icon that transcended culture and politics.

Lennon was no doubt “edgy” and “cool” to anti establishment groups but there can only be one “King of Cool” and the next blog will shine a light on another icon who also died 30 years ago. Can you guess who it is yet?

Blair Vision: Will History be Kinder to the Former UK Premier?

The recent publication of Tony Blair’s autobiography has divided a nation again. His decision to donate his £4.6 million pound advance to the British Legion has shone him in the public eye again. Charasmatic leaders are never universally liked but why is Tony Blair so devisive?

To paraphrase philosopher Machiavelli: innovators make enemies against the old order and only garner luke warm support from those who would prosper under the new order. Like him or loathe him he presided over ten years of economic growth and unprecedented social justice in absolute terms. However, what seemed to undo Blair was the Iraq war and his image of a poodle to theformer US President George Bush. Yet Blair was an advocate of “war as a force for good” before Bush came to power as evidenced by his speech in Chicago, 1999.
http://www.pbs.org/newshour/bb/international/jan-june99/blair_doctrine4-23.html

Perhaps his decision was tempered by the massacre of the innocents in Srebrenica in 1995 by Serbian backed forces whilst NATO and the UN sat on their hands.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Srebrenica_massacre

He had enemies on both the left and the right and despite vitriolic abuse by his critics, he never lowered himself to their level and rose above it.

When he was in power the critics were complaining that he will never repay his large mortgage on his house when he would eventually leave office and was only staying because of the money. Having been driven out of power by critics who he had previously dubbed “the forces of conservatism” they are now complaining that he is making too much money. The phrase damned if you do and damned if you don’t is perfect for Blair.

Perhaps history will be a better judge of the Blair years. 70 years ago Winston Churchill was stiffening our resolve and fighting the Battle of Britain which arguably saved western civilisation from the iron grip of Nazi rule. Yet during this time Churchill had warlord appeasers in parliament, the media and public life who were calling him a war monger and urging the UK to sue for peace. Churchill's reward for his wartime contribution was electoral annhilation by the reforming Labour government of 1945.

I am not comparing Blair with Churchill but people who benefited from the Blair years appeared to have cut off their noses to spite their faces. Blair was an electoral winning machine, he made Labour elect able after four successive defeats and consigned four Tory leaders “to spend more time with their family”.

Prior to Blair EVERY Tory leader became Prime Minister so his success was very much under rated and now Labour seems poised to return to perpetual opposition. What was more telling was on the day of Blair’s final appearance in parliament, David Cameron as leader of the opposition and his MPs gave Blair a standing ovation- an unprecedented event. Is it any wonder that Cameron called himself the “heir to Blair”.

I am not advocating an opinion one way or the other but in order to judge someone you need to see both sides of the argument before you make your mind up.

The next blog will refer to another person by the name of Winston.

Is one of our largest UK companies Obama’s whipping boy? You bet your sweet BP!

The title of this blog contains the catchphrase of one of the USA’s best loved comedy shows but I don’t think this is a laughing matter.

One of the UKs largest companies by market capitalisation, BP is bearing the brunt of the fallout from the gulf of Mexico oil slick which is now contaminating shorelines in several US states.

Does BP deserve to be the Obama’s whipping boy or should some other company be shouldering their share of the blame?

Some facts have been conveniently left out by the World’s media:

Does BP own the offshore drilling platform? No

Does BP employ the people who worked on the rig? No

Did BP staff cause the explosion? No

Well, who owns the rig, employs the drilling staff and who caused the explosion? The answer is Transocean, an American owned company which is the largest offshore drilling company in the world.

Isn’t it strange that nobody has heard of TransOcean and whilst BP is getting all of the flak? Transocean seems to be walking between the raindrops and not getting drenched by the media storm.

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/finance/newsbysector/energy/oilandgas/7806200/Gulf-of-Mexico-oil-spill-Transocean-silent-as-BP-bears-the-brunt-of-anger.html

However BP is the prime contractor and they did employ the services of Transocean and the Prime Contractor ultimately takes responsibility. Nevertheless, is it morally right that BP shareholders are losing tens of Billions in shareholder value, whilst the little known US company escapes scrutiny.

Surely BP should slope shoulder and blame somebody else, but this would not be a wise move with such a sensitive issue that affects the ecology, the economy and not to mention swing state votes needed for a second term?

I will leave it to you to formulate your opinion.

The Tectonic Plates have shifted.

No I am not talking about the volcanic eruption which has caused chaos to business and holiday travellers as well as to air importers and exporters. I am talking about last week’s political leaders’ debate.

What was billed as a bit of media froth which would appeal to the Westminster bubble turned out to be viewed by more than 9Million viewers.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rk5HvJmy_yg

Nick Clegg’s polished performance put David Cameron’s otherwise competent performance into the shade. This was never going to be Brown’s strong card and his strategy must have been damage limitation. However, a quirk of fate of the first past the post system could yield some odd results. Gordon Brown could potentially remain as PM despite coming third.

http://www.ukpollingreport.co.uk/blog/

The result is potentially a seismic shift at the forthcoming election by Clegg achieving a dominant strategy. If current opinion polls hold up he could be in a position to force a game change in politics. His prize will be proportional representation based on single transferable vote or alternative vote system. With Westminster still reeling from the expenses scandal which was rife across all party colours, any party may get into bed with the Lib Dems to secure power. This will mean that future lib dem MPs will no longer be fringe players.

As an academic and consultant, I run a game theory exercise with my MBA students as well as with Company Executives and Senior Managers exploring strategic alliances, trust and ethics. My exercise uses 3 groups instead of 2 groups. Most game theory exercises only use two and students and alumni will remember the “prisoners’ dilemma”
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Prisoner

If you would like to know more, please contact me.

There are two more rounds of this political game to run and where it will end nobody knows. Still it has energised a hitherto dull election campaign. So it’s now Game On!

A Greek Tragedy

This posting has partly a socio-cultural theme and partly a macro economic theme. The woes of Greece with their huge debt problem has parallels with western society’s own personal debt and our tendency to live for today and postpone repayment.

As a society we have been seduced into thinking we can have it all now. We are bombarded with celebrity lifestyles, “reality” TV shows and drip feeding of “affordable” credit card TV adverts.

Warren Buffet the philanthropic billionaire explained macro and micro economics in a very simplistic cartoon which some economists may say is too simplistic. However, consider the juxtaposition of this Youtube movie with the prospect of Greece having to sell off some of its Islands to balance its books.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5DvuyvuHmJI

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/worldnews/article-1255449/Greece-debt-crisis-German-MPs-suggest-Greek-Islands-Acropolis-sale.html


Individuals are also getting themselves into greater debt, not so much to fund essentials but to chase the dream and enjoy a lifestyle that the magazines, soaps, credit card companies and the media shape for us.

When ignorance is not bliss

I don’t know about you but it seems to be open season with bankers now. Even some academics that were previously cheer leaders and yell captains for the banking industry are now sticking the boot in.

Some may say they have brought it on themselves. For example many people who have had minimal experience in a city bank or held a relatively junior back office role would wax lyrical to their friends about how they “were masters of the universe”. The worrying part is their level of understanding of their own business. Don’t take my word for it, ask one of your colleagues in banking to explain in simple terms how a collateralised debt obligation works, a credit default swap or the benefits to the greater good of a special purpose vehicle. I wish you the best of luck.

I had the pleasure of hosting a banking recruiter last year who gave a fantastic presentation, whipped our students into frenzy and looked immaculate in designer Prada wearing shoes that would cost more than high street bank teller’s weekly wage. At the end of the presentation we chatted over coffee and I asked her opinion on the Hank Paulson’s backing of AIG versus leaving Lehman brothers out to dry.

Naively I was expecting a robust defence in favour of the greater good of overlooking Hank Paulson’s apparent conflict of interest as a former CEO of Goldman Sachs which had over $10,000,000,000 exposure on AIG and minimal exposure with Lehman.

The response I got was “who is Hank Paulson?” Doh! Honestly you couldn’t make it up!

This part of the wizard of Oz better than any other summarises the arrogance of some individuals in the banking sector. The credit crunch of 2007 followed by the seizing up of inter bank lending in autumn 2008 cruelly exposed the hubris and narcissism of the banking industry.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NZR64EF3OpA&feature=related

Dorothy: “you are a very bad man”
Wizard: “No my dear I am a very good man but a very bad wizard”

A colleague of mine Greg Pytel an expert on the banking crisis who has greater insight than most is a lot more scathing and equates the mid and lower level staff akin to African Child Soldiers.

http://gregpytel.blogspot.com/2009/10/economist-exonerate-bankers.html

As much as we would like to blame the bankers for everything, we need to look to ourselves. We all want cheap credit, we all want to keep up with the Jones’s, we want exotic holidays, we want that dream home. Where is the money going to come from?

A reformed banking sector with long term incentives is still vital for our future.

Eighteen months ago I posted on a banking blog about the need for global regulation rather than country specific or regional regulation. The news at Davos regarding this is very encouraging.

http://www.philly.com/inquirer/world_us/83184732.html


My next blog will focus on the changing expectations of society during the noughties.

An Exciting New Book for Owner Managers

The Small and Medium Sized Enterprise (SME) is arguably the Cinderella of the UK economy. They receive no glamour, they are driven by hardworking entrepreneurs and family owners and currently are paying a heavy price for the banking industry’s mistakes. In this climate it is imperative that they manage the performance of their business.

Here are some stats from the Department for Business, Enterprise and Regulatory Reform (DBERR):

SMEs make up 99% of the economy.
There are under 4.8 million enterprises with a workforce of just under 30 million people
Nearly 3.5 million are one man [person] band
1.3 million are employers employing 14.23 million individuals
858,245 have up to 4 employees
221,600 have between 5-9 employees

Yet most management texts relating to performance improvement are geared towards larger organisations. Even the few books aimed at SMEs are directed at a student and academic audience rather than the practitioner.


This compelled me to write a book on this topic with my colleague Amanda Beech. The book is written in a humorous and light hearted way but does not compromise on substance. It has deliberately been written as a commuter book that the reader can dip in and out of with takeaway tasks at the end of each chapter to be applied to the owner's business.

The book entitled "When Sam met Angie: Balanced Scorecard for SMEs" has been endorsed by leading thinkers in both practice and academia.

Professor Andy Neely is one of the world leading academics in Performance Management and holds dual Chairs in the University of Cambridge and Cranfield University. In addition, he is the Deputy Director of the Applied Institute of Management (AIM), the UK’s leading think tank for Management.

Brett Knowles is the founder of PM2, an international consultancy specialising in Performance Management. Three of his clients appear in the Kaplan and Norton (the authors of the balanced scorecard) hall of fame and he is regarded as an international thought leader on the Balanced Scorecard.

Here is the link to the book. If you would like to find out more, please feel free to email me.

http://www.smedoc.co.uk/books/detail.asp?Product_ID=4