In today’s society, we are often dissuaded from acting as individuals, especially when it comes to challenging the status quo. Subsuming yourself to the power of the collective is a mantra that is reinforced on a daily basis. But I don’t necessarily agree with this. One of my favourite quotes comes from a film, The Power of One, where the star, a child, is faced with the challenge of standing up to the collective prejudice of a nation (for those of you who remember the days of Apartheid, you’ll get some sense of what he faced). It all seems too overwhelming until a village elder points out that “a waterfall starts with a drop of rain”. Ostensibly, things have to start somewhere.
So it was with Friday’s auction. It started with an off-the-cuff conversation. An idea that was seized upon by the Leadership teams. A few of us pushed things forward, a few more twisted client and suppliers’ arms, a few more worked on the promotion. Nobody was forced to do anything. Not one person had to bid. And yet we raised over £4,300 (at the last count). Even if you came away with nothing, every one of you had a part in this. So this mail is dedicated to acts of individuality that challenge the status quo.
Be inspired.
Peace One Day
I met this chap a while ago, when McCann Erickson was looking for a concept to pitch to Coca Cola, who were looking for a company to help them to revert to the heady days of the seventies, when they tried to teach the world to sing. He has been described as “either a visionary or a madman” and his story is incredibly compelling. In my view he is simply a nice guy, who saw something wrong and set about doing something about it. He’s just a bit more stubborn than most of us…
Anyway, since our original meeting, his story has been taken up by leaders and politicians around the world (including the Dalai Lama) and amazingly, he has succeeded in getting September 21 ratified by the UN as the official day of peace. I doubt he’ll stop there. Inspirational.
Jamie Oliver does TED
Jamie, cheeky mockney chappie, Oliver went through a period of over-exposure which tarnished his reputation somewhat. But since he seized upon the school dinners zeal, he has seemingly reinvented himself. OK, it is more of a back to basics, than a reinvention, but it has certainly been effective. Anyway, Jamie took his School Dinners concept to the US, and his mission was picked up by the boffs at TED, who invited him to speak. A great honour and, if you can forgive the presentation style, it’s a great speech. Oh, and as a parent, you might want to prepare yourself for the heady sense of guilt you feel afterwards…
Tom Hoyt – best dad in the world
A simple story about a parent trying to give his child the best in life. However, the ‘child’ is this case is a quadriplegic and the ‘best in life’ involves competing in triathlons and marathons throughout the US. It’s a tale which belies the courage, determination and love that is on display. You can read about it in Wikipedia, or simply watch the video. The ultimate humunah, despite the schmaltzy musak.You might need a handkerchief handy…