Latest Posts
Book Review: Westpac: the Bank that Broke the Bank
This week’s book review is Westpac: the Bank that Broke the Bank, by Edna Carew. Westpac started out as the Bank of New South Wales, Australia’s first bank in the early 1800s. By the 1980s, it had become Westpac, Australia’s biggest bank, with global aspirations, and a dominant position inContinue Reading
Am I ageist?
I’ve managed people older than me for most of my working life. They’ve mostly been only a little bit older than me, or else I’ve known them for long enough that I’ve forgotten that they’re older than me by the time I manage them. I’ve realised lately that I feelContinue Reading
Prufrock
I don’t think I’m nearly this intellectual (or this depressed) via Pavlov’s Cat : You’re Prufrock and Other Observations! by T.S. Eliot Though you are very short and often overshadowed, your voice is poetic and lyrical. Dark and brooding, you see the world as a hopeless effort of people tryingContinue Reading
Infrastructure
Ross Gittins has a great column in the SMH yesterday about infrastructure (hospitals, schools, public transport etc), and why it is that the great services end up being provided for the people who can most afford it. I’m a great example – I live in a place where I haveContinue Reading
Work Life Balance
In our executive team today, we had a bit of a discussion about work-life balance, and how to maintain some sense that work-life balance was possible in our environment (one which at least some of the time, there are a bunch of people working ridiculous hours to meet a deadlineContinue Reading
Over-using the hospital system
I had a scary night last night. D (aged 2 and three quarters) woke up at 2 am needing to go to the toilet, was trying to yell out to get help, and discovered that he couldn’t talk, and could barely breathe. So I heard some strange barking noises, wentContinue Reading
Freakonomics
This week’s book review is Freakonomics: A Rogue Economist explores the Hidden side of Everything, by Steven J Levitt and Stephen J Dubner. I’ve seen this book reviewed all over the place, and knew it was the kind of book I would devour very quickly. Steven J Levitt is anContinue Reading
Why don’t women make Partner?
Laura at 11D has a post wondering why women don’t make Partner in US law firms (inspired by a NY Times article). From my experience, I don’t really think it’s that different a question from asking why women don’t make it to senior roles in business. Some law firms (IContinue Reading
Exercise
This weekend is the annual corporate triathlon in Sydney. I’m really sad not to be doing it this year. It’s a combination of moving jobs at around the time when the entries went in, and the doctor telling me not to exercise too early after my bout of bronchial pneumoniaContinue Reading
Cyclones and climate change
In the wake of Cyclone Larry, I’m surprised that there hasn’t been much press about global warming and increased cyclone activity. It’s sensible, because you can’t possibly blame one cyclone on global warming, but sense never stopped the media before. So it was co-incidental to read a summary of theContinue Reading