Skip to main content

Call for Co-Conspirators!

 

A large, threatening, dark wave, cresting in storm-like fashion; the image represents the concept of challenges and problems

We're looking to raise investment - can you help?
Check out our full pitch here, or have a look at our

Working Well = Working Together

I'm 'bothered' by a lot of things - some trivial, some systemic, most somewhere in between.

I'm also regularly chastised for "not being a team player", "not asking for help" and generally trying to solve huge problems on my own. (There are reasons for this intractable independence, but I've been told no one's interested in that amount of background, so I won't go into them here.)

So... I'm looking for co-conspirators, collaborators, partners in crime, to work with on some of the things that 'bother' me!

This page will be regularly updated with points of frustration in need of solutions - if you have ideas, or are working on the same pain point, and want to get together, drop me an email: theproductivepessimist@yahoo.com

The Problems:

1. It should be a lot easier than it is for adults to change careers; another aspect of this problem (perhaps the root of it) is the lack of quality careers guidance in schools.

2. We need access to forms of capital which don't rely on having a bank account, or being able to extensively verify your identity, so that marginalised people, including homeless and displaced people, are able to rebuild, and enjoy the same quality of life it's assumed "everyone" in the West benefits from.

3. There should be an "Amazon for farmers" - but a lot more human. Sheep farmers in the UK typically just dispose of fleece, because UK prices for wool are so dire - and yet there is a HUGE market for it beyond the British Wool Board; that market, however, is made up of individuals, rather than a "one and done" point of sale - farmers work long hours, they have limited opportunity to leave their farms (especially livestock farmers), and so getting a decent price from eager buyers needs to be made as simple and straightforward as possible.



Popular posts from this blog

Cheese Graters, Suitcases, and Cover Letters

Hi - my name's Ash, and I'm the co-founder, Director, and lead consultant for The Productive Pessimist. (And, as you can probably tell from my 'Resting-What-Fresh-Hell-Is-This?-Face, the reason why the company is called The Productive Pessimist  in the first place!) Apologies for the face, by the way - I'm not that good-looking at the best of times, and I hate doing selfies! I also don't take very good selfies anyway, owing to significant visual impairment. (I'm registered blind, and losing what sight I have - left eye only, currently around 45% - a bit more rapidly than I'd like.) However, the terrible selfie that starts this blog post sets us up nicely for a segue into the main topic; How the heck do these rules work, anyway?! The 'rules' for succeeding at interviews, in work, when you launch a company, in the first three years of running a company, are basically the equivalent of riding a bike. Except the bike is missing three gears. And the chain

What's Love Got to do With It?

  Do you love your job?  Do you love your life? What would you most love to do? What's your heart's desire for your business, yourself, your family? Other coaches talk a lot about 'love'.  Every other piece of professional advice tells you to 'find a job you love.' What do they actually mean when they use 'love' like this? Clearly, no one's suggesting you get into the same mindset around going to work Monday morning, sitting through yet another PowerPoint presentation, or organising the kids and arranging the online grocery deliveries as the thought of a hot date with someone who hits all your buttons, or a weekend spent in the company of your best mate puts you in.  And we're definitely not advocating that 'married to the job' should be a literal matter of legally-validated fact. You're not going to be serenading your office block, or sending a dozen roses to your project teams.  You're not going to be inviting your new hire out

What's Wrong With You?

  One of my personal frustrations is when people or companies say they want a slice of an absolutely huge pie, that's showing itself very well in just about every class - eg, a business sector that's romping all over the board, and bringing in profits with barely any effort - but then seem to find any and every reason to take as long as possible actually getting round to even picking up a plate! I go bodyboarding when I get the time. One of the key facts in that world is that, by the time EVERYONE is able to see a wave breaking, if you're not already riding it, it's too late. The same is true in business. Whether it's an individual or a company being a hesitant wallflower in the face of the ride of a lifetime, the motivation seems to be the same: they'll waste time on business cases, business plans, and, if they're an organisation, corporate governance. The prevailing attitude, certainly in the UK, often seems to be that business cases and business plans hav