The Alan Jones Debacle– What responsibilities do we all share as intelligent people?

There are a number of issues in this sad and sorry tale that disappoint me in the context of seeing myself as a reasonably intelligent Australian.

Firstly, there is the ridiculous notion expressed by Alan Jones that if he was aware of the fact that the event he was speaking at was not private, he would have not made the comments that he had made. At the same time he indicates that his 58 minute tirade was unscripted and unplanned and entirely off the cuff. On that basis how does he now indicate what he would have planned to say or not? 

Everyone knows what he thinks of the ALP and its leadership. He has expressed this openly for the last 2 years and used similar language in different contexts throughout that period.

This leads me to the second issue. Alan Jones is a very intelligent man and has maneuvered his way around public life for many a decade. He knows what to say and when to say it. As a very effective opportunist, he knows when to strike and when to pull back – swordsmanship is his forte. The time-frame hear was exquisite. Make the comment, feel the temperature and then quickly apologise. As evidence of this approach, see the amount of airtime this has and will get over the next few days and beyond. And what does that add up to? – AUDIENCE. And what does audience add up to? – RATINGS. And what do ratings add up to? – ADVERTISING DOLLARS. Even his apology was actually designed to add fuel rather than to portray a meaningful heartfelt apology from a man who knew exactly what he was saying, where he was saying it and why he was saying it. The apology was qualified (as all superficial apologies are!)

This leads me to the third issue. As intelligent people what do we do? Not listen to his radio rants? Ignore his radio station? Don’t give him oxygen? Don’t advertise on his station? Reject the shock-jock approach to public discourse? 

All Australians, especially in New South Wales (as Alan appears to have less of a following in other Australian States) need to have a serious look at themselves with regard this issue. The death of a parent is not an avenue for political advantage. We should ALL denigrate this. It is un-Australian and not in the public interest. Everyone should be speaking out and putting an end to this ongoing, unintelligent garbage that appears on our public airwaves and perpetrated by shock-jocks who rely on such public opportunities to pursue their own very self-centered interests.

All leaders in this country, political, commercial and religious need to support a return to values based discourse – unless, it is of course, in their interests not to, for whatever reasons they may have!

Social Unrest in Sydney's CBD - The Muslim Riots

The unrest that took place on the streets of the Sydney central business district over the weekend of the 15^th and 16^th September, were as unfortunate as they were ugly – but perhaps not for the reasons publicly stated on the airwaves and the printed press during and after the event.

Australia is, irrespective of what some would like us to believe, a society that is now made up of many different cultures and ethnicities. This has been so for many a decade, and if we correctly listen to our indigenous brothers and sisters and recognise the hundreds, if not thousands, of different cultures that made up the Australian continent before white settlement, a vast example of multi-culturalism that spread from one side of this great land to the other, north to south, and east to west.

We are not an isolated country bathing in the southern seas, oblivious to the rest of the world and the vast populations of the other continents. We cannot merely interact with these peoples of the world and their cultures when it suits us for trade or other commercial benefits. We must interact with them as a mature member of the so-called ‘global village’. The days of England and the so-called ‘mother-country’ are over. Accept it and reap the cultural and social rewards that are obvious to many, and not just the economic rewards that are more obvious.

The unfortunate aspect of what transpired over the weekend is the ugly face of Australia, those that fed the radio ‘shock-jocks’ of Sydney’s 2UE and 2GB radio stations with evidence of pure vile and hate, calling for an end to immigration, especially from Muslim countries, with the even more radical of these ‘shock-jocks’ supporting each and every word as if their commercial rating counted on each.

I was astounded as I was ashamed as I switched from the ABC coverage where I heard balanced discussions and arguments on both sides of the story, to the commercial stations that seemed to want to win the race-to-the-bottom, indeed succeeding in their fact-less exercise. What the protestors managed to achieve with children holding pure hatred in signs that they held with little understanding of their meaning, was also achieved by ignorant and ratings hungry ‘shock-jocks’ who, in the end, have different methods, yet debase their standing in the community, to equal depths of ‘lowness’.

We need to focus on inclusion and not exclusion, not just between Muslims and non-Mulsims, but between all cultures and religions that fundamentally have only good in their hearts. Let’s not judge everyone by the low standards of ignorant men who see violence as a solution. The rush to violence is the question that challenges us and how we respond as intelligent people is the solution.

Looking for a Change Management Tool for Your Not-for-Profit? Try Action Learning – It Really Does Work

The humanistic attributes of the Organisational Development link to Action Learning, have been identified as potentially the most important for the purposes of changing the cultural attributes of organizations and it is this element that makes it so applicable to the not-for-profit sector as a direct reflection of the characteristics attributed to staff within this sector. In this context, Action Learning is viewed as a multi-faceted, structured, experiential process that impacts an informed group of individuals in an organisational context, focusing on the proactive elements of the organisation as distinct from the more reactive elements

Whilst it has a defined starting point, being the resolution of some form of strategic or operational issue with no clear immediate or identifiable outcome, its end point is less defined as it relies not only on the identification of the solution or solutions, but also its implementation over time with constant feedback and input. Thus, an unending cycle of action, reflection and understanding underpins the base of an Action Learning approach. Hence it is an iterative process that rolls on until the end ‘target’ is achieved – that end target being the resolution of an organisational challenge.

It therefore relies heavily on successful workings of an open systems methodology that underpins the learning processes that makes Action Learning applicable. This is supported by the collaborative approach to problem solving as well as the learning that underpins the successful Action Learning outcome. Contextually, participants are the experts and these experts develop the solutions, implement the solutions, monitor the success and learn from the process, enabling the application of similar processes to future organisational and human development issues

Two fundamental elements of Action Learning are described in the name itself. The Action element refers to the underlying need to resolve issues at various levels. These could be personnel developmental issues that underpin personal performance or they could be organisational issues that underpin organisational performance. It is clear from a practical perspective that, implementing the outcomes of the participants within the Action Learning groups, empowers them and underpins the full learning experience which also underpins change outcomes.

The Learning element refers to the ability of the members to clearly identify the path that has been taken to derive the end outcomes and to inculcate this path development into future projects, irrespective of the nature of the project itself. Moreover it enables the participating individuals to become aware of, and further develop their own, functional attributes, both from an individual and group perspective. Thus, the Learning component of Action Learning enables participants to identify, develop and improve their utility from a personal and organisational perspective. Skill enhancement and development, therefore, becomes a fundamental by-product of the process. The extent to which such learning is focused entirely at the management level should be questioned, as a strong case can be made to elicit Action Learning as a process of engagement and development across the broader organisational hierarchy, further inculcating change processes in support of potential institutionalisation of the change outcomes.

OPTIMUM NFP has designed and developed Action Learning programs at numerous not-for-profit organizations with excellent results having been achieved both organisationally as well as from the perspective of personnel development.

Contact David Rosenbaum of OPTIMUM NFP to further discuss your requirements in this area. I would be more than happy to introduce Action Learning to you in an attempt to determine the extent to which it fits your organisational requirements.