Monthly Archives: September 2011

The Not So Great Pretenders

Posted on September 27, 2011 by Anthony

My granddaughter, (aged 7), said, “Grandad, do you want to see me pretending to be you?” “Sure,” I said, preparing myself for an acute if probably disturbing insight into my personal behaviour. She just went about her business. I said, “When are you … Continue reading →

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The Good Horse

Posted on September 23, 2011 by Anthony

(Editor’s note: This post marks a milestone in Observation Point’s growth; our first guest post. I’m delighted to present this salutory insight into early retirement from Bernard Jones, an ex very senior executive in a particularly challenging international company, in … Continue reading →

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Nudity and the National Conversation

Posted on September 21, 2011 by Anthony

It may come as a surprise to those who know me well to hear that there’s something I admire about Tony Abbott. It’s his honesty about his dishonesty. We know that all politicians lie. And we know that if they want … Continue reading →

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A 21st Century Fable from the Land of Oz

Posted on September 17, 2011 by Anthony

Once upon a time, there was an autocratic King whose courtiers became so sick of being ordered around that they decided to replace him with a court princess. The new queen outlined her plans for the kingdom, but decided that it … Continue reading →

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Y2.011K

Posted on September 14, 2011 by Anthony

Back in the dark depths of ancient history, the mid 1990s to be precise, a startling prediction came to be made, to whit, that at the stroke of midnight on Dec 31st 1999, tragedy of unspeakable proportions would be heaped upon … Continue reading →

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Did Osama get Lucky… Sort of?

Posted on September 11, 2011 by Anthony

On this tenth anniversary of 9/11, I’m asking myself if maybe Osama got lucky in ways he never anticipated. Although, any strategy that ends up with you being executed probably doesn’t qualify as lucky. But sadly, it’s just possible Osama may have actually achieved some of … Continue reading →

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Australia’s Productivity and the March of the Dinosaurs

Posted on September 7, 2011 by Anthony

Don Argus’s pontifications on Monday moved productivity to the top of the media’s talking point list, for a day or two at least. (Can the Malaysian Solution really have reached its media use by date already?) Anyway, he’s done us a service. … Continue reading →

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Afghanistan – The Way We Do Things Around Here

Posted on September 6, 2011 by Anthony

In a previous life, I was once tasked with lifting a factory’s performance.  A new  foreman told me about a particularly wasteful practice that he was flat out unable to get people to do differently. When I dug down, the answers I got … Continue reading →

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Rupert Murdoch – Hoist on Two of His Own Petards

Posted on September 4, 2011 by Anthony

Sounds painful when I say it like that. One of the petards Rupert has hoisted himself upon is the current scandal over phone hacking – the gorgeous irony that he created a culture of scandal mongering journalism and has now … Continue reading →

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Throwing Our Hearts

Posted on September 2, 2011 by Anthony

Many years ago, a circus trainer taught budding trapeze artists in New York. One day, a student climbed, slowly, shakily, up the rope ladder to the high platform. The trapeze swung towards him, but when the moment came, he couldn’t … Continue reading →

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