The Mexican Wave may seem an inconsequential thing, but the story illustrates something much more important which I think may be about to happen. The 1986 World Cup is a good example of a tipping point. It brought about a quick change in behaviour, and something which probably would have caught on slowly and late, happened quickly and immediately. Lovers of synchronised standing up and sitting down again have been happy ever since.
As I look out of my office window today, this is what I see.
We’re currently in the middle of the most prolonged cold snap since 1982. The date is significant because it means that this is the first long series of “snow days” since it became easy for most office workers to work from home. In 1982 there was no WWW, no VPN and darn few other TLAs. If you couldn’t make it into work, the company lost your services and you lost pay.
Although the technology has existed for several years, the take-up of remote access for work purposes has been lamentably slow in this country, and indeed in most countries. Although the idea has been around long enough for the term “telecommuting” to have been coined back in the 1970s, most people still regard working from home as something of a novelty – despite both the ever-improving technology, and the environmental arguments for saving fuel use and reducing congestion.
Perhaps this cold snap will be the moment when employers rethink the need for their office workers to drive into the office every day. I hope in hindsight the snows of 2009-2010 will be a very positive tipping point which will benefit the planet. Am I being naïve, or just hopelessly optimistic?
Hi Rob,
ReplyDeleteYes, I agree with your points of view and here are some of my thoughts on the points you have raised.
The Mexican Wave has certainly helped liven up the atmosphere in football games and let us face it some of the games can be really boring!
Also, some of the top flight players get lots of money and to be honest it is absolutely barmy. The ordinary supporter does not earn that kind of money and yet buys his/her ticket to see these so called best players!
There will come a time when the clubs themselves will not be able to pay the silly wages. How long can the game survive?
The big clubs have the money to buy up and coming players from the lower leagues but the lower clubs although they are making money by selling off their best players are struggling
Also I think there should be a limit to how much money a club can spend on players in a season. It is unfair that the big teams can buy best players and win trophies It is not fair competition at all
Some players play really well at club level but look ordinary when called up to play for their country!
Our National teams suffer and I think there should be a limit of how many foreign players are allowed to play for our clubs. I have seen games where there is not a single home grown player on the pitch.
There was a time when other countries used to fear facing British teams but these days as non-British players play in our country, they know all our strengths and weaknesses and no wonder we no longer do so well at International level
The idea of working from home (WFH) has been around for a long time and if used can be beneficial to both employers and employees alike.
Yes, the system is open to abuse and needs monitoring very closely. There have been incidents where employees are supposedly WFH but when employers try to contact them, they are not at home!
Some employers are not so willing to let their staff WFH and this attitude needs to change
So, the children are not allowed to go to school because of the icy conditions in the playground. What about the icy conditions in the local park where they are playing on a toboggan, making snow sculptures, and generally larking about- no health and safety zelouts to be seen!
ReplyDeleteGreat post as always Rob.
ReplyDeleteInteresting you use a Mexican wave as your rubicon analogy.
I'm far more used to seeing it used in metaphor, as a synonym for the domino effect.
I'd never thought of it in the way you describe.
As for whether the weather does prove to be a turning point for remote workers: I believe we'll have to see who has hurt the most (financially) over this time due to workers not turning up.
It's true, the technology has been around for yonks and is only getting better, but medium to large sized businesses seem to be waiting for other major players to take a stance.
Smaller businesses on the other hand, seem to be leading the way here and surely it's only a matter of time before enough of those smaller businesses grow to present this culture to the rest of the world as a viable option.
Maybe then we'll see a veritable Mexican wave of remote workers across the world!