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Police in Lower Saxony, Germany, who decided to teach a vulture to sniff out

corpses of missing people have run into difficulty two months into training.

Vultures aren’t what they used to be. We think of them as shrewd, rapacious, ruthless, eternally patient, collegial until the chips (or should I say ‘the meats’) are down. So shrewd, in fact, that they are the best of all animal forecasters – especially of doom. Ralph Hodgson said it all in his poem “The Bull” with its ominous warning of a gathering of vultures “waiting for the flesh that dies”.

Sherlock, unfortunately, does not live up to this demanding reputation. Pretentious little upstart as he or, rather, the German Police, have claimed, he has yet to take off on his important but so far neglected mission of finding the missing of Lower Saxony. I was not aware that Lower Saxonians are given to excessive ‘out days’. In fact, having a quart or so of German blood myself, I rather thought they were conventional to a degree, reporting in regularly every hour on the hour.

Apparently I was wrong. People go missing in Lower Saxony on a monotonously regular basis. They say SKYPE and TV reception isn’t as good there as it might be. There are possibly other reasons, too. Whatever the cause, the overworked police came up with this ingenious idea of training a vulture to circle the skies above and identify the miscreants, signaling where they were and keeping a beady eye until the officers arrived to apprehend and demand an explanation.

Sherlock is not as good as his namesake; he cannot, for example, distinguish between human and animal. While the police of Lower Saxony are always willing to register the whereabouts of a dead dog they do find it distracting from their principal objective of returning wanderers to their homes and restoring peace and tranquility.

What is worse, Sherlock is refusing to fly. Having discovered the medical benefits of walking he prefers to take a daily stroll in the summer sunshine to circling his terrain. It is not as though he was not adequately supported. Like Holmes, Sherlock has a side-kick – two, in fact, appropriately named Colombo and Miss Marple.

But Sherlock is shy and regards his colleagues much as Holmes regarded Watson, not very bright. He refuses to leave the confines of his zoo. There is considerable concern in Germany over the antics of Sherlock. Germans are not used to disobedient, seemingly lazy employees who do not live up to their job descriptions. At a time when the whole of Europe is looking for role models of energetic work and prudent enterprise, Sherlock is letting the side down.

I hate to mention it but it is rather as though the Greek citizens were suddenly and unexplainably to take a day off rioting. Surely Germany isn’t – but perish the thought. I echo the words of a well-known British politician in a time of crisis: “Be off, Sherlock, on yer flight!”

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Democracy may be a good way of establishing the will of the majority. It is a poor way to instill discipline in a crisis. That is why when a democratic country is attacked or goes to war for other reasons it is normal for a State of Emergency to be declared. This allows the Government to act undemocratically while the crisis is sorted out. When it has passed, elections are held and, almost invariably, the opposition is elected for a term.

The Greek drama has now reached Act III. As the new head of the IMF, Christine Lagarde, puts it “The country’s destiny is at stake.” The democratic response to the crisis is riots and an opportunist political opposition appealing to the despair of the citizens rather than to their common sense. For Greece to default on its debts means either major damage to the Euro or Greece leaving the monetary system and reverting to the state of a third world country.

States of Emergency are declared when there is physical threat. Financial threats are different. Money is a symbol of goods and services and symbols can always be reproduced. More money can be printed at any time. The majority of people think this is all you have to do. The behaviour of the international financial community does not dispel the idea although even a moment’s thought is enough to show how absurd it is.

This suggests that the population is in need of financial education. All the evidence gathered from more than twenty years of mentoring confirms that the lack of financial understanding is not confined to Greece. Even people in charge of major businesses frequently demonstrate, through their personal finances, that they have remarkably little grasp of the value of money.

The last British Finance Minister, Gordon Brown, a highly intelligent man, declared his dedication to financial prudence then proceeded to employ approximately a million new Civil Servants and bring Britain to the brink of bankruptcy for what he calculated would be political gain. His term as Prime Minister was one of the shortest in the history of the country. So both financial and political judgments were flawed.

Gordon Brown is not the only politician to have bent financial rules for expected political gain. The Greek opposition is no better. The reality of poverty is harsh living conditions, discomfort, hungriness, disease and, in extreme cases, death. The appearance of poverty can be delayed by mortgaging the future. The whole world has done this for the last fifty years. The day of reckoning is not yet but it is approaching fast.

In the next Greek Act some temporary Euro loans will be made to shore up the crumbling Greek economy. Shortly thereafter the country will default. Other countries will follow. Perhaps another fifteen trillion dollars will be printed to delude us into thinking the end can be delayed yet again. If that happens the hyper inflation already threatening us will begin in earnest.

Let’s hope Mrs Lagarde declares World Financial Emergency before it is too late.

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League tables published annually show which country is top service provider. They rightly encourage people to compete. Most countries now count tourism as a major industry so there are very real and immediate consequences to poor service. Even in countries where service needs are purely domestic, prompt and good service is a vital part of a happy life.

From a retailer we expect comprehensive knowledge about the product or service he is selling. He must tell us its capabilities and shortcomings, the price opportunities of special offers and deals and what they mean, what warranties are provided and what they cover, the advantages of this product over competitors. A retailer is not a warehouse; he is a knowledge base interfacing between supplier and customer.

He must also know of when and what developments are likely, how the technology of the product group is expected to progress and what competing products or systems might provide comparable benefits and value. His after-sales service for dealing with faulty or damaged product must be of the highest quality.

From a restaurant we seek food safety through high level hygiene, prompt attention when we require it, consideration of our special needs or likes and good guidance on the meaning of the dishes on the menu.

Much service is provided by those to whom we outsource work which we could not do or which would be more expensive to do in-house. Everything from medical treatment to business accounting and company secretarial compliance has to be provided by those who have been educated and trained for the work.

From these services we expect swift and accurate response to enquiries however they are received, delivery of promises, sound and adequate advice to enable us to comply with regulations, professionalism throughout including quality standards, honesty of information and disclosure of potentially conflicting interests.

As customers we have responsibilities, too. We cannot expect suppliers to provide a good service if we do not cooperate with the actions they require of us. Our promptness should equal theirs.

Complaining and grumbling about poor quality service is seldom effective. We should still bring it to the attention of those who can remedy it, even when the response is inadequate. However, our experience is that encouragement of the good is usually better than castigation of the bad.

To this end we have a page on our web site – www.TerrificMentors.com – called CAUGHT IN THE ACT of giving good service. It appears under the tag “About you”. We are now collecting the first names to put on the site. These are coming from all over the world. If you have an example of really good service, please tell us about it – in the way described on the web site – and we will do the rest.

As it grows, we hope to build a cadre of excellent individuals from all sorts of suppliers. In this way we hope to shine a torch for those who still have a way to go to achieve a place in this Roll of Top Service.

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Jane Austen’s publisher might have thought of a better title than Pessimism and Positivity. Whether or not, the issue is high on many peoples’ agenda at present and I have been trying to fathom why. Recently many Mentees have come to me happy in their jobs and relationships but aware that they are losing their self-esteem and self-confidence. They are concerned about the consequences when others notice.

2011 has had its fair share of troubles but the root of most worries is lack of certainty about the future. Unease spread by the last financial crisis, doubts about lessons learnt and action taken to avoid a similar problem, illogical support for some dubious regimes while condemning others very similar leaves us with big questions.

Some of the world’s increasing complexity is technological; some of it is selling by confusion. Too many wires on your desk make it difficult to see the one supplying the power. Too much jargon obscures the fundamentals we need to understand now.

My diagnosis is that people are worrying about the problems, not seeing the opportunities. There may indeed be difficulties on the horizon. Sensible action we can take is threefold. First, see that as far as possible we are financially protected against shortages and inflation. We may be able to do so in only a limited way. Once we have ordered our most sensible course of action, we should relax. Fretting won’t make us more secure but it may make us ill.

Second, plan to seize all possible opportunities for the medium term. Equip ourselves to do more than we can at present. Set yourself some realistic targets to learn more, to earn more and to help others. Countries may have to isolate themselves against enemies but individuals have to join forces with friends in troubled times. Simple plans with dates provide purpose and objectives. These soon dispel waning confidence.

Third, look to see the fundamentals in every apparently complex situation. All the changes of the last century have not dispelled them, merely buried them under a lot of rubbish. Get them out, brush them off, reexamine them. They are there to support us.

As Jane Austen might have said it is a time for Sensitivity and Simplicity.

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Companies of all sorts suffered in the last financial meltdown. I say “last” to distinguish it from the next. Among companies that suffered most were those involved in finance – banks, mortgage providers, insurance brokers and other financial institutions. They all had boards of distinguished directors, many of them non-executive and eminent in their own spheres. Why did they not do a better job of directing the businesses?

Simon C Y Wong in the McKinsey Quarterly suggests that these boards were probably able to claim that they followed best practice, in which case best practice was not good enough. I agree; the question is ‘how can best practice be improved?’

Non-executive directors of a company face the same dilemma as the auditors – they are paid by the company. They have an inbuilt conflict of interests. In the case of directors pay is not necessarily only money. The prestige of being on big company boards and the contacts they provide with other senior people are a very real form of reward. Rather biblically one board position begets another which begets another and so on. In the end it can become a club bent on self-perpetuation.

The problems lie with companies of such a size that they significantly influence the markets in which they operate. Their shareholders will consist partly of major investment funds plus, probably, a large number of small shareholders who do not, and may not wish to, understand the business. Not every retiree should be obliged to spend his twilight years rummaging through wordy annual reports and attending inconveniently timed annual general meetings.

Both auditors and non-executive directors should be appointed and paid from outside the company to represent all the shareholders, not just the big ones. Their remuneration should be a genuine item at the AGM, not a ‘nod-through’. All directors should be paid a bonus. This should be based – at least mostly – on results seven years after the present year and not just on today’s profits.

A business is for the future not just for the present. The same is true of the human race. It is time to stop the Gadarene rush down the slope of instant gratification and try to act as though we cared about our children and grandchildren.

If we don’t, nobody else will.

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Reports of a near miss between two planes at JFK Airport and of air traffic controllers who fell asleep at Washington Airport remind us of the many times we put our lives in the hands of others. What to most of us is a special occasion, even if we fly often, is to ATC officers and pilots part of the daily routine and daily routines get boring.

Boredom can set in on any job. There are repetitive elements about jobs that make us take for granted that everything will work as it always has. From proof reading manuscripts to confirming meetings, from introducing employees to their jobs to surgery on serious medical conditions we are all liable to get tired or careless from time to time.

Many road accidents are caused by carelessness. I once saw a Magistrates Court indictment which accused a driver of driving “without due car and attention”. Even Court Clerks get bored.

How can we make jobs systematic and thorough on the one hand and varied enough to maintain our interest on the other? The very act of reading a checklist of things to do predisposes us to think that they have been done. Adequate supervision is a prerequisite to good discipline but supervisors get bored, too, and too much supervision passes the buck to another level. A sense of personal responsibility prevents boredom.

When we get bored our thinking slows down or switches off because of lack of stimulus. The only way to keep a job ‘fresh’ is to ask for – and reward – suggestions for improving the process and success rate of the work being done. Employees who are asked to help usually relish the opportunity to contribute to something beyond their often limited sphere of influence. We all know that we are much better than the boss; this is our chance to show it.

Management today is not just the imposition of discipline but the release of initiative. It involves helping people to appreciate the full value of themselves, expressed through their work. The man who thatched our cottage roof taught me that the only relevant quality standards were those I imposed on myself; his lesson is needed more than ever now that quality control has become so routine that it is often, yes, boring.

When you next go for a job interview think how bored the interviewer is. Same old routine, same boring resume, same banal questions, same predictable answers. Change the pace, reverse the process, ask the interviewer questions, stimulate his thinking. He will be intrigued by the role reversal, impressed by the courage required, enlivened by the interaction. Even if he feels threatened by such enterprise, he will hire you because his fear that you will go to a competitor is even greater.

And when you have the job, much will be expected of you. Make sure that much is given in return for your contribution to making life more thoughtful, more fun and more successful. You really will be dispelling boredom.

That’s pretty impressive.

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The penguin that took a wrong turn and ended up on Kapiti Beach in New Zealand has much in common with many of the Mentees who come to us searching for their Tree on the other side of the Field. However well we identify a rewarding purpose for our life, events have a habit of making us take a wrong turn from time to time.

Some people think that makes planning a waste of time. “Who can forecast anything these days?” I hear about ten times a week. When we don’t know if a major currency is going to survive into July, the feeling of hopelessness is understandable.

Far from being a reason not to attempt forecasting, this should be a spur to making even greater efforts to plan our lives – and to have Plan B ready at all times. There is overwhelming evidence to show that those who plan succeed far better than those who don’t.

It’s like this. You will either be a passenger on the journey of life, or you will be the driver. The former can be very happy but must not have great expectations. S/he will go with the flow; that can be rewarding in a rather selfish way. Not our job to tell people that they shouldn’t be selfish but important for them to recognize that they will have some regret if their life is devoted only to themselves. But in the end it’s their decision.

Most people seek happiness in whatever way they think they will find it. Mr. Berlusconi, the Italian Prime Minister, has his partying ways; others prefer the silence of the monastic cell. There is only one way to achieve perfect happiness and that is by committing everything we do to the benefit of others.

Most of us have neither the inclination nor the discipline to do that, however well we understand the concept intellectually. In the search for balance even the most self-interested should devote some of their time and effort to other people’s needs. They also have to eat, to secure the future for themselves and their families in what looks like an increasingly expensive and drawn out old age, to provide some options other than merely surviving.

I learnt early on the way in which our plans can be derailed. My ambition to be a farmer was thwarted very soon after I had qualified and started my job by a serious accident. My plan for a rural life of hard physical work in UK was shot. So I made a new plan based on urban and international living. It is still a wonderful journey.

The Tree changes from time to time because events alter the assumptions on which our first Tree was based. That is both inevitable and good. We live long enough to have two, three or even four careers. What matters is that at any moment we know where is our Tree on the other side of the Field.

Having a destination is more important than reaching it.

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Commentators on the Greek financial crisis are describing a sense of despair among the citizens as they see debt piling upon debt and one austerity measure after another stretching into an indefinite future. Despair is dangerous. It pushes people to perform acts of irresponsibility bordering on madness. A desperate man has little to lose.

The history of debt will be written one day and, as with most acute situations, it will be seen to have started rather innocently and gradually become increasingly chronic. The initial emergency – or, more probably, simply urgency – will appear as justifying the first small, short term loan.

We all need to borrow at some time in our lives. But the measures of what we owe will quickly change from ‘how big is the debt’ to ‘how much has the debt increased’ – “oh, only 5% last month, that’s better than the 8% the month before”.

How wickedly deceiving those percentages can be.

Getting into debt is like wandering about in an unknown city where you cannot read the street names. At each corner you mean to turn back but there are sights to see, shops to visit, cafes to patronize. And so you go on until suddenly it gets dark and you don’t know where you are or how to find your way home.

The way a country becomes bankrupt is no different from the road to personal insolvency. Each new step is intended to correct the situation. In the event it merely leads us into deeper loss. Of all the lessons I learnt in business, when to turn off the taps was the most important.

So do you bail out or do you support, and make the situation even worse? None of us refuses a dollar to the man on the corner. But every day? And then every hour? Life teaches you that what you give someone one day they will think you owe them the next.

Calm and sensible financial planning is not the mood the Greek citizens are in at present. Let’s hope the lesson that financial prudence is important is being learnt by others before they reach the same parlous destination.

The iceberg of which Greece is the tip is mighty and international.

—o0o—

Our new web site at www.TerrificMentors.com is now online and this gives you access to many more articles by me and others. Please take a moment to visit us there and see the expanding personal and corporate mentoring we are doing. Additional Mentors are being trained and they will appear on the web site as they become active.

Sean Flynn, CEO of the Brotzeit Group of Companies, talks to Terrific Mentors about how mentoring can help in negotiating business deals.