Category: Background

Wow – I’m a millennial from a different time

Post author By The Burble....
Post date August 26, 2017
No Comments on Wow – I’m a millennial from a different time

According to an article in Business Insider millenials are killing certain businesses and I am glad to say that most of the ones being ‘killed’ are ones that I am cheerfully glad to see the back of. And I suspect most people of all ages will be. So here’s my take on some of what’s going on

Casual dining such as Applebees or Buffalo Wild Wings are losing out and I can understand why. No discernible taste, poor locations and a standard of service that is literally non-existent. Avoid at all costs
Beer is on the way out. Millennials prefer wine and I can confirm this is entirely fine with me. I will now be able to get a place at the bar and get served with no teenagers trying out their latest red bull concoction. Long live millenials avoiding beer
Napkins – apparently millenials prefer paper napkins to cloth napkins. I have no idea why anyone would prefer paper napkins so in this case millenials have it. I’ll carry on using the washing machine.
Breastaruant chains like Hooters. No one of any age should be seen in or around a hooters. Of any age. It’s just wrong and I am with millenials all the way here.
Millennials don’t like cereal because its hard to clear up. Well a staring point might be not to use paper napkins but I am not sure why clearing up breakfast is a particular challenge as no other meal is mentioned. Perhaps all millenials start out with good intentions about clearing up breakfast, end up with a handful of sodden paper towels and simply give up tidying up?
Golf is under pressure as millenials find better ways of spending their time. And while is it obviously not clearing up their apartments I find the fact that they are killing golf to be worthy of medals. Golf has to be the best way to ruin a walk in the country but apart from that it serves no useful purpose at all. Except perhaps keeping anyone who thinks plus fours are a good thing away from the rest of us. All power to the millenials
Motorcycles. Well who does want to dress up to dress up in tight leather and fall over as soon as it rains or you go round a corner. people who like motorcycles probably like golf and should be kept away from sensible people.
Fabric softener. I find it odd that millenials in particular are running away from fabric softener but according to Procter & Gamble’s head of global fabric care, millennials “don’t even know what the product is for.” Which is a bit odd as the clue is in the title of the product and its a bit difficult to see how a company could make it any easier to understand what it does. But again I am with the millennials here. Another round of chemicals clogging up your pores simply so your towel apparently feels a little nicer doesn’t make a lot of sense to me
Banks – nothing needs to be said. No one likes banks. They are simply horrible
Gyms. I am with millenials here. never having set foot inside a gym I can completely understand why no one else would want to.

Now I come to think of it I am a millennial after all. Just from the wrong millennium.

Tags Beer, Business, company, eating, Experience, family, People, places, society, Technology

Background Change People

Going home?

As I sit here writing this one the apartment is a hive of activity. Boxes piling up all around and the sound of tape and cardboard filling the air. It’s the time that many expats in Hong Kong have experienced many times over – the sounds of relocation. And accompanying the noise are those questions, fears, concerns and the sense of dislocation. We are relocating back to the UK. My fault as my very long suffering wife remind me regularly.

But is it going home?

Out of all the questions that come up when you move back to where you come from this is probably the one that I come back to more and more and with less and less of an answer. I really don’t know how I feel about going back to the UK. Quite honestly it doesn’t feel like a country that I recognise. Gone seems to be the tolerant hard working but somewhat smug nation that I grew up in, replaced by a nation that seems to think the world owes it a living and that all foreigners are in some way bad – just for being foreign. A country where the Daily Mail has gone from being a comic for the distinctly odd to a sad reflection of broad swathes of society. A country that is currently in the throws of debating whether to remain as part of a multinational and multi cultural world or descend into being a small island that can somehow stand out and above the rest based on a distinctly rosy view of our position in the world.

We’re starting in Greenwich, somewhere I know very little about but it looks good on the tourism site and GoogleMaps.

Image courtesy of Robert Bradford at FreeDigitalPhotos.net

While there must be something good about the place I am struggling to see it and while you might then ask why on earth relocate back there the simple answer to that one is the alternative was Switzerland. As someone once said to me its a great place for the morning but you’ve done it by lunchtime.

This is the third time I’ve moved countries and possibly the most daunting. Not knowing anything about the culture of the country your moving to is part of the fun. Coming out of our front door and not having any idea of what to do, where to go and how things work is all part of the experience. I’m not sure this applies to coming back to the UK.

We will see

Tags change, Experience, Hong Kong, London, Relocation, Travel

Background Change Communication People

Let’s take a stand

One of the issues that business in general struggles with, as do many other areas of society, is the issue of equality. It’s something that we all know needs to be dealt with and there is a lot research that will tell you that business performs best when the company is truly representative of the society in which it operates.

Doing something about it seems to be beyond many people and businesses. But even small steps can help.

So I am going to take a stand on this issue. I’ve signed up for the HeforShe campaign being run by the UN; a campaign that seeks to involve both men and women in making the issue of equality one for the history books.

I’d like to encourage everyone to join in.

And if you need some more background on why this issue is important please watch the video. An obviously nervous Emma Watson gives some background on why the issue is important and why its an issue for all of us.

Take a look. Take a stand.

Tags Business, Communication, human rights, People, Risk, women

Background

A New York Mourning

I’m just back from NYC from a joint business and vacation trip. Its amazing, having lived in New York for more than three years before moving to Hong Kong, just how much it feels like home. You get off the plane and everything is familiar even while a lot has changed. Although of course nothing changes like Hong Kong where once a week at least three of our local shops have closed, been refurbished and reopened as something else.

Image courtesy of porbital / FreeDigitalPhotos.net

Maybe its that pace of change that stops Hong Kong from feeling like home yet. Or maybe its the fact that in New York there are people who recognise me nearly two years after I left. Going into a bar for dinner and being recognized by a waiter who seems genuinely interested in what I’ve been doing just makes the place more comfortable.

Sure, in Hong Kong we have local restaurants where after regular use we are now well known but with the exception of one – Stone Nullah Tavern in Wan Chai – it still doesn’t quite feel like home. Of course Stone Nullah is an American style bar and maybe that’s part of the attraction. They go out of their way to make us feel welcome.

A view of Hong Kong Harbor from the Peak

My wife pointed out to me the other day, as we ruminated on where we might move to next, that it takes a long time to feel settled in a place. Often it takes between 18 months and two years just to feel like you know the place and how things work. Moving internationally is something that I’d recommend to everyone but I have perhaps, in the past three or four months, overlooked just how long it takes to feel settled. While getting a cheery wave and a ‘joe sun’ (or correctly spelled: jóusàhn) from locals is a testament to getting better known, its still a long way from being settled.

So I’ll keep hunting for good bars and restaurants and welcome your recommendations in the comments section below! For the expats living abroad, what made you feel settled in the country you now call home?

Tags Business, Hong Kong, New York City, Travel, United States

Background

Let’s get started

This is the start of something special. I hope it will be.

I have decided to create something that other people will use, a source of insight and information about the events going on in the world and how they shape the impacts on businesses small and large. I will attempt to look into the future and provide some thoughts on what might happen, what might not and in each case what can be done about it. In essence this is about risk, seeing it, understanding it, making the most of it or minimizing the impact of it.

Risk is what we deal with everyday but often with little attempt to do more than identify the issue. I will try and do the identification and then offer some thoughts on what can be done about it.

At the same time I will offer some insights on business and the challenges faced based on my own 30 years of experience.

And I’ll try and keep things simple.

A lot to cover and a lot to do. Wish me well and please join me in this adventure.