Hi %%First_Name%%,

Welcome to the June 2008 edition of the changedrivers Newsletter!

In this issue, Malcolm Anderson's article "Generational Change", explores and contrasts the generational gaps of Baby Boomers, Gen X and Gen Y. The article emphasises the organisational performance impacts on the workforce including rising staff turnover and falling recruitment.

The second piece, "The True Volunteer with a Great Cause - changedrivers' Mark Ellwood with Mercy Mission in Thailand" is a narrative by Mark Ellwood. Mark describes the challenges he has faced, the work he has been involved in-such as working with underpriviledged children and working with senior personnel to conduct strategic planning and establish the necessary organisational capability to support further expansion.

We hope you enjoy the articles and our other regular features; our latest news, the book and website of the month. Feel free to pass this newsletter on to your friends and colleagues.

As always, we welcome all the feedback you have time to give us. Please email us at (newsletter@changedrivers.com.au) to let us know what you think.

Kind Regards, The changedrivers Team

Article by Malcolm Anderson

Increasingly we are bombarded with articles, speakers and conferences aiming to explain the problem of generational change. As a Baby Boomer I admit to having been pretty sceptical about this whole business. Aren't people all the same? Doesn't it just depend on the stage at which they are in their life: 0-17 learning, 18-30 taking opportunities, 31-44 consolidating, 45- 55 maximising and 55+ reaping benefit?

But then I began to consider how much our time, our generational culture and the economic and technological environment coloured these phases of life. For example my life and career between 1979 and 1990 was heavily influenced by the industrial and educational policies of the Thatcher Government in the UK. So I finally decided I had to investigate the basis for all this hype to determine:

• Is there a serious corporate risk here and if so what exactly is it?
• What are the impacts and what are the real causes?
• What can employers and managers do to mitigate the problem?

Read the Full Article

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Article by Mark Ellwood

I have now been to all the Mercy operations across North and Eastern Thailand and am getting a good feel for the scope and high quality of the services the organisation provides to the underprivileged. This included spending a few days with the children at the HIV hospice. It was a very heart rending, touching but inspiring visit. The teams over here do fantastic work and I am struck by the unselfish caring and generosity of all involved, mainly Australians, some Dutch and of course the Thai staff, a number of whom have grown up through Mercy orphanages. Recently we drove to Si Sa Ket in eastern Thailand where Mercy has a language school. We went there to strip doors and fittings from an old building and also picked up fifteen beds/mattresses for the incoming children to the new orphanage in Phrae. They were donated by a local Thai business man. I have been helping to teach English at night to about 50 students in the local area as well as helping with Kids Club, a program for underprivileged kids in the area. In addition, the team here is delivering development and education programs in village schools through "Lets Go" an English language and personal development program. It is very grounding to work with these children from the local farming communities and is a constant reminder to me of how blessed I am to have the opportunity to help them grow.

The poverty of many families is quite severe and whilst there are many aspects of Thai culture that are beautiful there are daily reminders of just how fortunate we are in Australia. The spread of HIV is a huge problem despite government assistance in the form of funding to help subsidise ARVs (Anti Retro Viral drugs) for about 70% of those who come forward for treatment.

Read the Full Article

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Article by David Steward-David

It may be pretty annoying for an Englishman to give his Pommy opinion on what Australia needs to change but with any luck it will make you think. Firstly it needs to add value. Selling iron ore to other people who use it to make things that have a value per tonne ten or twenty times higher is a bad idea. Process the ore into specialised steel, bend the steel into sophisticated hardware and you make more money and need fewer ships. This is a change which needs capital, and expertise, and not that much labour. It also needs the kind of belief that has enabled China to move from manufacturing in back yard furnaces to the export of precision engineering in very quick time. If Australia doesn't change to being a maker of sophisticated goods, it will need to dig more and more ore to pay for those it imports. In the same way it needs to add value to tourism. As visitors we had to use a lot of wit to buy tickets for the opera in Sydney. Someone should have been pestering us to buy those tickets - and a meal on the waterfront - for twice the price.

And another thing. It may now just be dawning on people that if you do not change your ways of dealing with the environment then the environment will change you. I like travelling by train, and found the "Queenslander" a charming way to get from Cairns to Brisbane, a bit like being locked in a mobile bar with a view that changed, now and then. But between Sydney and Melbourne, still more Sydney and Canberra, the train should be the dominant mode of transport. To do this it needs to leave the suave new station in Melbourne and get to Sydney in 3 hours, and do this every hour.

Read the Full Article

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Sydney to Wollongong Charity Cycle 2008

As many of you will recall, last year saw changedrivers expanding upon our existing charity support program by entering a team for the first time in the Portfolio Partners Sydney to the Gong MS (Multiple Sclerosis) bike ride. Our team members included Managing Director Malcolm Anderson, Office Manager Mark Ward and long-time colleague Jos Van Der Velde who, with the generosity of our sponsors, managed to raise and contribute $4,260.00 to the overall Gong Ride fund-raising goal of $1,000,000. On a level of personal achievement, all three of us finished the 90km course with surprisingly only a few cuts and bruises between us to explain to our support car at the finish line.

Just recently Malcolm and I were invited to a function here in Sydney, held as a thank you by the MS Society to everyone who took part in last year's event and, of course, through the evening we were all encouraged to get involved again in this year’s ‘Gong ride’. After an extremely inspirational talk from a very positive young man who endures the rigours of a life with MS, we left feeling absolutely determined that changedrivers should support MS Australia again in November 2008

So I would like to take this opportunity to invite all our business associates, colleagues, partners, friends and neighbours to join us on Sunday 2nd November 2008 as the ‘changedrivers and friends’ team to help raise money to provide an assortment of services, programs and choices, all of which are vital to maintain the independence and dignity of people with MS.

In brief, Multiple Sclerosis is a disease of the central nervous system, affecting more young adult Australians than any other neurological condition. People are typically diagnosed in their twenties and thirties and currently over 16,000 people have been diagnosed with MS in Australia.

If you would like to find out more please visit: http://www.msaustralia.org.au/nswvic/

For more information on the Sydney to the Gong ride, please contact Mark Ward at changedrivers: mark-ward@changedrivers.com.au

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Menslink

Incorporated in 2002, Menslink is a dynamic, non-profit community association that promotes the value, well-being and social participation of men, in particular young men and boys, by providing appropriate and professional services with outreach activities in the Australian Capital Territory and parts of regional southern New South Wales.

Menslink welcomes assistance from everyone (both men and women) willing to support, inspire and guide young men. In particular, Menslink is looking for men to mentor young men and boys in the mentoring program. Menslink provides training and support to the mentors and ensures that the matching process optimises the mentoring relationship and produces the best outcomes.

At Menslink we believe that everybody has something to offer and a mentoring role would appeal to anyone who feels inclined to give something back to society by providing the right sort of male influence in a young man’s life.

Please visit the web site: http://www.menslink.org.au/

If you are interested, please call Peter Clarke on 0448 081 780 or email at peter-clarke@changedrivers.com.au

You can also contact Menslink direct: Bryan Duke on 02 6239 4851 or bryan@menslink.com.au

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Queensland Department of Tourism, Regional Development and Industry

Managing people is always the big challenge whether in times of change or at any other time. When we as managers rarely have enough time to tackle these vital underpinning tasks it’s always good to find someone who has taken the time to put together a simple but useful resource of people management techniques.

This is a site intended for small business put together by the Queensland Department of Tourism, Regional Development and Industry and is replete with short articles and checklists on many aspects of people management. If you then follow the hyperlinks you’ll find all sorts of other goodies. You won’t get an MBA overnight but you will find the basics of good guidance in many topics here. At the very least you will definitely progress to knowing what you don’t know and being able to ask the right question to ensure you find the right kind of help.

Go to http://www.dtrdi.qld.gov.au/dsdweb/v4/apps/web/content.cfm?id=1581 to view the site.

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The Tipping Point: How Little Things Can Make a Big Difference

Author: Malcolm Gladwell

ISBN-13: 9780349113463
ISBN: 0349113467

In his book Tipping Point Malcolm Gladwell talks about social change in terms of epidemics and how change can be achieved by just a few of the right people doing what comes natural to them.

Gladwell provides some interesting case studies from 200 hundred years ago to recent times demonstrating how one or two people achieved remarkable change in a very short time. I found his story of Paul Revere and that famous phrase the British are coming of particular interest. What I found significant was on that same night a colleague of Revere’s did exactly the same thing; going from house to house warning the population that something was afoot. The second man headed in the opposite direction to Revere, delivered the same message and yet  is forgotten by history. What made Revere special and why was he so effective at getting his message heard?  Gladwell tells us more about Revere and his social networks; an interesting lesson for all who are trying to get their message out there against a backdrop of competing messages to act.

An interesting insight into when you might be reaching a tipping point for change and more importantly how a strategic focus on the right people will achieve rapid and lasting  impact.

Read more at: http://www.amazon.com

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