The Wheel Keeps Turning

Or so it may seem. This quarter has seen me interstate facilitating some strategic planning workshops; overseas working with an established Government client, working with CGD, SELLEN, and Hilton Manufacturing among others here in Oz, a couple of weeks holiday down in Tasmania, and also the occasional radio interview looking at the ‘Future of…’. And no slow down just yet with some strategy programs being developed for a likely new year roll-out, including the co-design with Dr Kim Hazendonk from PositiveBrain.com.au.  Lots to look forward to

I’ve now got to shift some attention to finishing off a book for Thebarberbooks.com website

And it’s not so much a wheel when we know where we are headed and why. It’s a path.

Building on Innovation for a vibrant and sustainable future – a focus for future manufacturing

May 23, 2011

On Thursday I’ll be part of the panel that wraps up the National Manufacturing Week 2011 in Melbourne at the Melbourne Convention & Exhibition Centre under the theme of Meeting the challenges of the next generation of manufacturing with a focus on Innovation and Sustainability. It should be an interesting chat as we consider what…

Read More >

What Australia Can learn from Finland’s Education System

May 1, 2011

There’s lots to like about borrowing ideas from other areas especially where those ideas can lead to a significant positive shift. In the link below, Zaid Ali Alsagoff an educational blogging specialist highlights why the Finnish Education system stands as a potential model to embrace. And whilst there are examples of this type of thinking…

Read More >

The role of Environmental Scanning in planning departments

Apr 13, 2011

Environmental Scanning (ES) is the process of paying attention to the world in which you operate in order to identify and gain a sense of potential signals of change in how your world is developing. When discussing the idea of ‘change’ we need to be clear – a potential signal of change is likely to…

Read More >

What Victoria can learn from Western Australia’s weather

Mar 19, 2011

When it comes to water management, there’s something of potential value that Victoria could learn from Western Australia’s weather given discussions about new dams If you have almost 60 days straight of above 30 degree days with pretty much no rain, how do you fill the dam? Well you don’t but you’ve put all of…

Read More >

What natural disasters tell us about societies

Mar 16, 2011

The natural disasters we’ve seen recently around the world have shown us much about the communities in which they’ve occurred. The images emerging from Japan, New Zealand and Australia as they’ve faced earthquakes, tsumanis, floods and fires stands on stark contrast to the mainstream media stories that suggests people of the world are not willing…

Read More >

What to do when phone lines go down

Mar 6, 2011

Hi everyone – a quick note to let you know that our phones lines have been down for a while now and we are working on getting them fixed. Our apologies for any inconvenience this may have caused you. In the meantime, try using either our 1800 number where you can leave a message only…

Read More >

Can GM Foods feed the world?

Feb 28, 2011

ABC journalist Adam Stephen interviews Marcus Barber on the subject of GM foods and whether they might be more widely embraced as part of the global food requirements   The interview (about 3& 1/2 mins) is available in MP3 format here and a link to the shorter web article is here.  Some key points –…

Read More >

A Vision for Australian Manufacturing

Feb 16, 2011

South East Business Networks, the City of Greater Dandenong’s longest running business development program, is an exceptional avenue for learning about issues to do with Manufacturing. This week they provided one ‘out of the box’ with an excellent presentation by Professor Goran Roos, a worldclass expert on Manufacturing and currently South Australia’s Thinker in Residence.…

Read More >

What to do When a Policeman loses touch with Humanity?

Feb 13, 2011

Today some friends are burying their father who died last week after his health took a sudden downturn. One of them, Penny got the urgent call to get to hospital. Penny is a conservative driver at the best of times and on this occasion was aiming to get through traffic as best as she could…

Read More >

Could Yasi be worse than expected?

Jan 31, 2011

Cyclone Yasi heads towards Queenslands North East coast this morning with significant concerns for residents. There is potentially an added danger based on the way cylones work. Typically a cyclone needs two things – heat and water, which is why they can dissipate quickly once they head inland. However Yasi hits following a couple of…

Read More >