During the cold war John
Cleese documented the daily lifestyle of
some Eastern European peasant village folk as they happily went about their
chores on a farm; after narrating their apparent simple routine he then
delivered the line ‘who would have thought these seemingly happy people are so
hell bent on destroying western civilisation’.
Mrs Cook and I have recently
returned from a fantastic ten day escape to the beautiful region of Tuscany;
beautiful is obviously a perception as it is straddled precariously amongst
that ancient metaphor which culminates with ‘in the eye of the beholder’. So I beheld vast tracks of olive groves,
moody mountain range skies and an infinity pool of famed vineyards. The Italian folk in that region have kind of
cracked it if you apply pureness to what makes one happy; type into your
favoured search engine (my lawyers have advised me to write) ‘what makes people
happy?’ and you will find an overabundance of research, quotes, academic
psychological observations and nuance; you will be given the top 3 the top 5
the top 100 etc. You will even be given
advice bordering on instruction! It,
(the engine), is like an agony aunt responding to your every indulgence - ‘Dear
Google (oops) how can I be happy?’ – ‘about 270,000,000 results (0.37 seconds)’
what! And why time it? So a medley of options include; get a friend, grow organic veg, donate to
charity, eat ice cream regularly, learn to tap dance. I don’t think these things should happen in one
day, but I’m sure someone has tried. The
simple answer if you ask me is go to Tuscany.
The people are encircled with great wine, fabulous food, amazing climate
and relaxed tempo. They are helpful,
courteous, gracious and charming, until you get into and drive a car!
Our Fiat Punto duly arrived with
the friendly sales bod, all wavers signed and off we head into our happy
tourist world just at the exact time to re-enact the script from that well
known literary giant author Daniel Handler, Lemony Snickets A Series Of Unfortunate Events. Now I don’t mind receiving feedback from
other motorists if I make a slight mistake but saying you will kill my mother
seems a little strong; overtaking on a blind uphill left to right bend is also
ok provided you do not feel the urge to barge me into the ditch at the same
time and please, whilst standing next to your articulated petrol tanker which
is also parked at a gas station, make some attempt to get a few feet away as
you smoke your Marlboro Light. However
my favourite experience of all is the Italian ability to, no matter where or at
what speed, drive centimetres away from your rear bumper whilst emitting a
continuous noise only a hand on a car horn can achieve.
Yes, the happy people can also be
brash, flash and flamboyantly passionate; it just perhaps manifests in
different ways; this is culture and the strange thing is the behaviour
transfers. I started to drive like them;
if that’s what they want, that’s what they’ll get. I can do the signs, the language, the aggression;
is it what we do to keep up, to be part of the crowd, to be accepted, to go
with it, join in?
So is your business culture where
you want it to be? If it is then sip the
Chianti, if it isn’t, then who is driving? To the world, are you looking good; an art the
Italians pride themselves in? L'arte di guardare bene.
Legal note- None of my Italian friend’s egos were harmed
during the composition of this blog.
My first work assignment after
returning home was to visit a company near Milton Keynes. The people there seem
happy enough; they thought my driving a tad aggressive.
“You don't have to
fear your own company being perceived as human. You want it. People don't trust companies; they trust
people.” Stan Slap
