Casually trawling the end of year news reports is a tad encouraging to
me, of course I’m not the solo investigator implementing the modernist art of
reminding the populous what exactly happened in their preceding anno. You only need to watch media rev up from about
November and catch the euphoria of productions such as ‘BBC Sports Personality
of the Year’, ‘The Annual Comedy Awards’ (given the Ashes test sometimes
confused with each other), soap awards etc.
These prestigious, yet traditional accolades have been around since
Morecambe and Wise were our ‘X Factor’ and ‘Strictly’ equivalents and also why
we learned to love looking back whilst exclaiming ‘was that only in January!’
or ‘that seemed like years ago!’
More recently however, the yearly reminiscent genre has evolved to
become shall we say, slightly more diverse; ‘Scariest Police Chases’, ‘Best Confectionary
Marketer’, ‘World’s Strongest Man’, ‘Greatest Movie Mistakes’ and my personal
favourite ‘Most Improved Hedge Fund Operator of 2013’. For this latter, I have a vivid vision of the
awards ceremony being conducted in a small but expensive offshore studio and
the nominees criteria including 2013 earliest prison release; ’And now ladies
and gentlemen we are joined by Marcus,
live by satellite in San Quentin’.
As I mentioned in line one, I am encouraged; encouraged because the
decades have gradually become more and more inclusive, wide-ranging, comprehensive,
and broad: diversity in action. This ‘media’
New Year resolution gains momentum to such an extent that we probably would not
in 2014 even comprehend the 1976 versions any more than we would understand why
songs of Eric and Ernie are motivational.
So why oh why do the hacks make this progress and then shoot
themselves in the diversity foot?
On 2nd
January this year The Times and other notable publications reported back on the
tragic case of Dr (Physics) Kate Stone who, whilst holidaying over Christmas
near Fort William Scotland was unexplainably attacked by a full grown male
highland stag; this caused Dr Stone to suffer horrific injuries. Some headlines of this case read thus:
Transgender scientist in hospital after being gored in the throat by
stag in horror Highlands attack
Transgender! Exploring as deep
as I could, it was impossible to find why this word in the strapline was
relevant; have they found a transgender phobic member of the Deer family? Are there warning signs in the paths around
this winter retreat? Look further, not
only a transgender, but a transgender scientist! Which aspect of the PHD thesis attracts this
additional honour? So I think 2014
resolutions should continue in this diverse way, headlines must mention race,
religion, sexual orientation, gender and age.
And whether relevant or not.
·
January 36 year old man rescued by RNLI off Coast
of Kent
The 6 man crew rescued Mr Goode
after he had drifted 1 mile offshore, the daring rescue was carried out by the
crew all of which authorities confirmed are heterosexual.
·
March Scientists repair air cooling leak in Russian
built module orbiting international space station
Both Anotov Gresniev and Uri
Benetitz confirmed that the training and technical data skill saved many hours
of research, they also went on to explain (through an interpreter) that neither
of them had contemplated Hinduism at this important time
·
August 6% shift change in western economy over
last quarter indicating encouraging signs for growth and employment.
The G8 financial secretariat
released a statement stating that data research indicates that some people are
actually men and some are women, the controversial statement also goes on to
mention that all people affected will be
either over 70 years of age or not.2014 here we go.
Bring me
sunshine; make sure you include everyone in your business.
Businesses recognise diversity in the workplace as a business strategy
that maximises productivity, creativity and loyalty of employees while meeting
the needs of their clients or customers. If a company is only as good as their
employees, then it stands to reason that a great deal of energy should be
devoted to hiring the most diverse range of individuals.
Zest LLP would like to send its best wishes
and a speedy recovery to Dr Kate Stone her family and friends at this difficult
time.
