Humour

The CEO of Australian bank Westpac says that we could all learn something from the airline industry. I agree, so here’s a learning story from United Airlines. Last week, I was having a moan on twitter about them. It’s an experience that I’m going to share, but this is not whining. It is how to…

Now I didn’t make this statement, to be clear. A banker did. He was talking about the four quadrants of service, and said that banking needed to become like the sewage system: invisible, but incredibly important that it works especially when it’s urgent. I liked his ideas, and he presented it like this. Banking today…

I’ve spotted a couple of interesting discussions about millennials and money in the last week, both of which say that the views on them are wrong. Stereotyped as avocado-crunching, cappuccino drinking, needies, the general media view is that this is a generation spoilt by helicopter parents to grow up to be the most earnest losers…

I got called out in one review of my new book Digital Human calling it a “futurist’s wet dream”, which I thought was a bit much. The reviewer doesn’t work in finance, didn’t like my views on science fiction becoming science fact, didn’t buy into the revolutions of humanity and felt the book was confused….

I travel a lot and go to several countries that have smart leadership and smart cities. These cities and countries – you know who you are – are in the forefront of innovation and claim to be visionary. So, I was surprised when I was planning a trip to one recently, Dubai, and found a…

I was asked at a conference the other day: “so what do you think about a banks’ Innovation Department?” The question threw me a little, so I asked what they meant. “Well, do you think banks should have an Innovation Division?” I replied that divisions divide, and that innovation should be encouraged everywhere. “Ah, so…

It’s very confusing these days. I turned up at a conference recently in a suit and tie and no one, literally no one, was wearing a suit or tie. No one had told me the dress code either, so I grinned and bared it. Then I got to another meeting today where the audience were…

I’ve been tempted for some time to write a book about how sex is at the heart of commerce, innovation and money. I’ve alluded to it a few times, and particularly noted that the right honourable Jeremy Clarkson sometimes says something intelligent. “Money and rumpy-pumpy (sex) are the twin engines powering everything we do”. He’s…

There’s a quote I’ve stolen off John Oliver that bitcoin combines everything you don’t understand about finance with everything you don’t understand about technology. It’s a great line, and considering banking and technology are probably some of the most complicated things in our world, one that hits the nail on the head: how many people…

I get invited to lots of different events from speaking and moderating conferences to joining via Skype or WebEx to running webinars and tweetups. I had one of those the other day with Oracle, and they kindly wrote a summary of what we discussed. Enjoy and for the record, the summary of the twitter chat…