Politicians and Lawyers - do we need them or is something else possible??

Hello Everyone,

Did you know that a book has been written called The End of Lawyers? by Richard Susskind?

Susskind was contemplating the demise of mercers, cordwainers, wheelwrights and tallow chandlers.  Although we can still buy silk, leather, wheels and candles, the crafts people who made these have in the main disappeared.  Their professions have morphed due to economic conditions.

Susskind wondered if this could happen to lawyers.  He proposes that the rising cost of legal services and the ready availability of cheaper alternatives is likely to transform the industry.   Susskind refers to the 60 million disputes which comes from sales issues with eBay and the online dispute resolution.  The online resolutions allow problems to be solved with a minimum of human interaction.

If this can happen with eBay then it is likely to spread. The high demand and high cost of legal services  is likely to give rise to new ways of settling traditional problems.

Outsourcing in the legal field is already common for back-office jobs, contract reviewing, drafting and legal research.   Software is also being developed to replace human judgements and systems are being developed to support a wide range of needs in this area.  Technological trends will continue and this will have a huge impact on the nature of the legal industry.

Other professions are also likely to change significantly die to technology.  Other writers such as Daniel Finkelstein ponder the longevity of professional politicians as we know as we know them.  In the US State Department, for example, computer modelling is used to help it understand and resolve international disputes.  Game theory and and computer simulations are used to help determine the outcome of foreign elections and predict terrorist activity.

Roz Townsend  www.roztownsend.com

To read more of these ideas see Roz's latest book Future Words

Source:           

'Do we really need MPs now we have Twitter' by Daniel Finkelstein

The Times Wednesday July 2 2014  

Decision Making and Neuro-finance

Hello Everyone,

Have you heard of the field of study called neuro-finance?  It includes research in economics, behavioural psychology and neurology to work out how people make financial decisions.

Researchers at the University of New South Wales in Australia think that the stress hormone norepinephrine in the brain has an impact on the final decisions that people make.  Evidently, in some people, norepinephrine is very sensitive to change and can rapidly alert people to changes in their environment. Yet for others it can be quite slow. 

The ability to adapt quickly to an ever-changing financial environment is a definite advantage in the business world.  How quickly responses are made to adversity can determine the success or otherwise  of a business.

It will be interesting to see if there is a chemical that can assist quicker more appropriate decisions not just in business but in every aspect of our lives.

Roz Townsend  www.roztownsend.com

Source:            The Sydney Morning Herald Saturday  10 May 2014 p 13

Stand Up For Your Health

Hello Everyone

Is it time to take a stand for your health? And I really mean stand?

The University of Kansas found that people who decrease their sitting time and increase their physical activity have a lower risk of chronic disease.

Just standing throughout the day rather than sitting improves health and lessens the chance of such diseases as cardiovascular, diabetes, heart, stroke, breast and colon cancer.

Anything that reduces sitting time can help.  I, for example, have now placed my computer on top of my filing cabinet so that I can stand and work rather than sit.

Another strategy might be to move the printer well away from the computer so that you have to move, and preferably walk to the printer.

Evidently sitting for prolonged periods of time with little movement,  shuts off a molecule called lipoprotein lipase, or LPL.  Lipoprotein lipase helps to take in fat or triglycerides and use it for energy.  This is important to get our metabolism functioning properly.

This is such an important area for our health and well-being that researchers suggest trying a sit/stand desk as way to decrease sedentary time and add physical activity into the day. A sit/stand desk or workstation can adjust up and down so employees can add more standing time to their days. There are even sit/stand desks for children to stand and do homework or projects.

What can you do to take a stand for your health?

Roz Townsend  www.roztownsend.com

Source:

Richard R Rosenkranz, Mitch J Duncan, Sara K Rosenkranz, Gregory S Kolt. Active lifestyles related to excellent self-rated health and quality of life: cross sectional findings from 194,545 participants in The 45 and Up Study. BMC Public Health, 2013; 13 (1): 1071 DOI: 10.1186/1471-2458-13-1071

Extraordinary Listening Skills

Hello Everyone

Did you know that:

                                   You get to choose who you are as a listener

The skills of extraordinary listening have seldom been taught. Consider that you do not need to take your brain into a ‘random access’ mode when people are talking to you. You could choose to listen in such a way that people love talking and sharing information with you. How will you do this? This is where the deeper philosophical aspects of listening come in. To do this takes a level of personal development and awareness requiring the listener to go  beyond their egos.  It goes into the area of creating communication as a medium for peace and harmony on the planet.

Foundations of extraordinary listening

What do I mean by this? Consider that people do not say anything right or wrong- they just say what they say and either it works or it does not work. If we don’t make people wrong when they are talking to us they will feel more open.

Similarly how we listen will determine what we are told.

Listen for responsibility or passion Often when people are talking they have an underlying passion or responsibility. A comment by a parent to a  20 year old son or daughter about their car such as ‘have you checked the tyres? What about the oil?’ May not be meant to be intrusive and bossy but rather the underlying message could be a parent being responsible saying in ‘code’ that ‘I love you, stay safe!’

Listen for what they are creating in the future – their possibility A comment like “I can’t tolerate the my job, I think I ‘ll leave”. This might be a desire to work more productively or independently rather than being heard as a complaint.

Listen for proaction rather than reaction  As in the above example, “I can’t tolerate the my job, I think I ‘ll leave”. This might be a desire to take more control of their life rather than be a victim.

Listen for the gems  The comment “Have you checked the oil?” could well be important for the longevity and resale value of the car.

Listen to understand “I can’t tolerate the my job, I think I‘ll leave”.  Could elicit a response such as “I did not know how bad the situation was becoming for you. Tell me more...”

These extraordinary filters will give you extraordinary relationships at home and work. And they will take some action on your part.

Roz Townsend  www.roztownsend.com

Source:             Listening Skills Roz Townsend  2012