What would you do if your child had autism?

When I launched Aktiv Tactics, I knew that my personal preference was to work with organisations that are really making a difference in people's lives. However, I expected that I'd have to spend much of my time working with profit-hungry corporates in order to "pay the bills", and set aside just a small portion of our resource and time to assist the more altruistic organisations.

Somehow (I'm inclined to ascribe it to divine providence) I'm actually finding that many opportunities are arising to assist organisations which see their role as being far more than purely commercial profit.

One such client that I've just started working with is Quickstepz Paediatric Therapy, an inspiring small autism therapy clinic founded by Kate Boland in St. Leonards, NSW, to make a real difference in the lives of autistic children and their families. Kate is an accredited Occupational Therapist who has also pursued training in the Greenspan Floortime therapy model. Kate's therapy services offer real hope for families who have struggled with the challenges associated with Autism Spectrum Disorders.

Children with autism exhibit a number of socialisation difficulties, due to their impaired ability to understand normal interactive cues and engage with their peers in an appropriate manner. Quickstepz Paediatric Therapy works with children and their families in an individualised manner to identify the developmental delays a particular child is experiencing and then proactively focus on therapies which will enhance their abilities in each of those areas.

My role, as a consultant to Quickstepz, is to improve their visibility in the community and ensure that families who have a child diagnosed with autism will become aware of the services available through Quickstepz. Working to a tight budget, we're commencing with a range of web site optimisations and improved internet marketing, but are also exploring opportunities for media coverage of the Floortime techniques, as this is a new initiative in Australia.

For more information about Quickstepz, Autism Therapy, or the ways in which I can assist your organisation to be more effective in impacting the lives of other people, please email me or phone 1300 85 70 75.

Bible College of Victoria looking to refresh marketing strategies

The Bible College of Victoria is one of the 'old-timers' amongst Melbourne's theological landscape. Originally formed as the Melbourne Bible Institute, they have a well established campus and curriculum taking full-time and part-time student enrolments at their Lilydale campus in Outer Eastern Melbourne.

With a relatively new principal (Mike Raiter), a new Administration and Marketing Manager (Patricia Wong), and the recent departure of their publicity officer leaving a vacancy for a review and fresh outlook on marketing, I've been invited to assist BCV in recommending strategy and undertaking many of the routine publicity and marketing tasks that are required.

I'm excited about the opportunity to work with BCV as this is a very rare opportunity to work in an environment whose primary objective is not financial but rather the spiritual welfare of Australia and, indeed, the world. None of my other clients could make that claim! Although responsible stewardship of resources demands that we measure financial performance as a key indicator of our success, I relish the challenge of communicating to potential students and donors about the powerful impact that BCV's theological training has for students serving in the real world.

Bible Colleges generally struggle against society's subliminal programming that says "theology is irrelevant" and so there is the frequent temptation to try to skew courses towards alot of the "how", often at the expense of the "why" - in other words, teaching people "how" to interact with those in need, "how" to counsel them, "how" to "do ministry". The opportunity in this marketing assignment is for us to communicate far more powerfully how a solid "why" base (in other words, a solid theological understanding of the Bible and its principles) provides a far more versatile foundation which can better adapt to any circumstance that arises.

I have no doubt that the lessons learned from this assignment will also give me some further powerful insights into human behaviours and will be an invaluable experience.

Is the Rudd Government going to create or kill opportunities?

With a recently installed Labor Government now holding the political reins in Australia, what can we expect for the future of this country? And how will it affect our business prospects, and ultimately our personal hip pockets?

I could, of course, write several entire books on the possible ramifications, touching on compliance issues, employment (from employer and employee perspectives), fiscal policy, innovation, market psychology, and more, but for the purposes of this forum I'll just touch succinctly on a couple of ideas which stand out for me.

Firstly, I believe that to a large extent we create our own success. Within the Australian market place, we're all playing by essentially the same rules and within the same environment, so our success can come not so much because the environment is perfect, but because we choose to capitalise most effectively on that environment, outperforming our competitors and winning the loyalty of our customers. So philosophically I am inclined to argue that a new Government doesn't really alter my or your prospects of success. We create our own opportunities through recognising our competitive advantage in a relative sense, rather than through any absolute notion of opportunity.

However, it is certainly true that new challenges (and, some would say, opportunities) will present as the new Government alters the political and commercial landscape. It is also true that we are competing not only against local Australian businesses, but also against international competitors - many of whom may have less regulatory controls, greater flexibility in employing, and a more innovative and competitive business environment.

From a business perspective, it is easy for me to lambast the Labor policies on Industrial Relations and employment, and I'm sure most would struggle to argue with my position when viewed purely from a commercial standpoint. However, I'm not going to take aim today at the policies. Instead, I think the bigger threat is the attitude underlying it.

Anybody who knows me knows that I'm a strong proponent of personal responsibility. I believe that first and foremost we are responsible for ourselves, for taking actions to achieve the best possible outcomes in our lives (and, by extension, in our businesses). I'm also acutely aware that there are many disadvantaged people around the world and even here in Australia, for whom there are many barriers and legitimate blocks to their success. I believe it is incumbent on society to assist those in need but (this is where it gets tricky) I don't believe the fact that people need assistance relieves them of their own personal responsibility and vindicates them blaming others for their position.

Unfortunately, I believe Australia (and particularly the unions in conjunction with Labor) is acquiring an attitude that somehow "the world owes me". Although it is true that society should be protecting the weak and assisting the needy, I don't believe it benefits anybody for those people to harbour feelings of being hard done by. Instead, we should be providing every encouragement for people to personally believe in their ability to rise above their current circumstance and, through hard work, dedication and persistence, improve their own life and those of their families and communities.

I've known since before the election, of Labor's viewpoint on IR matters and am concerned that their philosophy is just going to create more dissatisfied employees (or unemployees as the case may be) whilst simultaneously reducing job opportunities. But yesterday's "Sorry Day", in my respectful opinion, further illustrates this philosophy. (And I won't here enter into a discussion about whether or not there was a "Stolen Generation" - that's a huge can of worms - rather, I'll just focus on attitudes rather than facts.)

Noel Pearson, a respected Aboriginal leader, wrote a well reasoned article in The Australian on February 12th, in which he states:

One of my misgivings about the apology has been my belief that nothing good will come from viewing ourselves, and making our case on the basis of our status, as victims.

Only one day after the apology, when the Rudd Government should expect the whole country to feel a huge burden off their shoulders, the blame game has been further escalated to now reporting "Brits Refuse To Say Sorry". Was it not an apology from Australia's Government that was sought and obtained? Why are some people now trying to find another axe to grind?

I am in complete agreement with Noel Pearson that it is completely unhelpful for the Aboriginal community to view themselves as "victims". And no amount of apologising will help their very real plight in the present day until that victim attitude can be overcome by a new attitude of optimism and can-do-ism.

The greatest damage the Rudd Government is doing to the nation of Australia is fostering the notion that "somebody else owes me/us". The greatest opportunity for you and me is in refusing to be caught up in that, and instead choosing to create our own opportunities. And the greatest act of kindness we can do for our less advantaged neighbours, is to offer assistance that is not a handout but rather inspires the individuals and communities to take responsibility for themselves.

Time for a new look

Welcome to my new look site! After simply running a duplicate of my Aktiv Tactics web site here at www.brookes.com.au for ages, I've finally decided to do something a bit different.

Essentially, I'm using this site to spruik me, whereas www.aktiv.com.au is being used, appropriately, to promote my company, which really means services for clients who want to engage a team replete with a variety of complementary skills.

So what can you expect to find on this site? Aside from the obvious necessities like my contact information and a bit of a bio about me and my interests, I'll try to regularly share with you a range of ideas that reflect my professional knowledge and in some way help you to consider improvements in areas of your business you may not previously have been confident (or aware) to address.

Over the next few days I'll focus on creating the "peripheral" elements (which should remain fairly static over time) and then I'll start dumping my thoughts here fairly regularly so that you've got a legitimate distraction from your work which won't get you labelled a procrastinator ;-)