What a Great Small Speech!

In a less-than-seven minutes' address, Stephen Fry (known for his many interests and talents, not least of which for me, a roaring funny comedian!) put together the right amounts of argument, emotion, and sentiment to produce one of the most impressive speeches in favour of returning the Parthenon marbles back -- to the Parthenon (or a 2 min walk away).

Fry has always struck me as an all-around "nice chap", even though I only know him from the screen, i.e. although I've never actually met him I feel a certain compatibility in any number of matters (including our near identical age).

It was an Intelligence Squared debate on the subject of the friezes the then British ambassador (Thomas Bruce*) pinched from Athens with the Ottoman invaders' pecuniary blessing. the 11th June 2012 at an  at Cadogan Hall, but I missed it at the time and it was only brought to my attention recently.

Here is the short video, somewhat distractingly subtitles in Greek -- but then again, that's the language they speak where said marbles come from!

Enjoy.

* Tommy Bruce is better known by his more illustrious title, Earl of Elgin. He was a prankster at school.

"How (...) we feel as Greeks"? Or Rather, "How We Feel About Greece..."

Peter Economides is the evangelist for re-branding Greece, i.e. Greeks, i.e. showing them for what they really are, as opposed to what others and they themselves think of themselves -- miserable, loser-minded and not surprisingly lacking in self-confidence. Let's hope that many join his bandwagon.

I admit that Peter is addictive and, having listened to him last W-E I looked him up. He is into people and so am I. And being addictive, he has no side effects, other than good ones, so I can say that Economides is good for you, especially if you're Greek.

At one point in one speech, speaking about self-realisation and how one communicates (works on "branding") and he says: "we have to describe /show, Who we are, where we come from, where are going, how we doing it, why..."

The unfortunate answers to a mostly silent majority of Greeks nowadays is "I don't know anymore, from Ancient Greece, I don't know, fortuitously, den variese (oh well, let's not bother...).

Economides points to Greeks who stand out because they shed the constraints of a miserable, depressive, attitude and acted.

These very successful Greeks that stand out because they have genius, resilince, they wanted to do things, and were not afraid to do them against all odds and demons...

The challenge is to rally the silent majority as well; get them out of the rut and into the sunlight -- of which there is much to have in Greece.

For very many years I have felt that a lot of Greece's misery hinges upon the misery of the Greeks and it comes as a great relief that a public figure such as Economides also makes this point.

I.e. the fundamental question is "How we feel, as Greeks"

I will answer that question as well I can through my experience.

First, a small story that may offer more than any of my own analyses and conclusions. There was a very popular and heated discussion -- subject-related heat, not controversy -- on huge special interest site (diy, music & audio) 7-8 years ago. It attracted responses by the minute, as usual, 24/7 and the attendance was impressive as well: industry designers and figureheads were following.
Two of the active posters in this discussion were Greek - apparently as their residence indicated and confirmed later. One young in his 20's, one in his early 60's. Some altercation took place between them, and one responded in scathing tones -- such that it created a lull in the discussion and one other contributor, from Norway and another from the US, both very senior, chipped in to placate what had become an personal affront. The US poster noted that it was just a discussion, an exchange of opinion and of objective info and we are all, at the end of day, friends here -- not only, but we share a common interest! The Norwegian went further: he posted something along the lines of ".. you are both from Greece, a prestigious and very important country, and this is a very international site, so in a way you are representing the country..."

The young poster's response was shocking and saddening and ultimately very revealing: "I have nothing to do with that country, it doesn't represent me, I don't want to have ties..."

The guy was 27 years old at the time, Greek.

I think he said what many Greeks think. And when they do, it is the Administration they think of, the politicians they think of and ultimately, the impression these people give to the outside world. And they say, that's not me!
They say, I am not a genius, not a self-starter, not crazy pioneer -- but, neither am I a thief, lazy, con man, hypocrite, etc. I too am entitled to a country where negativity, corruption, inefficiency... do not prevail!

They say, "as I see things, it is an insult for me to have a GREEK NATIONALITY for all that that represents; yes I am Greek, but I don't want to be linked to "Greece" the brand. I am Greek but not a citizen of Greece...

How can Greeks pull themselves out of this rut???

Re-branding The Political System -- and Politicians?

In a recent speech on Branding, Peter Economides, the branding guru, mentioned the need to "re-brand" Greece. During his speech, he also mentioned that there is a crisis in Greece, but the crisis it is not exclusively Greek -- but it is a global crisis.

It got me thinking.

{By the way, it was the first time I heard Economides speak on brands, branding, and re-branding. And re-branding a country, no less!


What if the crisis is because we are tired of the old, greying, brands many of us live in? Our political systems, our politicians, our democracies and pseudo-democracies...

Do we need to re-brand our political system or at least re-brand our political  procedures and processes?
What if people are no longer buying the "political brand" any more: the people and the processes and procedures?

Economides points out that "brand is what people think of you" or, simply put, your reputation. "Branding is the process of managing what people think of you".
Useful, easy to remember and nifty definitions: clear and to the point.


In terms of politicians, the brand erosion is not very surprising. Look at what we had and what we have now. Take Churchill, for example. Whatever you may think of Winston Churchill, no-one can really ignore him.
In other words, Churchill was a strong brand and he delivered. In fact, you can tell many things by just looking :

Churchill, left; Stalin, right; Roosevelt, middle.

Churchill's cigar was his logo. As was his drinking -- part of his branding, perhaps.

Now compare these guys with the mediocre, featherweight politicians of today -- I will not choose any, to each his or her own.

Or, how about bankers?

Compare and contrast, say, Giannini (Bank of America) with anyone current; how inventive is the current one?

Compare and contrast JP Morgan, or Warburg or Rothchild, or J Merrill with what we get today; think of Merrill's ten commandments. That was back in 1949..

Of course, there is one revolutionary concept in recent years: microcredit. prof Muhamad Yunus' Grameen Bank. That was revolutionary. It still is.

But for the rest: nondescript, unremarkable, indifferent -- and except for exceptionally high incomes, that is!

Meant to be a random "institution"

Methinks the brand has lost its luster; to paraphrase our friend Economides, maybe the political system, our fundamental institutions and related personalities, have lost their reputation -- i.e the brand was lost somewhere along the historical way.




So, on a more positive note, is our way out of the global crisis just a matter of reviewing and re-branding our political and financial institutions and their minions? 

Is it just a case of urgent rebranding?

Let's call Economides!

Health Tourism: The First International (Integration) Conference In Greece

A very interesting conference on Health Care (In Greece) took place On Saturday 22nd and Sunday 23rd Feb 2014. It was a very rewarding get together of very interesting people from Greece and abroad; the information presented and exchanged was refreshingly pertinent as well... the programme says it all.


The conference was conceived and largely organized by Heathcare Cybernetics' (hCc) CEO, Dr C Constantinides.
The implementation and operational support came from Zita Congress

Dinos Constantinides who, as his name does not indicate, is South African (his Greek language skills are perfect by the way) is the EMEA pioneer on this subject.

Not surprising that he succeeded in bringing together an impressive roster of speakers...

A few quick pointers, gleamed from this get-together:

Health tourism (HT) is a new business - or, should we say, it is only just been recognised as an Industry in and of itself. It is growing, but not vertiginously; Germany is the leader in Europe and grosses 0.9 bill from HT. Singapore is doing well grossing ~0.5bill.


Few countries are working seriously in branding themselves as Health Tourism (HT) destinations; nor surprisingly, countries that are known to offer medically advanced services are leading at the moment: Germany, Singapore.... But they are not alone -- as others are investing and catching up.

You have to brand your country in order to become a HT destination, slowly and after a gestation period.

Greece is, at present nowhere near discovering its own HT "personality", branding.
Interestingly enough, mythology has a God of medicine and, of course, Hippocrates was Greek...

In other words, one of the first centres of official practice of medicine in the world was in Greece!


Modern day Greek authorities know little (if anything) on the subject -- but there seems to be interest and, as often happens in the beginning, a lot of misinformation circulating official corridors and crowding ministers' in-trays.

Greece can offer technologically advanced medical infrastructure in the private sector, albeit in small numbers.

The level of medical practitioners in Greece is exceptionally & surprisingly advanced -- surprising given visibly and apparently low tech and mediocre level of services offered in the Public Sector.

Greek legislation is restrictive to the growth of HT at the moment - but there is hope in the future (e.g. day clinics are forbidden in Greece, etc)

The Tourism part of HT is advanced in Greece and Tourism studies are very good.

Recruiting in the HT sector is typically towards destinations abroad (both doctors, nurses and hospitality professionals).

My personal conclusion:
Very well focused and razor-edge communicated Boutique Operations stand the best chance of growing HT in Greece at the present time & the near future.



This was one very important conference; it also was very rewarding for those who attended. The presentations material is worth investigating!

Excellence: a trendy word, which retains a meaning after all. Thanks to a few inspired people...

Until a forward thinking partner from the Boston Consulting Group (BCG) came up with a way to turn the word into a trendy, hot biz-speak noun, and write 2-3 bestsellers upon it, the use of Excellence had been limited to academia and the occasional adverbial remark as in, "great, excellent!" followed by, "Thank you".

Excellent has gone a long way since then, showing its high potential by blooming into a concept: "excellence". Accordingly, "excellence" became the subject of many a (oft heated) discussion and monographs as well.

Throughout the times, excellence, loosely approached, has meant "better than very good". It's one step higher, as in, good, very good, excellent,. It becomes "exceptional". Very good is repeatable whereas excellent is the exception to very good: it is even better.The idea behind the word seen as a concept is, how about if this excellent were something to strive for, i.e. repeatable as a way of doing things rather than as a result of having done thing and achieved a certain result (better than "very good", as it were).

Accordingly and often nauseatingly, lots of server space has been wasted on writing and speculating about this - and much of this is best left where it is -- in well-deserved obscurity. However, every now and then a point of view appears that goes beyond stereotype to embody its own merit.

One such statement -- point of view, if you will -- on the concept that attracted my attention for its simplicity came from the CEO of Agna Group, Mr Vasil Naci (aka Vassilis Natsis): "Excellence is an attitude, a mindset, an action, a philosophy. It is an asipration..." This embodies, in fine, most of what most others have had to say on the subject. That is nice: rather than speculate and philosophize, Mr Naci actually writes what he believes and knows about it and, as these things are wont to be, it is short. Because, presumably, he knows well what he believes and he uses the word to exemplify his belief. We appreciated this. We also appreciated the fact that this is not the standard stereotypical CEO pronunciamento, the boss pontificating to the minions accompanied by appropriate fanfare: it is just a sentence and a half contained in a limited circulation booklet edited by the Agna Group's own Leadership Academy and intended, presumably, for internal consumption.

I would beg to agree as well as differ slightly from the (undoubtedly inspirational and inspired) Mr Naci.

I would say that "excellence" is, indeed, an attitude or a day-in day-out way of doing things; but the way I would put it is, "constant improvement for its own sake".
In this sense, excellence presupposes a personal life-philosophy of believing in what you do well, for its own sake -- i.e. not expecting recognition and praise from any other than yourself.

It is difficult to be alone, though, is it not?

Maybe not, because loneliness is a state of the mind; as a friend once told me, "when you are alone you are with together with everyone, when you are with one person, you are only with that person..." (Margarita Xanthakou, anthropologist )

Public Image Under Public Scrutiny -- How Critical (Is the Scrutiny?)

Is the answer: it depends on the Public? Or maybe, how trusting is the Public in question without falling into conspiracy theory territory?

Mr Jack Martin, CEO of Hill & Knowlton Strategies, a communications & PR company, asserts that the Public has definitively established itself as a pivotal parametre in corporate or political success -- specifically, the trust of the public. 

The idea is that the internet has brought information (as well as misinformation) to the home, immediately, and raw - unedited by the subject of this information, that is. And leaders can count of 24x7 media scrutiny. Thus being the case says Jack Martin, you have to be straightforward and transparent; communicate directly rather than through an intermediary. And this is a good thing.

I would agree, wholeheartedly. I would also agree that gaining and maintaining the trust of the Public is primordial, and that it is a good thing...

Only, the public is still (?) very partisan; could it be that building and maintaining trust can be manipulated just as efficiently today as,say, in the '30s when Dr Goebbels effectively invented and launched grand scale media advertising and political PR campaigning?

I think it can: after all, the global reach of information and the access to global information today does not mean that the media channels cannot do their own editing. They do.
National TV is still very influential, not only in countries where I-Net home penetration is low and, don't forget, few people check their news online from independent sources. For that matter, how dependable are independent sources, anyway?

In the '30s, the centre of the world was the square where Hitler was scheduled to appear in midst of music, fanfares, and the like. My father had some experience of this and it was, in his words, fascinatingly done - people were in a trance.

I don't think that things are much different today, despite the internet...

There is, however, one major difference between now and then: misinformation. It is slowly dying -- as we know it from Hitler to present day politicians.

Why? Because anyone can check on line the veracity of any purported fact reported or claimed by any speaker!

Misinformation is the trade mark and favoured bait for Public consumption, used by politicians and
authoritarian regimes. It would seem that they will have to find a new method -- or block access to the internet, or certain sites on the Net.

Not a moment too soon!

Happy New Year! Oh, and by the way, do you trust your politicians???

Answer: of course not.

In a recent survey, Gallup discovered that trust in government has sunk "to a new low" in South Europe. Not surprisingly, Greece fares the lowest.

I would upload a photo to illustrate the element of non-suprise, but google has decided I should no longer do so: whenever I click on the link to choose files, it defaults to google docs -- so, no cigar...

Anyway, one he point I would like to make is that the news about South Europe's politicians' ratings is not all bad news; some of it is good.
I have met few politicians and many of the few I have met are either Greek or French. Some are English (as in GB but not N. Irish, Scots or Welsh). All of the people I have met have been pleasant, a bit over the top, and silly. Some of them are arrogant: all of the Greek ones and one or two of the French ones. All displayed varying levels of gravitas, the English ones less so than the rest, the Greek ones topping the list of pseudo-seriousness.

All in all, not attributing much credibility to politicians can be seen as a measure of, wisdom is stretching it, maturity. And maturity is welcome, especially when it right-sizes the importance of adolescents playing adults -- which is what most politicians are and do.

In the same way one would not give much credence to a 3rd Reich documentary on the Jewish race nor take the ensuing political analysis at face value... thus, it is not wise to give much more than entertainment value to the things our politicians say and do.

Especially what they say.

Case in point: European MP J. Swoboda recently made a comment on abolishing "Troikas" because, in his opinion, they have failed in whatever role assigned to them. Because this is not "democratic".Quite. And revert to the failed governments that brought them into the countries after said governments sank said countries beyond recovery... presumably that is democratic, in Mr Swoboda's opinion.

While pretending to run a country without being part of the elected reps of that country is not on the apparent agenda for most of our countries, hence the Troikas of this world are there, officially,  to "consult" and not manage.However, even if this were the case, one can wonder at the obvious import of admitting officially that you need external support to stand on your (two) feet again (i.e. the Troika) because you have made a sorry mess of it all -- and mortgaged the whole country in the process.


I.e. the actions of Greece's politicians indicate that they pay only lip service to the woes of their country's inhabitants; they are portrayed as either squabbling between them or spending their time in inane public proclamations or bandying chaff and exchanging inane platitudes in Parliamentary sessions -- those that are there and awake, that is.That is, Great entertainment value, little else.

No wonder Gallup attributes 14% trust level in Greece to government and leaders alike.Gallup are polite: what they are not saying is that 86% of all Greeks have no confidence in their country's management team: too bad Greece's stakeholders can't get rid of them and appoint the best talent in the market. Who'd need a Troika then?

Global Competitiveness Index: Why Is Greece Rated So Low....

In the "Global Competitiveness Index 2013-2014", the top country is, not surprisingly, Switzerland. Singapore is 2nd and Finland is 3rd.

Greece is ranked 91, well behind Estonia, Kazakhstan, the Russian Federation and the Ukraine. The low rating is due to any number of "inefficiencies" among other things the report notes "The country’s inefficient labor market (127th) continues to constrain Greece’s ability to emerge from the crisis(...)"

A wise remark and one that will persist in coming years as Greece's current government with its minister of labour (a man named Vroutsis) continues to pay only lip service to labour law reform -- purportedly to appease its unions.

Licensing -- a procedure that is mandatory if you want to set up shop in Greece -- is easily Europe's most cumbersome. Any investment has to be agreed - the problem lies in obtaining said agreement: often this requires patience or, it is rumoured, payment of a "speed-stamp" ("grigorosimo"): i.e. an under the table payment to speed things up.

Or, your investment can be anulled by the local mayor who does not like you - or simply want to throw his weight around. Case in point: Siemens wanted to invest in a new plant on the outskirts of Athens. They have (still have) the land. The local mayor vetoed the investment with a very simple note: "we do not want you".  Too bad for the 60-100 new jobs that would have been created...

Greece seems to tout the we are good for "investment" mantra, yet, when anyone tries, they fall flat on their face. OR, they need special government by-passes which spell uncertainty for the future.

Why? Why should Greece be so resistant - hostile, even - to investment and generally speaking to private enterprise? Why is Greece ranked 142 out of 148 as a destination for investment...

There is a simple explanation: Greece is still very much a Soviet minded, centralised and centrally controlled economy and Greece's political-administrative complex is not ready to accept liberalisation. The Greek state is loth to let go the reigns.
China's (communist) leaders seem to have proven far more liberal in their  long run, practically as well as conceptually, than Greece's lawmakers -- even in the 6th year of recession!


No wonder then that Greece is one of the few countries where people speak of "private enterprise" as something new and wondrous. In other countries he name of the game is, just plain business.

Greece, Austerity, the Greek Government and its Lenders...

...and the saga continues.

In a repeat episode, Greece's lenders commonly referred to as "the Troika" are in deadlock with Greece's government over purported further austerity to cover a still lingering deficit in the 2014 budget: the hole is 2.5 bill Euro according to the Lenders, 0.5 according to the Greek government that claims it will bridge the remaining 2 bill from tax evaders and structural reforms. As neother of these have been dealt with in the past 6 years, the lenders are unsure as to why the Greek government will raise money from tax evaders who seem to be either existent or so good at what they do there is no indication that they are ready to give up their "evader" status.

Hence "deadlock". The lenders say "you have not implemented any structural reform to write back home about, so why should I reasonably expect you to do so now, all of a sudden?" Also, you have not succeeded in increasing cash inflows through clamping on tax evasion, so why would it work now? Or, maybe it (loss of tax revenue) is not as high as it is presented?

"Better turn to austerity measures," allegedly say the Lenders.

This deadlock comes at a particularly inopportune moment, as these are the moments the EU budget goes to vote -- and it would have been nice to have aid-Greece all settled and tucked away.


 It would seem, yet again, that the unflinching, faceless, humorless, cold-heart apparatchiks of the "Troika" (i.e. the EU, ECB, IMF), many of whom, be it noted and not surprisingly, are Greek are the ones requesting more austerity measures. The Greek government is said to be resisting, claiming the people cannot take any more.

Truth be told,however,  in 6 years of austerity, Greece's successive governments  have done little to promote structural reforms and  reduce the huge Public Sector. They have not even reigned in the Public Sector Union which, along with the Communist Party,  regaled in siphoning much of the latest European social  funding.

Accordingly, the Troika seem to have given up on the idea that the Greek politicians will ever touch the backbone of contemporary Greek establishment: the Civil Service and its Union. Which is a pity, because Greece needs reforms and "the bad guys who imposed said reforms" that serve as the eternal excuse will not be around forever...

Contentious items are, inter alia: foreclosure on homes, complete restructure of the labour law, privatisations; not easy to tell people that they are likely to loose their home to the bank -- especially in a country that boasts 29% unemployment so, no job no mortgage payment, and a singularly investment-averse fiscal legislation so, no new jobs and no little chance of recovery and finding a new job.

• Clamp down on tax evasion. A succession of Greek governments have made this their patriotic target -- but no cigar. Be that as it may, one important element in the hunt for tax-evading money What I mean is, the expected inflow depends on who is included in the "tax evader" category: for example,there are ~22.000 contractors wishing to close their books who are unfortunately in arrears in their payments to the social security. Pending payments, they cannot close their books and of course, the debt compounds (because their books are not closed).
  Presumably, if these ~22.000 self-employed contractors could spare the money, they would have regularized their payments to the social security organisation. Since they have not, at the expense of increasing their debt, we can safely assume they do not have any money to offer... 
• Structural reform, Public Sector... So unlikely, we can join the Troika who do not believe it is going to happen any time soon.

Which leaves one thing: more austerity for the Private Sector in Greece, retirees, unemployed, social benefits...

Any takers?

Europe's Politicians Don't Seem To Be Up To Snuff...

In general Europe's present politicians don't seem to be capable of measuring up to some of their more illustrious predecessors.

How does president Hollande fare compared to, say, the General de Gaulle? We choose the General because we now have tough times -- and when times are tough, the tough get going. But how tough is he?
Not very...

Ms Merkel from Germany and her "conservative" penny controlling policy and Thatcher German style presence.Compared to Adenauer, not very inspired, compared to Thatcher not very inspiring.

Mr Cameron? Nice chap. Compared to illustrious predecessors (and we do not mean president Bush's sidekick). Best not go there.

What about Greece's Mr Samaras. At best tepid. Exciting as dishwater, perhaps not quite as, but close.


Think: how well do these people fare in a negotiation with, say, the CEO of a major Bank?
Think: the experience and track record that led said CEO to the C E office...

Exponents of a political modus operandi that dates them back to the 19th century, negotiating with people well into the 21st century -- even if they're bankers, not the brightest of the bright. 

It's scary!

Cowboy tax No 69 -- The incomprehensible Greek minister

Greece has an incomprehensible minister of labour. To begin with the title of minister of unemployment would be more apt in a country that has over 1.5 million unemployed, representing just under 30% of statistical workforce and ~55% of private sector work-force. Of these only 160,000 get unemployment benefits.

Clearly, the woes of the unemployed are not high up on Mr Vroutsis' agenda.

Holiday camps for his cronies' children are, however. Mr Vroutsis decided to levy a 20 euro tax from employers for each employee.
How bout that!
Do you think your son or daughter qualifies?
They don't: if you have to think about it, your kids are not part of the deal.

Best of all, it's the way it's done: shut up and pay.

So, if you're thinking of investing in Greece, here's your chance to help the incomprehensible Minister confirm a few votes.

So far, what he does is totally comprehensible: he is using other peoples' money. An old story in Greece.

The only thing that's incomprehensible is why the Prime Minister has not sacked this man: even by Greek standards this person is a living disgrace....

Greece's Government Celebrates the Country's "NO" to Fascism... Shouldn't it be all the Greeks Celebrating????

It is customary to have a parade (students, etc) parade downtown High street in major cities. In doing so they pass before "dignitaries" in the form of, you guessed it, politicians.The participants have booed them accordingly them.
Greek politicians' continued rock bottom popularity (for just cause, admittedly), the whole police force and then some was enlisted to protect Greece's politicians who insist on being present at the parade... a celebration that is, to all intents and purposes, their private affair.

{The 28th October commemorates the day Greece's premier (himself a military dictator, in fact) refused to allow safe passage to Mussolini's troops and, upon the latter's envoy's insistence, Metaxas declared "Alors c'est la guerre". (Easier said than done.) }

Many -Greeks believe that politicians are the root of all evil and all that is still evil in Greece. Accordingly, they protest against the presence of these same politicians on important historical occasions such as the National Day -- especially as such days commemorate heroes; Greeks, not unjustly it would seem, consider many of their politicians as traitors....


While it is unpolitic to provide opinion on the subject, one can see that, in some cases, Greek politicians act in a not-so-composed manner.
One of these, a chap called Paggalos, managed to reroute the NSA spying scandal all by himself: like any adolescent, he declared that spying is not much -- "...we tapped the mobile phone of the US ambassador to Athens and the US ambassador to Turkey..." by which he means, someone in the intelligence service fortuitously logged onto said ambassador's frequency while he was speaking to the other said ambassador, and proceeded to listen in for a while...

That's what we call, "shooting yourself in the foot", or "the guy's not all there" or "the guy's out of focus for the time being..."




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