Wednesday, August 19, 2009

Telling the truth - are we still up to it ?

There was a great book in the early 70's - "The kindness that kills" .It was ahead of its time . We need someone to remind our leaders and wannabes ( you may not have this problem) that the truth can bring healing and prevent disaster.

If the Royal Commission into the Victorian Bushfires 2009 commission can't say that "we have a problem because we are not allowed to say to people "you are living in an impossible risk situation" we will still have the problem. More here

Wednesday, April 29, 2009

Those annoying itches

If the itch doesn't go away, we keep scratching. The best solution is often to leave the sore alone, but we are all tempted to keep scratching . Our leaders do the same - its really annoying to watch , especially when its our money or others care thats wasted in the quickfiz .

How do you stop youself from doing it ? - especially if the bigger issue is that you are unsettled and not at peace with yourself . We have all been there . The choice? Sores or self control ?

The solution to this enormous waste and frustration is simply to accept that we are not perfect and find a worldview that enables you to accept that. Deal with irritation anger and your faults as they come .

Not as easy as it looks from the outside . Remedies for scratching habits aren't curealls. But pretending there are such things makes a lot of people a lot of money . Governments even feel the need to apply balm which is quite Ok if they pay us to apply it; Provided they don't name the brand , the places and the signal to noise ratio that triggers a grant. Leave that to the professionals.
If you want a cure all, you may feel the need to watch more TV , rather than read the good book .One works the others just waste time and prevent you from exercising - excercising self control .

Saturday, February 14, 2009

Managing bushfire risk- Focus on area of interest

Education is not easy, so you can't ALWAYS blame govt if people don't listen - People constantly facing high risk often ignore the risk - helps them sleep . see notes under What govt don't know here

but listening is more effective if people are interested -
Sometimes people up the top have lost sight of whose listening so they don't spot a faulty education campaign when they see one- A good education campaign is One that captivates interest (and is not distracted by trying to create more) A good education campaign for bushfire management should focus on people's interest in fire behaviuor -not clear that this is happening . Example " you have v high blood pressure - interest is high - you can manage it this way--- by understanding this about "the wolf" ; "


For example what % of those killed didn't even have the basic expectation that a fire would come at them first from the north and then possibly from the west.

The lack of experienced risk managers with real experience in DSE and the ongoing competetion over who knows how best to manage risk can ALSO be expected to continue to add fuel to the controversy over whether knowledge ( and its corallary) is being transferred down in ways which give ownership or take it away ?
ASh feb09 lots of Ads talked about " Your plan " many did not EXPECT the fire to come at them from the West after coming from the north - awareness is one thing ;
More on manageing the wolf here!
Knowledge of risk is another. What do you think ?