I generally think of annoying people as A Bad Thing. I recall reading some time back about the hugely irritating series of GoCompare adverts with the cod opera singer. As I recall something like 80% of people find this highly irritating. However it was concluded that it was a good ad!? Why? As it leads to good “brand recall”. Oh dear, oh dear, thought I. Typical of our “late-capitalist” period when “money is everything”. So some folks come to work and make stuff to annoy people. Others promote their company in a way they know irritates the cast majority. But it’s all ok as it makes a few quid… Doh!
But offence is easily given. Or rather some people take offence very easily even when none is intended.
When I put this website together it was with two lines of thought. Firstly to unite my two different incarnations – the “suit and tie” one and the “t-shirt one”. Secondly as it does represent a spectrum of product/service offerings from the “hardcore” consultancy end through to the softer skills of mentoring and beyond into personal tools such as qigong and the sharing of wisdom traditions.
Anyway as always our view of the world seems quite simple and logical to us. But not always to others…
I asked for some feedback (always a mistake! :-)). About 10% thought it was a great idea, 80% said “nice” and 10% frothed at the mouth! Oh and lots of comments about the photo – but that’s another story.
The frothers (all friends of mine) didn’t hold back – “you mustn’t do that, you simply can’t”, “do you want to teach Kung Fu [mb: I don’t and I don’t mention it] or work in the City”, and one was red in the face with outrage. Quite remarkable thought I.
I was retelling this tale to a chum of mine who I hadn’t seen for some time… Continue reading →
