Britain has lost the scale needed to sustain "fail safe" experimentation after its empire dissolves. It is a structural difference between now and then that should be fundamental in these discussions.
An excellent piece. Often it takes an outsider to provide a novel perspective and insight that eludes the majority. The truth is that much of the mainstream is comfortable with “managed decline” (a term which has been around since the 1970s). The country is generally more adept at looking back into the period of costume drama than looking forwards.
Thanks for introducing the "looking for growth" movement, I'd love to check out their next events!
Having spent most of my adult life in Shanghai and NYC, where people's lives orbits around work. It was really refreshing for me to achieve the work-life balance now in London. However, I also don't agree with the anti-capitalism culture that seems to prevail in British society. In everyday user applications, that means anti-retail chain, no-laptop on weekend in certain cafes, etc.
This is a tiny example: I had been frustrated how meetings are often scheduled so far down the line. There was a coffee chat that was first scheduled in 2 weeks, and when that person rescheduled, it gets pushed back for another week. I was just like, a chat like this can happen within the week, or even next day in China. And if we're talking business, so many more deals and transactions could've happened elsewhere for the same amount of time. How do we change that culture while maintaining the wlb? I don't know, but we need a channel to first discuss it and LFG is a great start.
Thank you Yaling, I think you'll really like LFG's entrepreneurial energy (although a big part of the movement was focused on UK's domestic issues). The motivated, hardworking people there made people realize "we are not alone." We can check out their next event together!
I can't remember who said this, but Britain now has one main advantage; things are so bad that good people now no longer have the chance to simply opt out. We don't have the cushion of the US and that means the choice is stark - leave, and go to the US or Dubai or somewhere. Or stay and fight.
To be sure plenty of people have opted to leave. But in my experience plenty more have discovered that there are a great many great things about our country and want to try to save it.
What moved me at the LFG event was that many people chose to stay in the UK rather than leave—they committed to making a difference here. That's truly special.
"like Turner's locomotive, thundering through the rain toward an uncertain yet inevitable future."
beautiful
we are so back
so excited to see LFG taking off and challenging this managed decline this once great nation finds itself in
Me too! Are you part of it?
Britain has lost the scale needed to sustain "fail safe" experimentation after its empire dissolves. It is a structural difference between now and then that should be fundamental in these discussions.
thanks for the comment…Can you elaborate on that?
An excellent piece. Often it takes an outsider to provide a novel perspective and insight that eludes the majority. The truth is that much of the mainstream is comfortable with “managed decline” (a term which has been around since the 1970s). The country is generally more adept at looking back into the period of costume drama than looking forwards.
Thank you for the kind words, Saul. I love the UK and have great faith in its people.
Thanks for introducing the "looking for growth" movement, I'd love to check out their next events!
Having spent most of my adult life in Shanghai and NYC, where people's lives orbits around work. It was really refreshing for me to achieve the work-life balance now in London. However, I also don't agree with the anti-capitalism culture that seems to prevail in British society. In everyday user applications, that means anti-retail chain, no-laptop on weekend in certain cafes, etc.
This is a tiny example: I had been frustrated how meetings are often scheduled so far down the line. There was a coffee chat that was first scheduled in 2 weeks, and when that person rescheduled, it gets pushed back for another week. I was just like, a chat like this can happen within the week, or even next day in China. And if we're talking business, so many more deals and transactions could've happened elsewhere for the same amount of time. How do we change that culture while maintaining the wlb? I don't know, but we need a channel to first discuss it and LFG is a great start.
Thank you Yaling, I think you'll really like LFG's entrepreneurial energy (although a big part of the movement was focused on UK's domestic issues). The motivated, hardworking people there made people realize "we are not alone." We can check out their next event together!
I can't remember who said this, but Britain now has one main advantage; things are so bad that good people now no longer have the chance to simply opt out. We don't have the cushion of the US and that means the choice is stark - leave, and go to the US or Dubai or somewhere. Or stay and fight.
To be sure plenty of people have opted to leave. But in my experience plenty more have discovered that there are a great many great things about our country and want to try to save it.
What moved me at the LFG event was that many people chose to stay in the UK rather than leave—they committed to making a difference here. That's truly special.
Fantastic piece - you write so beautifully and insightfully.