John Cleese and a cheese factory.

John Cleese gave a lecture a few years ago.

If you want hear the guy from Monty Python talk about creativity, here you go.

https://vimeo.com/89936101

I like John Cleese.

I like the advice he gives.

When you're faced with a problem… You ought to squirrel yourself away for an hour and a half.

I like to think about John Cleese in England...running a small cheese factory.

Mull a problem over… Work out the tricky bits.

So I give myself an hour and a half.

But the thing is… I don't have a particular problem.

I just have a few thoughts that fill up and spread out.

Sometimes it's really nothing more than the same thought.

...Just with a slightly different shape to it.

There's a vaporous feeling when this happens, the thought swells up and breaks apart and repeats itself again and again.

Kind of like when you see clouds across the sky, growing and billowing all at once.

I have an idea that has been steadily growing.

And it's a "firm" idea now.

It grew out of little thoughts.

It hasn't yet become one of those "swollen" thoughts ...that's puffed up and messy and elaborate simply to justify it's existence in my head.

It's still firm.

So I figure I better write it out.

Here's what I'm thinking.

An obsolete business model.

So I'm imagining a small business, and a place where people would have to have a decent working relationship with each other.

Where you can't really throw your weight around too much, or jerk people by the chain…. Because the people you work with are the same people you'd see at the pub at the end of the week.

Is this a simplistic view of how small businesses used to be, before Transnational corporations?

Maybe…. Maybe it's sentimental day-dreaming.

I'm just thinking about a place where the decision to lay everyone off doesn't come from a CEO in another country.

So I’m thinking about businesses that are becoming obsolete.



A modest burger joint isn’t really that viable when there’s a McDonald’s down the block.


A local brewery might be in trouble when MillerCoors decides to releases a “craft” label.

A local factory that makes bikes… Well, you can buy bicycles pretty cheap at Wall Mart now.



But what I understand is that power and profit are going to a smaller and smaller number of people. 



They say Change or Die.

I agree.

I think the situation needs to change.

I want to be positive, and do what I can.

And I'm thinking about an endeavour that I would actually like to get behind.

I certainly want our present situation—that of radical inequality— to change.

But until then, here's a few ideas about surviving while being "obsolete".

They say that you don't sell the product…. You sell the experience.

And I personally enjoy the experience of going on a micro-brewery tour.

It's not just a fun Sunday afternoon… The knowledge you get is worth something… You'll have something to talk about when you bring your friends a growler.

I'm not talking about tours.

I'm talking about letting people have a stake in what you do.

To care about more than the product.

And sure, if you're a large company you can wrap yourself in a flag and appeal to those who care about that flag.

And there's convincing customers that you're a fellow traveller ...who's been with them thick and thin.

Corporations do this all the time.

But what about knowledge?

I learned how to use a sewing machine the other week.

I tailored my own vest.

It felt good when I wore it.

Here's an idea.

What if a clothing store had a special warranty offer?

Once an article of clothing got damaged… You could attend a workshop on mending it.

Would it go against the spirit of "convenience" of throwing away old and truckloads of the new?

I guess so…

But what would you rather do? Hang out with people while you comment on each other's new shirt… Or hang out with people, learn stuff and make your old shirt look awesome?

Imagine if they served beer at a workshop...

And what about confidence?

I have a beer with a friend of mine.

I'm between jobs...my friend's unsure about the job he has.

I need to talk about something positive… Something where I can be confident.

So I'm thinking about confidence.

I think about having a practical knowledge about what I'm doing.

I think about working with people… Where we share and teach each other.

The thing is… Being confident means you can't be in a place where just a select few "know" everything.

It means everyone takes part….Both the employees and customers.

The "Experience" is not just something that you purchase…

It's something that you appreciate, something that you contribute to in more ways than just money.

We live in a world that celebrates swagger.

Everywhere we go, there are echoes of people boasting their independence.

(Image from Dynamic Light and Shade, by Burne Hogarth)

But the truth is that the world is more centralized than ever.

It's interconnected… And all those connections lead to the hands of the very few.

Personally, I wonder how long it's going to last.

That super-efficient delivery system that ships from Factories to Freighters to Warehouses to Wallmart?

It's a huge system, and it's propped up and subsidized and it needs to get bigger or else it will die.

…I think it's going to die.

I think we're going to have to depend on each other in the future.

Getting local resources, working together.

Learning as you go… Sharing what you've learned, depending on the people around you.

Getting everyone to have a stake in what's going on.

I think the way we used to do things...

I think it will become robust.