Really, what is the purpose of the performance review? Why is so much anxiety expended preparing your response for an ill-prepared manager lacking the skills to execute a relatively straightforward meeting?

I sometimes wonder what the real benefit the performance review is to the organisation, we are having this meeting because all the other companies are holding performance reviews – that’s not a real reason. The trend in US corporations is to move away from performance reviews, there is plenty of evidence indicating the yearly performance performance is purely a paperwork exercise. So what other choices exist then? Tech company Adobe Inc is moving to an eight week process where managers and team members set mutual goals and check-in with managers to measure performance against goals – this is really an adaption of Drucker’s 1954 management by objectives incorporating Doran’s 1981 SMARTT goals. The old 1950s system as described by Peter Drucker is still the superior process – who would have thought.

I was sent a message requesting me to post on my Facebook newsfeed a pre-written about spiel promoting prostate cancer awareness by a cut and paste message. I thought about it and reckon people really don’t take notice of these generic messages as their Facebook feeds are already cluttered. I thought I could do a little better raising awareness of prostate cancer symptoms by finding an infographic and promoting to a wider audience.

The most common symptom is difficulty urinating with a weak urine flow, I know this well not from a enlarged prostate but countless kidney procedures with what my urologist explains as caused by instrumentation scaring. Still not great but much better than the alternatives. These symptoms are pretty well known, but moving to erectile dysfunction, blood in urine or semen, a loss of bladder control, pelvic discomfort and bone pain paints a pretty break picture of what could occur.

So doing just a little research, I found out the early stages of prostate cancer are relatively symptom free – now that is a real issue. This was supported by a doctor friend who contracted prostate cancer and was treated in the early stages of the disease. I commented that it was lucky he is a doctor and picked this cancer up early, he replied that this was not the case; he only found out due to having to undertake a medical exam for a proposed trip to Antarctica. It goes to show that even well trained medical professionals have difficulty in picking up the early stages of this disease.

The Baselworld Watch and Jewellry Show is the leading trade show for the international watch and jewellery industry showcasing prestigious brands, world class designers, industry suppliers and international dealers. The latest models, innovations, limited editions, upgrades and re-released versions of classic and heritage timepieces are usually released at this trade show.

The Rolex Sea Dweller, pretty much a heavy duty Submariner was upgraded with a number of changes that tends to upset purists who believe watches should stay true to their heritage. I’m not so sure, I like plenty of the upgraded versions of classic timepieces but do understand that this distinctiveness created the foundation of the particular model.

Regardless, the case diameter of the Sea Dweller was enlarged from 40 mm to 43 mm making this a significantly larger timepiece. The real controversial addition is a cyclops loupe similar to the Submariner model was added to the glass over the date. The Sea Dweller inscription on the face was changed to red whilst the rest of the lettering remained white. The bezel retains the minute graduations around the full circumference of the bezel as opposed to the Submariner with graduations to only the 15 minute indicator.

The helium escape valve remains as well as the 1220 metre water resistance depth limit, four times the limit of the 300 metre Submariner. I like the upgraded version of the 2017 Sea Dweller even if I won’t be racing out to purchase one anytime soon. Based on feedback I have received from dealers, these upgraded versions are almost impossible for the average punter to get their hands on with a waiting list sometimes extended to years.

Speaking to my colleague involved in our internal Twittergate incident; he made a fairly astute observation that I would like to share. He believed that through social media, never before has the general public had such access to political figures – this is very much true. The senior management of public service organisations are now under more scrutiny than they have ever been before and rank and file members of the organisation have the ability to influence thinking like never before.

Possibly, no longer can bureaucrats filter information to heads of departments or political figures, now any government employee can post a comment on the page of a politician or public figure. This could possibly be a seismic shift in workplace dynamics; sure social media pages of politicians are usually monitored and run by staffers, but the staffers can and do bring issues to the attention of political figures. Also laughable, the director of human resources informed my colleague that our workplace, a state government department monitors the pages and profiles of key figures on a regular basis – now there is a great use of government resources.  

I was reviewing some old management evaluation posts for a business ethics class that I posted on our online Moodle forum for an organisational behaviour class I took back in 2014. This analysis was in regards to questions regarding evaluating my current manager that remain still relevant despite him occupying another position. Since that post, this particular manager has been moved on from what we were told officially was his excellent management track record. What I cannot confirm either officially or unofficially was that our strategic portfolio was investigated by the corruption and crime commission or better known and obstinately feared in Western Australia as the CCC.

While they were cleared from what I believe was a lack of evidence for serious misconduct, they were held more accountable for minor misconduct if such an investigation took place which I can neither confirm nor deny. So how do I know all this? Well, there was an anonymous report to the CCC, that is clear. I was dragged into the office and the finger squarely pointed at me and questioned at length in clear breach of reporting guidelines. I was repeatedly asked the same question with the same answer every time this time in clear breach of official workplace bullying policy.

Their view was that I had been persecuted and bullied by the management team because I wouldn’t engage in unethical and corrupt behaviour so it must be me making the report. Further slanderous comments of ‘sour grapes’ of my attitude of being overlooked for leadership positions that had been leaked doesn’t hold any weight as all positions within the state government work on a merit selection basis where the job has to be advertised with a transparent and reviewable formal process conducted – naturally, none of this occurred.

The A-10 Warthog is a serious aircraft; although sub-sonic, the fixed wing close air support, attack and forward air control aircraft performs a serious role protecting the soldiers on the ground. As an attack aircraft, the role of close air support is a wonderful tool for the soldiers on the ground, they can be taking fire and call in a airstrike taking the enemy out very quickly. I have never served in the military but I do have an understanding and interest in engineering and this is a machine that interests me.  

The A-10 airframe is specifically designed for the 30 mm rotary cannon mounted below the cockpit for close air support missions. Due to its large wing area and high wing aspect ratio, the A-10 has superior maneuverability at low speeds and altitudes complimenting the attack role. Although the Thunderbolt is technically name of the aircraft, the Warthog is the name that has stuck – go figure.

There is some serious talk the A-10 will be retired to make way for the F-35 JSF; not because the A-10 is outdated or ineffective but because the F-35 may not be financially viable otherwise – it all comes down to dollars unfortunately. Of course, now that President Trump has tweeted his displeasure of the F-35 program, maybe the A-10 has an extended life. 

A colleague of mine has recently been disciplined for the use of his personal Twitter account by making statements that may be seen as inflammatory. Whilst he may have been a little exuberant by personally naming the managing director and his place of employment – his questions were actually technically and factually correct. This then begs the question, even though social media codes of practice are in place, if the correct questions are being asked in a public forum using your personal account, what is the issue?

In Western Australia, a state election has just taken place with a new government sworn in, this also means a new Minister for Training and Workforce Development has taken control of this important portfolio and needs to know from a grass-roots level what the issues are. Anyone who has been involved with governments of any form know that bureaucrats only like to take good and positive news upstairs. Now my colleague had the best interests of students and their employers at heart, if trying to look after the interests of our key stakeholders in a public forum, is this a problem? Then we had better start making decisions transparent that look after our key stakeholders instead of taking a short-term approach disadvantaging the very people we are supposed to help. My colleague removed the posts (questions) from the parliamentarian’s Twitter feed and closed his account, but I fail to see how this has benefited anyone.

In my opinion, We of the Never Never is one of the greatest Australian movies filmed. Based on the book of the same name by Jeannie Gunn; her personal experiences on Elsey Station in the Northern Territory in 1902 provides a stunning account of the era.

Staring Angela Punch McGregor and Arthur Dignam, the story is based on Aeneas Gunn becoming the manager of a cattle station. With Jeannie Gunn moving from suburban Melbourne with her husband, she was forced to quickly learn to deal with both the headstrong station hands and interact with the local aboriginal population. Her attempts to modify the thinking and behaviour of the hardened station men whilst learning the ways of the aboriginal culture saw her gain acceptance in both groups despite the mutual distrust of the station hands and aboriginal population.

While not a direct remake; Baz Luhrmann’s Australia attempted to recreate much of the feeling of We of the Never Never; although sporting a quality cast staring Hugh Jackman and Nicole Kidman, the movie unfortunately failed. The amazing cinematography of the 2008 released Australia set in the Kimberly region of Western Australia matched the 1982 production of We of the Never Never with advances in filmography; however, the plot was just terrible and can’t be compared.

However, unlike the $2.5 million budget of We of the Never Never, the weak story line of the $130 million budgeted Australia was actually historically incorrect – possibly manufactured for international audiences and poorly educated locals. Ironically, Arthur Dignam also acted in Luhrmann’s Australia with Luhrmann’s attempted masterpiece; unfortunately never soaring to the heights of Igor Auzins’ timeless classic.

What is it with smokers and pushing their filthy habit on everyone? I live reasonably close to a train station so I see continually walking down the street having a smoke. I don’t mind people having a cigarette in open air whilst they are walking but why do they think they can just drop their butt on the footpath in front of my house? Why can’t they carry their used butt in their hand until they reach a rubbish bin?

Why can’t smokers dispose of their cigarette butts correctly? Why do they need to throw their rubbish around and not only make the place look like a rubbish tip, it is harmful to the environment as the butts wash into drains and out to sea. There needs to be greater awareness of what happens to cigarette butts and on-the-spot fines needs to be increased to act as a real deterrence. 

I have an interest in finance despite having never worked for a retail bank, merchant bank, finance company or credit union. Yet I look on with interest at Macquarie and the famed reputation of the millionaire’s factory.

It has been rumoured that once you secure a contract at Macquarie, it takes approximately 5 years for the high flying consultants to become millionaires – that’s pretty impressive. I can only imagine that competition for places at Macquarie Bank and a job would be outrageously difficult to secure.

During my finance course plenty of manual calculations included net present value, present cash flow, discounted cash flow, the weighted average cost of capital, bond yields and market interactions, share markets, capital budgeting, inflation, interest rates and a whole load of other stuff that kept my head spinning.

The world of finance appears to be pretty lucrative, so one has to ask what exactly what does Macquarie finance and where do they draw their funds from? I guessing that whilst many of these guys know the financial calculations, this is an position requiring the use of jargon yet the position is really a technical sales role – nothing more, nothing less.