The Blitzkrieg tactics of the German army in World War II were designed to avoid prolonged battle instead seeking to defeat its opponents in a series of short military campaigns. German Blitzkrieg tactics were based on speed and surprise requiring the concentration of offense utilising waves of aircraft, artillery, armour and finally infantry along a narrow front.

These forces would attack weak points in enemy defensive lines driving a breach in defenses allowing armored divisions to rapidly penetrate and roam behind enemy lines causing shock and disorganisation among the enemy defenses. Blitzkrieg tactics were based on speed, coordination and maneuver; the major ability of this approach was to force large mobile forces through weak points in the enemy defensive lines causing havoc allowing pincer movements to squeeze disorientated units and damage to static lines.

With large formations cut off from communication and logistics, pressure was then placed on individual units behind the main line. German air power prevented the enemy from adequately resupplying or redeploying forces unable to send reinforcements to seal breaches in the front. Troops would then encircle opposing troops to force surrender or face annihilation.

What I enjoy about military strategy and business strategy is the tactics are somewhat similar in nature. I am not going to be invading Poland or France, the tactics are modified to business situations that require coordination, maneuver and multiple waves of attack to breach weak points in a business. After all, the tactics were born out of the necessity to prevent the loss of resources so prevalent in static lines.

The static line may be good or service a competing business offers and holding a position of market dominance, to launch a frontal attack on that business would result in a loss of financial resources. A prolonged price war may be viewed as similar to the trench warfare of WWI damaging all businesses involved and should be avoided at all costs. Instead, a series of products may be introduced into a market with some products used as loss leaders to gain a market penetration without taking the whole corporation on instead isolating certain products. 

Profits are limited on certain lines only; as such, the market leader may drop prices on competing products to counter such moves but a rational business manager wouldn’t drop prices across the board on all lines. Instead, the rational manager may allow the offensive business to gain market share on certain lines that are less profitable.

The larger business might then attempt to squeeze margins on this particular product using their market dominance to attempt to shut down this business. The offensive business is then targeting a more profitable line after attacking margins on a number of lines with the market leader less likely to engage in a price war on highly profitable lines instead giving up some market share but maintaining profit margins.

I have copped plenty of workplace abuse where I work, this has come from petty people who do not perform to any level. This level of workplace gossip is counter-productive to both team and personal performance, a toxic workplace is a miserable place for everyone – they drive the pain.

That being said, I enjoy baiting the angry and miserable bastards who spend every free moment talking about me and trying to run me down. They haven’t worked out that I care little for their stupid opinions, I don’t. So, they still like to pedal their toxic vile, their lives are miserable, they don’t have much going for them, so this is their chance to feel better about themselves.

So where do we go from here? Well, I could bait them some more, that is actually fun. Mostly I ignore them, I know who they are and what they are saying, but I never respond, so that is my standard move. I do like to see the miserable faces, the look of resignation in their sunken eyes, their slow and uninspired movement, the hate that has consumed their rotten lives, their utter sadness. I don’t need to stir them up, they do it to themselves.

The cricket season has begun and I look to Mitch Marsh, smashing bloke and the guy who sparked the Ashes revival. Mitch carried this form back to Australia and rescued Australia throughout the summer. Needless to say, Marsh won the Allan Border medal and gave an absolutely mesmerising acceptance speech – Mitch is genuinely funny.

So let’s look at Mitch’s scores against Pakistan. Mitch scored 63*, 90, 41, 96, 50*. So that is 340 runs over 5 innings for an average of 113.33 that included 4 fifties. So with those not out scores, he was looking to add to the runs and maybe even a century. However, based on his current form he was not likely to progress past the 100 run mark, I expected him to get into the 90s based on that form. Mitch is also a pretty decent switch fast bowler who can get up in the mid 140s in speed, he is a genuine all-rounder.

Superior strategy, superior tactics, highly organised implementation skills and the ability to out maneuver a management team that has installed crony appointments at every level of the organisation. We can probably throw in high-level contingency management skills, highly structured decision-making, planning skills, and the ability to problem-solve. If this is what I am accused of – I’ll take it.

I will come under scrutiny again, now that all hell has broken loose, the crony club is reeling and the finger pointing begins. This will be a witch hunt, I would suggest absolutely nothing is surer, they will be after me, but let them try. I am ok with that, they have nothing, they will not find anything and as hard as they try, they just keep embarrassing themselves.   

So, although they still try, they still can’t link the reporting of misappropriation of government funds to me. Not that they should, the emphasis should be on identifying wrongdoing to prevent the humiliation of being exposed. Instead of trying to expose the leaks, make sure there is no basis for leaks, you cannot report misappropriation if there is no misappropriation. 

So what are the likely scenarios?

1. I identify misappropriation of government funds, then induce others to report wrongdoing.
2. I am superior in strategy, tactics and tacit level skills to them.
3. I am a master of covering my tracks.
4. I just didn’t do it.

All possible scenarios are humiliating to middle and upper management, they are exposed. They have been entrusted with the efficient use of state government resources and funds. This is public money, there is an obligation to utilise government resources in the most efficient manner possible. They are entrusted as management to meet the social obligation that the role they are paid to perform is free from bias, patronage, nepotism and favouritism.

The Seiko SWR053 is a cheap Cartier Tank knock-off, I was looking for a Longines Dolce Vita for my partner when I came across the SWR083, I did not like the bracelet so much and then learned of the SWR053, so I searched further. I thought the SWR053 better suited her sense of style.

The Essentials Collection is an elegant design with its rectangular case and leather strap. Seiko is not known for either their bracelet or strap quality, so it will be up to her to upgrade to her tastes. The rectangular case is an elegant style for evening wear, for me, I would not think this would be a daily wear to the office.

The classic Roman numerals on a white background were pioneered by Cartier and form the backbone of their identity.The Cabochon crown is unusual, a semi-precious stone that is borrowed from the Cartier catalogue. The Cartier Tank is a sapphire, but in this price range, I am guessing quartz or jasper, I know what they are trying to do but for me it does not come off.

I had never attended a student graduation before, when I completed my business diploma at Challenger Institute of Technology I was expecting an invitation. But, to my surprise, I received my certificate in the mail. This was when they decided to drop the graduation to save money, not an issue for me; however, I felt for the full-time students who attended the institute for a year to earn their diploma – a poor decision.

I had not planned to attend, I had never considered attending as I completed my diploma off-campus so I had never met any of the staff face-to-face so it would have been awkward anyway. But this is not about me, I was disappointed for all the full-time students who had completed their diploma and above who would not be receiving their certificates via an awards ceremony.

Of all the places to shirk on costs, this was a bad decision I thought. What this does is devalue the institution, are they so cheap they cannot even put on an awards night? What value do they place on education, if they are cost cutting here, where else are they cutting costs? Are their training services value for money? How do they value quality?

As a former dive shop manager and owner, I have accumulated a dive computer collection over time ranging from the Heinrichs Weikamp OSTC 2N, VR3, Suunto D6, Suunto Vyper, Mares icon, Aladin Sport, Aladin Air X NitrOx and the Aladin Pro.

Of those, the HW OSTC 2N, Mares icon and Suunto Vyper have failed – the Heinrichs Weikamp screen was faulty straight out of the box actually. Still going strong is the Aladin Pro, my computer of choice for deep air decompression diving. The screen is large, the numbers are easy to read at depth where nitrogen narcosis is an issue and the display is uncluttered. With the exception of the VR3, the Aladin Pro is my computer of choice for air dives.

As I always conduct deep air decompression dives on a square profile, backing up the ZHL-8 Buelmann algorithm with IANTD Buelmann derived tables on my slate is simple. As I also use my VR3 as my secondary device during these dives, the profiles match. The VR3 as the secondary device you ask? For me, failing eyesight makes reading other dive computers a real struggle; I should be getting some laser assisted vision pretty soon.

It has been argued the variable ascent rate model is outdated, if you time your ascent rate from depth to 9 metres per minute then you will have no problems, a skill a decompression diver should be able to perform comfortably. A deep stop, although not scientific shows anecdotal evidence of less fatigue post dive slows your ascent rate at depth, a gas switch to EAN36 @ 30 metres also enhances decompression safety when the initial stops are taken on bottom mix.

The final 10 metres in a decompression dive is spent at each individual ceiling depth anyway, the diver moves very slowly from depth to depth off-gassing slow tissues. The focus then is to limit the bubble seed nuceli ascending from depth using correct ascent techniques of an advanced diver. The fast tissue compartments, 2.5 and 5 minutes are resent within 30 minutes as the EE washout reset these tissue compartments very rapidly, the slower tissue compartments reset slowly and are thus the controlling factor for repetitive dives.

The Casio A158WA is a vintage watch, Casio is good for manufacturing low cost and functional watches. The G-Shock is their current range that is highly popular, the older models in the pre G-Shock range are what Casio built their reputation on. Casio is a pretty broad manufacturing company, their range of calculators are world famous.

The A158WA is the watch that watch snobs wear from time to time in their rotation, I never owned an A158WA so I am a little interested. I had a F91W for my work watch, I used it underground and originally wore it on my wrist until the strap broke. Then it was carried in the top zipped pocket of my overalls, I did not frequently need to view the time so that worked for me.

So why should I consider the A158WA? Well, apart from the stainless steel case and bracelet, it is pretty much a stainless steel version of the plastic F91W. This is a basic digital watch on a stainless steel bracelet. This is what concerns me, I do like to wear an anti-establishment watch around from time-to-time. For this I have my old Citizen Promaster as a dive watch on a stainless steel bracelet and Tissot Everytime on a cheap leather strap. What I don’t want is a cheap Casio bracelet that is a hair puller, so I am already considering my options.

I am interested in dive watches, one that I hadn’t previously considered is the Mido Oceanstar. I had previously checked out a Mido watch when I was passing through Singapore’s Changi Airport. This was more of a dress style and I decided against the purchase. It had a gold PVD [Physical Vapour Depositation] case, that is not the style I generally prefer. I had a gold plated Timex as a kid, I am not the flashy type and prefer a stainless steel watch and bracelet as they are more rugged, I do have a gold Omega Seamaster that pretty much lives in my safe and barely sees light of day that is only brought out for special occasions.

The Reference M026.608.11.041.01 is a 600 metre certified dive watch, this is pretty heavy-duty dive watch, the de facto standard was 200 metres water resistance, this was subsequently bumped up to 300 metres. A Rolex Submariner, Omega Diver 300, TAG Heuer Aquaracer and Oris Aquis all meet 300 metres water resistance, so Mido are looking to double the prevailing industry standard. An interesting concept, does this make the Oceanstar more desirable than a Submariner or Seamaster? Probably not.

The base ETA C07.821 movement [designated Mido Calibe 80] is a 25 jewel COSC certified chronometer with an 80 hour power reserve. The silicon hairspring offers anti-magnetism properties so there are no issues accidentally magnetising this watch. So this is a solid movement? Yeah, this a a base ETA movement upgraded up to a Powermatic 80 specification with a frequency of 21,600 vph and an 80 hour power reserve so yes, this is a solid movement.

This is not really gold, it is a gold lookalike, this is PVD-treated stainless steel and not a precious metal. So what is PVD? Physical vapour deposition is a vacuum process that utilises titanium nitride that is more durable than gold plating, is corrosion resistant and up to 10 times thicker than gold plating at a fraction of the cost. So I lost interest in Mido pretty quick and really haven’t revisited the brand until the Oceanstar 600 came along and took my interest.

I do not like the term bullying when used in a workplace context, a more accurate term would be harassment as bullying is a term I relate to the school yard. However, Worksafe WA publications refer to the psychosocial behaviours as workplace bullying.

When we consider organisational behaviour factors such as power dynamics in the workplace, conflict and team dynamics – then we have a baseline to draw data from. We have a bunch of workers that have been inspired by a recalcitrant management that are supported by a number of cronies that have not met a competitive merit selection process.

In short, they are running a protection racket for a number of individuals that do meet requirements of a competent leadership team. They have been gaining all the benefits at the exclusion of the team, then there are the wannabe members who want to be part of the group. These wannabe recruits form the outer perimeter of the group running gossip and harassment activities in the hope of garnishing enough favours to work their way into the inner circle.

The manager wants to surround himself with individuals that are beholden to him, this is how he gains their support and loyalty. They know they are incompetent, they know they lack the required knowledge and skills, they know they can never be selected based on their own abilities, so they need an angle, and that angle is to undermine others to shore up the core of the group that supports their inclusion.

If this is starting to look like the initiation requirements of an outlaw bikie gang, then you would be right. There is the patch wearing members and their hierarchy, they pretty much pledge allegiance to the group with its formal rules. Then there are the nominees, these are the ones trying to get into the group, they are the ones that go out and bash people, commit crimes such as theft and sell drugs providing the standover and security requirements. Should they prove their loyalty to the gang, they may someday become a patch wearing gang member.

The dynamics of this group to a bikie gang are strikingly similar, this model that they have adapted. The five elements of group dynamics include structure, goals, interaction, interdependence and cohesiveness. The crony club has structure, there is the supreme leader and the two lieutenants, following up is the stream of wannabes who want to break into this group, this is the interaction factor. Whilst the main three stooges are well set, the goals are hazy – well, other than to enrich themselves.