No time to do a to do list
If I hear another person say to me, ‘You have to work smarter not harder’ I may loose the plot. It’s the sort of consultant speak sound bite that wrankles to the core of my bone marrow. This is not just because everyone uses it; it’s become a consultant karaoke song, like 'Imagineering' or 'lean manufacturing' or 'just in time'. Urgh! Even simple act of just writing that the phrase down gives me that squirmy goose bumps feeling. Because, as a piece of advice, it is sooo utterly useless.
If I was smarter I wouldn’t have to work harder now would I?
I’d love the time to get smarter. To be ultra efficient, successful, smug. It can’t be that hard. I mean look at that dingbat competitor down the road. He's playing golf everyday and was in the bottom set for maths!
‘What you need’ the life coaches and mentors say,’ is to take control of your 'to do' list’. It’s a start I suppose, and I take their point but for a start, exactly which list are they talking about here? Is it the one I have on my Windows Outlook that I started in the airport departure lounge in a fit of organisational sobriety while I had nothing better to do? Would this be very same task list that I’ve forgotten to update or delete the items I actually did remember to do that pops up with those annoying reminders every time I open my e-mail?
Or, perhaps they mean the list on that piece of paper in the hole thingy where you put stuff so it doesn’t disappear into the foot well while your testing your cars ABS. Under the sticky stack of car parking tickets?
Or, possibly the list stuck under the magnet on the fridge beneath the pizza delivery number and the invitation to a swimming party. Excuse me while I go off at a tangent here, just because I can - Those invites say ‘Adults are welcome.….welcome to do what exactly? To turn pale blue and stand around catching veroukas’ in last years all too snug swimsuit, trying not to look at cleavage or caesarean scars while you try to suck it in to the point of hyperventilation- Mental note to self. Book tanning session at gym before aforesaid party. Membership should be used for something. Better put it on the to-do list.
There must be some way of organising our lives better. I mean if we can put man on the moon and crash a beagle into Mars surely we can have bash at some personal organisation?
Frankly, I’ve got no tips to offer personally. I could try to delude myself that I am sort of guru or practitioner in the art of time management. But numerous editors and colleagues will gleefully attest to by deficiencies in this area. Frankly, finding this article on my to do list was a bit of a surprise and completing it almost a herculananeum task. Whenever, by some chance of fate, I do actually remember what the knot in my hanky is actually tied to remind me to do, I have to lie down in a dark room with a wet towel on my head to recover from the shock.. But, I know a man, or in this case a women, (why isn’t that so surprising?) who really knows about this stuff. She is one of those adorable American woman who can run a law case in three cities, solve a murder, referee her kids softball game and figure out how to print out her spreadsheets so that they fit on just one piece of paper and maintain readability without optical aids, all on the same day…and then even has the time to share with you on her life coaching blog site her daily dose of self courage and motivational adrenalin while casually throwing in the fact that she has today, a well as qualifying as an airline pilot, won the high school moms home baked cookies competition. She is Oprah on speed…
So I asked Melissa.
Melissa’s tip number one is to use paper, don’t make digital to do lists on your computer or electronic devices. Now before I get the tree conservationists rounding on me, and rightly so, I probably will need to remind the readers that even though they, and they know who I am talking about, will probably input all the relevant information into the ether of their hard disk, more than likely than not they will probably only print a list out anyway. This will take up three lines on a piece of paper in the corner and then they will stick it in their filofax or under a pile of papers and loose it. The paperless office is just a mirage. [Interesting side note here. Just read a pamphlet on the paperless office. Did the irony get lost somewhere?].
The advantage of using paper is that you may use both sides, which will probably be really useful as you have run out paper anyway as you didn’t put ‘getting more printer paper’ on your to do list. The technophiliacs amongst us, meaning you, may well be using a spreadsheet to help you. Now this is fine but, if this is the case, my advice to you is that you and your Excel really should really be getting out more often. I used to work at a company (in fact most of them) where Excel was seen as some sort of light sabre for the Jedi management classes, where management prowess was judged by your manipulative skills of spreadsheet dynamics. It was not uncommon to see a droop (Collective noun) of managers peering intently over a screen of grids with numbers in hushed conversations about what the benefits of a ‘pivot table’ in this application could be. (See, I know the jargon at least)
But that’s another story, for another time. Paper to me is so err …substantial. There is something oddly alluring in experiencing the pleasure of scribbling in the margin and that thoroughly satisfying feeling you get when crossing something off the list. It is the same feeling you get when watching the Sunday afternoon films after your mum’s Sunday dinner and the dishwasher is on its cycle. I know its pathetic but these are small battles won-.
Somehow, if it is on paper, you feel you own it, its personal. Digital is antiseptic. Maybe it one of these left side, right side brain things, a psychologist somewhere will undoubtedly have a word for it. Like your pump bag at school, it may be embarrassing but it is yours and if anyone nicks it you will cry. If you ‘own’ it, you are more likely to take an interest in it and actually do something about it.
M’s next world shattering point knocked me bandy. Well there were several she mentioned actually but I want to build up the excitement. She asked me to ask myself, or you this question. Should the item even be on your to do list? Does it actually need to be done? What would happen if you didn’t do it? Would the sky fall on your head? Should somebody else be doing it? If not, why not?
I felt a wave of feng shui flow through my nether regions. Here was a new personal mantra. I was aligned! And then she gave me a new chant. Only ever put three things on your to do list. Wow there, mister! Three? Really? But, she added, keep two lists; I knew there was a catch. Apparently you have to have two lists, one in the back of your filonotethingybook, and one in the front. You move things to the front only when they have to be done. Now this is radical stuff. But it makes sense. I can cope with about three things at a time, anymore and I get sidetracked and end up not finishing anything. I can hear the sound of heads being slapped across the Kingdom. There is nothing common about common sense is there? We just need to be reminded about it once in while. Pity it has to be by an American.
My friend also told me to tell you that say if you do something for 21 days you will develop the action into a habit. For most of us getting past 21 minutes is tough enough. There are so many more interesting things to distract us. Like the satellite remote control or putting the kettle on. Not necessarily to make a drink, just put it on and forget you have.
By now light bulbs were popping on in my head like a deserted fairground and a kid with a catapult and grudge but we haven’t finished yet.
Don’t open your e-mail box before you look at the to-do list. E-mail and to do lists are non-compatible. Like olive oil and gravel. Didn’t Bill and his buddies realise this when they wrote Outlook. It is some unwritten law, at least I’ve never seen it in any operations manual, that the reading and the replyment thereof of the new e-mails of the day shall take preference over all life processes in the Universe, even it is only from your mate discussing the lamentable merits of LUFC’s 4:3:3 system. As soon as you hit your mail inbox your intentions to tackle your tasks, keenly honed on the commute to work, are gone like a leaf on the breeze. Take a deep breath and be brave! The World will not collapse into a black hole if you don’t look at your e-mails for ten minutes. Honest Injun!
Finally, two gems Melissa thought we should share in the spirit of sharing and caring as her 'Blogyourwaytolove' web site puts it.
Firstly, prioritise the list, even the three things you have on it. OK, so that is pretty obvious but some tasks are always much more important, relatively. An air traffic controller’s to do list- example, item 3. Must get the other plane to change altitude and course in the next er.. five seconds, has a smidgen more urgency than say, putting together a budget for indoor plant decorations.
How to prioritise though? That’s easy. Number one priority every time, is the completion of task on the list that is going to make my boss look good? After that, really just take a pin.
Mel's last tip was how to deal with the big items that sometimes appear, hysterically, the week before you go on holiday. For example, the complete, new interactive catalogue for a brand new e-commerce site in fourteen languages that the MD wants to launch at the sales conference in two weeks. Piece of cake!!!
Before we go into M’s solution I just wanted to flag up this Alert! More consultspeak. You may well have been wooed with the idea that you ‘should break these big projects into smaller projects, that you really can ‘eat an elephant, if you do it one piece at a time’ or that ‘epic journeys start with one step’. OK, that’s fine I get that. The fact is though that you will still have to eat some pretty unsavoury bits of an elephant that frankly make the bush-tucker trials look like a picnic. (Which, agreed, to some extent it is). So, and I agree with Melissa here, you should be thinking of ways to make the unsavoury bits more user friendly. Maybe share that task with a friend or colleague. Or better still, delegate.
The Pass the Buck technique only works, of course, if there is actually somebody to delegate to. You may well be looking down from your heady heights at a responsibility vacuum. The clue for you here that this strategy won’t work for you is when you realise that you don’t actually have to appraise anybody yourself.
Or, you could try to do it in a different way, in another environment. Like brainstorming at Starbucks and wash it down with a Caramel Machiatto to get rid of the taste.
Speaking of which, that reminds me, I notice that beverage replenishment is fast approaching on my mental to do list. Now if I could only find my filofax, make sure my PowerBook is charged up and my PDA is synced I’ll be in complete control of my appointments, contacts and list and able to work on the run. I’ll be off but before I do I will leave you to ponder this.
In the words of Melissa. ‘The knot in the hanky of life is there to simply to remind you. It won’t do it for you. Getting your thumb from out of your arse will always help’. Thanks Melissa. Hold on a sec, was she talking about me? Must add doing a to do list on to my to do list.
The Raindancer©2006
Wednesday, June 21, 2006
Newsletter or snoozeletter?
I’ve been advising a client of mine over the last few weeks regarding their self produced newsletter. This is always tricky.
I’m usually pretty kind and will try not to call a person’s baby ugly but sometimes you just have to tell it like it is. Anyone can, and often will, delight in telling you what is wrong but if you want to have any crediblity and be taken seriously you also have to be able to suggest a practical solution. Unlike their previous consultant's proposal, our solution doesn't require re-capitalising the company, whole scale business card reprinting or reinventing the market. That is always a good place to start I find.
We pulled it to pieces as courteously and with as much diplomacy as we could but we didn’t pull our punches; we sent off our observations, held our collective breath and waited for the fallout. The MD rang us up and said that the marketing manager, his sister, (Sound of penny dropping) was going on maternity leave, could we talk? Now they could have taken their bat and ball home and in some instances in the past, and probably in the future too, they will. I’d far rather we both understood each other from the outset. Sometimes taking a thorn out a paw has been a delicate but necessary start to some of my best relationships with clients. My worst clients have been those were, primarily for pragmatic economic reasons at the time, we didn’t say what we really and completely thought during the getting to know each other phase. Those contracts, however silver lined they appeared at the time, have never made us any profit but then everyone is blessed with 20/20 hindsight.
The vast majority of our clients, just don't understand the true potential of a great email newsletter. Or conversely, the real down sides, and negative effect if you get it wrong.
In the early days of the web, there were some wonderful, informative, interesting newsletters. There still are some shining examples. Now, more and more newsletters have become little more than graphic designers strutting their stuff...with small snippets of incomplete content, accompanied by links through to an accompanying web site. They compound the problem by being self obsessed, WWD (What we do) missives, a woefully disguised sales pitch often with a misleading title that really gets your pip when you open it to find it vacuous, irrelevant or patronizing. You may as well try to disguise a whale by putting hat on it. The result? The newsletters themselves are boring, not useful, often irrelevant, not really satisfying...and destined for the junk folder and your company to oblivion. Well maybe not quite that far but certainly off the man’s radar.
Why it makes sense to deliver complete content in your newsletter?
A good newsletter builds respect and trust. Think of the newsletters to which you have subscribed for a year or more. You keep reading them for a reason. Because they are worth the time spent. And each time you read a new issue, your respect for the company or organization behind it deepens a little bit more. Meanwhile, more and more of the "drive them through to the web site" newsletters, with teaser content and onward links, lose our attention. The only way to make sure your newsletter is consistently opened is to make it WORTH opening. Complete Content newsletters are a long-term asset and should have investment and maintenance. The hard part for marketers is to resist the temptation to maximize short-term click-throughs. It may make their monthly report look good for the boss, but it doesn’t quite tell the whole story. For a variety of reasons we may find ourselves under pressure to use the newsletter to drive as many people as possible through to our sites. It's an understandable aim, but you need to find a balance that won't diminish the value of the newsletter itself, keep it fresh and running at top speed. This ‘salesman’ is potentially talking to thousands of customers. You would get pretty miffed, probably apoplectic if one of your sales team said or did some thing to ruin your relationship with your customers but thousands of company let their newsletter do this, without knowing it. As a potential customer I am really not that bothered that you have a new contract with Mr SillySod plc , or that you have a new Sales director. I want to know how you can solve MY problem, not my competitors.
What makes a good or even great newsletter?
1. Deliver complete content within the body of the newsletter, with optional links to your own site or other sites. In other words, links should be included as a choice for readers who want to explore further, not as a condition of experiencing the full content.
2. Take the long-term view.
Don't measure the success of your newsletter by short-term metrics. And don't keep changing it in search of incremental improvements in click-through rates. When you start doing that, you are on the road to transforming your newsletter into a promotional salesmail, where content is included simply as a hook, and not for its inherent value.
3. Maintain a consistent theme, tone and format.
The newsletters that keep the attention of their readers, year after year, are those that remain familiar in terms of the voice of the editor, the theme of the content and the format of the newsletter itself. Why? Because your readers are extremely sensitive to changes in their favorite newsletters. They don't like unexpected shifts in voice and content. And as many publishers have found out the hard way, subscribers hate it when text newsletters are changed to an HTML format, or when an HTML newsletter undergoes a big change in design.
And finally….. I think the essence of producing a valuable newsletter is never to lose sight of the long view. Don’t think in terms of weeks or months, but next year Make sure you deliver real value with each issue, and that means including complete content within the body of each issue.
Finally, don't let short-term metrics divert you from your long-term goal. Building long-term readership and loyalty takes time, a lot of time. The rewards however are far more lucrative and long term.
Consistency breeds familiarity. It works.
Raindancer Copyright 2006
I’m usually pretty kind and will try not to call a person’s baby ugly but sometimes you just have to tell it like it is. Anyone can, and often will, delight in telling you what is wrong but if you want to have any crediblity and be taken seriously you also have to be able to suggest a practical solution. Unlike their previous consultant's proposal, our solution doesn't require re-capitalising the company, whole scale business card reprinting or reinventing the market. That is always a good place to start I find.
We pulled it to pieces as courteously and with as much diplomacy as we could but we didn’t pull our punches; we sent off our observations, held our collective breath and waited for the fallout. The MD rang us up and said that the marketing manager, his sister, (Sound of penny dropping) was going on maternity leave, could we talk? Now they could have taken their bat and ball home and in some instances in the past, and probably in the future too, they will. I’d far rather we both understood each other from the outset. Sometimes taking a thorn out a paw has been a delicate but necessary start to some of my best relationships with clients. My worst clients have been those were, primarily for pragmatic economic reasons at the time, we didn’t say what we really and completely thought during the getting to know each other phase. Those contracts, however silver lined they appeared at the time, have never made us any profit but then everyone is blessed with 20/20 hindsight.
The vast majority of our clients, just don't understand the true potential of a great email newsletter. Or conversely, the real down sides, and negative effect if you get it wrong.
In the early days of the web, there were some wonderful, informative, interesting newsletters. There still are some shining examples. Now, more and more newsletters have become little more than graphic designers strutting their stuff...with small snippets of incomplete content, accompanied by links through to an accompanying web site. They compound the problem by being self obsessed, WWD (What we do) missives, a woefully disguised sales pitch often with a misleading title that really gets your pip when you open it to find it vacuous, irrelevant or patronizing. You may as well try to disguise a whale by putting hat on it. The result? The newsletters themselves are boring, not useful, often irrelevant, not really satisfying...and destined for the junk folder and your company to oblivion. Well maybe not quite that far but certainly off the man’s radar.
Why it makes sense to deliver complete content in your newsletter?
A good newsletter builds respect and trust. Think of the newsletters to which you have subscribed for a year or more. You keep reading them for a reason. Because they are worth the time spent. And each time you read a new issue, your respect for the company or organization behind it deepens a little bit more. Meanwhile, more and more of the "drive them through to the web site" newsletters, with teaser content and onward links, lose our attention. The only way to make sure your newsletter is consistently opened is to make it WORTH opening. Complete Content newsletters are a long-term asset and should have investment and maintenance. The hard part for marketers is to resist the temptation to maximize short-term click-throughs. It may make their monthly report look good for the boss, but it doesn’t quite tell the whole story. For a variety of reasons we may find ourselves under pressure to use the newsletter to drive as many people as possible through to our sites. It's an understandable aim, but you need to find a balance that won't diminish the value of the newsletter itself, keep it fresh and running at top speed. This ‘salesman’ is potentially talking to thousands of customers. You would get pretty miffed, probably apoplectic if one of your sales team said or did some thing to ruin your relationship with your customers but thousands of company let their newsletter do this, without knowing it. As a potential customer I am really not that bothered that you have a new contract with Mr SillySod plc , or that you have a new Sales director. I want to know how you can solve MY problem, not my competitors.
What makes a good or even great newsletter?
1. Deliver complete content within the body of the newsletter, with optional links to your own site or other sites. In other words, links should be included as a choice for readers who want to explore further, not as a condition of experiencing the full content.
2. Take the long-term view.
Don't measure the success of your newsletter by short-term metrics. And don't keep changing it in search of incremental improvements in click-through rates. When you start doing that, you are on the road to transforming your newsletter into a promotional salesmail, where content is included simply as a hook, and not for its inherent value.
3. Maintain a consistent theme, tone and format.
The newsletters that keep the attention of their readers, year after year, are those that remain familiar in terms of the voice of the editor, the theme of the content and the format of the newsletter itself. Why? Because your readers are extremely sensitive to changes in their favorite newsletters. They don't like unexpected shifts in voice and content. And as many publishers have found out the hard way, subscribers hate it when text newsletters are changed to an HTML format, or when an HTML newsletter undergoes a big change in design.
And finally….. I think the essence of producing a valuable newsletter is never to lose sight of the long view. Don’t think in terms of weeks or months, but next year Make sure you deliver real value with each issue, and that means including complete content within the body of each issue.
Finally, don't let short-term metrics divert you from your long-term goal. Building long-term readership and loyalty takes time, a lot of time. The rewards however are far more lucrative and long term.
Consistency breeds familiarity. It works.
Raindancer Copyright 2006
Wednesday, June 07, 2006
So... you thought You were having a bad day?
So, you thought you were having a bad day?
We all have them. Dealing with the poor payer, a client who just doesn’t ‘get it’ and never will. A technical problem that you just can’t work around and the onlyguy who can sort it out is in a meeting (on the golf course). It’s what business is about after all, crisis management. If everything went OK and all of our customers were perfect we wouldn’t have a job now would we? And it wouldn't be half as much fun.
But, if today happens to be one of those days, spare a thought for one of my heroes. For those of you who know me you will be aware, as I’ve probably bored you to tears, that my big interest is the History of Science. The subject is filled with an unending list of people of passion trying to deliver an idea exhibiting degrees of obsession and drive that which make most of us look like the simpering wimps we largely are. Me, especially, included.
Scientific endeavour has as many courageous and determined participants as any field of human activity. Probably more. For me they serve as a constant reminder and make me truly appreciate that the entrepreneurial ‘risks’ we take are, in the grand scheme of things, are, as mothers often say 'not worth worrying about'.
I started my a career as a cartographer so it won’t surprise you, armed with that little snippet, to learn that the people who fascinate me most are those who mapped the world, dressed in tweed and canvas; who waved goodbye to their loved ones and cheerily disappeared into the undergrowth of a Continent. Not just for a month or two but in some cases for a generation.
So, if you ever feel the sphincter muscle of fear contracting or you think you have a ‘problem’ spare a thought for just one of this merry band.
The story takes place in the late 1700’s. One of the major challenges facing the intelligentsia ( Did i spell that right) in their drawing rooms was to figure out just how big and what shape this piece of rock were are hurtling through space on actually is. Not for the least reason so that the people who did want to have a look around other parts of it could find their way back home. One of the basic gaps of knowledge that had to be filled was to work our just how far we were away from the Sun. To do this they decided to use the astronomical phenomenon of the Transit of Venus. Something which happens about once in a blue moon but not quite as rare event as a politicians apology. Fortunately one such Transit was on the horizon, if you will excuse the pun. The plan was to dispatch people to different parts of the World; observe the transit at the same time, measuring angles and azimuths and such like and from the trigonometry they would, somehow- although I think I missed that particular maths lesson- be able to work it all out. This was the first truly international scientific project, 60 teams from eight countries sent off to the furthest flung outposts of the known World. And what was known at the time, wasn’t really that much.
Not surprisingly perhaps, the task was beset by problems; Not just of the airline, ‘loosing your bags' kind of problem but slightly more dramatic; shipwrecks, pirates, disease, mauling by wild animals, the odd war. All the participants obviously had their own adventures and stories but my particular favourite of these intrepid souls is one Gulliame le Gentil. Or ‘Bill ’ as we know him in our house.
A year before the transit Bill was sent out from France, his target was a observation site in India. He probably thought that this would be one of the easier venues to reach. He certainly had one drawn one of the longer straws compared to some of the spots that had been allocated. Siberia and the Middle of Wisconsin being the pick of the away days. But, due to a number of delays, I’m guessing possibly palm leaves on the line or the late arrival of an inbound brigand, on the day of the transit, he was still aboard his ship in the Indian ocean, unable to take observations the crticla observations from the bobbing platform. He could see it, just not do anything about it.
Now most of us would have given up at this time but not Monsieur Billy. Oh no. Presumably he didn’t fancy the return trip because he decided to wait and observe the next transit- eight years later. Which isn't quite the same as heroically queuing for Wimbledon tickets all night. The 4th June 1769 dawned with a clear blue sky. But for the whole duration of the 3 hour transit one solitary cloud appeared out of nowhere and blocked the view.
Le Gentil, I like to think probably muttering a few expletives or maybe gave just a gallic shrug, decided enough was enough and set off for the nearest port only to contract dysentery which laid him up for another year.
He arrived home eleven and half years after leaving and achieving pretty well nada to find he had been declared dead by his nearest and dearest; all his possessions and property had been distributed with enthusiasm amongst them. Maybe there was a note saying dinner was in the oven. We don’t hear a lot of him after that.
Other possibly more famous names were involved in the Project too. Mason and Dixon, before their four year sojourn into the New World to draw a line, where given the Sumatra straw- but they never actually arrived, having been attacked and caught up in a small war with the French. Who, scientifically at least, were supposed to be on the same side. In fact the whole project was a bit of a failure all around. When the results came in there were just too many readings with too many differences to make mathematical sense. For the mildly curious, as I am sure you are by now, the problem was eventually settled by one James Cook, former resident of my home county. His observations of the next transit ten years later in Tahiti, (Now there is a gig) gave enough good information for another Frenchman, Lalande to calculate that our mean distance from the Sun is 150 million miles, give or take little bit.
I recounted this story to a group of school children, whose first question was ‘what they did it for?’. 225 years later their work is brought into relevance as mankind faces one of its biggest challenges yet, that of Global Warming. There are hundreds of people whose exertions, (If ever is ever there is a word which understates their achevements that is it), have contributed to the body of work, many of whom literally gave their life to obtain this knowledge and provide us the fundamental information. Knowledge which allowed us to measure and map the world. And now allows us to detect and measure and predict the changes it will undergo.
We take for granted that we can now map the planet in an instant, and then bitch and moan when our GPS system fails to tell us tell us that the road we are trying to go up in our air-conditioned ipod on wheels is actually a one way street.
Makes you think doesn’t it!
Now, hopefully, have a better day!
Copyright 2006 Raindancer
We all have them. Dealing with the poor payer, a client who just doesn’t ‘get it’ and never will. A technical problem that you just can’t work around and the onlyguy who can sort it out is in a meeting (on the golf course). It’s what business is about after all, crisis management. If everything went OK and all of our customers were perfect we wouldn’t have a job now would we? And it wouldn't be half as much fun.
But, if today happens to be one of those days, spare a thought for one of my heroes. For those of you who know me you will be aware, as I’ve probably bored you to tears, that my big interest is the History of Science. The subject is filled with an unending list of people of passion trying to deliver an idea exhibiting degrees of obsession and drive that which make most of us look like the simpering wimps we largely are. Me, especially, included.
Scientific endeavour has as many courageous and determined participants as any field of human activity. Probably more. For me they serve as a constant reminder and make me truly appreciate that the entrepreneurial ‘risks’ we take are, in the grand scheme of things, are, as mothers often say 'not worth worrying about'.
I started my a career as a cartographer so it won’t surprise you, armed with that little snippet, to learn that the people who fascinate me most are those who mapped the world, dressed in tweed and canvas; who waved goodbye to their loved ones and cheerily disappeared into the undergrowth of a Continent. Not just for a month or two but in some cases for a generation.
So, if you ever feel the sphincter muscle of fear contracting or you think you have a ‘problem’ spare a thought for just one of this merry band.
The story takes place in the late 1700’s. One of the major challenges facing the intelligentsia ( Did i spell that right) in their drawing rooms was to figure out just how big and what shape this piece of rock were are hurtling through space on actually is. Not for the least reason so that the people who did want to have a look around other parts of it could find their way back home. One of the basic gaps of knowledge that had to be filled was to work our just how far we were away from the Sun. To do this they decided to use the astronomical phenomenon of the Transit of Venus. Something which happens about once in a blue moon but not quite as rare event as a politicians apology. Fortunately one such Transit was on the horizon, if you will excuse the pun. The plan was to dispatch people to different parts of the World; observe the transit at the same time, measuring angles and azimuths and such like and from the trigonometry they would, somehow- although I think I missed that particular maths lesson- be able to work it all out. This was the first truly international scientific project, 60 teams from eight countries sent off to the furthest flung outposts of the known World. And what was known at the time, wasn’t really that much.
Not surprisingly perhaps, the task was beset by problems; Not just of the airline, ‘loosing your bags' kind of problem but slightly more dramatic; shipwrecks, pirates, disease, mauling by wild animals, the odd war. All the participants obviously had their own adventures and stories but my particular favourite of these intrepid souls is one Gulliame le Gentil. Or ‘Bill ’ as we know him in our house.
A year before the transit Bill was sent out from France, his target was a observation site in India. He probably thought that this would be one of the easier venues to reach. He certainly had one drawn one of the longer straws compared to some of the spots that had been allocated. Siberia and the Middle of Wisconsin being the pick of the away days. But, due to a number of delays, I’m guessing possibly palm leaves on the line or the late arrival of an inbound brigand, on the day of the transit, he was still aboard his ship in the Indian ocean, unable to take observations the crticla observations from the bobbing platform. He could see it, just not do anything about it.
Now most of us would have given up at this time but not Monsieur Billy. Oh no. Presumably he didn’t fancy the return trip because he decided to wait and observe the next transit- eight years later. Which isn't quite the same as heroically queuing for Wimbledon tickets all night. The 4th June 1769 dawned with a clear blue sky. But for the whole duration of the 3 hour transit one solitary cloud appeared out of nowhere and blocked the view.
Le Gentil, I like to think probably muttering a few expletives or maybe gave just a gallic shrug, decided enough was enough and set off for the nearest port only to contract dysentery which laid him up for another year.
He arrived home eleven and half years after leaving and achieving pretty well nada to find he had been declared dead by his nearest and dearest; all his possessions and property had been distributed with enthusiasm amongst them. Maybe there was a note saying dinner was in the oven. We don’t hear a lot of him after that.
Other possibly more famous names were involved in the Project too. Mason and Dixon, before their four year sojourn into the New World to draw a line, where given the Sumatra straw- but they never actually arrived, having been attacked and caught up in a small war with the French. Who, scientifically at least, were supposed to be on the same side. In fact the whole project was a bit of a failure all around. When the results came in there were just too many readings with too many differences to make mathematical sense. For the mildly curious, as I am sure you are by now, the problem was eventually settled by one James Cook, former resident of my home county. His observations of the next transit ten years later in Tahiti, (Now there is a gig) gave enough good information for another Frenchman, Lalande to calculate that our mean distance from the Sun is 150 million miles, give or take little bit.
I recounted this story to a group of school children, whose first question was ‘what they did it for?’. 225 years later their work is brought into relevance as mankind faces one of its biggest challenges yet, that of Global Warming. There are hundreds of people whose exertions, (If ever is ever there is a word which understates their achevements that is it), have contributed to the body of work, many of whom literally gave their life to obtain this knowledge and provide us the fundamental information. Knowledge which allowed us to measure and map the world. And now allows us to detect and measure and predict the changes it will undergo.
We take for granted that we can now map the planet in an instant, and then bitch and moan when our GPS system fails to tell us tell us that the road we are trying to go up in our air-conditioned ipod on wheels is actually a one way street.
Makes you think doesn’t it!
Now, hopefully, have a better day!
Copyright 2006 Raindancer
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