TED Community » Winston Lake

More About Me

I'm passionate about

People are what I am most passionate about. The greatest thing about having spent my career in customer service, is the human diversity it has exposed me to.

An idea worth spreading

To anyone working in customer service or sales, especially anyone just starting out there is only one thing to remember: People want to be treated like people! Whether a billion dollars worth of aircraft, or a box of junior mints, the one thing that every potential customer wants more than the best price, or best product, is the best service. The easiest way to deliver that service is to remember that what you are facing isn't "an opportunity", or a problem to be solved. What you facing is a human being and your job will be much easier and more rewarding if you can keep that one simple fact in mind and act on it.

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Social Issues. Culture/Pop Culture, Media and Entertainment

Comments

• TEDCred score: +2.40 TEDCred reflects your contribution to the TED community.

• A reply on Conversation: Why is a political philosophy like Anarcho-Syndicalism not seen as an alternative to a capitalistic democracy?

  Oct 21 2011: Hey Orlando and Tee Cee
  
  I don't think the answer lies in any form of social organization. Historically, in virtually any society I can think of, once past subsitance levels of development, the urge for power and dominance kicked in. It's not about social structures, it's about people.
  
  The only way I can see to effectively deal with these issues is to educate people from the earliest stages of development. Teach them self-awareness. Millenia of effort have clearly taught us that we can't legislate ethical or moral values. These things must be fostered internally, rather than imposed externally.
  
  None of which addresses the orginal question. Why don't we consider an Anarcho-Syndicalist form of social structure? Mostly becasue people have never heard of it. It's hard to overcome the knee-jerk fear associated with the word Anarchy if people have only been exposed to one facet of it. Create an educational process which is both accessible and desirable. Let people get used to the idea and start to understand it. Then maybe it will be possible for society as a whole to consider it.
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  A comment on Conversation: Morality is better informed by science than it is by religion

  Oct 18 2011: Religion has it's own moral bias which in the Christian Bible is often spectacularly contradictory. Science is amoral in that knowledge alone cannot dictate it's own use. I would prefer a third option.
  
  Morality is a uniquely human issue, and as such, only humans are capable of determining what those moral values should be. I am referring to something in the nature of a social contract. We have the technology now to conduct a reasonably accurate poll of society. With this data, we could determine a set of societal morals. Recurrent polls could be conducted at agreed upon intervals to determine the effectiveness of the current morality and suggest any necessary restructuring.
  
  Morality, as with any other aspect of human societies is not and should not be forced to be static. Our morality must be allowed to evolve with us. That failure of moral evolution lies at the heart of our current moral drift. In our western, Judeo/Christian society, we have tried to freeze our moral evolution at a point two thousand years in the past. Denying moral evolution while embracing social evolution has led us in strange directions.
  
  The Bible says "Thou shalt not kill." and yet the United States, a country of loudly "Christian" values invades other countries and kills thousands, and they were not alone. Clearly, our society has evolved beyond the morality we profess to embrace. This leads to a deep seated rift between those clinging ever more tightly to "traditional" (read outmoded) morality, and those attempting to establish their own morality in the absence of any reasonable alternative.
  
  We need to establish a human moral compass based on human truths and values. Forget about flawed and self-promoting religions. Science, no matter how hard it tries, cannot pretend to human understanding. Only we can understand ourselves. Only we humans know what is right and wrong for us.
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  A reply on Conversation: Morality is better informed by science than it is by religion

  Oct 18 2011: Hi Adriaan.
  
  Just a quick note on this passage, "Ever watch the news and see what people do?? They are all images and likenesses of God?"
  
  Yes I watch the news and see what people do. Then again, I've also read the Old Testament with a God who has no problem killing people for disobeying him, who is okay with spreading pestilence and famine and murdering the firstborn children of Egypt to get his own way. A God who destroyed every living thing on earth except for one boatload because he didn't like what they were doing.
  
  Yes Adriaan, those people on the evening news are as much in the image of that God as the ones doing "good works".
  
  I'm not questioning your beliefs, only the morality of the Godly actions in question. The excesses in the Bible make man's most horrible crimes look amateurish by comparison.

• A comment on Conversation: Why is a political philosophy like Anarcho-Syndicalism not seen as an alternative to a capitalistic democracy?

  Oct 18 2011: Thank you Orlando, you've raised an interesting question.
  
  I have read through the conversation to date and have a couple of thoughts to share. Firstly, you state that implementing Anarcho Syndicalism would require "everyone being on the same page". I find that hugely unlikely. I can't think of any society where everyone is on the same page. Your example of "Freetown Christiana" is interesting but only in a limited way. It exists within the confines of a major city, within a well defined country. It also represents only a tiny fraction of the population of that city and even less of the county as a whole. Nothing about it speaks to interacting with the wider world, or those who choose read a different page as it were.
  
  Elsewhere, you state that you see greed as a function of Capitalism rather than human nature. I would have to strongly disagree with you. Greed predates Capitalism by a very large margin, as does the desire for personal power and position. If you deny them their place in the human psyche, you deny the opportunity to address them in a meaningful way.
  
  Lastly, I agree that a change is needed in our social structure. I don't know that Anarcho Syndicalism is the way I would go, but I would be interested in learning more concerning a means of implementing such a paradigm shift in a culture as vast and diverse as the U.S; This is not sarcasm or negativity, but genuine curiosity. How does one affect such a dramatic change on so large a body?

• A comment on Conversation: What do the following words or phrases mean to you: war on terror; democrat; republican; God bless America; God; and freedom?

  Oct 18 2011: War on Terror: Delusional, Oxymoronic. Terror is an innate emotional response. As well declare war on Happiness, Sadness, Boredom, Joy, etc. Also, the use of Terror to fight Terror seems a tad deranged.
  
  Democrat: A seemingly more socially inclusive political party based on allegedly humanist principles.
  
  Republican: A seemingly socially exclusionary party based on allegedly Christian principles.
  
  God Bless America: An entertaining conceit. Assumes that God has any interest whatsoever in national politics. Allows them to feel justified in their excesses.
  
  God: The cumulative awareness of all that is.
  
  Freedom: Being able to ask and answer such questions without fear of reprisal. The ability to go where I want, with whomever I want, and do what I want when I get there assuming to harm to others along the way.
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  A comment on Conversation: What can we do about the constant rise of depression and suicide in young adults?

  Oct 14 2011: I realize that I only spoke to my experience, and didn't address the larger question of reversing the upward trend in teen suicides. Here are some of my suggestions in that direction.
  
  Remove the overwhelming emphasis on competition. Our society is obsessed with the idea of being "Number One". Sports, academics, socially, sexually, the pressure to compete is enormous. Unfortunately, not everyone can be "the best", "the most popular", or whatever. Those who can't or won't compete, are told by society that they have no value. The message is everywhere, and our youth who have not yet found worth withing themselves too often take the message at face value.
  
  I don't say that no one should compete, only that it needs to be but one facet of a balanced life. We need to start at an earlier age teaching innate worth to our children. We need to teach them to see media and social programming as external and separate from their own inner worth. Having that inner health is the best antidote to the toxins they will be exposed to externally.
  
  Culturally, we need to redefine "success". It needs to be more be more inclusive. Rather than external, we must strive to create and internal success. Instead of teaching that the football captain must automatically become the alpha, deliver the same message about the drama major, or the kid who really enjoys math, or reading, or whatever.
  
  These are just a couple of ideas for combating bullying, depression, and suicide among teens.
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  A comment on Conversation: What can we do about the constant rise of depression and suicide in young adults?

  Oct 14 2011: I too was bullied as a child. I have suffered from depression for years. It is as they say "in remission". Over the years I have learned many tools which work for me personally. The two most important for me are being aware of my thoughts and meditation. The meditation helps to change my thoughts when I find myself dwelling on the negative.
  
  When I was first diagnosed with depression and anxiety disorder, the advice from all sides was "Change your mind. Change your thoughts." What no one could tell me, was how to do that. I did medications which in my case were unfortunately not effective. I did therapy, group therapy, guided visualization, meditation workshops etc. Taking a bit from here and there, I was able to build up a toolbox. I still add to it when I find something new.
  
  Having read through all the responses below, I would like to address a couple of points. Spirituality is it's own reward, but not everyone sees it as a life defining purpose. A part of my personal recovery has involved understanding that for me, life is it's own purpose. The purpose of my life is to be lived. Part of that is taking and accepting responsibility for it. I cannot control what life brings to me, only how I choose to respond to it.
  
  The other quick note relates to those who questioned the prevalence of violence in TV, movies and video games. The simple fact is, when I was a youth, there were no video games, and violence on TV was decidedly more tame than it it is now. I was bullied. Not because society was more violent, but because I was different. People don't bully because of TV or games. They bully because they choose to.
  
  The key to my ongoing recovery is internalizing the knowledge that what happened to me as a child wasn't my fault. I didn't "deserve" what happened to me, but for years, my sense of self-worth was based on the idea that it was my fault for being different. Realizing it was their choice not mine is what saved me.
  
  Just my take on it.

• A reply on Conversation: Are humans domesticated by technology?

  Sep 22 2011: Interesting point Richard. My question would be this: Do you feel that what you are reading right now in this conversation would be functionally different if it was on paper rather than on a monitor? Further to that, if you print it out and read it on paper, would the change be negated? These are the things which I feel need to be answered if we are to determine if the binary nature of computers is altering how we think and process information.
  
  Just something to think about.
  
  Cheers, Winston
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  A reply on Conversation: Is there a mutual responsibility between employer and employee?

  Sep 20 2011: Thank you for lending your perspective :-)
  
  I find that it occurs once a business begins using "career" managers who are totally disconnected from the staff. There are the founders such as yourself, there are the workers doing the work. At some point, the separation becomes institutionalized.
  The only antidote is to encourage employers like yourself to m attitude and look to hire other's with a similar understanding of the need for balance.
  
  Cheers, Winston

• A reply on Conversation: What is future of Social Networking?

  Sep 19 2011: I do like your opinion Abdulrhman. I do have friends and family who are far from me and I use Facebook, blogging etc to stay in touch with them. Far from limiting our interaction, it is enabling it.
  
  What I enjoy most about your post is the optimism. I too hope the changes that come will be good for us.
  
  Cheers, Winston