Don't Compromise!

Our blog editor, Dave Wakely, has taken on this challenge after a career that has seen him work in higher education, open learning and internet development as an author and editor of almost every type of communication imaginable.

Fundamentally a writer and editor, Dave may admire the intellectual insights of Marshall McLuhan and understand that the medium can indeed make its own impact on its audience … but he still maintains that the message is important in its own right. And while he agrees with Arthur C Clarke that “Any sufficiently advanced technology is indistinguishable from magic”, he remains concerned that – in our relationship with technology, and indeed in life generally – we should try to pursue what is truly desirable rather than what is merely possible.He hopes that, as humanity goes online, we will find new ways of creating dialogues rather than ‘merely’ twittering.

Questions and Answers

What’s the most valuable lesson you have learned, and who do you have to thank for it?
To try to do what satisfies you most and causes the least distress to everyone else. I should thank my father, my grand-father and my old art teacher – the ‘three wise men’ – for that insight. For everything else, I thank my partner.

If you could talk to your younger self, what advice would you give them?
Not to take it all so seriously, and not to get downhearted or disenchanted so easily – everything passes in time.

What is the single thing you still most need to learn?
It’s got to be one of the three ‘P’s: patience, the piano or making pastry. It depends if I’m living with you, entertaining you or feeding you.

What do you hope your legacy will be?
That I made people stop and think occasionally (I reckon questions are one of the most valuable things we can give each other). Hopefully I spread a little happiness too, in the words of a corny old song.

What is the most surprising thing you’ve ever discovered about yourself?
That I am far more resilient that I normally give myself credit for being.

What one thing do you think every organisation would most benefit from doing, or doing differently?
Seeing its staff as individual people performing roles, not as roles being performed by people. We really are all human.

What is your worst habit?
Hiding what few lights I have under the nearest bushel, given half a chance. And hiding from photographers.