The habits of highly effective people...

Recently I attended a time management course. My employer, who has seen his fair share of employment gaffes identified that it was needed. Time management and goal setting isn't easy; it's the habit of highly effective people; I'm not one of them. Forward planning is reserved for those who aren't like me. Reserved for those who unlike me, understand the importance of where they want to be and what they want to do.

My trainer for the day was Mike, unsurprisingly had an interesting philosophy on time management and goal setting. Imagine yourself being transported five years into the future (scary right?), and you end up meeting your future self. Lets leave aside that every science fiction film talks about the negative consequences of this happening, how the space time continuum could be drastically changed, and lets focus on the question to hand; "What have you achieved in these last five years?" 

Highly effective people it seems plan ahead. They know that in five years they would have overcome the goals to get them where they wanted to be, they identify, they analyse, they re-evaluate and tick off lists. They are always thinking ahead, believing that their actions, their positivity to overcome any obstacle will get them achieving their goal. They are probably right. 

So after 60 days since an Italian election, can you imagine anyone having foreseen the outcome. A parliament which remains hung, although the nephew of Berlusconi's right hand man, Gianna Letta is now leading an exploratory request of parties to get a government formed. How Enrico Letta is in for a tough time admitting "the sense of responsibility is greater than my shoulders can carry", as comforting as having an airline pilot admit to forgetting how to fly a plane on take off. 

Pier-Luigi Bersani, the man who still thinks to this day that he won the election has resigned. His attempts to get both Marini and Prodi elected as President of the Republic were duly usurped both internally by his own party as well as the no vote from the Five Star Movement and unsurprisingly the right wing coalition of Berlusoni in the later candidates request. 

We thought that Giorgio Napolitano retired, in fact so did he, but the procrastination and political bickering took its toll; he duly accepted to be re-confirmed as President of the Republic. At 87 its worrying to think that he may have been the only suitable choice, although Stefano Rodota, seven years his enfant terrible would have adequately bridged the gap between the PD and the Five Star Movement of Beppe Grillo; Grillo proposing "approve Rodota, and we'll support your government to lead"; they refused. 

And what about Berlusconi I hear you all scream? Amidst the betrayal of Bersani proposing Prodi (the only man to beat Berlusconi twice in 20 years) and his own three court cases, he can be found in Texas bathing in the Bush Jnr presidential library biding his time until the left wing implodes, until Renzi becomes less popular, until Grillo gets portrayed as the man who blocked Italy and until a new election is called. 

Highly effective people, they set their goals, they bide their time, they adapt. My my, how effective is Berlusconi looking these days. 

Italy: a civilised country where Communists and Capitalists can both enjoy a glass of lightly-chilled white wine and some olives

Francesco Bassano the Younger (1549–1592),
"Charles VIII recieving the crown of Napoli"
('No fighting occurred during the actual capture of Napoli')
 via Wikimedia Commons)

Living in Italy has massively changed the way I think about work, society, money – the whole kaboosh, in fact. As soon as you arrive in this country you start to get the feeling that things are really organised very differently here. Yes, Italy is a European country, but sometimes it feels much more like living in an Asian / pre-1989 Soviet state: the “base” is still there. Unions decide when and if your train will run. Real Communists with red flags march past palatial banks where sharp-suited bankers stare out of the windows – and yet their kids can attend the same schools. The South is supposed to be permanently collapsing and threatening to disappear completely as the weight of poverty, corruption and organised crime threaten to drag Italy to the bottom of the Mediterranean. And yet, everyone I know from the South has cupboards stuffed full of homegrown (i.e. their own family home) fruit and veg, jerrycans of locally-produced olive oil, huge hunks of delicious ham from pigs they could name, etc. i.e. the South is virtually self-sufficient – and the Puglia region is increasingly where hordes of British expats from the City and the Bar are choosing to find their Italian idyll (Tuscany is still a bit pricey).

And, of course, Italian firms don’t (really) need to compete – at least, not with each other. Consumers in Italy enjoy the same rights and privileges as those in pre-Esther Rantzen 1960s Britain (i.e. none). Mergers and takeovers are virtually unheard of. And a dense thicket of family-owned businesses, cast-iron job contracts and enterprise-strangling red-tape effectively protect the money-making bit of Italian industry from any external threats.

Italy is in a permanent state of crisis – and yet Italians still stop for their caffe and chat in their favourite bars on their way home from work; flick through the heavily-subsidised newspapers; look forward to the next extended holiday (or “bridge"); and basically enjoy life – or at least give the appearance of doing so. Of course, people are looking over their shoulder – there is unemployment and the prospect of economic ruin: the difference between Italy and a “real” capitalist country is that since the market has effectively been emasculated and subtracted from the equation what remains is essentially a social carve-up; an argument over who gets which meaty bits of the carcass; and the all-important “recommendation” factor. Essentially, all decisions in Italy, from who gets which job, subsidised flat, public contract, etc depend almost 100% on who you know.

As an outsider (and a Brit to boot), Italian economic, political and business discussions usually seem like family or tribal feuds (and often are, literally, because so many of the main players are related to each other). Despite having produced at least one of the two big extremist ideologies in the 20^th century (fascism) and having done a huge amount of  intellectual spadework on the other (communism), public debate in Italy is virtually devoid of interest in ideology – or even of ideas. It’s an angry, vicious, personal spat over who gets what – usually conducted without the least pretence of hope or belief in big ideas. (Maybe Italy has had too many of those in the past.)

And yet, in the very darkest depths of despair and gnashing of teeth – it’s always time for a party! This, after all, is a country where any argument in the street quickly blows over and often ends with people laughing and slapping shoulders. There aren’t packs of teenagers in hoodies armed with knives (actually, there are packs of teenage hoodies – but they’re generally armed with iPhones and spend a lot of time shaking hands and kissing each other when they meet). You don’t feel – as I increasingly do when I get back to the UK and wander around – that you are living in a high-tech police state where doing subversive things like taking photos in public places could land you in court on charges relating to the preparation or instigation of terrorism. And in Italy if someone walked into a department store with a dog in a shoulder bag the security guard – who might actually be armed – would probably rub noses with the canine accessory in question and mention that they also have a Chihuahua, rather than call reinforcements on their radio and take down the offender as recently happened at Harvey Nichols.

Basically, Italy is just a very, very nice place to live – yes, with a lot of problems and it may even drag Europe into the economic abyss with its towering, teetering stacks of debt. But the main thing is it’s a people place. It’s all about people (usually Italians – immigrants like myself don’t get much of a look in). It’s not about ideas, the vision thing, the Big Society or even Change We Can Believe In. It really is social in a way that only my parents’ generation – or the pre-Thatcher post-war baby boomers – can remember. Italians have lived through many terrible experiences in history – wars, poverty, terrorist campaigns (both against the state and state-sponsored) – and they have come out on the other side still smiling and still incredibly pleasant people to know.

I think there’s a lesson there for the rest of Europe and the world: just because you are facing financial ruin and economic (and political) catastrophe doesn’t mean you can’t open a bottle of prosecco and have a chat about nothing at all really with whoever’s around – and some tasty appetisers. And even a song.

Viva Italia!

Robert Dennis

A Do-It-Yourself Aperitivo from frugaltopia.com,
the blog that 'helps you get off the earn-to-spend treadmill
 into a simpler, happier, and more sustainable life'.
I'll drink to that!