The Victorians
When people talk about “The Victorians” most of the time the term is used in a negative and derogatory manner. People talk about “Victorian Values”, when they want to describe people who are sexually repressed, or have a harsh, unyielding or draconian attitude. The Victorians however were far from the rigid, inflexible, rule obsessed, intellectual inbreeds some people portray them as.
The Victorians were the architects of our modern world, who laid down the foundations of our current business and information society. Instead of shying away from “Victorian Values” we should be embracing them with the fervour and passion which they had.
The Victorians had the gift of believing that anything was possible. No mountain was too high, no valley too low; no river was too wide and no continent was too vast that it couldn't be climbed, spanned, crossed or conquered. Their ideas and their ambition were limitless and challenges and difficulties were things to be overcome not insurmountable obstacles to dishearten them and make them give up.
The Victorian attitude was to relentlessly press forward to their goal, regardless of whatever fate, nature, or even other men threw in their way to stop them. They did this by the simple application of four simple but vital premises: Information, Investigation, Innovation, and Implementation.
Having identified a problem they wanted to solve, or an obstacle the wanted to overcome, they gathered as much information about the problem as they could and clearly defined it. They would then investigate the implications of the problem, find out what resources were required or available to be brought to bear to bring about the solution that was required. If the required resources, systems, process, or procedures weren't in place or didn't exist they would innovate to create something new, vigorous, and exciting, to make sure that they could implement their solution and move forward.
If we compare that with what happens today we see that our own information and investigation stages are hampered and mired in concerns such as Health & Safety, Government Rules and Regulations, our P.R. profiles, or the fear of bad publicity. Our ability to innovate, or even in many cases our desire for innovation itself, has been suppressed or killed off by the fear of change or the fear of ridicule, as people tell us “it can't be done” or “you mustn't do it like that”. All this of course means that we seldom actually implement a timely or appropriate solution.
I believe that our Victorian forefathers would not have hesitated to build an island in the Thames to house a new multi-runway international airport, or the transport infrastructure to support it. The shades of Thomas Telford, Richard Trevithick, and Robert Stephenson, not to mention Isambard Kingdom Brunel, et al must be turning in their graves and railing at the shackles the politically correct planners and the loony lefty Greens are imposing on our entrepreneurial and engineering spirit.
In spite of all this there are still some entrepreneurs and innovative thinkers out there in the world of business and science. Men, and women, who embraced the true Victorian ideals of Information, Investigation, Innovation, and Implementation. Businessmen such as Richard Branson; Jack Cohen, who founded the Tesco supermarket chain; and Jeffery P Bezos, the founder of Amazon. These men have investigated and then changed the way we shop. Men of science like, Tim Berners Lee, Trevor Baylis, the inventor of the clockwork radio, Bill Gates and Steve Jobbs, whose innovations have impacted our way of communicating ideas. And men of ideas and new social constructs such as, Mahatma Gandhi, Nelson Mandela, and Martin Luther King who have all implemented changes which have bettered the way we think about each other.
I believe that we should all re-embrace the spirit of the real Victorians. I’m sure that those Victorian gentlemen who’s Information, Investigation, Innovation, and Implementation was originally responsible for creating all that is good about Britain would be well pleased to see us returning to the true Victorian tradition and contributing to helping us build a better Britain.
When people talk about “The Victorians” most of the time the term is used in a negative and derogatory manner. People talk about “Victorian Values”, when they want to describe people who are sexually repressed, or have a harsh, unyielding or draconian attitude. The Victorians however were far from the rigid, inflexible, rule obsessed, intellectual inbreeds some people portray them as.
The Victorians were the architects of our modern world, who laid down the foundations of our current business and information society. Instead of shying away from “Victorian Values” we should be embracing them with the fervour and passion which they had.
The Victorians had the gift of believing that anything was possible. No mountain was too high, no valley too low; no river was too wide and no continent was too vast that it couldn't be climbed, spanned, crossed or conquered. Their ideas and their ambition were limitless and challenges and difficulties were things to be overcome not insurmountable obstacles to dishearten them and make them give up.
The Victorian attitude was to relentlessly press forward to their goal, regardless of whatever fate, nature, or even other men threw in their way to stop them. They did this by the simple application of four simple but vital premises: Information, Investigation, Innovation, and Implementation.
Having identified a problem they wanted to solve, or an obstacle the wanted to overcome, they gathered as much information about the problem as they could and clearly defined it. They would then investigate the implications of the problem, find out what resources were required or available to be brought to bear to bring about the solution that was required. If the required resources, systems, process, or procedures weren't in place or didn't exist they would innovate to create something new, vigorous, and exciting, to make sure that they could implement their solution and move forward.
If we compare that with what happens today we see that our own information and investigation stages are hampered and mired in concerns such as Health & Safety, Government Rules and Regulations, our P.R. profiles, or the fear of bad publicity. Our ability to innovate, or even in many cases our desire for innovation itself, has been suppressed or killed off by the fear of change or the fear of ridicule, as people tell us “it can't be done” or “you mustn't do it like that”. All this of course means that we seldom actually implement a timely or appropriate solution.
I believe that our Victorian forefathers would not have hesitated to build an island in the Thames to house a new multi-runway international airport, or the transport infrastructure to support it. The shades of Thomas Telford, Richard Trevithick, and Robert Stephenson, not to mention Isambard Kingdom Brunel, et al must be turning in their graves and railing at the shackles the politically correct planners and the loony lefty Greens are imposing on our entrepreneurial and engineering spirit.
In spite of all this there are still some entrepreneurs and innovative thinkers out there in the world of business and science. Men, and women, who embraced the true Victorian ideals of Information, Investigation, Innovation, and Implementation. Businessmen such as Richard Branson; Jack Cohen, who founded the Tesco supermarket chain; and Jeffery P Bezos, the founder of Amazon. These men have investigated and then changed the way we shop. Men of science like, Tim Berners Lee, Trevor Baylis, the inventor of the clockwork radio, Bill Gates and Steve Jobbs, whose innovations have impacted our way of communicating ideas. And men of ideas and new social constructs such as, Mahatma Gandhi, Nelson Mandela, and Martin Luther King who have all implemented changes which have bettered the way we think about each other.
I believe that we should all re-embrace the spirit of the real Victorians. I’m sure that those Victorian gentlemen who’s Information, Investigation, Innovation, and Implementation was originally responsible for creating all that is good about Britain would be well pleased to see us returning to the true Victorian tradition and contributing to helping us build a better Britain.
