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Transcript of interview on B.B.C. Radio Ulster, with Linda McAuley - January 2000.

Why write the book?

I learned a couple of painful and valuable lessons in the early 90’s for myself and could see what happened to me would happen to a huge number of other people too. I thought it so important there should be a book about the things that are happening in our lives that we haven’t noticed yet.

I can best illustrate what I mean by telling you that if you want to boil a frog you put it into a pan of cold water and turn up the heat slowly. The frog will sit there happily. When it realises its got too hot, it’s too late. It gets boiled alive. Something very similar is happening to millions of people. It may sound alarmist or melodramatic – but it isn’t. There are some profound changes happening which most people haven’t noticed yet. My book provokes people into thinking more about who they are, what they do, why they do it and how they will pay for it.

What got you thinking about this initially?

In 1989 when I first heard the saying "The future belongs only to those who have adequately prepared for it." - it hit me hard right between the eyes. I was shocked by the realisation that I had no future plans as such. As a freelancer, I was too busy earning a living as a broadcaster at BBC television in London to give it much thought. But I found myself thinking more and more about my future and came to realise that the most successful people thought longer term. They planned and then worked their plan. Its true "Most people don’t plan to fail, they just fail to plan." Life’s failures think only in the present, or worse, they think in the past. I realised I was headed for potential failure.

Initially I decided to look more closely at what was happening in my own industry - TV and radio. I loved my work but sensed there were a lot of changes going on – regulatory as well as technological – both of which would affect my ability to earn a living. Being a presenter you are always at the whim of a producer – there’s little or no job security. Margaret Thatcher at the time was putting ITV licenses out to tender – so no one then wanted to commission new programme in case they were committing large sums of money for a contract they failed to win. This meant all the big names in TV were also scratching around for TV presenting work. I could see that with more and more channels coming on stream, programme making budgets would be stretched to breaking point as advertising revenue would have to be spread more thinly within ITV. There would be more work for presenters but with more pressure to deliver high audience figures, producers would be more likely to use what they would consider ‘safer’ high profile names. And I wasn’t a celebrity. It was not a good time to be in TV.

I re-invented myself as a conference moderator using my skills as an interviewer in a ‘live’ environment. The bottom line for me – following my own research and re-inventing myself I left the media and my earnings quadrupled.

Interestingly – so many of my TV colleagues were either pushed out of the industry by the massive influx of ambitious young people straight out of the growing number of media studies courses eager to work in the media for little or no money. A mate of mine produces a programme made by a large TV company for Sky. His programme budget is just £2,000 per hour. This is a sick joke. And means he can’t afford to pay for all his staff. He has to exploit young people desperate for ‘real’ job experience.

Many of the others I worked with are quite depressed, stressed and neurotic about whether they will keep their job, or get their contracts renewed. By looking ahead, I made the right decision to get out when I did. It’s happening in all sorts of other industries and affects hundreds of thousands of people.

I discovered that it was possible to create your own future without having to rely on others to provide you with a living. This was so liberating for me.

So, have you got the secret to success?

Not at all. I now know what works for me. But most people don’t do this for themselves. They think they are too busy. I wanted to research something that would help people make more sense of the way our lives are changing and the factors that are driving those changes.

I discovered some powerful principles and started to research what was happening in the workplace. I know I succeeded based on the feedback I have received from loads of people who have read the first edition of the book.

What makes you think you have a better view of the future than anyone else?

I don’t. I don’t regard myself as a ‘futurist’ - I’m simply quite good at soaking up vast amounts of information quickly, analysing it and turning it into a form that is easier to understand – years as a BBC journalist taught me this skill.

No one can predict the future, however it is possible by studying trends and demographics to develop a clearer understanding of the factors most likely to affect you. My research showed me that so much has already been invented and developed but has yet to show up in our daily lives – when it does, so much of it will have a profound effect on our daily lives. Positively and negatively.

Who is your book aimed at?

So many people who have read the book have written to me to tell me that the book has allowed them to see their lives more clearly. There seems to be a general sense of exhaustion in society. I’ve heard it said that the world is headed for a ‘nervous breakdown’.

So many people I come into contact with when I work with large corporations as a conference moderator are suffering from ‘burn out’ or the fear that they will burn out in the future. The increasing volume of work is taking its toll. People want to regain a sense of balance in their lives. My book provides readers with ideas to help them see their life in a different context. Anyone who asks themselves ‘Why am I working so damn hard? What have I got to show for it? When will it all end?" – is definitely somebody who should read this book.

A lot of people have told me how the book has helped them overcome their fear of computers and helped them see their lives more clearly. It’s given them a context and a perspective that they had lost because they have been so busy, confused and anxious about what they would do if they were made redundant or if it happened to their partner.

One woman in particular wrote to say that she'd given the book to her brother, a young struggling musician. His job applications had been ineffective, but when he tried using my fairly radical approach to applying for a job, he instantly got accepted to the Academy of Performing Arts in Liverpool, England – the one that Paul McCartney helped set up. The musician claims he got in because of what I had recommended in my book. That’s so heart warming for me to know that my book has had an effect like this on someone.

The book is inspiring and very thought-provoking but the second chapter stands out because it is so depressing.

Thanks!!

It would be irresponsible for me to paint a rosey picture of the future. It won’t be rosey for a significant proportion of the population. Anyone who expects their government to support them in their old age will be disappointed and will suffer even more than old people today. Old people in the so called ‘civilised’ world represent society’s poorest – they will become poorer. If you study the demographics of Europe and North America you will see that the population is ageing. Old people ‘consume’ about half of all healthcare services. We are all living longer and with advances in medicine, life expectancy is set to increase – quality of that life is a different thing all together though. We are already seeing evidence where old people are being denied treatment for certain conditions – and they die. I don’t want to appear callous, but its not in the interest of government to keep people alive for too long!! More forward thinking people will make other plans.

Healthcare will become a financial millstone around the neck of any government in the future. The only way to pay for it will be to increase taxes – the more tax we pay, the less we will have available to invest for ourselves so we will have something to live on in the future. In my book I say that your bank will be more likely to keep you alive than your doctor when you get old. I also say there is now more liklihood that that our money will run out before we do. Government pensions are becoming increasingly unworkable.

With more old people, and fewer younger workers who will pay for them? As the population gets older – old people will gain more political power – they will have more say over government policies at the expense of younger people.

For many people the next century will offer huge opportunities, although I am convinced the poor and disadvantaged will get poorer and more disadvantaged.

But isn’t it the role of government to look after these people?

I agree – but they won’t be able to. They simply won’t have enough money – even if they continue to put up taxes – as they certainly will.

Too many governments are being irresponsible by perpetuating the myth that they can look after these people. They seem locked into the belief that they have a paternalistic role. It’s a dangerous belief system. Politicians like the idea that society depends on them. A dependency culture ensures that a significant proportion of people will continue to lean on government for money and support. Some of these people have been conditioned to believe they need this support – not all of them do. I’m sure the politicians who created the welfare state would be horrified to see how it works today. It was never intended as a long term option for people. Today, people who rely on it eke out a poor existence. In the future they WILL be worse off.

Most politicians know their country can’t afford to carry on in this way - but it would be political suicide to say so. Perhaps they hope it will be someone else’s problem. The people who will suffer will be those who thought the government would support them – after all they have paid their taxes all their working lives – its their right. "Sorry – we can’t afford to help you." "What am I going to live on?" "Sorry – we can’t afford to help you." "That’s not good enough, you owe me – I demand a liveable pension and hospital treatment when I need it – I’ve paid you for it." "Sorry – we can’t afford to help you."

[At the end of this interview you will find extracts of Chapter 2 from the book]

So what are the options?

I believe that everyone on this planet is self-employed – its just that millions of people choose to have only one client Developing a level of self-reliance is the only viable option if we are going to thrive in the next century. This doesn’t mean you should quit your job and set up your own business – although more and more people are doing this with a high degree of success – especially women who have had enough of discrimination in the workplace. And as I describe in the book, they are doing a better job of it than new male entrepreneurs.

Taking responsibility for more elements of our own lives should be a top priority. But too many of us are so busy we think its OK to hand over power to others. I guess that’s OK – but what if they screw up? Minimising the likelihood of this is what is in my book.

Is this why you started your own publishing company?

There were a couple of reasons. Ask any author about the relationship they have with their publisher and it's quite common that they will tell you the publisher does not do enough to promote and sell their book. This was the case for me. Indeed, I know quite a few authors who have triumphantly told me how they have secured a contract with a major international publisher. Every single of one them has been disappointed with what the publisher did for their book. Unless you’ve written a book its difficult to express just how much your book means to you – hundreds of hours of research, months or years of writing and re-writing at times of the day and night when most people are either asleep or doing fun things. When the publisher fails to support your book – it hurts.

In 1993 I wrote a book for a division of Harper Collins. It was a nightmare. Harper Collins is owned by Rupert Murdoch. In the text of the book I explained that Murdoch was able to ‘get away’ with publishing topless pictures of young women every day in The Sun newspaper , but in other areas of the world, such as the Bible belt in the States, the same behaviour would evoke uproar. My point, most businesses will do what ever is necessary to make a profit if the consequences don’t outweigh the perceived benefits. They cut this material. The commissioning editor told me she would lose her job. Her fear was understandable, but unacceptable to me. I wasn’t making a big thing about Murdoch, or ‘railing against the machine’. It was relevant to the text of the book. I’ve been described as a ‘libertarian’ and responded badly to being told what I could not write. Working for nearly a decade at the BBC, writing and presenting news and other scripts daily, I know I’m a responsible person – this incident planted the seed that I should start my own little publishing company - no one would then be able to do that.

Harper Collins also did an appalling job promoting my book. Nor was it the book I wrote. I felt this was all wrong. I was so angry at what they didn't do I vowed I would never submit a book to them again. To be fair to Harper Collins, the editor of my book was fired for incompetence I believe.

In 1995/6 I had a vague idea about wanting to write another book following my experience with Harper Collins. I wanted to write a book that I could be personally proud of – with my Harper Collins experience behind me – I just knew that I could do a better job of it myself. Was I being arrogant? May be. Although I prefer to think it was my way of trying to prove that I was capable of doing it. Writing a book is a major undertaking – publishing it, involves the same amount of work again. It’s also potentially expensive if you get it wrong!

More importantly, I had always harboured an ambition to be run my own company as opposed to being self-employed. I already knew most of the people I needed to put together a team. The technology was readily available and quite affordable. In fact, it all went brilliantly well. Even though it took longer than planned. I was delighted with the way it was designed, edited and printed. And would recommend it wholehearted to any author who was fed up with being poorly treated by a large publisher! I’ve since been asked to publish books for other authors – I’m not sure I want to become what I despised in other publishers!!

How optimistic are you about the future?

I have mixed feelings about this. I am very optimistic about the huge opportunities that will present themselves for those in a position to take advantage of them.

But I have serious reservations about most government’s ability to respond rapidly enough to the environment in which they operate. Businesses must make decisions quickly based on the demands of the marketplace or they die – taken over by their more nimble global competitors. Government in Britain was created to suit the needs of 17th century farmers and landowners. Politicians work in a building better suited as a museum. Parliamentary processes are slow, inefficient and ridiculously time consuming. Why secure electronic voting systems cannot be installed for parliamentarians is beyond me? Although, I guess their political party would no longer have any control over how they voted in specific issues. The paradox is; electronic voting is quicker, more efficient, potentially anonymous and therefore more democratic – and that just wouldn’t do would it?

Roy Sheppard is available to answer any further questions via email or telephone

Email Roy@RoySpeaks.com or Tel/fax 00 44 (0) 1761 414676

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Even if you are not interested in Technology, you can't help being interested in what technology will be available and when. The calendar below is featured in Roy Sheppard's book and is provided by British Telecom. Please note - this stuff is NOT SCIENCE FICTION!

BT Technology Calendar

Reproduced with the kind permission of Ian Pearson at BT Labs.

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