Enigma (186)

tommortonharrogate | A sideways look at the news of the week, and its relevance to the world of owner-managed business — with the aid of some classic film titles

This happy chap caused a sensation just over a hundred years ago, and the mystery surrounding him has finally been solved this week.

The picture is a reconstruction of what Piltdown Man’s skull would have looked like — if he had actually existed, that is, rather than being the greatest fraud in the history of palaeoanthropology (pretty good Scrabble score, that — and you get a complete new rack of letters — Ed).

The story starts in 1912, when Arthur Smith Woodward, a palaeontologist at the British Museum, and Charles Dawson, an antiquarian and lawyer, announced their discovery of Eoanthropus dawsoni.  Dawson had found remains of what he claimed was a human ancestor, at Piltdown, in East Sussex.  It was a time of great interest in human ancestors, with Homo heidelbergensis discovered in Germany five years previously (near a city whose name you have to guess — Ed).

Dawson’s discovery caused great excitement, because the specimen had an ape-like jaw and a human-like cranium, suggesting that humans evolved large brains early on — he (the specimen, not Dawson — please try to keep up) was, in fact, the “missing link”.  The site also produced primitive stone tools and an oddly curved slab of bone resembling a cricket bat (clearly an early indication of higher civilisation — Ed), bolstering the idea that Eoanthropus was intelligent but still ape-like.

Three years later Dawson discovered more remains nearby, with similar characteristics.  After Dawson died in 1916, however, no new bones or artifacts associated with Piltdown were found.  Suspicions started to grow, and in 1953 Oxford scientists demonstrated that the jaw was from a recent ape, and that someone had filed down the teeth and stained the jaw to look old.  The modern human skull and the stone tools had also been modified to appear ancient.

Until now, scientists have not fully understood how, why, and by whom the fraud was committed, but in an article published this week, a team led by Dr Isabelle De Groote (from Liverpool John Moores Uni) points the finger convincingly at Charles Dawson.  The teeth and bones had been filled with local gravel (set in place with dental putty), and Dawson was the only person with the opportunity and knowledge to carry out both frauds.

The investigation was worthy of another Sussex resident, the great Sherlock himself (“how often have I said to you that when you have eliminated the impossible, whatever remains, however improbable, must be the truth?”), and its findings are, no doubt, a relief to the shade of Arthur Conan Doyle (who was one of the previous suspects).

Which is all good stuff — with not just one, but two lessons for the world of business.

The first is the importance of challenging conventional thought (as highlighted in recent editions of the Bluffington Post) — it’s all too easy to go with the flow and accept the status quo.  Sometimes, indeed, it requires considerable moral courage to challenge it publicly (possibly exposing yourself to ridicule, or worse, if you’re wrong) — but having a group of independent, but helpful, other business owners to bounce ideas off in private first would be a great help — like a TAB Board, say…..

The second lesson concerns the role of experts, and how you use their knowledge.  Mr Michael Gove’s recent comment on this (“I think that people in this country have had enough of experts”) seems an unwise approach to running a business — there are times when the opinion of an expert is essential (from a solicitor, say, or a tax accountant) — but many business problems need practical, not technical advice…..  which is (again!) where your TAB Board comes in.  Your fellow Board members have, collectively, many decades of experience (even if it doesn’t stretch back all the way to Homo heidelbergensis).

Moving on to lighter matters, here’s a few late items of news —

• Several other stories this week featuring oldies —
  • the Greenland shark is now thought to live for more than 400 years, making it the longest living vertebrate (400 years — it would have known Shakespeare! — Ed)
  • conservationists have launched a fundraising appeal to save a 1,000-year-old tree, thought to be one of only two survivors from Great Birnam Wood (and therefore now known as Macbeth’s Oak)
  • and the death of the Duke of Westminster caused the Times to recall his tip for success.  The Duke (whose family name is Grosvenor) was descended from a French master huntsman (“gros veneur”) called Gilbert, who landed in 1066 — when asked by the Financial Times for any advice he would offer to young entrepreneurs, the Duke replied “make sure they have an ancestor who was a very close friend of William the Conqueror”.  Thanks, your Grace, very helpful…..  (clever feller, his ancestor — he also set up a business making rugby balls — Ed)
• …..  and while we’re on the subject of foreign names, here’s a few more modern translations (following on from the Bluffington Post two weeks ago) —
  • oxymoron = “stupid cow”
  • entente cordiale = “your lime juice is in the tent”
  • avant garde = “railway official on the Portsmouth line”
  • Ars Gratia Artis (Metro-Goldwyn-Mayers’ motto) = “thank you for the tattoo on my bottom”
  • Entre Deux Mers = “a two-horse race” (that’s enough feeble puns — Ed) (though any contributions from readers will be published — with attribution!)
• Judge Patricia Lynch QC may be in trouble with her bosses, after she startled her court this week by giving as good as she got.  Mr John Hennigan (50), who had just been sentenced to 18 months in chokey after his ninth (!) breach of an ASBO, called Judge L “a bit of a c**t”, to which she replied “you are a bit of a c**t yourself.  Being offensive to me doesn’t help”.  Mr H then shouted back “go f*** yourself”, to receive the reply “you too”.  Mr H then banged on the glass panel of the dock, made a Nazi salute, and twice shouted “Sieg Heil” before starting to sing a highly offensive anti-Semitic song, whereupon the Judge commented “we are all really impressed.  Take him down” (don’t know about you, but my sympathies are all with the Judge — Ed)
• Not sure where you’re taking your hols, but it’ll be somewhere more interesting than Mr Aaron Puzey, who has stayed in his living room in Dundee — though he has cycled nearly half way from Land’s End to John O’Groats, using an exercise bike, a Samsung Galaxy smartphone, goggles, Google’s Street View software, and an app to synchronise them.  He passed Manchester Central Library on Monday (heading North)
• In other holiday news, Italian police are attempting to crack down on antisocial persons who try to bag their place on the beach by leaving deckchairs, ect, in place overnight.  A raid on the beach at Livorno (that should read Leghorn — Ed) netted 37 deckchairs and loungers, 30 sun umbrellas, and miscellaneous towels and bathing costumes (the mind boggles — Ed).  Disappointingly for national stereotype fans, the Times reported that “there has been no evidence that Germans have been particularly affected by the seizures”
• Barking and Dagenham Council have ambitious plans to redevelop the waterfront and rival Barcelona (they’ll name it Barka, presumably…..  I’ll get me coat — Ed).  No doubt they’ll be getting tips from Italian Plod on how to stop people bagging the best bits
• Good news from the medics — more golf and gardening will help to stave off heart disease/cancer/diabetes (hurrah from both Mr and Mrs Ed), while “deep reading” (ie reading a novel and following which character is which) keeps the brain active, according to the boffins at Yale Uni
• An unfortunate seagull who fell into a vat of curry has been dried down and released back into the wild, rather orange-hued but otherwise none the worse for wear (he ought to head for the Essex coast — Ed)
• and Mr Martin Talks has set up a company called Digital Detoxing, where you can sign up for his “unplugging” rural retreats for up to a week.  You hand in all your electronic gadgets at the start, and are offered a range of “wholesome activities” instead.  The Editor feels obliged to point out that you can achieve the same effect by going on holiday to the Argyll coast (or indeed, Wetherby) — no chance of a mobile signal there…..

Columbo Corner this week features dark deeds from the world of Welsh footy.  Rhyl FC, who had lost their previous 16 games, including losing 4 – 0 to Port Talbot Town, met the Steelmen (for such is Port Talbot’s nickname) again at Rhyl’s Belle Vue stadium in April…..  and dumbfounded the crowd (all 293 of them) by winning 5 – 0.  The Welsh FA were “alerted to unusual betting patterns”, leading to an investigation by South Wales Plod and a dawn raid on Wednesday in which eight men and three women were arrested.  Before the match bookies were offering 75/1 against Rhyl winning 5 – 0…..

Footage of the match is apparently still available on the Internet, and features “some of the worst defending I have ever seen” (according to one viewer) (a proud claim — clearly he wasn’t a Nottingham Forest fan — Ed).

Mr Gerald Payne, who was appointed last week as the new chairman of Port Talbot FC, said “it is too early for us to comment”.  Don’t worry, Mr P, we’ll wait…..

Have a great weekend — and even if you’re not digitally detoxing, make sure you stick to wholesome activities…..

Cheers for now

Tom

For a light-hearted look at some of what TAB does, have a look at this animation

I presently run three Boards –

Dark Blue (for people who run large businesses) – one spare seat

Light Blue (for people who run large businesses) — one spare seat

White Board (for people who run fast-growing businesses) — three spare seats

“Education never ends, Watson.  It is a series of lessons, with the greatest for the last”  (His Last Bow)

“Beyond the obvious facts that he has at some time done manual labour, that he takes snuff, that he is a Freemason, that he has been in China, and that he has done a considerable amount of writing lately, I can deduce nothing else”  (The Red-Headed League)

“I’m not a psychopath, I’m a high-functioning sociopath.  Do your research”  (A Study in Pink (from the TV series))

“As Douglas Adams once pointed out to me, more than 20 years before the Kindle showed up, a physical book is like a shark.  Sharks are old:  there were sharks in the ocean before the dinosaurs.  And the reason there are still sharks around is that sharks are better at being sharks than anything else is.  Physical books are tough, hard to destroy, bath-resistant, solar-operated, feel good in your hand:  they are good at being books, and there will always be a place for them”  (Neil Gaiman)

“If a man watches three football games in a row, he should be declared legally dead”  (Erma Bombeck)

“An atheist is a man who watches a Notre Dame – Southern Methodist University game and doesn’t care who wins”  (Dwight D Eisenhower)