Some Extra Examples of Pos cont.
Po: chemist becomes a supermarket……………………………………despite the Australian Pharmacy Guild trying to stop supermarkets moving into their sector, one of their own has turned into a supermarket, Chemist Warehouse.
“...Chemist Warehouse is the ultimate category killer: 600 stores each painted an in-your-face combination of yellow, red and blue. ‘Australia's cheapest chemist’ is blazened out front with a tiny ‘this is?’ on the side. The aisles are a visual cacophony of product: fragrances, hair dyes, meal substitutes, fungal creams, denture cleaners and more. Dressed up with fluoro-signs shouting about specials and hot deals,..”
Jemina Whyte, 2024
Furthermore, Chemist warehouse is merging with Sigma Healthcare and is expected to have around 50% of the Australian pharmacy market. The merged group is leveraging Chemist Warehouse’s retailing strength with Sigma’s logistic capabilities.
Po: making money the old fashion way …………………………………..entertainer (songwriter and singer), Taylor Swift, has made her money from album sales and concert tours without the need for side hastles that most other entertainers have and/or need to survive and thrive, ie
“...She does not have a fragrance. She is not the face of a fashion or beauty brand. She does not own a winery or sell tequila or gin. She doesn't have a lifestyle brand……she is not a significant investor…”
Lauren Sams, 2023
Po: 15 minutes city………………………………………………a concept was developed for improved urban living that is based on everyone living within a quarter of an hour's walk or cycle of a workplace, shops, medical clinic, schools, cultural venues, public green space, etc. This concept was developed by Carlos Morena (2010) and reduces dependence on automobiles.
“...would give people more free time, clean the air and improve local economies…”
Guy Kelly, 2023
As a result of the pandemic with its urban lockdowns, there was an increase in remote working, ie working from home, etc. This model grew in popularity, eg around 100 mayors of the world's leading cities collectively endorsing the concept. However, critics of the concept claim it has led to more bureaucratic control over their lifestyles.
Po: punishment to become a monk…………………………………………………..rather than sending offenders to jail, they are assigned to a Buddhist monastery (Thailand) for a set period to be a novice monk on the hope that they will reform their behaviour. This is both more effective behaviourally and cost effective than incarcerating the offender.
Po: never make another piece of plastic again ………………………plastic waste causes a massive environmental challenge
“...Nearly 2/3 of all clothes produced are made from fossil fuels and the industry uses 340 million barrels of oil each year to produce fibres such as polyester, acrylic and spandex…… it's estimated that clothes account for 25% of all plastics created each year, of which 75% find their way into landfill. It also uses three times as many plastics each year in its packaging……with 9 billion tons of plastic waste on the planet……The world is suffocating under the weight of recyclable rubbish……with only 9% of plastics ever recycled. The rest ends up as landfill or is burnt to generate power…”
Julie Hare, 2023
Researchers from the Australian National University in Canberra have developed a way of turning plastics waste into clothes again which can be continuing recycled; the process involves
“...Enzymes break down plastics in the individual building blocks known as monomers. These can be used to make new high-grade plastic products - akin to dismantling a Lego house into its individual parts and using them to build a new structure. The process creates the potential for Infinite plastic recycling in closed loop cycles…”
Julie Hare, 2023
Thus, the plastic waste can be used in many other ways and continually recycled.
“...all plastics can be recycled, no matter how degraded, dyed, compromised or recycled they are…”
Julie Hare, 2023
Po: bringing nature to us……………………………………………………………….use large scale integrated audio-visual installations, such as VR headsets, that push our sensory limits while underscoring the immensity of the natural world and acknowledging its vital but usually invisible components and demonstrating our inter-dependence, ie our inseparability from the natural world.
“...we want to alter perspectives on many things we take for granted, to deepen our understanding of the world and our place in it……how else can we change your perspective…”
Jane Cornwell, 2023
Some examples include
- Travelling through the cosmos and getting an understanding of the stars, etc
- Ecosystems, such as the way we breathe in is connected to the breath of the oceans and/or forest
- An interwoven lives of a flies, dragonfly, frog and owl, ie the dragonfly eats the flies; then the frog eats the dragonfly, which in turn is eaten by an owl
- Travel through the human body
“...Micro- Systems like mycelium (Fungal Networks) have a nutritional distribution with plants and trees……So what is going on under the forest floor that has parallel activity in our guts, which are vehicles for bacteria and viruses and all sorts of wonderful flora…”
Jane Cornwell, 2023
Po: chefs as tourist attractions.......................................when people are traveling, they go out of their way to dine somewhere special they have heard about. Sometimes chefs are underestimated as tourist drawcards.
Po: start with largest market first…………………………………traditionally entertainers build their reputation in a local market before expanding into the bigger markets. However, Elton John, an iconic English entertainer, reversed this by building his reputation in a larger market first, the USA, before becoming popular in his smaller, home market of the UK. The Beatles had a similar story, they build their reputation in Europe, especially around Hamburg, before making it in the UK.
Po: temporarily jobs swaps for senior executives …………………………………………..some organisations rotate senior staff around, eg CFO becomes temporary head of HR, etc. It results in executives working in areas that they lack expertise in and provides a great learning curve for them; furthermore, they henceforth look at these areas with different eyes and perspectives. One organisation regularly rotates senior staff around for a 2-week period. The new executive has full decision-making powers while in that position; at the end of the period there is a hand-over session back to the original occupant of the position. For example,
“...the chief financial officer reported there wasn't enough financial vigour and due diligence in the people and culture department…”
Patrick Durkin, 2024
Some of the benefits of the jobs swap include:
- getting a greater appreciation of other departments’ successes and challenges
“...Until you sit in someone else's chair, you don't really understand…”
David Cope as quoted by Patrick Durkin, 2024
- seeing things with new eyes, ie new perspectives
- chance for staff to experience different leadership styles
- exposed to staff trained in different disciplines
- gain an understanding of how adaptive and effective different senior managers are, especially when they're out of their zones of comfort.
NB A variation of this is whenever a CEO planning was away from his office, he appointed one of his direct reports to be the Acting CEO in his absence. That person had full decision-making power. This provided a great learning experience for his direct reports and gave an indication of whether they were capable of handling the position; these insights help with succession planning.
Po: eating old and/or the whole fish…………traditionally the promotion of eating seafood is based around freshness, ie ‘just out of the ocean’ and only eating selected parts of the fish. The idea of eating ‘aged fish’ which is sometimes up to weeks ‘old’, and eating the whole fish, ie converting the previous waste into tasty meals, was an anathema. This practice is known as eating ‘dry-aged fish’ and ‘nose to tail’ fish products.
(for more details see elsewhere in the Knowledge Base)
Po: treat change management like kitchen management…………………………………………………………….change management can be compared to running a busy professional kitchen. Teamwork and good communications are the key ingredients in an otherwise chaotic situation with food and drink orders flying in and out, food being prepared from refrigerator to flying pan, people performing different tasks in a confined space, etc
“...The secret? A team that communicates clearly, knows their roles, and checks in regularly with each other to keep everything on track – ensuring everyone stays aligned and nothing falls through the cracks.
In change management, it is not that different! For the “service” to run smoothly:
- Everyone needs to know their role – who is prepping, who is plating, and who is running the pass.
- Clarity of message is key – breaking information down in ways people can process and act on.
- Checking in regularly reinforces understanding and ensures no one is left guessing.
- Teamwork creates a sense of shared focus, helping navigate challenges and stay aligned, even when the pressure is on.
When communication breaks down, or roles are not clear, it is like a missed order in the middle of service – chaos can quickly take over. But when everyone is clear, connected, and working together, even the busiest kitchen can create something meaningful for those they serve.…”
Jodee Pierce, 2025
In summary
"...The change kitchen runs on clarity, teamwork, and the right balance of planning and a little chaos…"
Jodee Pierce, 2025
Po: cats lick themselves to death...............since European settlement in Australia in the late 18th century, over 34 species of native animals have gone extinct.
"... It's the worst mammal extinction rate in the modern world and cats have been a major contributor.....Our fauna just haven't evolved to cope with cats..."
Sarah Legge as quoted by Emily Anthes, 2024
In specially developed feral-free safe havens for native animals like bettongs, bilbies, etc, and using strategies like traps, poison baits, sharp-shooters, etc have had limited success in keeping the local cat population low.
It is known that cats clean themselves by licking their fur frequently. This characteristic was used as the basis to build
“...an automated, solar-powered machine that sprays toxic gel on passing cats. The devices are equipped with a range-finding sensor, a camera and algorithms to help it distinguish cats from other animals..."
Emily Anthes, 2024
This means that only cats are sprayed and then they lick themselves and digest the toxic chemicals.
Not all the above examples are knowingly generated by using the Po technique.