The Mercinary

Karl Largerfeld is known as the greatest fashion designer in the world. He is driven, innovative, disciplined and he is a mercenary. Anyone who works with Karl knows that if he has designed an idea for a current collection then by the end of that season it will never be seen again. If he is doing a rehearsal for a large fashion show and doesn't like what he sees, he gets rid of it. There is no ifs, buts or questions. He gets rid of it. He said he was born into fashion because its always changing and he gets bored if he stands still. He is a mercenary because once you have done it he moves onto the next thing. 

2011 is your perfect opportunity to become a mercenary. The Espresso has talked about the trends of minimisation and the definite desire from people to clean up and simplify their work and home environments. As we head into the new year it is the best time to become a mercenary, clean out your wardrobe of the clothes you have not worn in 12 months, give them to somebody who will wear them and appreciate them more than you will. Go to the kitchen and get rid of anything you have not used in the last 6 months. Clean up your desk at work, be brutal with your cupboards and throw out old paperwork, magazines and rubbish that is cluttering your environment and more than likely your space and ultimately your 'Mojo'. It is liberating to do is. If you think about the desire of the world to give more sometimes you have to give to get and to start of 2011 as a mercenary you could give a lot and receive more. 

The Road from Nowhere 

Late last year young Sydney-sider Nathan Murphy was living out of dumpsters on the streets of Darwin and Melbourne (that is his transport & accommodation pictured above). He was living on the streets with 2 friends and returned home to Sydney to see his dad who had had a heart attack. He was only here for 2 days before his mum kicked him out again. He ended up at the Salvation Army which provided him crisis accommodation at its Oasis Centre in Surry Hills. This is where things started to turn for Murphy. Using money he had saved from CentreLink he decided to start AudioHighschool.com.au which he plans to turn into an educational resource for high school students. Kids will be able to download audio versions of the courses and listen to them on their iPods as an alternative to carrying their textbooks. Murphy is tapping into the trend of online outsourcing and using freelancer.com to developers in India and Pakistan to develop his site. He paid $100 for the website design and $60 for the logo and a few hundred towards a production company to create a promotional video. This young entrepreneur says "every teenager our days has an iPod or an MP3 but we are all still learning out of hard cover text books, and that's not the way of the future". Lets hope a few of the education ministers listen to this young kid and give him the supports he deserves because he is more in touch than most educators. Murphy credits the Oasis Youth Homeless Shelter with giving him the motivation and encouragement to chase his dream. 

Get The Mob to Help

This one is a little closer to home that The Espresso spied. BigHelpMob is a 100 strong group of able bodied, young volunteers who team up to lend a hand to good causes in Perth, Australia. These guys get together to help out the less fortunate in all sorts of activities from planting trees to setting up community centres or helping people move. It is community based, all are volunteers, and actions are carried out simply, as a tribe of people with a common interest in doing good. Once they are done they use their 'mob mentality' to try and draw attention to the work they have done and the cause that needs it most. You have to be between the ages of 15 and 30 years old to be a part of it and it has been termed as 'the work of the next generation' being Generation G (the G is for generosity). Take away the cliche names and everything else and it is still great to see people band together in our own backyard to help those that need help the most.

Let Me Do That For You

This is a pretty cool idea by global transport brand DHL. In fact it was designed by a team of students at the HPI School of Design Thinking at Germany's University of Potsdam. Its calling bring.BUDDY and it takes advantage of the movement by you and I around the city each day. No matter whether you are on foot, public transport or on a bike you can become a courier. You get a downloadable Smartphone App and you text your planned route to DHL. They then work out if they have a package that needs delivering along your route and text you back. You then go to the local kiosk near where your route may be and you deliver the parcel or package as you go about your daily work. What do you get in return? You accumilate frequent flyer type points that you can redeem for train tickets, merchandise or CO2 credits. If the idea takes off, DHL plans to test pilot bring.BUDDY and its network of DHL 'pack station' kiosks later this year. Its a pretty cool idea and once again is a great example of crowd sourcing and in a lot of ways collaboration. The idea won't suit everyone but for those with extra time on their hands and wanting to make a difference, its a good thing.