Shift happens …..

I suspect you may not have heard of George Buckley and probably don’t recognise him, but have used his products.

Born into abject poverty in Yorkshire in 1947, Buckley had a very tough childhood.

His parents abandoned him at 4 months old, and then his grandmother gave him to neighbours. He ended up at a school for the handicapped, crippled with anaemia and a limp, where he was easy prey to a paedophile and was raped.

Buckley left school at 15 with no qualifications but with a determination not to let his past steal his future.

He got a job as an electrician’s apprentice, took night classes at the local college and after many years studying, eventually gained a PhD.

In 1978, Buckley took a risk by going to live in America, saying he couldn’t stay in England because "I was born to the wrong parents, went to the wrong schools, attended the wrong university and have the wrong accent. So I’m going somewhere it doesn’t matter."

The risk paid off.

Sir George Buckley retired recently as Chairman and CEO of 3M (Post It Notes & Sellotape) – a $30bn operation, with over 80000 employees across more than 65 countries. He now chairs a large investment company and is on the boards of Pepsico, Rothschild and Stanley Black & Decker to name but three.

In an interview with the Financial Times, Buckley said, "I discovered in life you can choose to be a victim or a victor. I chose to be a victor".

….. shift happens.

1. We’ll be attending the National Schizophrenic’s Convention. Anybody who’s everybody will be there.

2. She quit speaking to me when I wouldn’t open the car door for her. It’s not my fault. I just panicked and swam to the surface.

3. Change is inevitable, except from a vending machine.

4. Calories make the world go round.

5. Sign in restaurant window: "Eat now – pay Waiter".

6. Procrastinators of the world unite….. tomorrow.

7. Women will never be equal to men until they can walk down the street with a bald head and a beer gut, and still think they are sexy.

8. You offer someone a sincere compliment on their moustache and suddenly she’s not your friend any more.

9. This one goes out to all the amnesiacs out there, and don’t think you know who you are.

10. The neighbour just asked if I was stealing his wi-fi, it felt like such an invasion of my piracy.