Today I walked through the crowded London underground and then through the crowded airport where people walk aimlessly about trying to make sense of a world that they do not know or understand. I queued to get through the security checkpoint and make my way to a moment of near peace in the Executive Lounge. Here I eat processed food until it is time to make my way through the crowds who are now aimlessly walking around the departure area and I join a queue to board my plane. I sat in my seat next to everyone else regimentally positioned in the aircraft waiting to be given more processed food. I cannot face it so opt for a drink instead (the stewardess seems offended)
Upon landing, we queue to board the bus to Frankfurt terminal and then once again walk through the crowds who have now turned from aimless to desperate….desperate to know if their luggage has arrived. I pass them all until I find the aimless ones again, looking for their flight and trying to make out all the signs while standing in the middle of the walkway (or even better straddling their luggage cart across the walkway to maximise congestion while looking skywards and reading every sign individually). I make my way through them to once again stand in a longer queue for security and make my way to another lounge for something to drink quickly before I go and find my Gate and wait for my delayed onward flight to Nice.
I get on the bus to the plane and then board the plane and find my seat. As I settle down and watch the passengers (the aimless people in the departure lounge are now wondering down the isle aimlessly trying to see which seat will jump out at them and say “Hi, I am your seat, please sit in me”)….and I reflect on why am I doing this?
Yes the money can be quite good sometimes and whilst I love travelling, there comes a point when you can have too much of a good thing, so these are not the main reasons. As I smile at the lady in front of me that actually hears her seat speak to her and goes to it with far too much excitement, and I realise that there is a combination of reasons why I do this.
I do it because I am quite good at it and I can challenge myself to be better at it. In other words, it is a space I can grow and develop myself while making a meaningful contribution. But the real reason I do it is because I love working with my loving wife and my friend and son. It is so much fun applying our talents and skills in different ways, combining those talents and skills to try and develop new things. Knowing that we could apply those talents and skills in many ways to many things, and we would always manage to achieve what we all wanted…because we can.
So, while at the moment it provides what we all want, I am happy to amuse myself watching the rest of the world do what they do whilst we do what we do (the stewardess on this flight has given me a processed sandwich and when she sees my reluctance, she tells me it is her favourite!!!!…she needs to get out more). Who knows, one day we may pack all this in and start something new and seek an alternative lifestyle. If that happens, I will enjoy that because of what we can achieve together and the fun along the way.
I love my life because of what we make of it. I love it because it is filled with special people that add to it in ways that make it special.
When the demonstrators at the G20 in Toronto this weekend are seen and not heard, does anyone understand what they are demonstrating against? Surely demonstrations that do not articulate their cause, do nothing to make their point? If it is violent demonstration which scares the public and the world at large, is it not terrorism?
Nobody is taking away the rights of people to demonstrate and make their point (assuming they have one), but the whole idea of demonstrations is to take advantage of a high profile event and make the public aware of your issue or beliefs on a specific issue. Failure to communicate your point in any way not only undermines your cause, but it also aligns your cause with the worst element of our society today….terrorism
Since we still do not have a clear definition of the word “terrorism, it will be easy for good causes to become unable to make any significant impact because the public see them as demonstrators who really only seek to commit random violence and strike fear into people. It is a great shame when a group of impotent people that need to commit violent acts to feel significant, potentially undermine the ability of genuine people to have their voice heard.
Winning an election is the first battle. Keeping the position is an entirely different exercise. It would seem that Rudd felt that he won the Australian elections with such popularity, that he was now safe to do what he wanted! His confused look when resigning showed that he was bemused by how he could have got to this position.
Certainly it takes a level of leadership to be able to win an election with such popularity. But it takes real leadership to sustain the momentum enough to last more than a year – especially in Australia!
Whilst Obama’s popularity has taken a dip, there is no real opposition from a fragmented Republican Party. However, in Australia it was necessary to understand the game and stay on top of the ball. Not only is it important to win the public over, he needs to keep his own Party on side. It seems Rudd was more interested in writing children books and not following through on the battles that were needed to show his strength and resolve. So a man that did some good things in his year, lost the favor of the people he needed to sustain his leadership role and goes out the man who had the shortest term ever.
Lesson one of leadership: keep your eye on the ball and know how to follow through. No point battle, only to loose the war.
Through the recent events we have seen two things happen. First, organizations being embarrassed to hold meetings in case it is seen as a waste of money…and secondly, the increased chatter about ROI (return on investment). The knee jerk reaction of the first is short sighted and the increased emphasis on ROI has meant some stupid decisions being made.
Typical behaviours have included, looking for cheaper venues, shorter meetings, less frills and bringing in industry speakers. The trouble with this approach is that it focuses on saving money or cutting costs on the last event instead of looking for how to provide any ROI. There is an old expression, ‘be careful what you focus on…you may get it!”
I recently heard from a great speaker, Scott McCain, that proves this point. Here is what he told me:
“Just home from a major meeting…I asked the meeting professional to name the speakers they booked for the past couple of years, and she informed me, “We had industry experts, not professional speakers.” So, I naturally had to follow up with, “Why did you have one for this year’s meeting?”
Her great response: “Industry experts are boring. We realized our registrations were down, not just because of the economy — but, who wants to make the effort to attend a boring meeting? Professional speakers bring more than content. I guess I took for granted HOW much more.”
It seems to me that ROI is about deciding the value you need and then finding the most cost effective way of delivering it. When the starting point is, “what costs can we cut?”, we are not focusing on producing value…rather we are seeking to look good compared to last time. Adding value requires knowing what value looks like and what the outcome will be as a result.
This applies to everything relating to planning a meeting, from picking the venue to choosing the food and stage décor. From defining the program to choosing the contributors to deliver the program, it has to start with the end in mind.
Does this mean that costs are not important? Of course not. I am not saying ignore the costs, I am saying don’t make that the starting point. If you have chosen a location for your conference or meeting that meets the needs or outcomes you want from your event, you can now look at maximizing the return on this investment. What can you leverage from this venue to add more value to your event? This approach starts from knowing what you want to achieve, choosing the right place/program/etc. and then looking to maximize what you can get. Starting from a position of “what is the cheapest venue, cheapest stage, cheapest food, cheapest speaker….. end up in BEING cheap.
A good venue, hotel, catering company, sound and lighting company, speaker, etc. will work with you to help you achieve your objectives. They will also understand your need to provide meaningful value and offer ideas to help you. After all, they want you to use them again…don’t they? The adage, “you get what you pay for” is not wrong, but it also doesn’t mean that expensive is best.
Focus on the right things and work with the best to deliver the highest value possible. Your job is to know what the best will be…because you know what you want to achieve.
Paul Bridle
June 2010
Paul would like to thank Scott for his input. Scott can be contacted at www.scottmckain.com
The Good: iPad launched in the rest of the world. I can’t believe the way some people have slated the product. (I love Steve Jobs reply to critics) It will change the way we do some things and make a positive contribution as well. The impact on future generations will be significant.
The Bad: Oil still leaking from BP oil well! It seems that nothing is working here. Really bad that there was no safety or isolation systems in place in case of this happening.
The Ugly: Sink hole in Guatemala. Really frightening
I overheard a statement this week where someone said, “Surely with this technology they should have been able to stop that oil leak in the first week?”
Are people really that mindless? Technology is not the answer to everything that happens. It is like all those that blame God for the things happening in the world or those that blame the banks for lending money or those that blame….Ok you got my drift.
First of all, if there was a way to stop the flow, does anyone really believe that it is in the interest of BP to not take that action? Secondly, those that blame Obama for not taking action, do they think the President has a magic wand somewhere that he is not using out of spite? Please…..
What has happened is terrible. There will be time for investigating what went wrong…in the mean time can we not accept that this is uncharted waters and nobody knows how to deal with the situation and so various things are being tried and this will take as long as it takes!
I want to start this by saying I am not a fan of British Airways and for many years have done anything I can to avoid flying with them. So my comments are not in support of Walsh or BA, but rather an external perspective of what is happening in a British business.
If the Unite Union was a business, the Chief Executive would probably be sacked by now. Twice it has not conformed to the rules (I am not arguing about whether the rules are fair or not) and the CEO is the top of the tree and accountable for making sure things are done correctly.
I think the opening line of Unite’s Vision and Values is a sign of the real issue here. It reads: “A fighting back Union, winning in the work place”. It is precisely this mental attitude and approach that undermines Unions and this union in particular. The same fighting attitude that drives people like Mugabe. I have said before, “If you are a hammer, then everything in the world tends to look like a nail”. It is not a time for fighting, it is a time to unite (sic) for a greater good.
Bottom line, BA like many of the giant corporations (Ford, Chrysler…) have got themselves into a position where their overheads are too great, and we are talking about wages too high, pension fund, health care costs, etc. They have to cut back and cut deep if they are to survive.
The situation between Willy Walsh and Derek Simpson is now personal (much like Thatcher and Scargill). If the members of the Unite have any sense, they will fire their General Secretary and get someone with more about them and understands 1. Business, 2. Building relationships, and then has a progressive mindset about the future role of the Unions in modern business. (interestingly the fifth line of the Values says “a progressive union..”. Shame it is number 5!)
As I said at the beginning, I am not a BA supporter but I do think that Unite needs to take a good look at their role and how they can contribute to the future of this British business. What happens here, may well impact on British business as a whole, and British business is about to go through a very tough few years…it doesn’t need anything that will make the situation worse
Just when we thought the Obama phenomena was becoming a blip in the political landscape, Cameron-Clegg pull off a surprising agreement and form a coalition Government in UK.
It seems that the ‘Digital Generation’ really do want a different world and they also want it Governed in a different way. Not only is it simply amazing that the Conservatives and Liberal Democrats would form a coalition, but the way that Cameron has thrown open the doors and included the Liberal Democrats into a full blown partnership, is simply amazing. The two young leaders on the lawn outside 10 Downing Street seemed as though they were completely unaware of the break from the past they had undertaken, and were relishing the opportunity to work this out in a very adult and mature way.
Side remarks about going campaigning in the same car to save petrol, but getting out of different doors on different sides of the car…were funny but also shook the establishment at its very core.
As one journalist put it, this is a “marriage that had no courtship” and it is obvious that the honeymoon will be hours and not days, but this generation have a mindset around creating “teams that work”…regardless of likes and dislikes. (excuse the shameless promotion of my next book….but this is providing some added material as well)
Will this new coalition work? Time will tell. Governments and voters around the world, like Canada, will be watching with great interest to see if this can be achieved.
Could it be that the United Kingdom, in it final hours of relevance on a world stage, suddenly offers the world something new, ground-breaking and progressive AND reverses its irrelevance as well? Wow…wouldn’t that be amazing.
Good luck Mr Cameron and Mr Clegg. Your bravery is noted and admired. It will be a rough ride and you will face problems never faced before in Politics and in your Parties. Make everyone proud of you both and you will secure yourselves a place in history.
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About Paul
I was born in Southern Africa and moved to England in the mid seventies. I have set up and run a number of businesses in my life and have had a wide range of experience in the management of small and large organisations. Nearly two decades ago I decided to take some time out and study effective organizations and the people that lead them. I have always been fascinated by "why people respond the way they do to different people" and "what makes an organization effective". Here we are 20 years later and I still spend at least 25% of my year studying what works within organizations. I have two wonderful sons and the best wife a man could wish to share his life with. I live a life of passion and excitement because I create that for myself and those around me.
