So, I am just back to my flat, it's crazily hot, I have been travelling for 6 hours (visiting home) and had no IPod. It's been a long day. But not an entirely bad one. The fact that I had no IPod gave me some time to think about things. This and the fact that my flight was delayed for an hour. But I'll not complain! No Sir! I did bring some high quality DVD's and books from home, so the number of distractions in my room have increased. But, rest assured I have unfinished business with the PLP. And there I wanted to review and comment on the business game we completed last Wednesday.
I deliberately left this a few days as I wanted to have enough time to reflect on the impact the business game had on me. The obvious trade off is that the game is not quite as fresh in my mind, but we'll see how this goes...
1. The Set Up: We all knew the game was coming, however, unlike previous PLP's, there was no pre-course material to complete. This in itself surprised me in hindsight. Not only did this section turn out to be the most detailed of the three modules, it was also the most intellectually demanding one. I understand the benefit of "being thrown in at the deep end" and working under pressure, but a total lack of preparation on my part probably impacted my expectations of what I would achieve on the day.
A success full day for me would have been continued personal development within the context of my own leadership skills. As I had no explicit goals before hand, I found it difficult to set specific personal objectives. This may not necessarily be a bad thing in the context, but given the set up of the previous PLP modules, it felt different.
2. Make your choice... Once the introduction and welcome was completed, we were encouraged to throw ourselves into the game and see how we get on. We were each asked to pick a particular business area to work in. I looked down the list and picked the area that I was least comfortable with. To be honest, I am not so sure what made me do it...I guess it was just one of those things where i thought it'd be interesting to go against my intuition.
That and I didn't really know the details of the game. It was not really an informed decision I was making, but at that point that was not necessarily a bad thing. If I had more details about what each of the different areas entailed (in terms of the game), it would have been very tempting to pick my favourite / one that I would feel that I would excel at. Hey, everyone likes to look and feel good, especially in front of your peers.
3. Devil is in the detail: Next up, we got the detail. This came in the form of 8 - 10 page booklets. Now, I loved this! There was a hell of a lot of material to digest, some really interesting concepts, some really interesting 'facts' and some interesting business concepts. Once I got the booklet, I was really looking forward to getting my teeth into it. At first glance, there seemed to be a lot of really interesting stuff, and given that our groups were pretty much randomly selected, I was really looking forward to the game.
Then the time scale came down... we had 15 minutes to digest and understand the information. This gave us 1 minute and 30 seconds per page. For me, this was not enough. It took me 5 minutes to read through the booklet once, giving me only 1 minute per page look at the details. By the end of the 15 minutes, I had only an incomplete understanding of the material. It was going to be an interesting afternoon...
4. The Games Begin: Once we got settled into the game itself, the group interactions were really interesting. At other points during the PLP I always felt like I had the opportunity to reflect on my own behaviours, but here I had a lot of stuff going on, all at once. Not only had we to work on our own understanding of the material, but we were to lead our groups as well as preparing how we would defend our particular groups interests later on in the day.
Bits of this worked really well - we all felt pressurised. Part of this pressure may have come from the set up - we were reminded that we would be judged on our performance in the activity. And you know - the grads can be a competitive bunch. So, for me the pressure translated well - and so did the intellectual demands of the job / scenario. There was a lot of information to be assimilated - normally I love the full range of detail and the depth of information - it is what gets me going in my day to day job. However, at no point did I have my focus...why?
5. Distraction.... Well, the reason was quite simple. I felt distracted. There was so much going on I found it difficult to focus. Given that some of my feedback previously was to "take off my blinkers " (thanks TE), every time I did take off my blinkers, I saw disarray, lack of organisation, and people struggling to understand the game. These were people I have seen work really effectively before - but now it was like being back to square one. So, I guess what I am saying here is throw a couple of mathematic challenges at grads, put them in a time critical situation and ramp up the pressure and we crumble? Well, not exactly...
6. End Game: The game taught me a hell of a lot about how interact when I am uncomfortable. So, in terms of me being able to understand how I react when I am out of my comfort zone, it was interesting. And I would say that irrespective of whether or not you were red, blue or green, you would be out of your comfort zone in the game..
To summarise, there was not enough time for detail, space for people or organisation for effective leadership. The various situations in the game felt like a struggle. The final of the game, after the presentations was the Q&A and announcement of the winner.
7. Drum Roll: The winners were announced and the game wound up. My group won, and, no discredit to the guys in my team, but I felt like we were the "best of a bad bunch" as opposed to being outstanding. And I don't mean this to bring down the other groups, merely that no one group stood out as being great. Additionally, the feedback that I heard was that other groups had similar problems with the game.
It was certainly a challenging day, probably for both the grads and the facilitators.
To conclude....
The business game was a great learning experience, but it was harder to learn from it than other aspects of the course. I felt that it was very challenging, but often not just a challenging exercise, rather a challenge to learn.
I really enjoyed the concept of the game - I thought that it was definitely workable and there was a lot you could pick up from (and about) other people in the game. Some of the feedback that came out of it was very interesting too. I also think that there was a lot that you could learn about yourself on this module, but that it required more time and effort to get the same level of learning out.
Specifically, I would have liked more direction from the facilitators - on a number of occasions throughout the PLP they have been there to provide immediate hands on direction and feedback and for me that was not present. i also felt like the time frame was a bit skewed towards discussion rather than understanding. We had a full hour to discuss in our groups our own interpretations of the information, but (it felt like) we had little direction of what sort of end product we were to produce. I understand that vagueness brings its own challenges and benefits, but for an exercise coordinating 6 groups, more direction for output would have been beneficial.
I may of course be wrong - maybe some people thought there was too much detail!
So I will sign off this post (2 of 3) with a quick note about the business game.... I have the option to go for an interview for "The Apprentice" soon....I am sorely tempted by it. It would be really interesting to do, and you can guarantee that it would be tough, but rewarding. I guess though, if I did make it through (ha!) the business games the PLP gave me would probably give me a bit of perspective on what to expect - if not on how others would behave, at the very least how I would come across.
So was it a successfull day? Yes and No. I learned a lot from the activity, learned a lot about myself, but without clear objectives, I struggled to really assess the impact it had on me. Still, since the PLP is all about potential, I dont feel bad in saying that this set up definately has the potential to be successfull.
Its all good stuff.....
Kindest,
DD
Monday, 6 July 2009
Wednesday, 1 July 2009
PLP Part 3...or should I say Round 3?
Hello there...
I have been most neglectful of my blog lately, for some good and some bad reasons. The good reasons mostly revolve around cheese, the bad revolve around a combination of laziness, writers distraction (not technically block as I have had no problem writing on other stuff) and other general distractions of living in London. However, I have 3 new blogs to post at once, or as close to "at once" as I can manage. As they say, no buses for half an hour, then three at once (or if you trust TFL, no buses for half an hour, but you can get to your destination in under 20 minutes if you left 5 minutes ago and got a 4 trains and then a bus*)
My three blog posts are three reflections / comments on the PLP. The first will be a comment on how I personally I felt I got on at PLP module 3. The second will be a post on how I viewed PLP 3 as a group exercise. The third will be a review / comment on how I felt the whole package was. But don't worry, I am not going to be just focusing on the PLP, I plan to include how it has impacted the daily grind. Did I say grind? I meant fun, but more on that later. So, without further adieu.... part or round 3.
1. The Weigh in: I travelled to the 3rd module via automobile and arrived in (relatively) good time and was feeling pretty sharp. Part of me was glad for the break from work, but I couldn't help thinking about the work, and team, that I was leaving behind. While the purpose of the course was obviously focused on me, I did find it difficult initially to separate myself from my work. Not that I am trying to stretch an analogy, but I felt that my lack of separation affected my hitting power in the early exchanges. Not literally, but I was not on the ball in the morning session, for sure.
2. Early Exchanges: For me, my goal was set quite early on. I wanted to learn / improve my ability to effectively work in a team with a specific set of goals. I was looking forward to defending my teams interests to the other groups, and to be quite honest, at one point was feeling really up for the fight, or if you prefer, defense of my teams interests. For me, the group I was working in was a really interesting blend of characters and I was looking forward to it. Initially, I probably saw my role as being the person who would take on the responsibility of defending our groups interests. However, like a drunk boxer, I was swinging a miss.
3. On the Ropes: By 12pm (or round 3), I could tell I was not on my A-Game. Not only had I misinterpreted the set up of the exercise, but I had tried to misdirect my group - another group member had to correct me on this. Good work from him. This was a classic case of me trying to plough ahead with my own ideas of how to set the afternoon up successfully. I think my reason for trying "plough ahead" was that I was conscious of the lack of output our group had contributed. For me, I would have felt satisfied (if not overly so) with our contribution if we at least had a clear direction in place for the afternoon, but in doing so, completely missed the fundamental rules of the exercise.
This was particularly interesting as, at a previous PLP I was fed back that I should take a step back and look at the big picture - take the blinkers off if you will. And apparently, I hadn't done that quite yet. Needless to say, I was not feeling particularly comfortable with my own contribution within the group. I tried to analyse this at the time, as recommended to do so by the facilitators, but genuinely found this difficult.
For me, self reflection in such an environment was extremely challenging. While obviously I cant compare the 'stress' of the situation to that of a boxing match, it does seem to me sensible, that the more pressure we get put under, the harder it is to let go and take the step back - something that I would have definitely benefited from. So, after a quick lunch and a pep talk from (and to) a colleague, the bell went for the second half of the session...
4. Don't Fight the Referee, fight the opponent: I guess that that this has already been summed up by Sun Tzu better than I could ever do so, but this will become clear soon. By this point, I felt like someone out fought and out thought by an opponent. I had not really got to grips with the source material and not really worked as effectively as a Team member / leader as I know I can. It had not been a total disaster by any stretch of the imagination, but certainly I was struggling to come to terms with the set up. Maybe this reflection would have served me better during the day rather than at 1120pm after, but better late than never.
I felt that I spent too much time trying to understand the rules of the game, trying to understand exactly what I was trying to achieve, and not enough time actually doing it. This was interesting, particularly because I was working with some very capable people, several of which clearly had a better understanding of the game than me. I did ask for advice from two of them, but perhaps I should have been more forthcoming in bringing forward my own key understandings and knowledge limitations. It is conceivable that other people would have done the same thing too - I am pretty confident that many other people had similar concerns. However, at this point, I was too focused on my own limitations, to bring in others. Again, if I had taken a step back, there is a good chance that I would have increased my own grasp of the scope of the project.
Often, during this point, I worked alone - most unlike me as I love team work.
5. This match was going to Points: Almost inevitable, this one went to points. I had thrown myself into the work throughout the day and despite being bested by it on several occasions, it never totally got the better of me. I have the teams I worked in as well as some industry on my part to thank for that. The push came to the shove when our sponsor arrived and we were required to present as groups. One of the gents from our group gave a great effort with undeniably difficult source material - Great Work EC.
By the very end I had a good understanding of the key costs / benefits of my own individual work, and was able to answer probing questions on them. But that was it - I would not have been able to answer questions to the same level of detail on any other part of the team I was in. In fact, I don't think I could have answered a single question on my other team members business functions. This got me thinking:
How am I meant to work with these guys and persuade them if I don't know / understand their point of view demands? Maybe if I had taken my blinkers off and tried to understand my colleagues demands / needs better, I would have been more effective in working as a team.
For me at no point, did I ever have a true grasp of what the other guys were doing. For me, this was really hammered / punched home in the Q&A session.
6. And the Winner is... Well, our team won, and I think that was in no small part to the excellent job EC did presenting in addition to key contributions from some of our other guys. However there is a point I want to make to all this.
I have framed the discussion of PLP 3 as a boxing match. I don't think it was ever set up to be a fight, but at points, for me it felt like that. However, it was a fight I learned a hell of a lot from., and I will talk about how I felt the content / structure worked in a separate post. This is a very vain and self centred post I am afraid...
A conclusion
But that's just it, learning is acquiring knowledge, and maybe Sun Tzu missed the point slightly (or ignored it) when he said
"Know yourself and know your enemies and you will never be defeated in over 100 battles"
Today, maybe a more appropriate statement would be
"Know yourself, know your friends and know your enemies and you will never be defeated in one battle".
Knowing how we work together is as important as knowing how our enemies / competitors work without us.
Finally, I know some of you think that's a bit cheesy, but for those of you in the know - I did say I had a hell of a lot of big cheese recently, and you cant blame me for sharing it.
DD
* TFL are forever lying to me.
I have been most neglectful of my blog lately, for some good and some bad reasons. The good reasons mostly revolve around cheese, the bad revolve around a combination of laziness, writers distraction (not technically block as I have had no problem writing on other stuff) and other general distractions of living in London. However, I have 3 new blogs to post at once, or as close to "at once" as I can manage. As they say, no buses for half an hour, then three at once (or if you trust TFL, no buses for half an hour, but you can get to your destination in under 20 minutes if you left 5 minutes ago and got a 4 trains and then a bus*)
My three blog posts are three reflections / comments on the PLP. The first will be a comment on how I personally I felt I got on at PLP module 3. The second will be a post on how I viewed PLP 3 as a group exercise. The third will be a review / comment on how I felt the whole package was. But don't worry, I am not going to be just focusing on the PLP, I plan to include how it has impacted the daily grind. Did I say grind? I meant fun, but more on that later. So, without further adieu.... part or round 3.
1. The Weigh in: I travelled to the 3rd module via automobile and arrived in (relatively) good time and was feeling pretty sharp. Part of me was glad for the break from work, but I couldn't help thinking about the work, and team, that I was leaving behind. While the purpose of the course was obviously focused on me, I did find it difficult initially to separate myself from my work. Not that I am trying to stretch an analogy, but I felt that my lack of separation affected my hitting power in the early exchanges. Not literally, but I was not on the ball in the morning session, for sure.
2. Early Exchanges: For me, my goal was set quite early on. I wanted to learn / improve my ability to effectively work in a team with a specific set of goals. I was looking forward to defending my teams interests to the other groups, and to be quite honest, at one point was feeling really up for the fight, or if you prefer, defense of my teams interests. For me, the group I was working in was a really interesting blend of characters and I was looking forward to it. Initially, I probably saw my role as being the person who would take on the responsibility of defending our groups interests. However, like a drunk boxer, I was swinging a miss.
3. On the Ropes: By 12pm (or round 3), I could tell I was not on my A-Game. Not only had I misinterpreted the set up of the exercise, but I had tried to misdirect my group - another group member had to correct me on this. Good work from him. This was a classic case of me trying to plough ahead with my own ideas of how to set the afternoon up successfully. I think my reason for trying "plough ahead" was that I was conscious of the lack of output our group had contributed. For me, I would have felt satisfied (if not overly so) with our contribution if we at least had a clear direction in place for the afternoon, but in doing so, completely missed the fundamental rules of the exercise.
This was particularly interesting as, at a previous PLP I was fed back that I should take a step back and look at the big picture - take the blinkers off if you will. And apparently, I hadn't done that quite yet. Needless to say, I was not feeling particularly comfortable with my own contribution within the group. I tried to analyse this at the time, as recommended to do so by the facilitators, but genuinely found this difficult.
For me, self reflection in such an environment was extremely challenging. While obviously I cant compare the 'stress' of the situation to that of a boxing match, it does seem to me sensible, that the more pressure we get put under, the harder it is to let go and take the step back - something that I would have definitely benefited from. So, after a quick lunch and a pep talk from (and to) a colleague, the bell went for the second half of the session...
4. Don't Fight the Referee, fight the opponent: I guess that that this has already been summed up by Sun Tzu better than I could ever do so, but this will become clear soon. By this point, I felt like someone out fought and out thought by an opponent. I had not really got to grips with the source material and not really worked as effectively as a Team member / leader as I know I can. It had not been a total disaster by any stretch of the imagination, but certainly I was struggling to come to terms with the set up. Maybe this reflection would have served me better during the day rather than at 1120pm after, but better late than never.
I felt that I spent too much time trying to understand the rules of the game, trying to understand exactly what I was trying to achieve, and not enough time actually doing it. This was interesting, particularly because I was working with some very capable people, several of which clearly had a better understanding of the game than me. I did ask for advice from two of them, but perhaps I should have been more forthcoming in bringing forward my own key understandings and knowledge limitations. It is conceivable that other people would have done the same thing too - I am pretty confident that many other people had similar concerns. However, at this point, I was too focused on my own limitations, to bring in others. Again, if I had taken a step back, there is a good chance that I would have increased my own grasp of the scope of the project.
Often, during this point, I worked alone - most unlike me as I love team work.
5. This match was going to Points: Almost inevitable, this one went to points. I had thrown myself into the work throughout the day and despite being bested by it on several occasions, it never totally got the better of me. I have the teams I worked in as well as some industry on my part to thank for that. The push came to the shove when our sponsor arrived and we were required to present as groups. One of the gents from our group gave a great effort with undeniably difficult source material - Great Work EC.
By the very end I had a good understanding of the key costs / benefits of my own individual work, and was able to answer probing questions on them. But that was it - I would not have been able to answer questions to the same level of detail on any other part of the team I was in. In fact, I don't think I could have answered a single question on my other team members business functions. This got me thinking:
How am I meant to work with these guys and persuade them if I don't know / understand their point of view demands? Maybe if I had taken my blinkers off and tried to understand my colleagues demands / needs better, I would have been more effective in working as a team.
For me at no point, did I ever have a true grasp of what the other guys were doing. For me, this was really hammered / punched home in the Q&A session.
6. And the Winner is... Well, our team won, and I think that was in no small part to the excellent job EC did presenting in addition to key contributions from some of our other guys. However there is a point I want to make to all this.
I have framed the discussion of PLP 3 as a boxing match. I don't think it was ever set up to be a fight, but at points, for me it felt like that. However, it was a fight I learned a hell of a lot from., and I will talk about how I felt the content / structure worked in a separate post. This is a very vain and self centred post I am afraid...
A conclusion
But that's just it, learning is acquiring knowledge, and maybe Sun Tzu missed the point slightly (or ignored it) when he said
"Know yourself and know your enemies and you will never be defeated in over 100 battles"
Today, maybe a more appropriate statement would be
"Know yourself, know your friends and know your enemies and you will never be defeated in one battle".
Knowing how we work together is as important as knowing how our enemies / competitors work without us.
Finally, I know some of you think that's a bit cheesy, but for those of you in the know - I did say I had a hell of a lot of big cheese recently, and you cant blame me for sharing it.
DD
* TFL are forever lying to me.
Tuesday, 9 June 2009
How far can you go?
Its been a month since my last post. This is not because I have not much to say, quite the contrary. Rather, I have had a lot on my mind and have been busy with a range of things lately and I have been concerned that if I posted during the previous month, it would not be as articulate as I would have wanted.
Anyhow, my good flatmate postulated a pretty interesting questions - How far do you think you can go in business? This was too good a question for me not to comment on. It is not that I have never thought about it before, rather it is a question I have consciously shied away from answering. More on this later.
I suggested that how far you go in business is possibly down to a tug of war between 3 things...
1. Drive to Succeed
2. Will to work
3. Will to inconvenience
This was never meant to be some sort of a complete theory of work or anything of the sort - we did have this conversation while cooking some dinner.
This was always going to be a short post though. I normally ramble a lot, but this was meant to be very short and self reflecting. To be honest, I dont know what "success" looks like to me. I do have the will to work, and I am happy to inconvenience my social life at the expense of work on occasions, but for me, it is really difficult to answer this question.
One of the reasons I have shied away from answering this question, and possibly the reason i am doing so now, is that what if it is more simple that that. What if success boils down to a combination of luck, ability and opinions.
If success boiled down to these three things, I would find it difficult to accept. Difficult because the idea of luck is both mysteriously haunting and a semi rational justification for outcomes. Still, it is worth a thought or two.
Anyhow, I am thinking about this subject and I will come up with a more substantive post at some point.
Anyhow, my good flatmate postulated a pretty interesting questions - How far do you think you can go in business? This was too good a question for me not to comment on. It is not that I have never thought about it before, rather it is a question I have consciously shied away from answering. More on this later.
I suggested that how far you go in business is possibly down to a tug of war between 3 things...
1. Drive to Succeed
2. Will to work
3. Will to inconvenience
This was never meant to be some sort of a complete theory of work or anything of the sort - we did have this conversation while cooking some dinner.
This was always going to be a short post though. I normally ramble a lot, but this was meant to be very short and self reflecting. To be honest, I dont know what "success" looks like to me. I do have the will to work, and I am happy to inconvenience my social life at the expense of work on occasions, but for me, it is really difficult to answer this question.
One of the reasons I have shied away from answering this question, and possibly the reason i am doing so now, is that what if it is more simple that that. What if success boils down to a combination of luck, ability and opinions.
If success boiled down to these three things, I would find it difficult to accept. Difficult because the idea of luck is both mysteriously haunting and a semi rational justification for outcomes. Still, it is worth a thought or two.
Anyhow, I am thinking about this subject and I will come up with a more substantive post at some point.
Tuesday, 12 May 2009
Its a boy girl thing - a sort of review
Hello there. On Saturday, a day where I was kicking back and trying to forget about work for the weekend, I discovered a really great film. This film was not a classic like 'the Godfather' or 'Battle Royale', rather it was a nice story. The story is as follows...
In a nice American suburb, two teenage neighbours living beside each other, one a guy one a girl. Essentially, they don't like each other very much and there are some pretty generic stereotypes about their families - one is working class, all star jock (American) football player, the other a preppy bookworm girl looking to go to Yale. The film begins, roughly, one week from the "biggest football game of the guys career, where all the scouts will be at. It is also one week, from the girls interview for Yale. So... long story short, these two end up buddied up on a school trip, argue in front of a statue of a Mayan god and wake up in each others bodies. Don't you just hate it when that happens?
So, about 15 minutes in and I had some gender swapping, crude jokes, an obvious "simmering" romance between the two leads and numerous childish jokes about the two leading characters getting used to the bodies of the contradictory sex. Don't get me wrong, I was giggling at the film - call me old fashioned but there is something pretty funny about a teenage guy in a girls body trying to get to grips with putting on a bra - while commenting that "these things are hard enough to get off".
Anyhow, long story short, the two characters get used to each others bodies, begin to fall in love, there is some ridiculous scandal involving a "homecoming queen", slumber parties as well as an amusing scene where the woman in a mans body goes to football practice while the man in the woman's body goes to the ladies shower room. Tactical awareness indeed.
So, the film winds up with the following scenario - the two darlings decide to coach each other, the guy teaches the girl (in his body) how to "harness" his strength to play football for the last game and she teaches him how to dress and pass the entrance interview for Yale. The climax is the Football game where, needless to say, the fairytale ending ensues... the girl in the guys body scores the ultimate game winning touchdown and the guy in the girls body gets back from the interview and.... well...you don't know. You just don't find out... So this got me thinking...
The girl in the guys body gets the immediate win. She / He gets the immediate glory of success, he / she led the team to glory and gets carried off the pitch. It made the whole thing worthwhile.
The guy in the girls body however does not find out, he / she has to wait. He / she has to wait to find out not only the result of the interview, but for the girl, it was an interview she was directly invested in without being directly involved. Obviously, she gets into Yale , and both get their reward, but though the picture painted both rewards as commensurable, they felt somehow different.
What struck me about the 'getting into Yale' reward, was that it was individual, fundamental and reliant on hard work of the mind. The individual success was down to the hard work of one person (or, for the sake of the movie, the two working together), but ultimately it was down to individual success. Though the two people had to work together, you are left in now doubt that the girl would have walked the interview - she was reciting Romeo and Juliet for crying out loud (and by the great big love in at the end of the movie, I kinda was...)
The flip side, the football reward, the scout saying great game we'll get you a scholarship etc. The important thing here, for me, was that the whole thing was about the importance of the team - though the success was led by one person, the whole team triumphed, and that was the way it was portrayed on screen.
I thought about this in a business context and asked myself what would matter more to me - what would I prefer? Individual success and reward or leading a team to success. Both have recognition and rewards. You could argue that the success is diluted by relying on the team to archive it, or you could argue that the success is magnified by sharing it with the team. Individually, you could say that the entrance to Yale was more rewarding than any team exercise as it was all down to one person, and that person delivered. The flip side is that, intellectually, it is better to stimulate more people and that is something that individual success misses.
I guess, there is immense virtue in both of these types of success, but what used to really appeal to me was the "stand alone" success. It was not that I was selfish, just I liked the idea of achieving individually. However, slowly, I am beginning to feel like though it is a different type of (very important) reward, driving and leading a successful team is much more rewarding in a business sense.
Recently, I felt like I reached a sort of compromise, in team sports and team business, being successful individually no longer mattered to me as much as it used to, I have become more focused on the team success. However, demonstrating my intellectual individuality and success has become more important than ever. I feel like this is an important part of me that I genuinely don't want to lose. Perhaps this is down to how I feel I can contribute to a teams success - I, like most people, still want to stand out within a team, for me this is by intellectual vanity, but ultimately I do want the team to be successful.
To conclude, the bottom line is this - loved up romantic comedies about ludicrous situations involving gender mind swapping can teach you a thing or two about yourself. Maybe this says more about my own disposition than I care to admit, but hell, it was a cracking movie. I couldn't escape thinking about work, but when the romance is that good, its okay to shed a tear.
Kindest,
Dante
*the film was called "its a boy girl thing", starring some people called Samaire Armstrong and Kevin Zegers. It has much better acting than Hugh Grant has ever managed. Check out its imdb entry: http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0482527/
In a nice American suburb, two teenage neighbours living beside each other, one a guy one a girl. Essentially, they don't like each other very much and there are some pretty generic stereotypes about their families - one is working class, all star jock (American) football player, the other a preppy bookworm girl looking to go to Yale. The film begins, roughly, one week from the "biggest football game of the guys career, where all the scouts will be at. It is also one week, from the girls interview for Yale. So... long story short, these two end up buddied up on a school trip, argue in front of a statue of a Mayan god and wake up in each others bodies. Don't you just hate it when that happens?
So, about 15 minutes in and I had some gender swapping, crude jokes, an obvious "simmering" romance between the two leads and numerous childish jokes about the two leading characters getting used to the bodies of the contradictory sex. Don't get me wrong, I was giggling at the film - call me old fashioned but there is something pretty funny about a teenage guy in a girls body trying to get to grips with putting on a bra - while commenting that "these things are hard enough to get off".
Anyhow, long story short, the two characters get used to each others bodies, begin to fall in love, there is some ridiculous scandal involving a "homecoming queen", slumber parties as well as an amusing scene where the woman in a mans body goes to football practice while the man in the woman's body goes to the ladies shower room. Tactical awareness indeed.
So, the film winds up with the following scenario - the two darlings decide to coach each other, the guy teaches the girl (in his body) how to "harness" his strength to play football for the last game and she teaches him how to dress and pass the entrance interview for Yale. The climax is the Football game where, needless to say, the fairytale ending ensues... the girl in the guys body scores the ultimate game winning touchdown and the guy in the girls body gets back from the interview and.... well...you don't know. You just don't find out... So this got me thinking...
The girl in the guys body gets the immediate win. She / He gets the immediate glory of success, he / she led the team to glory and gets carried off the pitch. It made the whole thing worthwhile.
The guy in the girls body however does not find out, he / she has to wait. He / she has to wait to find out not only the result of the interview, but for the girl, it was an interview she was directly invested in without being directly involved. Obviously, she gets into Yale , and both get their reward, but though the picture painted both rewards as commensurable, they felt somehow different.
What struck me about the 'getting into Yale' reward, was that it was individual, fundamental and reliant on hard work of the mind. The individual success was down to the hard work of one person (or, for the sake of the movie, the two working together), but ultimately it was down to individual success. Though the two people had to work together, you are left in now doubt that the girl would have walked the interview - she was reciting Romeo and Juliet for crying out loud (and by the great big love in at the end of the movie, I kinda was...)
The flip side, the football reward, the scout saying great game we'll get you a scholarship etc. The important thing here, for me, was that the whole thing was about the importance of the team - though the success was led by one person, the whole team triumphed, and that was the way it was portrayed on screen.
I thought about this in a business context and asked myself what would matter more to me - what would I prefer? Individual success and reward or leading a team to success. Both have recognition and rewards. You could argue that the success is diluted by relying on the team to archive it, or you could argue that the success is magnified by sharing it with the team. Individually, you could say that the entrance to Yale was more rewarding than any team exercise as it was all down to one person, and that person delivered. The flip side is that, intellectually, it is better to stimulate more people and that is something that individual success misses.
I guess, there is immense virtue in both of these types of success, but what used to really appeal to me was the "stand alone" success. It was not that I was selfish, just I liked the idea of achieving individually. However, slowly, I am beginning to feel like though it is a different type of (very important) reward, driving and leading a successful team is much more rewarding in a business sense.
Recently, I felt like I reached a sort of compromise, in team sports and team business, being successful individually no longer mattered to me as much as it used to, I have become more focused on the team success. However, demonstrating my intellectual individuality and success has become more important than ever. I feel like this is an important part of me that I genuinely don't want to lose. Perhaps this is down to how I feel I can contribute to a teams success - I, like most people, still want to stand out within a team, for me this is by intellectual vanity, but ultimately I do want the team to be successful.
To conclude, the bottom line is this - loved up romantic comedies about ludicrous situations involving gender mind swapping can teach you a thing or two about yourself. Maybe this says more about my own disposition than I care to admit, but hell, it was a cracking movie. I couldn't escape thinking about work, but when the romance is that good, its okay to shed a tear.
Kindest,
Dante
*the film was called "its a boy girl thing", starring some people called Samaire Armstrong and Kevin Zegers. It has much better acting than Hugh Grant has ever managed. Check out its imdb entry: http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0482527/
Wednesday, 29 April 2009
Just Back from Rugby - Comfort Zones and a car ride
So, we were all carted back to Rugby for the second part of our potential leaders module. The journey both to get there and on the course was a really interesting one, there were plenty of things that I could say about the two day event, but I'll try and keep my thoughts as focused as possible.
1. Just imagine them in their underwear - We have all probably heard the saying "if you are nervous giving a speech, just imagine the audience in their underwear". Well, as those of you in my group know, I was a few minutes late for the first morning session. When I walked in, and was greeted with a friendly hello, I looked around at the three tables and something really strange happened. I was totally convinced in my head that I couldn't recognise anyone. Seriously, for those first 13 seconds, I looked around and was greeted by people I convinced I was convinced I didn't know. it was a really surreal feeling. Then, I recognised one kind soul who offered me a seat. What was really strange though was that when I sat down and actually looked around, I immediately recognised about 95% of the room. Obviously I knew most of the guys before hand so I was a little perturbed.
When I reflected on this, I tried to work out what had happened. I think it was the slight embarrassment at being 5 minutes late coupled with the excitement of coming into a group I was familiar with that affected my judgement. I totally lost my focus and was totally out of my comfort zone. But this taught me a valuable lesson - something as trivial as being 5 minutes late can affect my judgement and perceptions, quite dramatically too. If this can happen in the very safe training environment, then it can definitely happen in the pressurised business one. So, Lesson one learned at 1005am on the first day. If you are wondering why I called this step "picture them in their underwear", well it was because that old adage swam into my head as I walked in. Don't fear though, I did nothing of the sort.
2. Vindication? An anagram for vindication is "void in antic". One of the immediate pieces of feedback I got was around my gut reaction and the need to be vindication. After a healthy discussion in our group, where I disagreed about one of the decisions, another group arrived at the same conclusion that I had. I immediately sat back, my whole body language saying "see, i told you I was right". I was immediately questioned about this by the facilitator, asking why that was my reaction. I was tempted to start out trying to justify why, but I gave expanding my feelings a go (EQ and all that....)
When it came down to it, I feel that the vindication was important for me as it backed up my own intellectual pride. However, this is not necessarily the most appropriate reaction. To me, this is not as simple as "feeling validated", rather it is publicly feeling validated. I think I liked the fact that another group of people came to the same conclusion that I had. Was I right to think like this? I don't think so, and I am grateful I was challenged on this point. Having your feelings echoed by another group is different than feeling vindicated - there is a certain siege mentality that vindication brings in. I should definitely have let my groups discussion go and looked at the other inputs on their own merits rather than a way to validate my own earlier issues. So in some respect, my antics were void as I wanted to be vindicated.
3. Feedback - its not all sweetness. One of the standout exercises for me was the positive and negative (or is it developmental?) feedback one. For me, this exercise worked really well because of the way it was set up. It was set up in a safe environment, a full day after we arrived so we were familiar and the tools were presented to us. The tools, very simple but very effective, encouraged us to move into becoming effective (if not comfortable) of giving negative feedback. This took me out of my comfort zone, telling people I generally really like how I thought they worked well for me. But I do know the set up was what really set this off. A really well structured activity. To develop this idea slightly, although I learned allot about delivering negative feedback, I think that when it comes to doing this with my team I am going to use a similar approach.
While I am not going to go around handing out cute cards, I would like to develop a similar structure and toolkit to deliver really effective, difficult messages. This is something I will flesh out later, business viable feedback kits are a difficult and sensitive topic.
4. One to One...give me "me" time. The chance to work in a range of groups was great. I had 1:1 time with my peers, 3 way feedback, 7 people discussions at the tables and full room discussions and feedback. The variety not only served to keep the activities and sessions fresh, but it also allowed me to practice communicating within this variety. However, one feeling stood out for me - In particular with the 1:1's and 3 way discussions I got a lot out of. During the exercises I often found myself thinking "I cant wait for it to be my turn".
I don't mean this is a selfish point of view, in some respects it highlights the effectiveness of the sessions. However, what this also suggests / reinforces to me is that this is high value and I wanted to get as much out of the course as possible. The flip side is that I hope this didn't manifest itself in my activities - obviously it is really important that I give as much as I get from the group exercises, its not all about me. I guess the key learn from this is that I need to have control over my own contributions and to be mindful of the team goal (no blinkers on!).
5. Comfort Zone - i was so far from my comfort zone that it was a dot. There were many activities that took me out of my comfort zone, several of the feedback sessions were big learning experiences for me from this point of view. However, there was one "session" that stood out and took me beyond the norm. I am talking about the ancient and noble art of karaoke. Now, I have never karaoked before and I was heart afraid of doing so, but I enjoyed the singing with 3 of the guys. For some reason though, I seemed to think it was a good idea to follow up my initial pathetic karaoke effort with a.... raunchy.... duet.
While I dont think I need to detail all the details, needless to say that this is not my normal behaviour, but two things stood out here. First of all, the social aspect was massive. The opportunity to meet up and socialise with Peers totally outside a work environment did enhance my over all enthusiasm for the course. Secondly, the social side taught me a lot about my own interactions with people. I sometimes find it very difficult to know how to balance work and personal friendships. It is not always clear where the threshold lies and it was great to experience the other graduates in a very social capacity, as opposed to the usual business one. This was great...
--
So those are my immediate feelings on the course. It was, in my book excellent and my initial reaction was to add value to the business, both in terms of developing myself and others. I learned a lot on the course and generally had fun.
Just to finish off, the journey on the course was really interesting. We explored a range of feedback tools, styles and attitudes. There was some fantastic personal development time and some really empowering activities. I left feeling enthusiastic and energised, which was great.
In fact, I left so energised that myself and two colleagues who were driving home, decided to carry on the theme of the two days, which was expressing ourselves. We expressed ourselves by singing Queens greatest hits, wind blowing through our hair. Sure, we may have looked rather odd, but after two days being brought out of our comfort zones, it seemed only fair to bring the public out of theirs with our singing.
Kindest,
Dante
PS if you are interested in hearing the original of the song I sang to the locals, check out the following youtube link. Please be aware, its quite crude. Which is what made it memorable.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=C4VAv8y2hHM
1. Just imagine them in their underwear - We have all probably heard the saying "if you are nervous giving a speech, just imagine the audience in their underwear". Well, as those of you in my group know, I was a few minutes late for the first morning session. When I walked in, and was greeted with a friendly hello, I looked around at the three tables and something really strange happened. I was totally convinced in my head that I couldn't recognise anyone. Seriously, for those first 13 seconds, I looked around and was greeted by people I convinced I was convinced I didn't know. it was a really surreal feeling. Then, I recognised one kind soul who offered me a seat. What was really strange though was that when I sat down and actually looked around, I immediately recognised about 95% of the room. Obviously I knew most of the guys before hand so I was a little perturbed.
When I reflected on this, I tried to work out what had happened. I think it was the slight embarrassment at being 5 minutes late coupled with the excitement of coming into a group I was familiar with that affected my judgement. I totally lost my focus and was totally out of my comfort zone. But this taught me a valuable lesson - something as trivial as being 5 minutes late can affect my judgement and perceptions, quite dramatically too. If this can happen in the very safe training environment, then it can definitely happen in the pressurised business one. So, Lesson one learned at 1005am on the first day. If you are wondering why I called this step "picture them in their underwear", well it was because that old adage swam into my head as I walked in. Don't fear though, I did nothing of the sort.
2. Vindication? An anagram for vindication is "void in antic". One of the immediate pieces of feedback I got was around my gut reaction and the need to be vindication. After a healthy discussion in our group, where I disagreed about one of the decisions, another group arrived at the same conclusion that I had. I immediately sat back, my whole body language saying "see, i told you I was right". I was immediately questioned about this by the facilitator, asking why that was my reaction. I was tempted to start out trying to justify why, but I gave expanding my feelings a go (EQ and all that....)
When it came down to it, I feel that the vindication was important for me as it backed up my own intellectual pride. However, this is not necessarily the most appropriate reaction. To me, this is not as simple as "feeling validated", rather it is publicly feeling validated. I think I liked the fact that another group of people came to the same conclusion that I had. Was I right to think like this? I don't think so, and I am grateful I was challenged on this point. Having your feelings echoed by another group is different than feeling vindicated - there is a certain siege mentality that vindication brings in. I should definitely have let my groups discussion go and looked at the other inputs on their own merits rather than a way to validate my own earlier issues. So in some respect, my antics were void as I wanted to be vindicated.
3. Feedback - its not all sweetness. One of the standout exercises for me was the positive and negative (or is it developmental?) feedback one. For me, this exercise worked really well because of the way it was set up. It was set up in a safe environment, a full day after we arrived so we were familiar and the tools were presented to us. The tools, very simple but very effective, encouraged us to move into becoming effective (if not comfortable) of giving negative feedback. This took me out of my comfort zone, telling people I generally really like how I thought they worked well for me. But I do know the set up was what really set this off. A really well structured activity. To develop this idea slightly, although I learned allot about delivering negative feedback, I think that when it comes to doing this with my team I am going to use a similar approach.
While I am not going to go around handing out cute cards, I would like to develop a similar structure and toolkit to deliver really effective, difficult messages. This is something I will flesh out later, business viable feedback kits are a difficult and sensitive topic.
4. One to One...give me "me" time. The chance to work in a range of groups was great. I had 1:1 time with my peers, 3 way feedback, 7 people discussions at the tables and full room discussions and feedback. The variety not only served to keep the activities and sessions fresh, but it also allowed me to practice communicating within this variety. However, one feeling stood out for me - In particular with the 1:1's and 3 way discussions I got a lot out of. During the exercises I often found myself thinking "I cant wait for it to be my turn".
I don't mean this is a selfish point of view, in some respects it highlights the effectiveness of the sessions. However, what this also suggests / reinforces to me is that this is high value and I wanted to get as much out of the course as possible. The flip side is that I hope this didn't manifest itself in my activities - obviously it is really important that I give as much as I get from the group exercises, its not all about me. I guess the key learn from this is that I need to have control over my own contributions and to be mindful of the team goal (no blinkers on!).
5. Comfort Zone - i was so far from my comfort zone that it was a dot. There were many activities that took me out of my comfort zone, several of the feedback sessions were big learning experiences for me from this point of view. However, there was one "session" that stood out and took me beyond the norm. I am talking about the ancient and noble art of karaoke. Now, I have never karaoked before and I was heart afraid of doing so, but I enjoyed the singing with 3 of the guys. For some reason though, I seemed to think it was a good idea to follow up my initial pathetic karaoke effort with a.... raunchy.... duet.
While I dont think I need to detail all the details, needless to say that this is not my normal behaviour, but two things stood out here. First of all, the social aspect was massive. The opportunity to meet up and socialise with Peers totally outside a work environment did enhance my over all enthusiasm for the course. Secondly, the social side taught me a lot about my own interactions with people. I sometimes find it very difficult to know how to balance work and personal friendships. It is not always clear where the threshold lies and it was great to experience the other graduates in a very social capacity, as opposed to the usual business one. This was great...
--
So those are my immediate feelings on the course. It was, in my book excellent and my initial reaction was to add value to the business, both in terms of developing myself and others. I learned a lot on the course and generally had fun.
Just to finish off, the journey on the course was really interesting. We explored a range of feedback tools, styles and attitudes. There was some fantastic personal development time and some really empowering activities. I left feeling enthusiastic and energised, which was great.
In fact, I left so energised that myself and two colleagues who were driving home, decided to carry on the theme of the two days, which was expressing ourselves. We expressed ourselves by singing Queens greatest hits, wind blowing through our hair. Sure, we may have looked rather odd, but after two days being brought out of our comfort zones, it seemed only fair to bring the public out of theirs with our singing.
Kindest,
Dante
PS if you are interested in hearing the original of the song I sang to the locals, check out the following youtube link. Please be aware, its quite crude. Which is what made it memorable.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=C4VAv8y2hHM
Sunday, 19 April 2009
The Honey Moon is Over
I have never actually been on a honey moon, but I am starting to feel like my honey moon period on the graduate programme is over. This does not mean that that I am not enjoying myself - rather, it is starting to feel like the reality of the job is starting to hit home. As such, there are a few things on my mind.
1. Back to Reality. After 8 months living and working in London, I have started to think beyond the next weekend. By this I mean, normally my only care is about delivering in work and partying at the weekend. While there have been plenty of times in the past where I planned my future etc, the first 8 months have been so relentless I've hardly had any time. So like the end of a honey moon, I have to start thinking about the realities of the job, career and life in London.
2. Why the change in heart son? What brought this sudden change in heart? Well, I am not sure that it was so sudden, rather I think that over the last few weeks while the pace of the job has remained relentless, numerous items in the news have made me reflect on how lucky I am to have a good paying, challenging and interesting job. With the G20 Summit and unemployment numbers continuing to increase it seemed to a good time to reflect on my situation. I guess what I am trying to say is that when I started to think about my future, I really began to realise how little thought I had given it. This, while not surprising, made me think that while you can maybe jump on the net and book a great last minute flight and get lucky and get a great honey moon, it is ultimately safer to plan.
3. School Reunions. When I got thinking about my situation, I started to think "if I went to a school reunion, what would I say?". I don't really know where this thought came from, but it seemed an interesting way to look at my job. For a start, it made me think that if I was writing a list of what I do, this would ultimately vary what I would tell people. Ultimately, there would be a bit of vanity - I would want those guys I used to know that I am doing well, living happily etc. Again, its not that I am not happy, but I really do feel I would be creative with the truth when describing my job and lifestyle. Working on the grad programme is undeniably great - like a honey moon, you don't come back and tell all your friends about the stupid fight you had on the second night.
4. The media wouldn't let the truth stand in the way of a good story. I guess that many people would probably be slightly creative with the truth - especially if it suits their means. However, I don't know why I would be feel the need to "big up" my job to people I hardly know or care about. Maybe this is because status is so important but I never thought it would be important to me. Maybe that's a bit clichéd, but I've never been one to go out of my way to be seen to be important. It is interesting to see the change in my own opinions since moving to London - I now am sincerely interested in both status and career and this has both surprised and educated me.
5. As the Honey moon ends... The image I have in my head is that first step off the return flight back into the UK after 2 weeks in Barbados. Ultimately the end of the honey moon is meant to be the first day of the rest of your lives together, but on a grey rainy day in Heathrow, you step onto the tarmac and the reality of the situation hits home. Its not that the reality is bad, just it is impossible to guess just how you feel about it until you are face to face with the situation.
For me, I guess this is the key point - how the job makes me feel. I like to think of myself as being quite scientific the reality is that so much of what we do relates to and affects our feelings. The reality is that my status, career planning and lifestyle having a definite impact on how I feel - and this took me by surprise. Ultimately though, just like a once the honeymoon period ends, be it in your job or marriage, you never can tell how you will feel until you are actually in the situation itself.
1. Back to Reality. After 8 months living and working in London, I have started to think beyond the next weekend. By this I mean, normally my only care is about delivering in work and partying at the weekend. While there have been plenty of times in the past where I planned my future etc, the first 8 months have been so relentless I've hardly had any time. So like the end of a honey moon, I have to start thinking about the realities of the job, career and life in London.
2. Why the change in heart son? What brought this sudden change in heart? Well, I am not sure that it was so sudden, rather I think that over the last few weeks while the pace of the job has remained relentless, numerous items in the news have made me reflect on how lucky I am to have a good paying, challenging and interesting job. With the G20 Summit and unemployment numbers continuing to increase it seemed to a good time to reflect on my situation. I guess what I am trying to say is that when I started to think about my future, I really began to realise how little thought I had given it. This, while not surprising, made me think that while you can maybe jump on the net and book a great last minute flight and get lucky and get a great honey moon, it is ultimately safer to plan.
3. School Reunions. When I got thinking about my situation, I started to think "if I went to a school reunion, what would I say?". I don't really know where this thought came from, but it seemed an interesting way to look at my job. For a start, it made me think that if I was writing a list of what I do, this would ultimately vary what I would tell people. Ultimately, there would be a bit of vanity - I would want those guys I used to know that I am doing well, living happily etc. Again, its not that I am not happy, but I really do feel I would be creative with the truth when describing my job and lifestyle. Working on the grad programme is undeniably great - like a honey moon, you don't come back and tell all your friends about the stupid fight you had on the second night.
4. The media wouldn't let the truth stand in the way of a good story. I guess that many people would probably be slightly creative with the truth - especially if it suits their means. However, I don't know why I would be feel the need to "big up" my job to people I hardly know or care about. Maybe this is because status is so important but I never thought it would be important to me. Maybe that's a bit clichéd, but I've never been one to go out of my way to be seen to be important. It is interesting to see the change in my own opinions since moving to London - I now am sincerely interested in both status and career and this has both surprised and educated me.
5. As the Honey moon ends... The image I have in my head is that first step off the return flight back into the UK after 2 weeks in Barbados. Ultimately the end of the honey moon is meant to be the first day of the rest of your lives together, but on a grey rainy day in Heathrow, you step onto the tarmac and the reality of the situation hits home. Its not that the reality is bad, just it is impossible to guess just how you feel about it until you are face to face with the situation.
For me, I guess this is the key point - how the job makes me feel. I like to think of myself as being quite scientific the reality is that so much of what we do relates to and affects our feelings. The reality is that my status, career planning and lifestyle having a definite impact on how I feel - and this took me by surprise. Ultimately though, just like a once the honeymoon period ends, be it in your job or marriage, you never can tell how you will feel until you are actually in the situation itself.
Wednesday, 1 April 2009
Twenty 'G's - all on black!
As it transpires, all bankers, personal or otherwise are morally corrupt bad individuals contributing directly to the global crisis. Well, at least this would be the case were you to believe some of what has been said today. I am aware that this is a potentially sensitive topic in the current climate, but I did want to make a few remarks about how I see the current protests around how the 20 G's* affects our positions on the Graduate programme.
1. If You got love - you ain't' lonely: The same goes for hate. While it is not nice to work in a sector that gets an awful lot of bad press, I must say that I for one, find it very interesting to work for a company that has such incredible exposure. Understandably, not all this exposure is positive, but many of us are working for one of the most high profile business's in the country, in the financial capital of Europe. This really makes me appreciate the fact that, yes we are having tough times, but we are not going through it alone. Hell, we may even be one of the better equipped to handle the difficulties. Plus, we all should know, that if we make a positive impact now, when times are tough, we will stand out as being able to contribute to the business in tough times.
2. Lets all Play the Blame game: It is very easy to blame other people for pretty much anything. If you don't want to take responsibility, there is usually someone else you can pass it on to. While this may undeniably be the wrong business attitude, it is important to look at the vitriol being directed at bankers. Some of us may argue that we are still very new to bank, and sure, decisions were made in the past that were incorrect, but its not like we made them. However, the banks do get bad press and one of the reasons we do, I would suggest, is that many people fail to see the difference between making and allowing.
If I were to make something happen, say by pushing a child into the sea to drown, I would have caused the child's death by making it happen. If i were to stand by while a child was in the sea drowning and not rescue the child, I would have caused the child's death by allowing it to happen. The outcome of both my actions is the same - in both cases my actions caused the child's death. This is one way that people look at common issues - the bottom line is what matters, and if you allow it to happen, you are as responsible for the event happening as if you caused it in the first place. This is , I believe, one of the reasons why so much anger is directed towards bankers, as we are working for companies that have endorsed in the past one particular set of rules and behaviours as employees we are happy to allow these procedures to take place.
However, there is something fundamentally different between doing and allowing. In the above example, causing the child to drown implies callous, calculating and sociopathic tendencies. Allowing the child to die implies cowardice, ineptness and lack of empathy. While both sets of characteristics are flaws in character, there are very fundamental differences. However, the point is thatjudgement is often made of the bottom line.
We, as 'bankers', are being judged at the bottom line. If we are not part of the solution, we are part of the problem in that we are 'allowing' the problem to happen. However, there is a very big difference between allowing a problem to happen and intentionally bringing it about in the first place.
I for one, am happy to admit that I am part of the problem in that there are things I can do to improve, but I am not willing to admit that I am part of the cause of the problem. I want to make a differnce, but I want to do it in a fair and educated manner.
My guess is that many of the protester's are looking are being very "bottom line" and looking at the ultimate outcomes. Which is exactly the kind of behaviour they have criticised the banks for - looking too much at the bottom line and not enough at the big picture. The big picture for me (student debts, lifestyle, career) is very differnt from the "corporate approach".
Then again, though I may not agree with a particular way of thinking, I would not dream of anything as vulgar as throwing bits of steel through their windows.
My two main points of this post were around the high level of exposure and the philosophical implication of the problems. I have missed out something more serious and this has been intentional. I have not covered the threat to bankers personal safety - but with good reason.
In a modern civilised society there is no place for threatening people because of their (legal) profession. There are many difficult and repugnant jobs that have to be done that do not get subjected to the same exposure in the media. I would not wish to indulge any cretin who threatened a colleague of mine with violence by discussing the fallacies of their point of view.
3. One for the Road: For what its worth, my own opinions are distinctly very left wing. I agree, in principle with a large element of what the protester's have been saying, though I would go one step further and criticise the democratic systems in place. I agree with protesting, but never in the manner which reduces protests to ignorant acts of indiscriminate, disruptive violence.
Coming from Northern Ireland, I know a thing or two about indiscriminate, ignorant violence.
My fundamental point is this. It is fascinating to work in a culturally diverse society. It is even better to work in one that supports pro-active opposition to the status quo. I feel privileged that I can work in a job where I can make a difference and learn at the same time. I don't agree with violence and erratic opinions.
Protesting in such a manner as we saw today is a gamble. It is a gamble for your own safety, your colleagues safety and a gamble on the profile of your opinion.
Ultimately, I would not gamble with things like my colleagues safety or endorse violence against them for holding political opinions contrary to my own. Which is essentially what many people are doing. Protesting is one thing, but encouraging violence is another - it suggests that it is easier to blame than reason.
But then again, that's maybe why I didn't put Twenty G's on this passing off peacefully. I'm just not a big enough gambler and I prefer to reason than blame
Kindest,
DD
*20 G's is actually a reference to the book "the Gods that Failed". It is a discussion of the most powerful leaders in the world and how they modelled themselves as gods - but ultimately, failed.
1. If You got love - you ain't' lonely: The same goes for hate. While it is not nice to work in a sector that gets an awful lot of bad press, I must say that I for one, find it very interesting to work for a company that has such incredible exposure. Understandably, not all this exposure is positive, but many of us are working for one of the most high profile business's in the country, in the financial capital of Europe. This really makes me appreciate the fact that, yes we are having tough times, but we are not going through it alone. Hell, we may even be one of the better equipped to handle the difficulties. Plus, we all should know, that if we make a positive impact now, when times are tough, we will stand out as being able to contribute to the business in tough times.
2. Lets all Play the Blame game: It is very easy to blame other people for pretty much anything. If you don't want to take responsibility, there is usually someone else you can pass it on to. While this may undeniably be the wrong business attitude, it is important to look at the vitriol being directed at bankers. Some of us may argue that we are still very new to bank, and sure, decisions were made in the past that were incorrect, but its not like we made them. However, the banks do get bad press and one of the reasons we do, I would suggest, is that many people fail to see the difference between making and allowing.
If I were to make something happen, say by pushing a child into the sea to drown, I would have caused the child's death by making it happen. If i were to stand by while a child was in the sea drowning and not rescue the child, I would have caused the child's death by allowing it to happen. The outcome of both my actions is the same - in both cases my actions caused the child's death. This is one way that people look at common issues - the bottom line is what matters, and if you allow it to happen, you are as responsible for the event happening as if you caused it in the first place. This is , I believe, one of the reasons why so much anger is directed towards bankers, as we are working for companies that have endorsed in the past one particular set of rules and behaviours as employees we are happy to allow these procedures to take place.
However, there is something fundamentally different between doing and allowing. In the above example, causing the child to drown implies callous, calculating and sociopathic tendencies. Allowing the child to die implies cowardice, ineptness and lack of empathy. While both sets of characteristics are flaws in character, there are very fundamental differences. However, the point is thatjudgement is often made of the bottom line.
We, as 'bankers', are being judged at the bottom line. If we are not part of the solution, we are part of the problem in that we are 'allowing' the problem to happen. However, there is a very big difference between allowing a problem to happen and intentionally bringing it about in the first place.
I for one, am happy to admit that I am part of the problem in that there are things I can do to improve, but I am not willing to admit that I am part of the cause of the problem. I want to make a differnce, but I want to do it in a fair and educated manner.
My guess is that many of the protester's are looking are being very "bottom line" and looking at the ultimate outcomes. Which is exactly the kind of behaviour they have criticised the banks for - looking too much at the bottom line and not enough at the big picture. The big picture for me (student debts, lifestyle, career) is very differnt from the "corporate approach".
Then again, though I may not agree with a particular way of thinking, I would not dream of anything as vulgar as throwing bits of steel through their windows.
My two main points of this post were around the high level of exposure and the philosophical implication of the problems. I have missed out something more serious and this has been intentional. I have not covered the threat to bankers personal safety - but with good reason.
In a modern civilised society there is no place for threatening people because of their (legal) profession. There are many difficult and repugnant jobs that have to be done that do not get subjected to the same exposure in the media. I would not wish to indulge any cretin who threatened a colleague of mine with violence by discussing the fallacies of their point of view.
3. One for the Road: For what its worth, my own opinions are distinctly very left wing. I agree, in principle with a large element of what the protester's have been saying, though I would go one step further and criticise the democratic systems in place. I agree with protesting, but never in the manner which reduces protests to ignorant acts of indiscriminate, disruptive violence.
Coming from Northern Ireland, I know a thing or two about indiscriminate, ignorant violence.
My fundamental point is this. It is fascinating to work in a culturally diverse society. It is even better to work in one that supports pro-active opposition to the status quo. I feel privileged that I can work in a job where I can make a difference and learn at the same time. I don't agree with violence and erratic opinions.
Protesting in such a manner as we saw today is a gamble. It is a gamble for your own safety, your colleagues safety and a gamble on the profile of your opinion.
Ultimately, I would not gamble with things like my colleagues safety or endorse violence against them for holding political opinions contrary to my own. Which is essentially what many people are doing. Protesting is one thing, but encouraging violence is another - it suggests that it is easier to blame than reason.
But then again, that's maybe why I didn't put Twenty G's on this passing off peacefully. I'm just not a big enough gambler and I prefer to reason than blame
Kindest,
DD
*20 G's is actually a reference to the book "the Gods that Failed". It is a discussion of the most powerful leaders in the world and how they modelled themselves as gods - but ultimately, failed.
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